IT Prompting �Leap-Frog Kind of Change� at Ford

Information technology has become “pervasive” at Ford Motor Company, according to Bill Houghton, ’88, director of product development systems at Ford. Speaking to students in the High Tech Group at the Hyde Park Center October 5, Houghton said Ford is “very much poised to use technology to help make a leap-frog kind of change in the way we do business.”

While Ford has used IT in one capacity or another for 50 years, Houghton said, “IT has broken out of its traditional role. It is part of product development, corporate strategy, and business analysis.” The CIO at Ford is also vice president for strategy, he said.

Houghton acknowledged that news about the auto industry has been “doom and gloom” lately, but added that technological advances bring excitement. While Ford has made widespread cuts, the company has not cut back on new technology development, Houghton said. “We’re not cutting areas for the future,” he said, noting that the company’s top four IT initiatives have a combined budget of $1.5 billion.

In fact, IT is becoming “a critical enabler to the business,” affecting production, global communications, operations, and increasingly, design. Auto design has traditionally been done in clay. Now Volvo Cars, one of Ford’s brands, doesn’t create a clay model until all the details have been worked out electronically.

According to Houghton, Ford spends more than $10 million a year on training IT people in North America. “IT is part of strategy now,” he said.

— Carmen Marti