CASE STUDY: Job Design Implications of Ford's C3PC System

In the mid-1990s the Ford Motor Company initiated its C3P system. C3P is an acronym that refers to three computer-aided processes along with a product information management process. The C3stands for computer-aided design (CAD), computer-aided manufacturing (CAM), and computer-aided engineering (CAE). The P represents product information management (PIM). The C3P system uses intranet-supported computer technology and tools. C3P emphasizes product information management.

The other components of C3P are built around PIM's centrality. The Ford intranet makes specific CAD, CAM, and CAE information available to the company's car divisions and its suppliers during any phase of design, engineering, or manufacturing.

As the largest computer-based technology initiative in Ford's history, the C3P system has far-reaching implications for how the company conducts its business. Through this system, Ford's worldwide operations - from Dearborn, Michigan, to Australia, and all points in between - are connected. "There is a single repository of engineering information (in Dearborn) that is accessed via a Ford intranet." Through the C3P system, Ford employees throughout the world, as well as the company's suppliers, have access to the information they need in order to do their jobs effectively.

Ford's product-development system, which updates information on an hourly basis, "documents thousands of steps in manufacturing, assembling, and testing vehicles. That lets engineers, designers, and suppliers work from the same data, thus keeping the process moving. Every vehicle team has a Web site, where team members can post questions and progress reports, note bottlenecks, and resolve quality issues that arise in production." This information sharing has helped Ford reduce by 12 months the amount of time it takes to get a new vehicle into full production. Rather than the 36 months this process formerly took, only 24 months are required with the C3P system.

According to the director of the C3P Project Office, "the greatest competitive advantages are the new methodologies and processes central to our daily business." The C3P system is a new approach and a new mindset; it's a system that links the far reaches of the Ford organization with the click of a mouse.

The C3P system has altered how some employees do their jobs. These employees can "take advantage of time zone differences to maximize the use of resources around the world for work collaboration." In a single day, an engineer working on a project for a few hours in England is able to hand off the design to another engineer who works in Germany, who in turn works with another person in Australia. "Using the company intranet, we will be able to distribute the workload more effectively and draw from expertise around the world," says a C3P project manager.

The use of the C3P system enhances the work capabilities of the technical staff. They are able to get more work done in less time. They have more control over how they are doing their jobs. As a result, their personal satisfaction is increasing.

Substantial cost savings can result from sharing and exchanging information through the C3P system. The development process for one new car provides a powerful example of this. With the C3P system, "engineers were able to determine that the front rail, as designed for the new vehicle, would present a problem given the tooling in the factory." Ordinarily, such a conflict would not have been discovered until an actual, physical prototype of the vehicle was put into place in the factory. By discovering this problem upfront, Ford saved an enormous sum of money. If this conflict had not been discovered until later, it could have cost as much as $60 million to make the required modifications.

Another example of the benefits of the C3P system is provided by the development of Mondeo. With this vehicle, Ford became the first automobile manufacturer to develop a European car over the Internet. The C3P system helped Ford slash development time for the new Mondeo by enabling engineers to collaborate simultaneously on different parts of the project from sites in the United States, Japan, and Europe. By creating a full computer buildup of the automobile, including the mechanical package, interior package, and exterior surfaces, the C3P system allowed Ford to bypass most of the clay-and-steel mockup stages of traditional vehicle design. This resulted in significant reductions in both costs and design changes during development. Moreover, Ford involved about 20 major suppliers early in the Mondeo program in order to effectively integrate the system.

Continued use of the C3P system has the potential to dramatically influence how Ford employees and suppliers do their work.

Discussion Questions:

1. Using the job characteristics model, analyze and discuss the work design implications of Ford's C3P system.

2. Explain why technology can be an important consideration in work design.

3. What useful lessons about work design can be derived from this case?