Ford Drops Oracle-based Purchasing System

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August 18, 2004 (3:38 PM EDT)

Ford Motor Co. on Wednesday said it has scrapped a 5-year-old project to move suppliers over to an Internet-based purchasing system powered by Oracle Corp. software, deciding instead to revert back to its custom-built system.

"We completed an evaluation of all of our production and non-production procurement systems, and we made a decision to go back to our proven current system," Paul Wood, spokesman for the Dearborn, Mich., automaker, said.

Wood declined to discuss the reasons for dropping the "Everest" project, but said all suppliers using the Oracle-based system will move back to the auto giant's proprietary Ford Supplier Network, a process expected to take "many months."

"It's a transition that will take time," Wood said. "(But) we expect the transition to be seamless for suppliers."

Oracle declined comment, saying it had a non-disclosure agreement with Ford.

"Oracle continues to support Ford on its back-to-basics strategic initiatives and IT projects," a company statement said. "Given our desire to honor a non-disclosure agreement in effect, it would be inappropriate for Oracle to comment on any specifics."

Wood refused to say how much money was spent on Everest, which started in 1999. The system was being rolled out gradually since 2000. Discontinuing the project did not have any impact on Ford's use of Oracle databases or other products.

Everest was a separate project from trading exchange Covisint, which Ford formed with other major carmakers to do business with suppliers. Covisint, which failed to catch on with suppliers, was sold to software maker Compuware Corp.