Normal, IL August 7, 2001 Mitsubishi Motor Manufacturing of America (MMMA) is accelerating use of the Internet and related B2B technologies by conducting pilot programs with Covisint, the e-business exchange for the automotive industry. Covisint facilitated two trial online auctions July 17 between MMMA and 11 of its suppliers.
"One element to becoming profitable over the past two years has been our commitment to reducing and controlling costs. Covisint's online auction process helps us do just that and ensures that our supplier partners are onboard with pricing that is market-driven," MMMA President and Chief Operating Officer Rich Gilligan said.
In addition to providing market-driven pricing, online auctions for suppliers will significantly increase MMMA's purchasing efficiency, compressing weeks of bid analysis and negotiations into hours. "The total impact on efficiency is enormous," Gilligan said.
The results of the July 17 auctions encouraged MMMA to pilot other Covisint tools, MMMA Executive Vice President of Procurement & Supply Keith Lawrence said. Trials are being planned for Catalog Services, which is designed to increase the efficiency of MMMA's internal purchasing activities, and Virtual Project Workspace, a design and development collaboration technology to help reduce new model development time.
"We are pleased to share in the recent successes of Mitsubishi Motor Manufacturing of America and look forward to introducing the company to Covisint's tools for product development and supply chain management," said Kevin English, chairman, president and CEO of Covisint.
