Title: How Ford is building a communications superhighway

Authors: William Dixon

Addresses: Project Manager, Ford of Europe, Brentwood, Essex, UK

Abstract: Early in 1991, Ford of Europe became the first company to implement a private, all-ditigal network crossing international boundaries. Delivered, installed, and serviced by Siemens, Ford of Europe|s ISDN-based wide area network (WAN) is designed to support CAD/CAM terminals, together with 14 000 digital and 3000 analogue telephone handsets. Vastly improved transmission speeds, outstanding reliability, centralized network control, and substantially reduced communication costs are projected. In addition, Ford of Europe is working with Siemens on WAN2, which will extend ISDN services to Ford|s suppliers and dealers.

Keywords: communications superhighway; computer-aided design; CAD; computer-aided manufacturing; CAM; Ford; wide area networks; WANs; automobile industry; CADCAM; automotive technology.

DOI: 10.1504/IJTM.1992.025739

International Journal of Technology Management, 1992 Vol.7 No.6/7/8, pp.462 - 470

Published online: 24 May 2009 *

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