PACCAR Achieves #1 Ranking in PC Week's Fast-Track 500
18 November 1999
PACCAR Achieves #1 Ranking in PC Week's Fast-Track 500
BELLEVUE, Wash.----Nov. 15, 1999--PACCAR's innovative and leading-edge use of information technology (IT) earned the high tech company the number one spot on PC Week's 1999 Fast-Track 500 listing. PACCAR is a global leader in the automotive, financial and customer services fields with recognized brands such as Kenworth, Peterbilt, DAF and Foden trucks.The Fast-Track 500 listing is the culmination of a year-long series of PC Week special reports aimed at identifying and ranking world-class organizations which use advanced information technologies in the most innovative ways. "The third annual Fast-Track 500 ranks the top innovative companies from across industries, based on a wide range of technologies," said PC Week.
PACCAR earned the top ranking for launching company-wide initiatives in business-to-business e-commerce, enterprise resource planning (ERP), virtual private networks (VPNs), data warehousing, web-based collaboration software and specialized intranet applications. In addition, the magazine also cited PACCAR's high percentage of state-of-the-art PCs and workstations and significant investment in telecommunications and Y2K compliance.
"Within PACCAR, information technology, combined with outstanding product quality and superior customer service, is a strategic asset that has catapulted us towards Six Sigma levels of performance in implementing transactional links with our customers, suppliers, dealers and with each other," said Tom Plimpton, executive vice president. "PACCAR has aggressively been preparing its network topology and communications capabilities for the `internet-everywhere' nature of the coming e-business world."
The starting point for the Fast-Track 500 listing is a database that contains information about technologies deployed at more than 260,000 corporate sites in North America. A scoring model developed by PC Week rewards each company for deploying specific cutting-edge technologies, such as supply chain management, e-commerce, intranets or virtual private networks.
"A tremendous amount of technology is involved in the design, manufacture and operation of our transportation solutions. Peterbilt's new Model 387, which began production recently, and the Kenworth T2000, for example, were digitally designed similar to the Boeing 777 using leading-edge computer-aided engineering tools with continuous input from multiple locations," said Patrick F. Flynn, vice president and chief information officer. "Our trucks have more than a dozen sophisticated on-board computers monitoring the performance of the various components, providing the driver with real-time feed back."
In October, PACCAR won the prestigious 1999 Leadership and Excellence in the Application and Development of Integrated Manufacturing (LEAD) award from the Society of Manufacturing Engineers (SME) for "innovative and leading edge manufacturing techniques." This award recognized PACCAR's implementation of computer and automated robotics systems in the assembly of the Kenworth T2000 and the Peterbilt 387 at its Chillicothe, Ohio, and Denton, Texas, facilities.
The company also formed two new divisions, Paccar.com and e-Paccar, as part of the company's e-commerce strategy aimed at directing investments in customer services, including offering finance and insurance programs to complement the company's premium product brands.
"PACCAR's 16 manufacturing facilities and 13 parts distribution centers around the world are aggressively moving from traditional business models to `clicks and mortar' e-business. We already have the world-class facilities; now we are extending their reach and impact up and down the logistical value chain," said Flynn.
"Every customer, dealer and supplier is benefiting from our ability to electronically transact business -- everything from automatic parts restocking at dealer and fleet locations to locating emergency road repair service for customers," Flynn added.
PACCAR has invested more than $300 million in its facilities and systems over the past several years to increase capacity and efficiency. PACCAR's newly opened world-class $85 million truck plant in Ste. Therese, Quebec, Canada, is an example of PACCAR's seamless integration of IT into nearly every phase of the facility's operation.
For the first three quarters of 1999, PACCAR reported record sales and earnings of $6.4 billion and $403.7 million ($5.12 per diluted share), respectively. The third quarter was the 11th quarter in a row in which operating profits exceeded the comparable quarter a year earlier. Longer-term, PACCAR is the only truck manufacturer to generate profits for over 60 consecutive years. PACCAR also has paid dividends every year since 1941.
PACCAR, an $8 billion company, is a leader in the design, development and manufacture of high quality light-, medium- and heavy-duty trucks under the Kenworth, Peterbilt, DAF and Foden nameplates. It also provides financial services and distributes truck parts related to its principal business. In addition, the Bellevue, Washington-based company manufactures industrial winches under the Braden, Gearmatic and Carco nameplates.
PACCAR shares are traded on the NASDAQ Exchange, symbol PCAR, and its homepage can be found at www.paccar.com.
