Last summer, Mr. Ford installed David W. Thursfield, who also heads international operations, as the head of purchasing.
Fiat's head of purchasing, Gianni Coda, will be in charge of Europe, Africa and the Middle East.
Harold Kutner, head of purchasing for General Motors, calls it "the most dramatic change I've ever seen in the industry".
Even though there's a head of human resources and a head of purchasing, there's more of a sense of openness.
The decision is related to the appointment of David Thursfield, 56, as head of purchasing and international business, said a spokesman, Christian Vinyard.
Wilkinson had thought the diet might be linked to Jose Ignacio Lopez De Arriortua, an executive of Basque origin whose obsession with cost-cutting through a global supply chain earned him legendary status during a spell at G.M. as head of purchasing.
But fear not, finding work interesting need not necessarily involve becoming convinced that the head of purchasing control has transmogrified into the Lizard King of the Universe and his office is the magic garden at the centre of the sun.
One vice president of manufacturing directs a corporate manufacturing staff with one materials manager, one chief of individual engineering, one head of purchasing, one personnel director all supervising the activities of two product-focused organizations and a process-focused organization.
Mr. Wagoner, now the chief executive of General Motors, had just been named its head of purchasing, replacing José Ignacio López de Arriortúa, a storied executive who had forced steep price cuts and quality inspections on G.M.'s suppliers and, in the process, become a reviled figure in Motor City.
