Sue SlaughterSue Slaughter (pictured) has taken over as director of purchasing, and team value management (TVM) strategy and business development, at Ford of Europe, following the departure of Alan Draper, who has retired from the carmaker. Slaughter moves from her role as COO at Getrag Ford Transmissions, a division of the global transmission supplier and now part of Magna International.

Slaughter has a long history of purchasing roles at Ford, having started there in 1987. She soon became purchasing director for the European Business Office in 1990, a role she held for almost 20 years. Prior to her move to Getrag in 2015, she was global purchasing director for the B Car segment.

“I’m delighted be taking on this new role at an exciting time in the auto industry," Slaughter told Automotive Logistics. "We’re going through a revolution – probably the largest since the very earliest days of our industry – and I’m looking forward to working with our supplier partners to see what this means for the supply base.”

Draper was with Ford for almost 40 years, having joined the company in 1979. From 1995, he held a variety of key purchasing roles including director, European program purchasing and vice-president of purchasing for Ford of Europe. As well as being director of purchasing in Europe he was in charge of global team value management.