The Worldwide Diagnostic System is a computer-based program that was developed by GENRAD Diagnostics Systems and Ford Motor Company in the early 1990s for use as a service tool in nearly all of the Ford trustmark automobile dealerships worldwide. The WDS diagnoses and reprograms vehicles manufactured from 1996 through present, and is now considered a legacy tool by Ford's corporate tool supplier, Rotunda.
A small company by the name of ERS Solutions has acquired the licensing rights to the WDS tool on an exclusive worldwide basis, and now supports both OEM dealers and aftermarket repair entities via hardware support contracts and a software helpdesk. ERS has multi-lingual call centers in both North America and Europe, as well as repair centers that service all of NA and Europe on a next-day basis. South America and Asia are slated to be added in early 2007.
ERS plans to continue to support the nearly 30,000 WDS units in the field by continuing to upgrade both the software and hardware components of the WDS tool.