Carsten Nee

Costs, quality and scalability: Impact on the value chain of electric engine production

Recent years have seen an increasing attention in electric vehicles. But due to high prices, there is only a moderate customer acceptance and market penetration. Companies need to build up new competencies to be able to develop and produce competitive electric vehicles. Moreover, a concentration on either cost or quality will not be sufficient to make electric mobility attractive to customers and to obtain sustainable success. Therefore, companies in the field of electric mobility production have to lead in both: cost and quality. This paper focuses on the electric engine production, the emerging costs, the influences on the customer value and the scalability of production processes.

Strategic Fit: Overview of Cost, Quality and Scalability Impact on the Added Value Network in Electric Engine Production

Electric vehicles are in direct competition with conventionally powered cars. However, high prices currently result in a moderate acceptance and low market penetration. Producing companies have to attain new competencies in electric vehicle production as well as develop existing competencies at an early stage to be able to create attractive products for the customer. Requirements for costs, quality and scalability can be met due to purpose design, integrated product and process development, modularization of machinery and intense process know-how along with continuous consideration of alternative production processes. Nevertheless, designing new value added networks with a strategic fit among all participants remains to be done.

Strategic Fit Assessment for Value-Added Networks of Electric Engine Production

Disruptive innovation, such as electric vehicles, go along with new requirement in aspects of cost, quality, and scalability while the market environment is considered as risky and dynamic. Many companies form strategic alliances, acquire competencies or participate in new developing value-added networks to cope with the new requirements and to spread the risk. This leads to new opportunities for value-added networks, as they can be designed to perform best in terms of cost and quality, to handle scalability as well as to define a cooperative strategy to align the specific goals of network participants. For companies it remains unsure which value-added network to join, which role to play and whether the cooperative strategy fits the corporate strategy of the company. So far there is no methodology that allows network participants to assess the strategic fit of a value-added network. This paper address the need for action in theory and practice and presents a methodology to assess the strategic fit of value-added networks. Part of the strategic fit assessment are: fit in motives, fit in resources and products, structural fit, and cultural fit. The electric engine production for electric vehicles is chosen as an example for disruptive innovation and serves as the application case for the methodology of the network fit assessment.

Value Engineering im Anlagenbau: Investitionskostenoptimierung in der Elektromotorenproduktion

Kurzfassung Zulieferer elektromechanischer Komponenten sind durch immer kürzere Innovations- und Produktlebenszyklen sowie verschärfter Konkurrenz aus Fernost einem hohen Kostendruck ausgesetzt. Investitionskostenreduzierungen für Produktionsanlagen sind somit zur Behauptung der Marktposition unabdingbar. Dieser Beitrag präsentiert einen vom Chair of Production Engineering of E-Mobility Components der RWTH Aachen entwickelten Leitfaden, durch den die Investitionskosten in Produktionsanlagen systematisch aufgenommen, analysiert und optimiert werden.

Network-Fit in a Disruptive Environment: Assessment of the Strategic Fit among Partners of a Value-Added Network

Disruptive innovations go along with new requirements concerning cost, quality and scalability while the market environment is considered as uncertain and highly dynamic. Many companies form cooperation to acquire competencies and spread the business risk as well as to cope with these new requirements. This leads to new opportunities for value-added networks, as they can be designed to perform best in terms of cost and quality, to handle scalability as well as to define a collective strategy to align the specific goals of network participants. For companies it remains unsure which value-added network to join, which strategic program to initiate and whether the collective strategy of the network fits the corporate strategy of the company. So far there is no methodology that allows network participants to assess the strategic fit towards a value-added network. This paper discusses and addresses the need for action in fit assessment in theory and practice. As a result a methodology to assess the strategic fit of value-added networks is presented. Parts of the strategic fit assessment are: fit in strategic success positions and potentials, structural fit, cultural fit and fit in motives. The electric engine production for electric vehicles is chosen as an example for disruptive innovation and serves as the application case for the methodology of network fit assessment.

Strategic fit in value added networks of electric vehicle production

Electric vehicles are in direct competition with conventionally powered cars. However, high prices currently result in a moderate acceptance and low market penetration. Manufacturing companies have to attain new competencies in electric vehicle production as well as develop existing competencies at an early stage to be able to create attractive products for customers. The value chain of electric vehicle production requires cost and quality orientation as well as scalability of production processes for the value added network strategy. Nevertheless, designing value added networks for electric vehicle production follows no systematic approach to align the corporate strategies of network participants to the cooperative strategy of the network. Value added networks therefore lack a strategic fit among participants and common targets in terms of costs, quality and scalability.

Analyse der Geschäftsmodelle im deutschen Werkzeugbau

Kurzfassung Der deutsche Werkzeug- und Formenbau steht im Zuge der fortschreitenden Globalisierung nicht nur vor marktseitigen Herausforderungen, sondern befindet sich auch in einem turbulenten Wandel von traditionellen zu industriellen Fertigungs- und Organisationsprinzipen [1]. Eine falsche Strategie oder deren mangelhafte Umsetzung führt zum wirtschaftlichen Untergang der Unternehmen [2]. Ein vom Werkzeugmaschinenlabor WZL der RWTH Aachen im Rahmen eines DFG-geförderten Forschungsvorhabens entwickeltes Tool ermöglicht, die strategische Stimmigkeit und Nutzenorientierung im Geschäftsmodell eines Werkzeugbauunternehmens zu überprüfen.