Gareth Stone

Managing the Transition to the “5-Day Car” in Europe

As industry executives acknowledge, at present there is little evidence of a relationship between car production and the actual orders being generated in sales rooms. This reality has significant implications for customer satisfaction, the industry cost base and future competitiveness. Many executives think that build-to-order (BTO) concepts and practices offer the European automotive industry one of the best opportunities for survival. However, there are significant challenges to be overcome to achieve the BTO transition. In this chapter, key enablers and barriers that will govern the supply chain transition to a BTO business model for the European automotive industry are explored. Research was undertaken at a number of dissemination events regarding the implementation of BTO concepts, attracting top executives from around Europe, and has provided valuable insight into the possibility of an industry transition to BTO. The findings of this study are presented and the chapter goes on to discuss some of the key factors that industry leaders will need to consider in managing the transition to the “5-day car” in Europe including building on existing examples of good practice; training and re-educating industry leaders and the workforce in BTO principles and practices; clear planning and objective setting; enhancing supply chain learning; aligning performance and accounting practices; and communicating and benchmarking progress.

Collaborative ICT ventures and the implementation of responsive automotive supply networks

This research paper explores the generic barriers which govern supply chain integration. Four automotive cases illustrate the motivations and barriers that emerged during the implementation phase of collaborative Information Communication Technology (ICT) ventures. The results indicate the reasons for the failure of ICT as the solution to collaborative supply chain integration. We show that ICT, in relation to Supply Chain Collaboration (SCC), is still at an embryonic stage of development. Recent examples of e-business initiatives are used to further develop a framework of barriers for supply chain integration and collaboration based in the automotive sector. The barriers to successful integration and collaboration that are identified in this research include system standards, legacy systems and interoperability, cost-benefit sharing and interorganisational trust. The paper concludes by suggesting that for ICT ventures to be successful in achieving requirements, interfirm relationships must be a first consideration, certainly before implementing technology.

ESTABLISHING BUILD TO ORDER IN THE EUROPEAN AUTOMOTIVE SECTOR

Abstract The automotive industry in Europe faces intense competition and is dealing with a customer who is less patient and more demanding in terms of vehicle choice. The current system of making vehicles presents a ‘vicious circle’ where forecast based production and push based selling using discounts and incentives is leading to lower profits, thus more volume is needed to maintain the equilibrium. Build to Order (BTO) strategies may offer a new direction for manufacturers.

ICT as an Enabler to the 5-Day Car: A Central Challenge to the ILIPT Project

Abstract ICT is seen as an enabler to the radically new logistics processes necessary to realise a 5 Day car. The current situation in the ICT system throughout the automotive supply and distribution network is characterised by a lack of standards supporting the complex processes. Hence, a flexible and fast integration of ICT systems across enterprise boundaries is currently not possible. Besides the technologies of enterprise integration work underway, under the heading of interoperability seems to be the most promising approach to come to flexible integrated ICT systems. This is a major challenge for the ILIPT project, to make existing ICT infrastructure enable the 5-day car ideal.