Peter Fredriksson

Sourcing trends in the car industry - a survey of car manufacturers' and suppliers' strategies and relations

Intense competition and structural changes characterize the car industry. Several trends (i.e. general changes over time) concerning sourcing strategies and supplier relations can therefore be identified. The article aims to analyze how these trends correspond to the actual situation in the car industry. Based on a survey answered by both car manufacturers and first tier suppliers, this article provides facts and analyses regarding sourcing‐related trends over the past decade as well as some future predictions. The results show that both car manufacturers and suppliers continue to reduce product development time. They also increase supplier involvement in product development and the share of inbound JIT‐deliveries. However, while suppliers increase their outsourcing and globalization of production and product development activities, car manufacturers do not. Only some of the identified sourcing‐related trends are actually supported by the presented results. Hence, this article modulates the picture of the current development within the car industry.

Mechanisms and Rationales for the Coordination of a Modular Assembly System: The Case of Volvo Cars

Purpose – This paper aims to investigate one crucial aspect and inherent difficulty of modular assembly systems, which is how the dispersed activities, resources and organizational units are coordinated with one another and the corresponding effects.Design/methodology/approach – The paper is based on a subset of the data collected during a four‐year case study of Volvo Car Corporations modular assembly system. For this particular paper, 15 semi‐structured interviews were conducted with representatives from different functions related to both pre‐ and final assembly activities.Findings – The paper concludes that the efficiency of a modular assembly system is dependent on the use of several coordination mechanisms, such as the use of plans, standardization and mutual adjustment. The efficiency‐related rationales of activity synchronization, resource sharing, and activity and resource development can then be achieved. These mechanisms should cross the boundaries of the organizational units performing pre‐ a...

Operations and logistics issues in modular assembly processes: cases from the automotive sector

Purpose – To identify operations and logistics issues which are critical for the operational performance in modular assembly processes.Design/methodology/approach – Based on case studies of Volvo Cars, Toyota, and Saab, the paper identifies operations and logistics issues that are critical for the operational performance of modular assembly processes. The issues are used for extending our understanding of the design and operation of modular assembly processes.Findings – The issues identified concern production planning, deviation handling, assembly flow balance, small unit disadvantages, and module flow control. They reveal that a modular assembly process design brings structural disadvantages related to the dispersion of activities and resource needs. The issues also demonstrate the need for extensive coordination across the interfaces of the decoupled parts of the process.Research limitations/implications – The findings will mainly be relevant for firms that design and produce complex products involving...

Modular assembly in the car industry—an analysis of organizational forms’ influence on performance

Abstract In modular assembly, car manufacturers can choose to assemble the modules internally or to outsource the units assembling the modules. These module assembly units (MAUs) can be located inside or outside the assembly plants. This paper analyzes the conditions provided for MAU performance by ownership and location, the constitutive dimensions of a MAUs organizational form. Based on a case study at Volvo and theoretical arguments, the paper shows that organizational forms provide different conditions for MAU performance. It is concluded that no organizational form is best and that different forms should be used. It is also concluded that companies must control MAUs, which influences how the conditions provided by different organizational forms can be utilized.

Integrating Sustainable Development into Operations Management Courses.

It is widely acknowledged that sustainable development aspects should be integrated into operations management (OM) education. Based on experiences from teaching at Chalmers University of Technology, we have identified the following challenges related to this: How the main teacher should teach a subject which is not his or her primary area of competence, OM textbooks seldom address sustainability issues, sustainability takes a much broader perspective than OM, and how to integrate sustainability aspects into different courses while preserving these aspects’ holistic character.

Organizing Activities in Industrial Networks: The Case of Volvo S80

This chapter addresses the organization and efficiency of activity structures. The aim is to further our understanding of how firms choose to organize their activities within industrial networks, where efficiency analysis cannot be limited by firm boundaries. As a starting point we use Richardson’s (1972) model for analyzing the activity structure for the development and production of the Volvo S80. More specifically, Volvo’s relationships with two of its module/systems suppliers are analyzed. The case shows that the actors involved strive to achieve efficiency through realizing economies of scale where possible. These potential economies of scale are, however, limited by the actors’ efforts to create unique end products. These contradictory ambitions result in a situation in which a number of different dependencies between activities need to be coordinated. Thus, the characteristics of various activity dependencies have strong implications for the organization of the activity structure.