Beyond the Big Leave: The Future of U.S. Automotive Human Resources

Based on industry interviews and trends analyses, forecasts employment levels and hiring nationwide and in Michigan through 2016, and compiles automakers' input on technical needs, hiring criteria, and suggestions for training and education curricula

Forecasting Demand for Optimal Inventory with Long Lead Times: An Automotive Aftermarket Case Study

Accuracy in predicting customer demand is essential to building an economic inventory policy under periodic review, long lead-time, and a target fill rate. This study uses inventory and customer service level as a stock control metric to evaluate the forecast accuracy of different simple to more complex predictive analytical techniques. We show how traditional forecast error measures are inappropriate for inventory control, despite their consistent usage in many studies, by evaluating demand forecast performance dynamically with customer service level as a stock control metric that includes inventory holdings costs, stock out costs, and fill rate service levels. A second contribution includes evaluating the utility of introducing more complexity into the forecasting process for an automotive aftermarket parts manufacturer and the superior inventory control results using the Prais-Winsten, an econometric method, for non-intermittent demand forecasting with long-lead times. This study will add to the limited case study research on demand forecasting under long lead times using stock control metrics, dynamic model updating, and the Prais-Winsten method for inventory control

Supply chain management problems at South African automotive component manufacturers

The problems that automotive component manufacturers(ACMs) experience in automotive supply chains is an importantcontemporary issue. The role of ACMs in the competitiveness andsurvival of the automotive industry has never been as pronounced.Original equipment manufacturers (OEMs, also known as automotiveassemblers) face pressure from government to drastically increaselocal content (components and services they purchase from localACMs). The problem is that local ACMs are not as competitive assuppliers from India and China. The improvement and extension ofthe local ACM supplier base is therefore important. The purposeof this article is to report on a study that investigated supply chainmanagement problems of ACMs and the extent of these problems.Supply chain problems may cause ineffi ciencies that impact on thecompetitiveness of ACMs. The study was exploratory in nature,and consisted mainly of a survey among ACMs in South Africa. Itwas found that of the 75 identifi ed problems, the most signifi cantproblems were internal process problems, followed by customerrelatedproblems. The most signifi cant problems lie in the demandmanagement area in the supply chain

The strategic integration of agile and lean supply

Lean supply is closely associated with enabling flow and the elimination of wasteful variation within the supply chain. However, lean operations depend on level scheduling and the growing need to accommodate variety and demand uncertainty has resulted in the emergence of the concept of agility. This paper explores the role of inventory and capacity in accommodating such variation and identifies how TRIZ separation principles and TOC tools may be combined in the integrated development of responsive and efficient supply chains. A detailed apparel industry case study is used to illustrate the application of these concepts and tools

A business planning framework for WiMAX applications

Mobile networking refers to wireless technologies which provide communications between devices. Applications for mobile networking have a broad scope as they can be applied to many situations in either industrial or commercial sectors. The challenge for firms is to better match market-induced variability to the organizational issues and systems necessary for technological innovation. This chapter develops a business planning framework for mobile networking applications. This framework recognises the fluidity of the situation when trying to anticipate and model emerging wireless applications. The business planning framework outlined in this chapter is a generic model which can be used by companies to assess the business case for applications utilizing mobile networking technologies

Navigating uncertainty : analyzing the impact of the global chip shortage on an original equipment manufacturer’s strategy

Since 2020, the global semiconductor shortage has significantly challenged industries worldwide, with still no solution in sight to date. Especially the car industry has been struck hard, with a lack of semiconductors nearly bringing car production to a complete stop. This thesis explores how an Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) was forced to adapt its production strategy due to the chip crisis by examining which dynamic capabilities are necessary for them to succeed now and in the future. A pedagogical case study is used in which students are given a real-world scenario to assess an OEM's crisis management strategy. Semi-structured interviews with industry professionals, the OEM's product management team and secondary data were used to investigate the issue further. The findings of the thesis highlight three main points: (1) The need to modernize traditional car manufacturing by enhancing software integration in assembly procedures (2) The need to restructure supplier relations and the global semiconductor supply chain network. (3) The need for better risk management and order forecasting through evolving technology and sharing vital data along the supply chain. The thesis underlines both the beneficial and adverse implications of rapidly advancing technology on traditional car manufacturing and how this relates to a company's successful utilization of dynamic capabilities.Desde 2020, a escassez global de semicondutores tem desafiado significativamente as indústrias em todo o mundo, não havendo ainda uma solução à vista. Especialmente a indústria automóvel tem sido duramente atingida, com a falta de semicondutores quase a parar completamente a produção. Esta tese explora como um Fabricante de Equipamento Original (OEM) foi forçado a adaptar a sua estratégia de produção devido à crise dos chips, examinando quais as capacidades dinâmicas necessárias para o seu sucesso agora e no futuro. É utilizado um estudo de caso pedagógico no qual os estudantes recebem um cenário do mundo real para avaliar uma estratégia de gestão de crises de OEM. Foram utilizadas entrevistas semi-estruturadas com profissionais da indústria, a equipa de gestão de produtos dos OEM e dados secundários para investigar mais aprofundadamente a questão. As conclusões da tese destacam três pontos principais: (1) A necessidade de modernizar o fabrico de automóveis tradicionais, melhorando a integração de software nos procedimentos de montagem (2) A necessidade de reestruturar as relações com os fornecedores e a rede global da cadeia de fornecimento de semicondutores. (3) A necessidade de uma melhor gestão de riscos e previsão de encomendas através da evolução da tecnologia e da partilha de dados vitais ao longo da cadeia de fornecimento. A tese destaca tanto as implicações benéficas como adversas de uma tecnologia de rápido avanço no fabrico de automóveis tradicionais e como isto se relaciona com a utilização bem sucedida de capacidades dinâmicas por parte de uma empresa

Supply chain flexibility in the special purpose vehicle industry.

Supply chains of the Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) industry are complex and with many constraints. Since the SPV industry is a special field of operation, there is no classical supply chain strategy which is appropriate. It is possible to apply concepts of industries with similar requirements but there is a high loss of time and money because these classical concepts do not fit to the SPV industry. Even strategies of the conventional automobile industry cannot be transferred. Therefore, there is the need to develop a supply chain concept for companies of the SPV industry. As a first step, basic knowledge about supply chain management is provided. Based on this, special supply chain characteristics of the SPV industry are analyzed in detail. A profound research shows that the focus of the developed supply chain should be on flexibility. High supply chain flexibility addresses the specific difficulties related to the SPV industry. These are for example individual customer requirements and uncertain demand. Therefore appropriate flexibility methods are derived which are called variant, volume and time flexibility. For the implementation, several formulas and strategies are derived. This supply chain concept is a basic concept. It can be adapted to the environment of different SPV companies. For the application of the derived formulas, MATLAB codes are provided. These MATLAB scripts and functions are also used for a performance evaluation. Therefore, economic parameters, which are same important for all companies, are used. Thus, all improvements and strategies in this research are evaluated mathematically. A performance evaluation with realistic input values shows that the following savings are expected for the three flexibility types: · volume flexibility: 47% · variant flexibility: 42% · time flexibility: 42% A comprehensive example with all the flexibility types shows that overall savings of about 18% can be realized. This comprehensive example includes further new approaches like an asymmetrical flexibility and a method to order the optimal quantity at the posterior point of time which is explained and introduced. The savings due to the individual flexibility types, which are mentioned above, are related to costs and thus very high at first glance. Furthermore, these results depend on input variables, which reflect realistic examples. Thus, these values can be different in other example. They are however appropriate indicators to show that the new supply chain strategy for the SPV industry is profitable, reliable, stable and flexible. Thus, the new approach is a research contribution, which leads to clear benefits in reality

The boomerang returns? Accounting for the impact of uncertainties on the dynamics of remanufacturing systems

Recent years have witnessed companies abandon traditional open-loop supply chain structures in favour of closed-loop variants, in a bid to mitigate environmental impacts and exploit economic opportunities. Central to the closed-loop paradigm is remanufacturing: the restoration of used products to useful life. While this operational model has huge potential to extend product life-cycles, the collection and recovery processes diminish the effectiveness of existing control mechanisms for open-loop systems. We systematically review the literature in the field of closed-loop supply chain dynamics, which explores the time-varying interactions of material and information flows in the different elements of remanufacturing supply chains. We supplement this with further reviews of what we call the three ‘pillars’ of such systems, i.e. forecasting, collection, and inventory and production control. This provides us with an interdisciplinary lens to investigate how a ‘boomerang’ effect (i.e. sale, consumption, and return processes) impacts on the behaviour of the closed-loop system and to understand how it can be controlled. To facilitate this, we contrast closed-loop supply chain dynamics research to the well-developed research in each pillar; explore how different disciplines have accommodated the supply, process, demand, and control uncertainties; and provide insights for future research on the dynamics of remanufacturing systems

Research on the Comparison between the Different Policies by Service Level and Inventory Level Performance of Auto Parts in N.A.C.C. (North Automobile Components Company)

As after sales services become more and more popular, particularly preventive or corrective maintenance, the intervention and repair of the customer’s goods in a timely and efficient manner ensure customer satisfaction and contribute to the establishment of brand image in the market of the suppliers. The availability and quality of spare parts are key elements of this strategy while ensuring minimal management costs. The reuse of spare parts retrieved from customer systems is a growing maintenance strategy practice which impacts the traditional spare parts supply chain. This reuse is primarily driven by extending the economic life of goods, initially regarded as waste and therefore without added value, by transforming them into valuable spare parts that can be reused; secondly, for environmental or regulatory reasons, demanding responsibility for the treatment of products at the end of their life; and thirdly, to improve the availability of parts for maintenance, especially parts that the organization can no longer purchase or that are impacted by other issues. It also involves the analysis of their condition and their eventual return to working order as they are retrieved from the customer’s systems in a defective condition. In this paper, we will identify and classify the different customers and spare parts by estimating the critical level of rationing policy based on forecasts, identify the thresholds of inventory management policies, and finally, compare the different policies by service level and inventory level performance for the N.A.C.C. company