College of Economic and Management Sciences (UNISA)
Abstract
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
