Introduction and Overview

Abstract

This book addresses the conceptual and practical aspects of the automotive industry’s next goal – the delivery to the customer of a bespoke vehicle 5 days after placing the order. We have brought together a selection of leading European automotive experts from across industry and academia to provide insights into the goals of producing cars to order. Whilst the “voices” are all different, the message is the same – build to order is the future of the European motor industry. A compelling need to change has been identified and viable methods to do so have been developed and are presented here. Whilst the research and findings are the result of many years’ work in the automotive industry, most have application in many other sectors. Many car companies are losing money. The mass-production business model of the automotive industry is flawed and perhaps becoming dysfunctional. The industry suffers from global overcapacity and rising stock levels and exhibits inherently low profitability. It has now been nearly two decades since “lean production” was documented and the auto industry in the West set out to employ Japanese best practice and close the productivity gap. While lean efforts have delivered improvements in manufacturing efficiency, they have been largely ineffective in increasing profitability, due to a myopic focus on factory processes. The automotive industry has optimised systems for mass production, but not tackled the problems of capacity and demand. We find ourselves in a position where, following leading practice, a car can be built from flat steel in a production facility within 11 h. A customer ordering a car in a dealership has to wait around 40 days to purchase their desired vehicle, or buy one from stock. How has this occurred?