Current Issues at OEMs and Suppliers

Abstract

The European automotive industry has been seen to be confronted by the consequences of advanced market saturation in the core markets of Western Europe, North America and Japan, and increasing competitive pressure from the Far East. Stagnating or partly declining sales figures, growing overcapacity and costs due to increasing model variety and individualisation of the products, as well as the development of new markets in the boom regions of the world characterise the challenges of the automotive industry at the beginning of the 21st century. Rising regulatory requirements in the areas of safety and environmental protection further increase pressure on automotive manufacturers and suppliers. Modular product design is intended to make the advancing variety of options controllable for companies and affordable for the customers. New collaborative planning methods are being developed to deal with the complexity of the multistage supply chains of the industry and to maintain its capacity to act. The approaches proposed by the work presented in this book to achieve build-to-order may enable companies to meet these challenges.