Supply chain processes automotive industry

When the journey for supply chain excellence started 30 years ago, each industry had a different starting point. They also had a different vision and path for their journey. The discrete and make-to-order manufacturers (aerospace and defense, automotive, and industrial manufacturing) supply chain processes originated in procurement. In contrast, the foundation of process companies supply chain organizations (chemical, consumer products, and pharmaceutical) was in manufacturing. 

A related phenomenon in the area of procurement and supplier relationships has been industry wide consortia where multiple buyers and suppliers within an industry join and conduct business. Better transactional efficiency has been highlighted as the key benefit of these consortia such as Covisint (automotive) and Converge (hi-tech). The dynamics of these entities are not very well understood and pose several important questions. For example, one could expect that having multiple suppliers on the same platform is likely to reduce prices for the buyer, but it is likely to benefit other buyers in the consortium as well. Thus, it is not clear if one should join the consortium in the first place. In fact, one of the reasons for Dell deciding not to join either of the high tech consortia, Converge or e2open, could be that they do not want to open up their supply chain processes to competitors. 

Nature of the customer Because most manufacturing output is consumed by other industries, many manufacturers are part of the supply chains ending in original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) in a single major industry automotive, aerospace, shipbuilding, household appliances, computers, etc. The members of the cheiin produce different Idnds of products, using different processes, with different business behaviors, but the behavior of the supply chain itself often is dominated by the demands of the OEMs. 

One of the key objectives of DDSC is to reduce demand amplification as it brings extra costs and inefficiencies like extra resource capacity, higher inventory levels, etc. Taylor (2000) reviews the effect of demand amplification in the supply chain and also proposes a practical approach to eliminate it through a seven step process. A pilot test was performed in UK automotive industry and showed an increase from 70 to 100% on the composite measure of delivery to time along the supply chain, and also a reduction of 30% in total supply chain inventory. 

AirSupply is a central aerospace SCM platform that facilitates secured and traceable communication across companies and provides valuable assistance at both operational and management level. As a result, processes with external partners are more transparent and dependable while various alert mechanisms allow exception-based management of the supply chain. It is based on technology from SupplyOn, a specialist in cross-company supply chain collaboration which is already established in the automotive industry. In close cooperation with BoostAeroSpace, SupplyOn s platform has been adapted to meet aU requirements specific to the aerospace industry. 

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