N° and issue date : 130601 - 01/06/2013

Circulation : 26120 Page : 10

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Automation_130601_10_3.pdf 624 cm2

Website: www.connectingindustry.com 

Industry Focus Automotive Supply Chain

Faced

with a growing need to

expand into new markets such as China

, India and Brazil and gain

market share as quickly as possible

, automotive manufacturers increasingly need to set-up production facilities and onboard trading partners in ever shorter periods of time.

Many manufacturers have turned to

global vehicle platforms to help meet this demand

, which sees them sharing

designs , components and production efforts across multiple models and

types . This in-turn helps to rationalise

suppliers and standardise on components and other sub-systems used in the manufacture of the vehicles. Uniting vehicle platforms naturally provides an opportunity to consolidate internal IT

, business and

associated production systems as well.

Having a standard vehicle platform that can be used across multiple markets provides the most cost efficient

way of undertaking international

expansion projects , and Volkswagen ( VW ) has been a particularly strong example of this . The company owns more car brands than any other car manufacturer and has achieved a high level of commonality across their vehicle platforms and parts ,

whilst at the same time retaining the individual

identity of each car brand. VW' s next generation MQB platform

will provide a significant competitive advantage in the market

,and is tipped

by some analysts to be as significant for the industry as Henry Ford '

s

production line and Toyota' s Just-In-Time production system . Even though it has taken six years and $70bn to develop the platform

,it is expected to see a

$19bn saving by 2019.

Rapid global expansion still presents a number of wider challenges for

supply chain , logistics and IT

infrastructure professionals supporting new facilities , however . To address this , manufacturers should complement the benefits of a shared platform with cloud-based B2B integration to

provide the flexibility and agility their

expanded supply chains need . In fact , cloud B2B integration and global vehicle platforms are remarkably similar across three key areas.

1 : 0

Above : Mark Morley ,

director of industry

marketing for manufacturing

, GXS

Below : as globalisation

continues , automotive production and cloud B2B environments will share many characteristics consolidation ,

standardisation and

reduced complexity

Increased standardisation Common vehicle platforms allow manufacturers to consolidate parts and hence rationalise suppliers

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Holding the key to global expansion Mark Morley

, director of industry marketing for manufacturing at GXS ,takes a closer look at how automotive manufacturers can expand into new markets via the use of global platforms and cloud B2B

which also helps to reduce inventory levels but more importantly simplifies global supply chains . The only downside with introducing more

standard parts across multiple car brands is that it significantly increases the chance of more vehicle recalls if a part fails.

This in turn places more pressure on the Tier 1 suppliers to increase the

quality of the parts they supply to their customers . Introducing a cloud-based B2B

platform helps to standardise the way in

which a car manufacturer engages with its suppliers . A centrally hosted suite of

Software-as-a-Service ( SaaS )

applications can be deployed very quickly across an existing trading partner community and they also help to onboard new suppliers in remote locations.

Deploying a cloud-based platform can provide a significant competitive advantage when entering a new market . Companies can also standardise in other areas

, such as using

communication protocols such as OFTP2 or even a standard message set . The German automotive industry is currently working towards standardising on a new global message set based on EDIFACT

, as they find the traditional

VDA message set too restrictive when

supporting their global operations.

Reduced complexity Common vehicle platforms allow vehicle sub-systems to be used across

multiple vehicles , which helps to simplify the production process . The production environment itself can also be significantly simplified allowing new

production lines to be established in new regions around the world in a rel

atively short period of time. For example Just-In-Time

production has been used for many years ,

but common vehicle platforms will

encourage more ' Supply In Line Sequence' ( SILS ) production to take place i.e .different vehicles being assembled on the same production line . Cloud B2B platforms help to remove the complexity of managing today' s supply chains . From

simplifying the management of trading partners to improving end to end

visibility of global shipments , cloud

B2B platforms offer many advantages over more traditional behind the firewall B2B software environments.

From mediating between different communication protocols

, document

standards or even integrating with a back end ERP platform such as SAP , cloud B2B platforms help to shield users from the complexities of both

deploying and managing a global B2B platform.

As globalisation continues ,

automotive production and cloud B2B environments will share many characteristics

, consolidation

,

standardisation and reduced complexity. Cloud B2B allows vehicle manufacturers to scale their B2B requirements to meet the needs of their global production environments and associated

supply chain network .Increased

adoption of common vehicle platforms will help to drive further widespread adoption of cloud-based B2B platforms over the next few years.

GXS

www.gxs.co.uk T : 01932 776 047 Enter201

JUNE 20 1 Automation

 

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