Automotive
Automakers or automobile manufacturers are companies that both design and manufacture automobiles. Most of them are based in Germany, Japan, South Korea or the United States. While automakers are headquartered in a smaller number of countries, manufacturing facilities exist in a large number of countries. Some countries simply have cheaper labour. Other countries will encourage or mandate a certain amount of local employment and use of locally-produced parts before an automaker is allowed to sell in a country.
Common characteristics of the Automotive Industry
Automotive manufacturers share many common characteristics:
- Production based on forecasting.
- Demand driven by economic health and increasingly by environmental regulations.
- Capital intensive.
- Mass production using moving assembly lines.
- Quality control.
- High level of automation in production.
- Make-to-order.
- Finish-to-order.
- Engineer-to-order.
- Complex bills of material.
- Just-in-time.
- Just-in-sequence.
- Highly competitive.
- Long lead times from concept to market.
- Planned maintenance of manufacturing equipment.
- Sales through global dealer networks.
- Ongoing research and development.
- Computer Aided Design (CAD).
Automotive industry challenges
The challenges they potentially face are to:
- Reduce forecast error.
- Reduce environmental impact of products.
- Produce energy efficient products.
- Improve time to global markets.
- Compete with increased competition from alternative transport methods.
- Comply with safety and environmental regulations.
- Improve efficiency of global product delivery.
- Manage component requirements.
- Manage a large number of component suppliers.
- Control component inventory.
- Manage labour.
SYSPRO product modules can address these challenges
SYSPRO addresses these challenges with the following modules from its extensive enterprise resource planning suite. Suggested modules include:
- Blanket Sales Orders and Releases Module.
- Forecasting Module.
- Engineering Change Control Module.
- Quotations Module.
- Bill of Materials Module.
- Product Configurator Module.
- Lot Traceability Module.
- Work in Progress Module.
- Requirements Planning Module.
- Factory Documentation.
- Factory Scheduling System.
- Activity Based Costing Module.
- SYSPRO Reporting Services Module.
