To cope with the rising demands, automotive companies have to reduce their work-in-progress and especially their stock of finished products as well as to shorten order lead times. A promising approach to achieve these challenges is to question the production approach used and to improve it by implementing new strategics. A well-known strategy for the required optimisation is Build-to-Order, which is currently used by major automotive companies. On the other hand, in other progressive industries like computer industries, the configuration of customised products by the assembly of standardised components is an approach that is successfully used to reduce stocks and order lead times. Now a novel approach is presented with Customise-to-Order, that is based on the postponement of the customer order decoupling point, that results in the customisation of a standard component into a costumer-specific one, towards the latest possible point, in final assembly or even at the car dealer, leading to a rapprochement towards the usage of configure-to-order in automotive industries. This postponement is based on the enrichment of classical mechanical components with electronics and software, resulting in mechatronic components. The resulting mechatronic components, for example next generation chassis, are solely customised by software and parameterisation. Obviously, such a software-based approach is not suitable for all parts and components of a car. But it is able to supplement existing strategics towards a highly competitive overall production approach, which is a combination of several strategics for specific parts and components of motor vehicles.
Towards an integration of Build-to-Order and Customize-to-Order in automotive industries
2008
8 Seiten, 4 Bilder, 3 Quellen
Conference paper
English
Towards an integration of build-to-order and customize-to-order in automotive industries
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