Our View of the Sector
The only way is up
In the past twenty years, technical and technological design has advanced in leaps and bounds: the drawing board-to-market launch cycle of a new vehicle has been drastically shortened; costs have been cut back; the quality of materials used has improved; and vehicles have become significantly more reliable.
Nevertheless, automotive companies continue their relentless quest to fulfill customer requirements and thereby expand their businesses. Customer needs change constantly therefore propelling companies forward :
In the past twenty years, technical and technological design has advanced in leaps and bounds: the drawing board-to-market launch cycle of a new vehicle has been drastically shortened; costs have been cut back; the quality of materials used has improved; and vehicles have become significantly more reliable.
Nevertheless, automotive companies continue their relentless quest to fulfill customer requirements and thereby expand their businesses. Customer needs change constantly therefore propelling companies forward :
a wider, more varied offer and faster turnover;
vehicles that can be customized, inside and out;
flawless quality;
vehicles that cost less to buy and maintain;
blobalization of the world's garages for purchasing and repairing vehicles (deregulation).
Implementing innovative solutions, based on PLM
In order to meet this vast spectrum of requirements, a number of material changes need to be implemented in companies' approach to "vehicle programs": rolling out a PLM organizational structure, re-examining project coordination, installing new tools and setting up new working methods. Solutions currently being applied in the industry include :
All these solutions require support from an external source of expertise and skill if they are to be deployed successfully and rapidly.
In order to meet this vast spectrum of requirements, a number of material changes need to be implemented in companies' approach to "vehicle programs": rolling out a PLM organizational structure, re-examining project coordination, installing new tools and setting up new working methods. Solutions currently being applied in the industry include :
developing shared platforms
for vehicles and creating modular factories that
can be rapidly adapted to suit different platforms;
implementing hardware and software
architecture based on multi-country working environments
that is collaborative and enables international subcontracting
to be instigated without violating the intellectual property rights
of models;
eneralizing the "Digital Mock-up" in order to optimize its use by all a company's divisions, for example: the possibility of studying a stripped down version of a vehicle at a very early stage of the design process;
streamlining industrial processes using simulation software;
preserving knowledge in order to ensure that it can be used in the future, thereby benefiting from a company's experience.
All these solutions require support from an external source of expertise and skill if they are to be deployed successfully and rapidly.