Build to Order: The Road to the 5 Day Car

Visit any modern car production line and you will be faced by a showcase of modern technology and advanced logistics combining in a clinical environment to produce rows of automobiles, each significantly different from the one before and after it. From stamping out the sheet steel body to driving a finished car off the line typically takes under 30 hours. However, if you try and buy a car to your specification you can expect to wait around 55 days, despite production lines frequently running below capacity. Why can’t you have your car in 30 hours plus delivery time?

The challenge of mass customisation, building cars to customer order, brings great value to both the customer and the automotive industry. Building cars to customer order eliminates the need for companies to hold billions of dollars worth of finished stock. Any company able to free this capital would improve their competitive position and be able to reinvest in future product development. The benefits to all are clear and the first to market an operational build-to-order system will generate a significant cost advantage that may be difficult to emulate. The question for many automotive executives is not when but how exactly will such a radically ‘different’ business model operate.

Build To Order: The Road to the 5-day Car addresses the conceptual and practical aspects for achieving the automotive industry’s next goal: the rapid delivery to the customer of a bespoke vehicle only days after placing an order.

Table of contents
Introduction and Overview
Glenn Parry & Andrew Graves, University of Bath School of Management, UK

The Evolution of Competition in the Automotive Industry
Matthias Holweg, Judge Business School, University of Cambridge, UK

BTO: Impacts, Trends and Open Issues
Andreas Reichhart & Matthias Holweg, Judge Business School, University of Cambridge, UK

Current Issues at OEMs and Suppliers
Alexandra Güttner and Thomas Sommer-Dittrich, Daimler AG; Group Research & Advanced Engineering; Materials, Manufacturing and Concepts, Germany

Outsourcing; Management and Practice within the Automotive Industry
Jens K. Roehrich, Centre for Research in Strategic Purchasing and Supply (CRiSPS); School of Management, University of Bath, UK

An Overview of Modular Car Architecture: the OEMs Perspective on How and Why
Philipp Gneiting and Thomas Sommer-Dittrich, Daimler AG; Group Research & Advanced Engineering; Materials, Manufacturing and Concepts, Germany

The Modular Body
Andreas Untiedt, ThyssenKrupp Steel AG, Germany

Modular Concepts and the Design of the ModCar Bodyshell
Maik Gude and Werner Hufenbach, Institut fuer Leichtbau und Kunststofftechnik, TU Dresden, Germany

Complexity Cost Management
J. Schaffer and H. Schleich, Leuphana University, Department of Automation and Production Technology, Lueneburg, Germany

Key Principles of Flexible Production and Logistics Networks
Bernd Hellingrath, Fraunhofer Institut Materialfluss und Logistik, Dortmund, Germany

Collaborative Planning Processes
Jan-Gregor Fischer, Intelligent Autonomous Systems, Corporate Technology, Siemens AG, Germany; Philipp Gneiting, Materials, Manufacturing and Concepts, Group Research & Advanced Engineering, Daimler AG, Germany

Collaborative Execution Processes
Joerg Mandel, Fraunhofer-Institut für Produktionstechnik und Automatisierung [IPA], Stuttgart, Germany

Functionalities of Supporting IT-systems
Jan-Gregor Fischer and Michael Berger, Intelligent Autonomous Systems, Corporate Technology, Siemens AG, Germany; Markus Witthaut, Fraunhofer-Institut für Materialfluss und Logistik, Germany

Modelled Scenario Examples of Planning and Execution Processes
Joerg Mandel and Stefanie Ost, Fraunhofer-Institut für Produktionstechnik und Automatisierung [IPA], Stuttgart, Germany

A BTO Reference Model for High-level Supply Chain Design
Katja Klingbiel, ebp-consulting GmbH, Stuttgart, Germany

Rapid Supply Chain Design by Integrating Modelling Methods
Thomas Seidel, 4flow AG, Berlin, Germany

Moving Towards BTO: an Engine Case Study
Michael Toth, Fraunhofer-Institut für Materialfluss und Logistik, Dortmund, Germany; Thomas Seidel, 4flow AG, Berlin, Germany; Katja Klingebiel, ebp-consulting GmbH, Stuttgart, Germany

How the Electro-mechanical Valve Train Accelerates Logistics and Reduces Costs
Thomas Seidel, 4flow AG, Berlin, Germany; Thomas Huth, FEV Motorentechnik, Aachen, Germany

Network Design for Build-To-Order Automotive Production
Kati Brauer and Thomas Seidel, 4flow AG, Berlin, Germany

Automotive e-hubs: Exploring Motivations and Barriers to Collaboration and Interaction
Mickey Howard, Richard Vidgen and Philip Powell, School of Management, University of Bath, Bath, UK

Automotive Supplier Park Strategies Supporting Build-To-Order
Joe Miemczyk, Audencia School of Management, Nantes, France; Mickey Howard, School of Management, University of Bath, Bath, UK

Managing the Transition to ‘5 Day Car’ in Europe
Gareth Stone, Valerie Crute & Andrew Graves, University of Bath School of Management, UK

The Road to the 5-day Car
Glenn Parry and Andrew Graves, University of Bath School of Management, UK.