Challenges for achieving competitiveness in the EU automotive industry

78 78 ACC JOURNAL 2019, Volume 25, Issue 2 DOI: 10.15240/ ul/004/2019-2-006 CHALLENGES FOR ACHIEVING COMPETITIVENESS IN THE EU AUTOMOTIVE INDUSTRY Má cio Rod igues1; Bea iz Mendes2; E a Ší o á3 1,3 Technical Uni e si y o Libe ec, Facul y o Economics, Depa men o Business Adminis a ion and Managemen , S uden ská 1402/2, 461 17 Libe ec, Czech Republic 2 S a e Uni e si y o Campinas (Unicamp), São Paulo, B azil e-mail: 1ma cio. od [email p o ec ed]; 2bea iz. mende[email p o ec ed]; 3e[email p o ec ed] Abs ac A clea unde s anding o cus ome ’s needs is an essen ial aspec in he pu sui o compe i i eness in companies. Answe ing he ques ion which one deli e s he bes p oduc o se ice becomes ha de as he ime lows, as all o hem a e in pu sui o achie ing he same goal: uly unde s and how he ma ke beha es. I is a ac ha compe i i eness and benchma king p ocess among au omo i e companies a e challenging in a s able global economic scena io. How would hose p ocesses look like in a global economic c isis? Which challenges will companies ha e o add ess in o de o be compe i i e in his scena io? This a icle p esen s a case s udy o a global au omo i e supplie and he challenges i aced du ing he 2008-2009 economic c isis o e s a is ical analysis o i s demand and down imes, whe e many lessons lea ned om his scena io could be s udied o be e p edic ion and handling u u e ones. Keywo ds Benchma king; Compe i i eness; Au omo i e indus y; Global inancial c isis. In oduc ion The ques ion which company deli e s he bes p oduc o p o ides he bes se ice becomes ha de as he ime lows, as all o hem a e in pu sui o achie ing he same goal: uly unde s and which he cus ome ’s needs a e. Due o he e olu ion o humani y and i s as e means o knowledge dissemina ion h oughou he globe, hose demands become mo e complex o ul ill, as p oduc s and se ices need o be mo e cus omizable, adap able and, a he same ime, eliable, obus and wi h g ea quali y e alua ion. These aspec s seem o be e y subjec i e when di e en ma ke s a e analyzed bu he e is ce ainly one aspec ha needs o be aken in o conside a ion so ha a p oduc , a se ice and, consequen ly, a company be compe i i e: he lowes selling p ice possible. And aking i deepe in o he p oduc ion o agg ega e alue chain, he s a emen becomes a ma e o who ac ually deli e s he lowes cos possible. In o de o compa e companies o a same ma ke , he p ocess o benchma king has been used since i s i s publica ion in 1989, whe e he ones which a e a ed as ma ke leade s o de ain he bigges ma ke sha e o also conside ed a e e ence acco ding o a de e mined compa ison pa ame e (e.g. Quali y con ol, cos , lead ime, eliabili y, obus ness, se ice le el and o he s) se he le el o he o he compe i o s (Delb idge, 1995 e al). I also p o ides suppo o compa ison o di e en plan s and p ocesses o one company, inding possible gaps and imp o emen oppo uni ies wi hin he p oduc ion p ocesses. 79 79 Leading he discussion o he au omo i e indus y, compe i i eness and benchma king p ocesses a e e en mo e sensible, as i s p ocesses and p oduc s ha e a high complexi y le el and a huge impac on he wo ld economy (Žižka, 2016). I ’s no only a ma e o which company has he lowes p oduc ion cos s, bu also a e y de ailed quali y con ol p og am (mos ly implemen ed wi h To al Quali y Managemen ), main enance o p oduc ion machine y and a e sales, spa e pa s con ol, in e nal and ex e nal logis ics, adminis a ion o he supply chain and a e y impo an , key aspec : he en i onmen al impac (Sulí o á e al., 2017). Clea ly, i ’s no a simple p ocess o de e mine which au omo i e b and would be called as he “bes -in-class”. I ’s mainly a ma e o which pa ame e (s) is (a e) aken in o conside a ion o compa ison. Ano he impo an aspec wo h men ioning is he geog aphical e ec o he ma ke , which is deeply ela ed o he cus ome p o ile. Despi e he ac ha au omo i e ma ke widens i s global e ec each yea , i would be accu a e o compa e equally how compe i i e a ehicle is in di e en ma ke s wi hou unde s anding cus ome ’s ca p e e ences? I would deli e inaccu a e in o ma ion o he company. All hose app oaches p ope ly add ess he ac ha compe i i eness and benchma king p ocess be ween au omo i e companies a e challenging in a s able global economic scena io. How would hose p ocesses look like in a global economic c isis? Which challenges mus companies add ess in o de o be compe i i e in his scena io? To unde s and his ques ion, his pape b ings an analysis o which challenges an au omo i e supplie om Eu opean Union (EU) aced du ing he 2008-2009 global c isis in i s main enance p ocess. Be o e ocusing on he company’s da a, i ’s necessa y o unde s and he impac s o he global economic c isis on he au omo i e indus y p esen ed in he nex chap e o his pape . The pape is di ided in o i e sec ions. Chap e 1 shows ele an li e a u e esea ch ega ding benchma king and compe i i eness. Chap e 2 p esen s ele an in o ma ion abou he s udied company. Chap e 3 b ings conclusions and u u e possible wo ks om his esea ch. 1 B ie Li e a u e Re iew: Benchma king Since he ea ly 80’s he concep and applica ion o he benchma king p ocess ha e been s udied and published in li e a u e, including he discussion o Xe ox Co po a ion p ac ices compa ing ope a ional cos s be ween US and Japanese plan s (Delb ige e al, 1995). The concep was o iginally adop ed by he Wes inghouse P oduc i i y and Quali y Ca e, when Xe ox won he Malcolm Bald ige Na ional Quali y Awa d in 1989. I co ela es he pu sui o be e p ac ices o imp o e compe i i e pe o mance, quo ed as: “Benchma king is a con inuous sea ch o an applica ion o signi ican ly be e p ac ices ha lead o supe io compe i i e pe o mance.” (Camp, 1989) Du ing he 90’s and ea ly 2000’s, a ew publica ions discussed he concep b ough in 1989, b inging guidelines, ela ionship wi h p ac icabili y, imp o emen oppo uni ies esul ing om he benchma king p ocess. Da akuma (2003) p esen s hese pe spec i es o e he concep shown in Table 1. 80 80 Tab. 1: Ou come o ea lie li e a u e e iews # Pape Ti le Ou come 1 “Roadmap o cu en benchma king li e a u e”, by Jackson e al. (1994) The pape gi es a guideline o he classifica ion o li e a u e on benchma king, based on he ypes o benchma king and associa ed issues and commen s on each a icle in e ms o hese c i e ia 2 “Re iew o key publica ions on benchma king: pa I and pa II”, by Zai i and Yousse (1995c, 1996) The pape s spell ou in de ail abou he con en s o only books on benchma king in e ms o he p ac icabili y and applicabili y o he esou ce ma e ial. Publica ions in jou nals and con e ences a e omi ed in his pape 3 “Benchma king: a selec bibliog aphy”, by Vig (1995) The pape is a ge ed owa ds pe sonnel in lib a ies, o enable hem o ack au ho wise classifica ion o a icles on benchma king 4 “A amewo k o benchma king in he public- sec o li e a u e e iew and di ec ions o u u e esea ch”, by Do sch and Yasin (1998) In he pape , he au ho s ha e iden ified ha he academic communi y is lagging in e ms o p o iding and ad ancing models and amewo ks ha in eg a e he many ace s o o ganiza ional benchma king. The au ho s also men ion ha mos o he benchma king know-how a ailable a e he esul s o p ac i ione s’ e o s. 5 “The heo y and p ac ice o benchma king; hen and now”, by Yasin (2002) The pape summa izes ha despi e he inc easing scope o benchma king ac i i ies and he numbe o o ganiza ions u ilizing benchma king, he field o benchma king emains o a la ge ex en wi hou a uni ying heo y o guide i s ad ancemen . Also, a call is gi en o de eloping inno a i e me hodologies o guide benchma king p ac ices in e-comme ce and supply chain managemen Sou ce: Adap ed om Da akuma (2003) Recen publica ions explo e he de ini ion o a amewo k (De os e al. 2006), b inging he need o a se o pa ame e s o aspec s delimi ing he benchma king p ocess, i.e. he base da a o compa ison be ween companies (e.g. lowes lead- ime, highes se ice le el, bigges Mean Time Be ween Failu es (MTBF) and o he s). De os e al. (2006) p esen some models o gene ic benchma king p ocesses (as ci ed in Spendolinni, 1992 and NPC, 1999), whe e he main s eps o hei implemen a ion a e explained, as shown in Figu es 1a and 1b. The i s one shows in a PDCA-like cycle he phases and hei bene i s o he compa ison p ocess. The second one is a lowcha o he main phases o his p ocess. 81 81 Sou ce: Baba (2006) (as ci ed in Spendolinni 1992 and NPC 1999) Fig. 1: a (le ) and b ( igh ): Models o he benchma king p ocess O he au ho s b ing classi ica ion and di e en ia ion inside he benchma king p ocess (F ey ag and Hollesen, 2001), gi ing i a be e p ac ical and applicable app oach. They di ide he whole p ocess in o h ee main de ini ions:  Benchma king as an independen g owing p ocess o e iciency, which elies on analysis o pe o mance le els o wha is in examina ion compa ed o o he le els inside he o ganiza ion and iden i ica ion o oo causes o pe o mances p oblems o p ope guide co po a e ac i i ies econ igu a ion (as ci ed in K u een 1999);  Benchlea ning associa ed wi h he p e iously men ioned “bes -in-class” company o objec in o de o abso b hose p ac ices in all company, also known as “lea n om he bes ” and  Benchac ion as he wo k plan o implemen a ion o all changes ob ained om benchma king and benchlea ning, and also o imp o e employees wi h aining and de elopmen . F ey ag and Hollesen (2001) also de ine some ypes o benchma king, depending on wha he company wan s o compa e:  In e nal: ela ed o p ocesses and uni s ha ha e simila unc ions, iden i ying he bes in e nal p ac ices and expanding o he o he uni s;  Indus y (also called by he au ho s as unc ional): This is an in e nal o ex e nal compa ison, which measu es he company’s unc ional ope a ions and hen compa es o simila measu es om o he companies, mos ly wi h ma ke leade s o which de ains he bigges ma ke sha e. I ’s also no a di ec compe i ion, mos ly in ended o sha e in o ma ion o p ocesses imp o emen s wi hin a ma ke o mul ina ional company;  Compe i i e: Ex e nal compa ison used agains di ec compe i o s, in o de o change he ma ke sha e be ween hem, poin ing ailu es and ad an ages o concu en p oduc s and se ices. In o ma ion is ha de o be ob ained om his p ocess and gene ally in ol es high cos s and  P ocess (also called as gene ic by he au ho s): his one compa es simila p ocedu es a dissimila companies and i ’s e y ha d o implemen , because i needs a e y solid and 82 82 b oad unde s anding o p ocess and p ocedu es, in o de o ex apola e o o he ma ke s o indus ies. They also compa e ad an ages and disad an ages o he benchma king p ocess wi hin and ac oss indus ies, shown in Table 2. Tab. 2: Ad an ages and disad an ages o benchma king wi hin and ac oss indus ies Benchma king wi hin he indus y Benchma king ac oss indus ies Ad an ages: simila i y o he compe i i e si ua ion eases he ans e o expe ience Ad an ages: inspi a ion o imp o e p ocesses, e c. In which a eas a e he ad an ages bes and/o easy o ealize D awbacks: he pe cep ion o he compe i i e si ua ion is oo na ow which makes i di icul o ca ch up wi h o he companies as ega ds compe i ion D awbacks: i is di icul o ans e expe ience ac oss indus ies. Pe haps elimina e ocus om he ob ious p oblems in he company Sou ce: Adap ed om Da akuma (2003) 2 Resul s o he Resea ch 2.1 The S udied Company Due o con iden iali y, he name o he company won’ be p esen ed in his a icle. Howe e , o his esea ch, he da a analyzed on nex subchap e s we e ob ained om a global au omo i e ex e io pa s supplie , mos ly om i s ac i i ies in he Czech Republic ope a ions acili ies. Acco ding o i s 2016 annual epo , i egis e ed a ne e enue o US$ 2.78 billion, wi h mo e han 155,000 employees alloca ed in 29 coun ies a ound he wo ld. The Czech acili y is esponsible o p oduc ion and assembly o on and ea bumpe s, ene gy managemen sys ems, polyca bona e modules, spoile s o ae odynamics and many o he pa s inside a as p oduc po olio o he global au omo i e ma ke . Sou ce: AIE (2016) Fig. 2: Compa a i e demand o passenge ca s in Eu opean Ma ke As he demand o passenge ca s has subs an ially dec eased in 2009 and eached he lowes alue in he ho izon o he las 10 yea s, as shown in Figu e 2 o he whole Eu opean ma ke , many challenges ha e appea ed o i s ope a ion: s ock managemen and i s inc eased cos , as p edic ed demand was expec ed o be much bigge , a new pa e n o seasonal demand, inc ease o machine y non p oduc ion and many o he s, b inging he company a big educ ion 83 83 o i s ne e enue by he end o he yea as a e lex o his global c isis and inc easing o a iable and ixed cos s. In he nex subchap e he main ocus o he case s udy is desc ibed in de ail. 2.2 Resea ch Objec i es The da a analysis conduc ed by he s a is ical SW Mini ab aims o check he s a is ical co ela ions be ween some pa ame e s in he au omo i e indus y, such as seasonal demand and s oppage ime. I is impo an o highligh ha he conclusions p esen ed he e a e ela ed o he yea o 2009, which, as said be o e, was a u bulen pe iod o he wo ld and also he Eu opean au omo i e indus y. 2.3 Discussion In Figu e 3 below, i is possible o obse e ha he numbe o main enance, which is s ongly ela ed o p oblems occu ed in-line p oduc ion, p obably due o demand. I is clea o obse e ha main enance a he beginning and a he end o he yea is qui e lowe han he es o he yea , also i is no a ying close o he mean, as he o he esul s. I is impo an o highligh ha he da a p o ided o Janua y s a on he day 26, so many da a a e p obably los o he p oduc ion aced a long ecession. Sou ce: Own Fig. 3: Numbe o main enances pe mon h in 2009 Besides he numbe o main enance o Janua y and Decembe a e no close o he mean, as i can be obse ed in Figu e 4, hey a e s ill in o he con idence le el o 95%. I means ha he p ocess is in s eady-s a e – p- alue o oscilla ion is abo e alpha o 0.05 – and he e a e no ou lie s in his p oduc ion line. So, o his pe iod o ime, special causes can be neglec ed. This ac is jus i ied by he p- alue o clus e ing abo e alpha alue. Also, a ia ion in numbe o main enance shows a downwa d end om mon h 6 – p- alue o ends o 0.598 – which 84 84 can be caused by implemen a ion o a be e p oduc ion con ol o equipmen o dec ease in p oduc ion. Sou ce: Own Fig. 4: Va ia ion in numbe o main enance o a con idence le el o 95% in 2009 In o de o comple e he e alua ion o hese da a, a no mali y es was conduc ed and he esul s a e shown in Figu e 5. As he da a a e no a om he i ed dis ibu ion line ( ed line) and he p- alue is highe he alpha alue, he null hypo hesis, which he da a do no ollow a no mal beha io , can be neglec ed by lack o in o ma ion o p o e i . Howe e , i 's no possible o a i m ha i p esen s a no mal beha io . I is also impo an o analyze he du a ion o each main enance, since i a ec s he p o i s and p obably he whole p oduc ion chain. Figu e 6 shows he a ia ion in ime o each mon h. In Janua y, he a ia ion occu s due o he lack o da e, which means ha he da a will no con e ge o he mean alue, as he o he esul s. In ela ion o mon hs om Feb ua y o Decembe , he du a ion o main enance ime a ies app oxima ely o a mean. When he Janua y da a a e excluded, i is possible o no e ha he a ia ion in main enance ime is app oxima ely o 100 minu es. 121110987654321 250 200 150 100 50 0 Mon h Main enance Mean _ _ X=107.9 UCL=225.9 LCL=-10.1 Va ia ion in Numbe o Main enance o Con idence Le el o 95%. 85 85 Sou ce: Own Fig. 5: No mali y es o numbe o main enance in 2009 Sou ce: Own Fig. 6: In e al plo o main enance ime o each mon h in 2009 Decembe /09 No embe /09 Oc obe /09 Sep embe /09 Augus /09 July/09 June/09 May/09 Ap il/09 Ma ch/09 Feb ua y/09 Janua y/09 500 400 300 200 100 0 Da a 95% CI o he Mean Indi idual s anda d de ia ions we e used o calcula e he in e als. Time In e al Plo o Each Mon h 86 86 Conclusion This a icle has been in ended o discuss and p esen challenges aced by companies om he au omo i e sec o du ing he 2008-2009 global c isis, ocusing on he Eu opean Ma ke . Chap e 1 explo es ele an concep s on he benchma king p ocess, p esen ing ongoing and pas models and explana ion o i s undamen als. Chap e 2 p esen s he main con ibu ion o his a icle, discussing he e ec s o he c isis in a global au omo i e supplie company in Eu ope, p esen ing some s a is ical analysis o e seasonal demand and s oppage ime. A e a b ie in oduc ion and a li e a u e e iew o ele an concep s and opics o benchma king, i is clea ha achie ing compe i i eness is a cons an need o majo mul ina ional companies, especially in a c isis scena io, whe e a ailable esou ces a e a i s lowe le el, cos s a highe , demand as minimum as e e and many ope a ional p oblems come ahead o make his p ocess e en ha de . Wha is impo an o sus ain is ha all lessons lea ned ha came om in e mi ency and seasonal e ec o demand in a c isis en i onmen a e e en mo e sensi i e han a egula economic scena io and se e as a base o imp o emen o demand o ecas and p edic ion pa e ns o he u u e. Who knows when he nex economic c isis comes? I ’s no 100% gua an eed o p edic , bu i is de ini ely necessa y o be eady when i comes again. Fu u e esea ch on he opic discussed in his a icle is possible, as indi idual aspec s o main enance, size o s ocks, demand o ecas and so on and so o h can be discussed based on he da a collec ed o his a icle, as a consequence o how ele an i is o unde s and he e ec s o a global economic c isis om all pe spec i es in companies and i s impac and challenges o achie ing compe i i eness. Acknowledgemen s This a icle was suppo ed by SGS 21301 “P ojec Managemen and In o ma ion Sys ems in Quali y and Supply Chain Managemen ” p o ided by Technical Uni e si y o Libe ec, Czech Republic Li e a u e [1] DEROS, B. M.; YUSOF, S. M.; SALLEH, A. M.: A benchma king implemen a ion amewo k o au omo i e manu ac u ing SMEs. Benchma king: An In e na ional Jou nal. 2006, 13(4), 396-430. DOI: 10.1108/14635770610676272 [2] BARTRAM, S. M.; BODNAR, G. M.: No place o hide: The global c isis in equi y ma ke s in 2008/2009. Jou nal o In e na ional Money and Finance. 2009, 28(8), 1246- 1292. 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