Problems Ailing the Automotive Industry Today
The outlook for the troubled automobile sector in the US is grim. It faces several tough challenges today, including stiff competition and over capacity. To sustain, it must adapt to changing times. Here’s a list of to-dos:
- Study the market well to anticipate what the car culture will be like in future
- Find a balance between core issues such as marketing, branding, and sales, during the short term
- Hire the best talent for key roles
- Stay efficient and customer oriented while dealing with extraneous pressures to build lasting brands
- Find a modern approach to overcome competition
- Continue to make money in a transparent and commoditized market
- Revolutionize the age-old mode of providing entertainment content to drivers and passengers. Today, automobiles come equipped with cellular modems. These are for low-data applications such as to notify deployment of airbag. The other uses include the entertainment content such as the audio. In the times to come, content will be increasingly enabled by either cable or wirelessly through a mobile phone plugged into the infotainment system of the car. The real change would be when the driver will automatically get the necessary content without having to rely on his/her mobile phone. Ultimately, no moving parts appear to be the only viable answer.
The Best Solution
The biggest bugbear of the automotive industry is moving parts. Automobile manufacturers are already saddled with a massive inventory in vehicles that are yet to be sold. Yet, there is pressure to roll out newer models to meet customer expectations. What is therefore necessary, is a seamless collaboration that runs through the enterprise to help match supply with demand, while services remain consistent and warranty claims continue to be managed well. There are professionals in the field that offer the most effective solutions for the automotive industry. Such solutions are effective in the following manner:
- In plan the sphere of planning for demand, there is total collaboration between internal stakeholders such as marketing and sales teams with external stakeholders such as dealers, to attain accuracy in forecasting
- Complex data concerning vehicles is unraveled in diverse configurations so change management can be introduced
- In the area of warranty management, an integrated solution is offered to address the entire field of warranty claim management
- The planning of spare parts distribution as well as the management of inventory is revamped for a totalistic solution
- Dealer collaboration and communication is facilitated with the help of portal solutions
- In production planning, the assembly line is rescheduled and vehicle sequencing is addressed
- Order commitment is enhanced through SAP solutions
- It is easier to track inventory with the help of increased visibility provided by bar coding and RFID integration
- There is an improvement in supplier registration and on-boarding besides procurement
- In the area of analytics, dashboards that have been pre-configured are provided along with customized reports for the automotive industry
The problems of bulging inventories and overwhelming competition need to be resolved. Only then, can the automobile industry be sustained.