Global Automotive Industry

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A Deloitte Research and Stanford Global Supply Chain Management Forum Global Manufacturing Viewpoint

INTEGRATING DEMAND AND SUPPLY CHAINS IN THE

GLOBAL AUTOMOTIVE INDUSTRY
Building a Digital Loyalty Network at General Motors

Deloitte Research

STANFORD GLOBAL SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT FORUM

TABLE OF CONTENTS
Executive Summary ........................................................................... 1 The Effect of Automotive Digital Loyalty Networks .......................... 4 Demand and Supply Chain Challenges in the Global Automotive Industry .............................................................. 7 Challenges Met: Building a Digital Loyalty Network at General Motors ............................................................. 11 Laying the Foundation ............................................................. 11 Customer Relationship Management Initiatives ......................... 13 Supply Chain Management Initiatives ...................................... 16 Conclusion ...................................................................................... 21 About Deloitte Research .................................................................. 25 About the Stanford Global Supply Chain Management Forum ........................................................................ 25

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Deloitte Research – Integrating Demand and Supply Chains in the Global Automotive Industry

Executive Summary
Automotive executives are all too familiar with the issues troubling their industry these days: From globalization and economic uncertainty to new technologies and increasing consumer demands, they are facing major challenges that often stand in the way of profitability and higher shareholder value. Industry experts have gone so far as to proclaim that the business model for the automobile industry is broken. As one leading industry insider put it in early 2002: “If you don’t have a different business model going forward, you’re probably not needed.”1 In response, beleaguered automakers around the world have scrambled to cut costs while focusing on improved product quality and design. Moving quickly and nimbly is imperative, yet the web of complexity in the industry, with its vast networks of suppliers and distribution channels, as well as a long history of bureaucracy, make it difficult for automakers to turn on a dime. They also recognize the need to build stronger strategic relationships with suppliers, dealers, and even competitors to get to market more quickly with the right product for consumers at the right price. While there is no quick fix, nor a panacea that will cure all of the industry’s ills, one area in particular goes a long way toward building a sustainable, valuecreating business model that will lead to increased efficiency and profitability. Called a digital loyalty network (DLN), this model leverages the latest digital technologies to integrate the demand and supply sides of the business. A DLN allows automakers to recognize what customers want, identify customers by value, and closely collaborate with suppliers to serve customers more profitably. A recent study by Deloitte Research found that the 13 percent of manufacturing companies that are pursuing a DLN strategy are up to 70 percent more profitable than other companies (Figure 1). The study also shows that those same companies, a group that we call Loyalty Networkers, excel in other areas of business performance as well, including sales growth, market share, return on assets, and return to shareholders.

Deloitte Research – Integrating Demand and Supply Chains in the Global Automotive Industry

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FIGURE 1. DIGITAL LOYALTY NETWORKS QUADRANT
High Collaborators Loyalty Networkers 70% more profitable 10% more profitable

(26%) Supply Chain Collaboration

(13%)

Market Takers

Loyalist

(46% of Respondents) 100 = base Low (15%)

54% more profitable

Customer Loyalty

High

Note: Size of circle represents share of 850+ companies surveyed globally SOURCE: DELOITTE RESEARCH

For the past few years, the automotive industry overall has been putting a number of measures in place to respond to increased customer demands. For example, by leveraging new Web-based communication and transaction technologies, automakers have been building the capabilities for a business model that supports build-to-order (BTO) processes in addition to the traditional build-to-stock (BTS) model. This allows automakers to respond better to customers who are increasingly more knowledgeable and demanding about their preferred vehicle configurations. But while BTO helps automakers to differentiate products and meet specific customer needs, it does not help identify levels of customer profitability that lead to the increased value that automakers are striving for. With its added focus on customer profitability, a DLN goes further than the BTO model. A DLN lowers costs and boosts efficiency for each member of the automotive value network by integrating the supply chain and aligning its priorities with the needs, wants, and value of each customer. Indeed, all participants in the value chain – automakers, suppliers, dealers, and customers – reap the rewards of a DLN strategy through what we call the “network effect.” This means that each member provides more value to – and receives more benefit from — the network than could be found by a competitive source outside the network.

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Deloitte Research – Integrating Demand and Supply Chains in the Global Automotive Industry

One of the U.S. Big Three automakers, General Motors, has already made great strides in building a DLN. Endorsed by Rick Wagoner, GM’s CEO, and driven by leaders from the technology, customer, and supply chain sides of the company, the DLN initiative is helping GM deliver new levels of value to customers, supply chain partners, and, ultimately, shareholders. As its name implies, a DLN includes the three components GM is focusing on: “digital” for technology-enabled; “loyalty” for a focus on customers and on increasing their loyalty and lifetime value to GM; and “network” for coordinating and leveraging all supply and distribution chain partners to serve those customers. On the customer side, GM has implemented GM BuyPower and GM Owner Center, two Web-based portals that, respectively, improve the buying experience and serve as an ongoing resource for vehicle owners. Further increasing its touch points with customers is OnStar, a telematics service that offers safety, security, and convenience features at the touch of a button. On the supply chain side, GM’s initiatives include GM SupplyPower, its online procurement portal, and its Order-To-Delivery program, designed to reduce inventory and increase customer satisfaction and loyalty by delivering vehicles faster and more reliably. The company is also making major headway in collaboration efforts for supply chain management and product design and development, as well as further improvements in CRM and logistics. GM is integrating such initiatives to take advantage of the benefits of a DLN. As our research shows and as GM’s transformation is beginning to demonstrate, an integrated, differentiated value chain can go a long way toward improving the overall performance of the automotive industry.

Deloitte Research – Integrating Demand and Supply Chains in the Global Automotive Industry

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The Effect of Automotive Digital Loyalty Networks
For many years, the automotive industry has been described as an industry that has destroyed, rather than created, value. Facing such issues as slow time to market, costly inventories, overcapacity, and low customer satisfaction and loyalty, automakers have launched numerous initiatives in attempts to boost profitability and shareholder value. From product innovation and new services, to lean manufacturing and customer relationship management, these efforts have touched on many of the problems, but have yet to provide an overall answer on how to enhance value. One answer lies in the integration of these disparate efforts; namely, in integrating the demand and supply chain sides of the business. Achieved through a model known as a digital loyalty network (DLN), this approach uses digital technologies to optimize an automaker’s supply network based on customer value and loyalty. On the supply chain side, what this means is flawless execution for a company’s most valuable customers, the ability to manage inventory across all types of customers, and short- and long-term capacity planning that is responsive to customer priorities. On the customer side, it means working with dealers to understand “true” customer value based on their real requirements and total supply chain costs to serve them. To identify the benefits of a DLN strategy, Deloitte Research recently conducted a study of more than 850 manufacturing executives in 35 countries to measure their companies’ levels of supply chain collaboration and customer loyalty. The standout results of this study involved a group we call Loyalty Networkers – those companies that have integrated their collaborative supply chains with a strong focus on customer loyalty. Our results show that Loyalty Networkers are up to 70 percent more profitable than other companies in the study (Figure 2). The results also show that Loyalty Networkers are up to three times more likely to show superior sales growth, market share, return on assets, and shareholder value as companies that do not combine supply chain collaboration with a customer loyalty focus (Figure 3). The study also highlighted a powerful result of a DLN: by combining supply chain and customer loyalty efforts, all participants in the network will realize increased value – what we call the “network effect.” This phenomenon means

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Deloitte Research – Integrating Demand and Supply Chains in the Global Automotive Industry

FIGURE 2. PROFITABILITY AND LOYALTY NETWORKS
High Collaborators Loyalty Networkers 170

110

Supply Chain Collaboration Market Takers

Loyalist 145

100

Low
Note: Average profitability of market takers = 100 SOURCE: DELOITTE RESEARCH

Customer Loyalty

High

FIGURE 3. BUSINESS PERFORMANCE AND LOYALTY NETWORKERS
Sales Growth

Market Share of Primary Products in Target Markets Return to Assets (Pretax)

Loyalty Networkers Loyalists Collaborators Market Takers

Return to Shareholders
0 5 10 15 20 25

30

Percentage of Companies with Exceptional Performance on Goals
SOURCE: DELOITTE RESEARCH

positive results for each member of the automotive value chain as they collaborate to offer the right vehicle to the right customers at the right price, in the right place, and in the right amount of time. For automakers, the network effect delivers higher profitability through quicker time-to-market, more appropriate vehicle content, and better-targeted inventories. At the same time, there is less need for open price competition, and automakers are able to upsell more profitable options and cut back on unwanted and unprofitable ones. Automakers also work jointly with dealers to establish long-term customer relationships, which results in a more loyal and profitable customer base.

Deloitte Research – Integrating Demand and Supply Chains in the Global Automotive Industry

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Suppliers in the network benefit from reduced order-to-delivery times due to customer-focused product innovation and development. A DLN also allows suppliers to collaboratively align production planning and execution and to better utilize their capacity. Dealers realize the benefits of the network effect in a number of ways. First, better information about customer loyalty allows them to identify profitable cross-selling and service enhancement opportunities. Their marketing and sales efforts, now loyalty-focused, are more efficient and less costly. And they see better and more profitable product available from OEMs and suppliers. With demand and supply chain integration, dealers can match more profitably different customer demands with appropriate product — whether the product is inventory on-hand, in transit, or built to order. Customers enjoy greater satisfaction through streamlined and integrated on-line and off-line sales and marketing channels, more personalized service, and customized vehicle options, which means they only pay for the options they request and value. Overall, customers see loyalty for loyalty — loyalty to a brand that result in a better match of products, services, and price that’s right for them because their loyalty matters to the OEM network. Indeed, the network effect is self-perpetuating in that further value is realized as each member of the value chain contributes to and enjoys the positive experience of a DLN. By tightly linking supply chain and customer initiatives, success can breed further success.

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Deloitte Research – Integrating Demand and Supply Chains in the Global Automotive Industry

Demand and Supply Chain Challenges in the Global Automotive Industry
By appropriately integrating the demand and supply sides of the automotive value chain, a DLN addresses many of the issues automakers face today in dealing with customers and supply chain partners. Historically, the imbalance between the supply and demand sides of the auto business has been a challenge for all members of the value chain. Consumer demand for specific vehicles is uncertain and variable. At the same time, many factors in supply planning and production—including fixed plant assets, a unionized workforce, and fixed parts supply schedules—are inflexible and slow to respond to changes in demand. For many years, the industry has been stuck in a vicious cycle in which automakers have focused on maximizing sales in order to optimize the utilization of their capital-intensive plant assets and unionized labor force. Increasing plant productivity has only exacerbated the problem for the industry overall. This has led to excess dealer inventories and an inventory mix that is not necessarily aligned with customer preferences, and thus requires higher sales incentives to compensate for customer compromise. These incentives erode profit margins, which again prompts more production to boost factory sales (Figure 4).
FIGURE 4. THE VICIOUS CYCLE OF THE AUTOMOTIVE INDUSTRY

Erode margins

Produce vehicles to maximize factory sales

Challenges of Current of Model – Excessive structural cost – Dissatisfied customers – Slow to respond – Lost revenue opportunities

Customer compromises or walks away

How do we break the cycle?
Push to dealers

Incent to sell Build higher inventories

SOURCE: GENERAL MOTORS

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In response, automakers, suppliers, and dealers have tried various approaches to find a balance between product supply and fluctuating demand—approaches such as buffer inventory stored throughout the value chain from dealers to tierN suppliers and deep financial incentives to spur auto sales. However, these approaches often have resulted in high inventory carrying costs and lower margins. Today, members of the automotive value chain are looking for cost-effective solutions that offer supply-chain-wide visibility to demand information, streamlined information flows, and more efficient and profitable alignment of the business model with final consumer demand.

Customer Side Challenges
In today’s highly competitive and technology-driven manufacturing environment, the industry-wide generic, one-size-fits-all supply chain model with similar lead times and service levels to all customers is no longer adequate. Not only does this model create inefficiencies along the value chain, but competitive pressures and changing customer expectations are forcing automakers to look for ways to improve how vehicles are designed, manufactured, and sold. Leading automakers such as GM are pursuing a DLN strategy to help build the capabilities to better sense different customer demands, shifting preferences, and target dealer requirements, and then respond by making and delivering a vehicle to order within a shorter and more reliable timeframe than competitors. At the same time, this approach helps ensure that the inventory in the dealer network, in transit, and in plant is aligned most effectively with customers’ requirements and profitable sales opportunities. Indeed, to succeed in the automotive industry today, it is becoming increasingly important for a company to align itself closer to the customer and develop oneto-one relationships to better understand customer needs—as well as the capability to quickly translate customer requirements to the shop floor. According to Ralph Szygenda, CIO of GM, “The first, and perhaps the most fundamental issue, is that traditional automotive processes [still] do not fully meet customer-driven requirements. [From a supply chain perspective,] products are too complex, and design cycle times too long, to properly respond to the marketplace. Customers should be able to configure their own vehicles, add options, select colors, and understand how these decisions impact price and financing.” The advent of the Internet has enabled OEMs to have a more direct relationship with customers. Unlike the traditional model through which automobile dealers were primarily responsible for managing customer relationships, this direct link to customers opens doors to new marketing and sales opportunities for OEMs and introduces speed in all operations. The Internet also has created significantly different shopping and buying behaviors, giving customers more information and, as a result, changing their expectations. The customer-focused approach of a DLN helps OEMs respond to those increased demands and expectations – and do so more profitably.

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Deloitte Research – Integrating Demand and Supply Chains in the Global Automotive Industry

Also on the customer side of building a DLN, automakers need to address a number of issues relating to dealers’ inventory levels and the need to work with dealers to develop new sales and distribution channels. Many large dealerships have long preferred to maintain large inventory levels because they view inventory as a competitive advantage that provides a buffer against demand uncertainty and long replenishment lead times. Dealers and automakers alike have assumed for some time that holding inventory would provide customers with the maximum available choices immediately, letting potential buyers “touch, feel, and engage with” a vehicle and thus make it unlikely a potential sale would walk out the door. The “price” of dealer inventory, however, includes the financing of excess inventory, maintenance costs, incentives to move unwanted inventory, compromised customer choice, and inefficiency in the ability of the supply chain to sense and respond. New marketing, sales, and distribution channels such as the Internet and auto supermarkets also are important avenues to explore, although automakers must work closely with dealers to produce a win-win situation.

Supply Chain Challenges
One of the key supply chain issues facing automakers today involves long orderto-delivery lead times and unreliable production schedules that lead to excess inventory throughout the value chain. Lengthy demand planning cycles and lack of visibility to supplier, material, and production constraints cause scheduling delays and short-term production changes. These problems drive automakers and suppliers to build up buffer inventory and limit their ability to flexibly react to changes in customer demand. Under these conditions, suppliers are unable to sense customer orders and manufacture solely on schedules with 12-16 weeks of lead time. Constrained, inflexible production and assembly capacities and long delivery lead times also contribute to high dealer inventory levels in the form of safety stock. Another supply chain issue that automaker face, especially in the U.S., relates to vehicle content. Over the years, foreign automakers, primarily those from Asia, entered global markets with higher-content vehicles (i.e., with many options included as standard equipment) as one way of overcoming the customization constraint imposed by the lead time of shipping product overseas. In response, U.S. automakers increased their standard vehicle content and features. Today, however, consumers prefer to select vehicle content that’s right for them – rather than pay for “standard” options they don’t need – and the entire automotive supply chain is trying to respond to this shift. Other supply chain issues that the automotive industry is working to address include a lack of collaboration in product development, which can lead to product development cycle times of more than 48 months. Communication channels between OEMs and other supply chain partners remain manual in many cases. This is especially true with small suppliers unable to afford an investment in electronic data interchange (EDI) technology that is used between OEMs and their larger suppliers.

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Logistics operations in the automotive supply chain are complex and represent a major expense and opportunity for improvement. For example, management of inbound logistics often involve a global network of more than 10,000 suppliers for a single automaker. What’s more, the overall lack of communication and coordination of inbound and outbound logistics operations often prevents automakers from optimizing their supply chains, reducing inventories, and accurately forecasting and responding to customer demands.

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Deloitte Research – Integrating Demand and Supply Chains in the Global Automotive Industry

Challenges Met: Building a Digital Loyalty Network At General Motors
General Motors is making great strides in building a DLN to deliver new levels of value to customers, suppliers, and shareholders. GM is focusing on the three areas that make up a “digital loyalty network”: “digital” for a focus on IT; “loyalty” for a focus on customers and on increasing their loyalty and lifetime value to GM; and “network” for a focus on the entire supply chain from suppliers to distribution chain partners, dealers, and final customers.

Laying the Foundation
In efforts to improve and integrate its demand and supply chains, GM has made significant progress in streamlining its IT operations – a feat that laid considerable groundwork for building a DLN. In the mid-1990s, information systems at GM had proliferated, but most of them were antiquated, isolated “silos” of information that did not integrate data flow across the enterprise. For example, marketing data researched by one GM marque was difficult to share with other parts of the organization. Design engineering used 22 different engineering systems that threatened collaboration among the global product development staffs. In all, the company had more than 7,000 discrete information systems. Over time at GM, billions of dollars had been invested in various IT systems and initiatives. What’s more, value chain partners had systems of their own: dealers had their own dealer management systems (DMS) and suppliers had their own IT systems to communicate with GM and other customers. Integrating those disparate systems and building a robust and scalable architecture was indeed a challenge. One of the first things GM did to tackle this challenge was to educate executives about the strategic importance of IT. Each business unit now has a chief information officer (CIO) who reports to the business unit president, and process information officers (PIOs) have been assigned throughout the organization to quickly assimilate technology initiatives into GM’s core business model (Figure 5). PIOs are responsible for the design, development, and implementation of major business processes in product development; production; sales, service, and marketing; business services; and the supply chain to drive common solutions across those units. The PIOs identify business, functional, and technical requirements, build key business processes, and integrate them across functional and geographic areas.

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FIGURE 5. GM INFORMATION SYSTEMS & SERVICES (IS&S)
Sector President Sector President Sector President Sector President Sector President GM CIO R. Szygenda Sector President

Geography Asia Pacific IO GME IO NA IO LAAM IO e-GM IO GMAC FS IO

Global Processors and Systems Process Integration and Quality Assurance Develop Product IO

Technology Application Solution Delivery

Global Services Delivery Strategy Planning Human Resources Contract Management Purchasing Legal

Produce Product IO

Global Technology Management

Customer Experience IO

Supply Chain IO Business Services IO

Finance

(Finance, HR, Legal, Comm., EAG, Public Policy)

Legend GME: GM Europe LAAM: Latin America, Africa and Middle East GMAC: General Motors Acceptance Corporation EAG: Enterprise Activities Group

SOURCE: GENERAL MOTORS

In addition to raising the level of awareness of IT throughout the company, GM has significantly improved its existing systems and technology infrastructure. Its worldwide telecommunications infrastructure has been overhauled to gain three times the bandwidth for wide area networks (WANs) and 30 times for local area networks (LANs). Middleware applications are being inserted to make systems talk to each other and link disparate systems to extract information from formerly mutually incompatible legacy systems. Systems are also being standardized. For example, GM now has just one computer-aided design system worldwide, whereas at one time there were more than 20. The organization’s vast numbers of information systems are being consolidated into a few with standardized inputs and outputs, the same data structures/data formats, standard software and hardware application architectures, and common communication interfaces. Assessing the progress GM has made in IT, Ralph Szygenda, GM’s CIO says, “Leveraging the Internet into the environment was a critical part of the business, and we have built $1.7 billion worth of Internet-based applications, probably more than any other company in the world. We overlaid those things on top of this infrastructure to change the business. By the way, it cost GM nothing. We funded all of this transformation with all the e-business movement and still gave back $2 billion to the company.”

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Deloitte Research – Integrating Demand and Supply Chains in the Global Automotive Industry

Customer Relationship Management Initiatives
GM’s primary focus area on the customer side is to develop stronger one-to-one relationships with customers. By personalizing interactions and aligning vehicle content with expectations, GM’s customer-centric approach offers new levels of service and support and, at the same time, reduces distribution and selling costs. GM is working closely with dealers on these efforts as well as exploring alternative sales channels to reach customers in new ways. One initiative to strengthen customer relationships has been to better gather, manage, and leverage customer data and enhance customer interaction. By consolidating its vast enterprise customer management (ECM) databases – not to mention some 150 Web sites and 63 call centers – GM has put into motion its strategy of being able to capture valuable information with each customer interaction. It then feeds that information back into product improvements, sales and marketing campaigns, and personalization efforts. Such customercentric capabilities are slated to create a cycle of continuous improvement. Better customer knowledge leads to more profitable customer acquisition and greater loyalty, which leads to richer customer information, and so on. This initiative also allows GM to track customers over time as they move across brands, locations, and GM businesses (finance, mortgage, and so on). Tracking customer touch points and mapping that to the customer’s age, income, and other factors help GM to anticipate where the customer may be next (Figure 6).
FIGURE 6. AGGREGATING CUSTOMER TOUCH POINTS
Customer Care Web Call Center Direct Mail E-Mail Fulfillment Centers Interactive Vehicles GM Customers Marketing Events and Shows Field and Fleet Commercial Sales Retailers and GMAC Branch Offices Service Desk After Market P&A Service Direct TV
Data Security and Consumer Privacy Protection

Outside Purchased Data and Legacy System

Customer Information Data Warehouse Real-Time Contact Management Data Base Customer Analytic Data Mart Marketing and Lead Management Data Base

Business Intelligence Predictive Modeling Reports and Measures Category Management Analysis, Data Mining and Insight Creation

Marketing Program Automation Planning Execution

Marketing

Sales

SOURCE: GENERAL MOTORS

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In essence, integrating customer data allows GM to better leverage its broad shelf of brand offerings. By integrating customer data among different business units and complementary businesses such as car financing and insurance, GM is better able to match customer requirements across the product offerings of different divisions, which Alfred Sloan, the CEO of GM from 1923 to 1946, had envisioned when he created GM’s multi-divisional structure. In another move to become more customer-centric, GM also is addressing customer demands concerning vehicle delivery. Assuming that customers want “quick delivery,” many automobile companies have begun initiatives to enable two- to three-day delivery. However, market research reveals that such a broad assumption is off-base—in fact, customers have widely varying and personalized expectations when it comes to such order fulfillment attributes as lead time, delivery reliability, and the importance of getting exactly the desired vehicle configuration. What customers really value is that they get the car they want, at the desired time and desired price. In many instances, customers also have to sell an existing vehicle and get the appropriate financing lined up. Many customers will wait for a certain amount of time and some even might pay premiums to get their preferred vehicle. Most customers’ ideal wait time is somewhere between one and eight weeks. So what is really needed is a differentiated value proposition and supply chain response for each customer to build loyalty where it matters and to maximize long-term revenue potential. This will ensure optimum customer satisfaction as well as the most profitable use of costly and constrained supply chain capabilities. New Channels: Harnessing the Power of “e” In collaboration with dealers, GM has developed a Web-based channel that not only allows customers to search for desired vehicles but also provides GM and dealers with rich customer information. Called GM BuyPower, the portal offers consumers the best of two worlds – an integrated online channel and the opportunity for a more personalized offline dealer experience (Figure 7). Using GM BuyPower, customers may search for their nearest or preferred dealer, view “unbiased” third-party comparisons, get incentive information, request the dealer’s best price, and apply for financing online. Because every customer request from
FIGURE 7. GM BUYPOWER WEBSITE

SOURCE: GENERAL MOTORS

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Deloitte Research – Integrating Demand and Supply Chains in the Global Automotive Industry

BuyPower is tagged with customer information, dealers are able to personalize their responses with appropriate offerings. Today, GM BuyPower is the most frequently visited automotive OEM Web site in the world. Upon completion of global deployment in 2003, GM BuyPower is targeted to reach 3.5 billion of the world’s 6 billion people in a language they understand and with familiar GM products. GM BuyPower also strengthens the “shopping” and “buying” aspects of the GM purchase funnel (Figure 8). This funnel includes all of the steps a customer takes in shopping for, buying, and owning a vehicle. GM’s marketing efforts— as well as its Web presence through third parties such as AOL, Edmunds, Kelly Blue Book, and NetZero and affinity alliances such as College Club, Black Voices, and iCan—have created a strong awareness of GM brands and have led an increasing number of customers to consider purchasing GM vehicles. GM BuyPower provides an aid for customers who are close to purchase and is designed for customers to choose (shop) the dealer as well as the vehicle. It also serves as an ongoing communication link to customers in the ownership phase, after purchase, and may lead them to consider GM again when they reenter the market. A key component of the company’s emerging DLN, GM BuyPower also is designed to serve as a link between the customer and supply sides of GM. By using the click-stream data from GM BuyPower, GM can sense market demand and respond accordingly. Further leveraging Internet technologies to reach customers in new ways, GM has also built a Web-based tool for post-purchase customer care called GM Owner Center (Figure 9). Using GM Owner Center, customers may create personalized profiles of all GM vehicles they own. These profiles provide vehicle information, trigger maintenance reminders, and track service history. Customers also get access to digital versions of their owner’s manuals, informative videos of procedures outlined in the manuals, and other helpful features such as service center locations—as well as incentives for participating in the site.
FIGURE 8. AUTOMOBILE PURCHASE FUNNEL
Purchase Funnel Ownership Phase

Aware

Consider

Shop

Buy

Owners Owners Owners Last 6 1-6 months 6 months months of Post Sale –X years ownership

Reenter Market

SOURCE: GENERAL MOTORS

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FIGURE 9. GM OWNER CENTER

SOURCE: GENERAL MOTORS

Direct Links to Customers with Telematics In another effort to establish a direct link with customers, GM envisions every vehicle to become part of a limitless, wireless telecommunications network. Leveraging its telematics service, OnStar, GM is on the way to making the vehicle another critical node on the information highway, allowing the company to interact daily with its customers. OnStar allows consumers to push a button and receive a wide variety of safety, security, and convenience features. Using OnStar, consumers may make handsfree calls via Personal Calling, or hear the latest news and traffic information via Virtual Advisor. OnStar subscribers have the ability to remotely unlock a car door if the keys were accidentally locked inside, or to summon assistance for a disabled vehicle. With more than 10 million customer interactions in five years’ time – and some 5,000 new customers enrolling every day – GM’s OnStar service provides the company another way to improve its customer reach. GM also continues to explore the integration of additional new services, such as XM satellite radio.

Supply Chain Management Initiatives
GM understands that to reap the real benefits of customer side initiatives, the back end of the supply chain has to be robust, flexible, and responsive. Investing in front-end initiatives is not much use if a company does not have strong internal capabilities and effective supplier networks. To that end, GM has been doing plenty of work on the supply side, especially in supporting and enabling initiatives that allow vehicles to be built to order, and in improving and supporting communications and collaboration capabilities across GM’s vast network of suppliers, distributors, and dealers. In response to increasing customer demands and moves toward increased profitability, the automobile industry overall has begun to migrate from being primarily a build-to-stock model to a more balanced build-to-stock and buildto-order model. One of GM’s initiatives on the supply side is called Order-toDelivery (OTD), which is designed to transform the supply chain to meet the

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Deloitte Research – Integrating Demand and Supply Chains in the Global Automotive Industry

increasing demands of customers in the growing digital environment. As a result of this initiative, a new department called Order-to-Delivery has been formed to address GM’s supply chain issues. The OTD organization has more than 5,000 employees and is divided into three cross-functional groups – order fulfillment, supply operations, and logistics. Together, these groups are responsible for all OTD processes, whether the underlying vehicle was built-to-stock or built-to-order. The order fulfillment team is responsible for working on customer facing, “sense and respond,” and planning activities. The supply operations group focuses on internal plant activities and the movement of materials, material communication, and visibility with suppliers. The logistics team is responsible for transportation and delivery of vehicles. The OTD capabilities at GM are designed to provide dealers and customers with the right vehicle, at the right place, the right time, and at the right price. OTD aims to reduce inventory and increase customer satisfaction and loyalty by delivering vehicles faster and more reliably. GM has made tremendous strides in meeting those goals around the globe. Average delivery lead times for all GM vehicles have been reduced by 50 percent in just two years – from more than 80 days prior to 2000 to just over 40 days. At the same time, delivery reliability has jumped from 68 percent to 90 percent. As another key component of GM’s DLN, OTD is strengthening the link between engineering, manufacturing, dealers, and customers and to allow GM to work more collaboratively with suppliers. Shoring Up Communication in the Supply Chain The Internet is replacing most conventional modes of communication, allowing companies to collaborate and link up with their suppliers as never before. GM executives estimate that about 68 percent of direct materials procurement will be done via the Internet by 2004. OEMs are using the Internet to connect to their multiple tier suppliers and communicate more effectively. Given that quick, reliable communication across the supply chain is a requirement of a DLN, GM leverages its private, Web-based portal called GM SupplyPower, which was built in 1999 (Figure 10). The portal links GM and its suppliers, allowing them to complete transactions and share information related to purchasing, sourcing of materials, quality and production control, logistics, engineering, and manufacturing. GM SupplyPower helps GM reduce operations costs, contributes to speeding up the vehicle development process (VDP) via engineering collaboration, improves supplier quality and responsiveness, and improves supplier communication relative to product schedules and capacity plans. By leveraging long established relationships with supply side partners, private exchanges like GM SupplyPower enable deep integration with trading partners’ back-end systems. And, as a private exchange, GM SupplyPower also maintains and protects GM’s unique business processes. However, to make procurement of commodity items more efficient, to reach the globally fragmented community of suppliers with whom GM has intermittent business relations, and to have the

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FIGURE 10. GM SUPPLYPOWER
GM SupplyPower is GM supplier communication website. It is used as a medium for GM to provide up-todate information to the supplier community quickly, effectively and conveniently. GM SupplyPower also acts as a gateway to supplier applications. Through web-enabled applications, suppliers directly interact with GM to complete a variety of business transactions. Ultimately, the GM SupplyPower portal will be the primary means of communication between GM and its suppliers. GM SupplyPower contains several modules to address the needs of the key processes: • Purchase Power: To communicate and collaborate with GM’s supplier base in the area of purchasing and sourcing materials. • Quality Power: To provide and exchange information on quality and supplier development with GM’s suppliers. • Engineering Power: To establish a data and automation environment that enables the highest level of electronic digital data exchange and collaboration between General Motor’s vehicle programs and their suppliers. • Material Power: To communicate and collaborate with GM’s supply base in the area of production control and logistics. • Finance Power: To communicate and collaborate with GM’s suppliers in the area of finance. • Manufacturing Power: To provide GM’s suppliers relevant information on manufacturing’s technical specifications and procedures. • Logistics Power: To communicate and collaborate with GM’s logistics suppliers. Each module features content and applications that enable two way communication and collaboration between GM and its suppliers. The content library includes over five hundred useful documents to assist suppliers in business planning and execution. Some examples of content include standard terms and conditions, APQP manuals, production schedules, shipping manuals and training courses. GM SupplyPower also hosts several web-enabled applications that can be accessed by suppliers.
SOURCE: GENERAL MOTORS

ability to aggregate industry information for better forecasting and planning, GM, together with other large automakers, in early 2000 created the world’s largest Internet-based virtual marketplace. Named Covisint, this business-tobusiness (B2B) exchange is able to connect automakers with thousands of suppliers (Figure 11). By developing an open infrastructure, which eliminates expensive point-to-point connections and third-party transaction brokers, Covisint can provide immediate value to large and small suppliers alike. Small suppliers can leapfrog over rigid and expensive-to-implement EDI technology and participate in the marketplace the way big companies do. Covisint also helps establish common transaction and communication standards for the auto
FIGURE 11. COVISINT SOLUTIONS

Procurement

Supply Chain

Covisint

Collaborative Product Development

Value Added Services

Covisint's solutions are targeted at transforming all key business processes within the automotive industry. Covisint's solutions allow companies to harness the power of the Internet to unlock significant value and efficiency through collaboration, visibility, and integration. Following are the solution suites offered by Covisint (www.Covisint.com): • Collaboration – Collaboration Manager, Quote Manager, Engineering Manager • Procurement – Auctions, Catalogs, Quote Manager, Asset Control • Supply Chain – Fulfillment, Supplier Connection • Quality – Advanced Quality Planner, Problem Solver • Corporate – Portal, Integration, Financial Services
SOURCE: GENERAL MOTORS

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Deloitte Research – Integrating Demand and Supply Chains in the Global Automotive Industry

industry. The biggest selling point may be that Covisint provides a single exchange with one protocol, so suppliers that go through the exchange do not have to deal with different standards and different systems while dealing with each automobile OEM. Covisint’s architecture and language are enabling GM, other OEMs, and suppliers to move away from a complex one-to-one relationship model to more of a “huband-spoke” public exchange design (Figure 12). The Covisint marketplace began as a central procurement hub, connecting hundreds of customers to thousands of suppliers, but now offers supply chain and product development collaboration solutions as well. GM and other major worldwide automakers have been effectively using Covisint for direct and indirect material procurement, calling for supplier requests for quotes (RFQs), forward and reverse auction of machinery and equipment, and putting product catalogs online. In 2001, GM alone procured about $25 billion worth of material via Covisint. Using Covisint, GM and other major automakers have linked directly to thousands of suppliers on the exchange and significantly reduced the number of paper and EDI transactions. GM is also initiating a pilot program at GM assembly plants in North America that uses Covisint fulfillment functionality to provide simultaneous real-time connectivity with multiple tiers of critical supply chain partners. This allows real-time visibility of inventory levels (raw materials, work-in-process, finished goods at partner and OEM sites), parts usage history, forecasts, in-transit inventories, receipts, and other relevant information between manufacturers and suppliers. Covisint’s product development solution, with its virtual project workspace, allows members of the network to exchange and work collaboratively on computer-aided design (CAD) drawings and designs. Overall, Covisint promises to help reduce inventory, allow automakers to respond faster to market dynamics, and speed up vehicle development times. And, together with GM SupplyPower, Covisint provides GM with strong and flexible capabilities across a range of sourcing, procurement, and product development areas.
FIGURE 12. TRANSITION TO HUB AND SPOKE MODEL
Tier 2 Tier 1 Tier 2 Purchase OEM Tier 1 Other Exchanges Tier 2 Covisint Tier 2 Tier 1 Tier 2

OEM

Deloitte Research – Integrating Demand and Supply Chains in the Global Automotive Industry

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Inventing New Practices in Logistics To further tighten the supply chain, GM is also working to streamline its logistics operations. To ship its daily production of 35,000 cars to more than 12,500 dealers worldwide, GM in recent years has been spending about $6 billion annually on logistics operations, using multiple third-party logistics providers (3PLs) to manage its inbound and outbound logistics activities. But the company hasn’t been seeing acceptable payback on that $6 billion: Lack of communication and coordination between third-party logistics suppliers has often led to unreliable order fulfillment lead times that could range from an average of 70 to 90 days. Inbound logistics operations are also very complex. A total of 180 million pounds of material is shipped every day from 12,000 suppliers globally. The changing supplier base makes optimizing delivery routes difficult, and the lack of visibility into inventory levels at different locations (such as supplier finished goods and vehicles in-transit) makes materials planning very challenging. Realizing that it needed a “super-3PL” that could centrally manage multiple 3PLs and reduce cost and delivery lead time in each segment of logistics, GM formed an alliance with CNF, a logistics company providing global supply chain services, and incorporated a new company, Vector SCM, to manage GM’s vast logistics network. By integrating all 3PLs into one information system, Vector SCM offers realtime carrier management and improved visibility of all materials and vehicles moving within GM’s supply chain. This enables GM to track and trace shipments via the Web and to manage shipments by exception. To better manage GM’s service provider network, logistics control centers act as command centers. These centers are equipped with and linked together by the latest IT to provide visibility to track GM’s assets – raw materials, empty racks, finished vehicles, or service parts - and to locate all carriers. The resulting improved information flow, reliability, and flexibility of GM’s production and distribution systems lead to better service to dealers and car buyers.

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Deloitte Research – Integrating Demand and Supply Chains in the Global Automotive Industry

Conclusion
By leveraging digital technologies to integrate its demand and supply chains – supported by an inclusive view of its business model from the perspective of customers through end suppliers – GM has made great progress in building a DLN. Recognizing the power of such integration, GM is weaving the strategy throughout the entire GM business web, a vast infrastructure of all of the company’s constituencies: suppliers, dealers, employees, alliance partners, and customers (Figure 13).
FIGURE 13. GM’S BUSINESS WEB

Customer Home/ Office Employee GM Value Chain Customer Auto

Dealer

Supplier

SOURCE: GENERAL MOTORS

As GM has seen, a major capability on the demand side of its efforts – capturing and sharing customer demand information across the network – brings new efficiencies throughout the entire value chain. According to Brad Ross, GM’s executive in charge of OTD, “All members of the network are able to make modifications to their plans to support what the market really wants as opposed to what we had thought they wanted.” A better understanding of customer demands is one side of GM’s success in building a DLN. Better communications and teamwork with suppliers is another. To that end, GM’s efforts in building a DLN support the philosophy recently outlined by Bob Lutz, GM’s chairman of North American operations. Lutz says, “Our philosophy is to encourage and challenge all of our suppliers to help

Deloitte Research – Integrating Demand and Supply Chains in the Global Automotive Industry

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Putting the Model to Work: The Chevrolet Celta
One example of where GM has put the DLN model to work is its September 2000 launch of the Chevrolet Celta in Brazil. The launch of the Celta, a sub-economy car produced at the Gravatai assembly plant in Brazil, presents one of the first high-volume, Internet-based sales models in the industry. Consumers may access the Celta’s Web site from their own PCs or from a kiosk at one of more than 470 Brazilian Chevrolet dealers. From the site, customers can configure the Celta of their choice, select a payment option, make the purchase, and confirm delivery of their vehicle. Using digital technologies, the network integrates all aspects of the demand and supply chains: customers, dealers, distribution, production, and suppliers. With fewer than 100 build configurations for the Celta, manufacturing facilities are more flexible and can rapidly change schedules to match end-customer demands. Also, with production and distribution facilities receiving real-time information via the Web, they can speed up delivery and better forecast production needs. Customers receive the car of their choice, in just 11 days on average, and at a lower price because of the tax benefits of purchasing online. Dealers are highly satisfied as well. They see lower costs through lower inventory levels and the potential for further sales through accessorization of the vehicles at the dealerships. Indeed, inventory pooling between the factory and dealers optimizes vehicle availability and minimizes inventory costs, including capital and depreciation costs. Dealers also continue to see high levels of customer traffic, with 90 percent of online Celta transactions completed at dealership kiosks – ensuring face-to-face communication with the customer and opportunities for dealers to further build customer relationships. Just 16 months after its launch, more than 110,000 Celtas had been sold, with 70 percent of those vehicles sold online. The streamlined processes of the DLN model have not only lowered costs through lower inventory and taxes, but also allow GM to more accurately predict profit margins. This model shows the network effect of a DLN in action, with all members of the network – customers, dealers, distribution partners, manufacturers, and suppliers – realizing the benefits. As Mark Hogan, former head of e-GM says, “The Celta program has taught us how to use technology to create a better retail experience, and the learnings from Celta could be applied worldwide.”

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Deloitte Research – Integrating Demand and Supply Chains in the Global Automotive Industry

us get to the point where we can see a visible improvement in the…quality of our products. To do that, we have to encourage frequent and open communications.” Frequent and open communications with suppliers is indeed one more capability enabled by GM’s initiatives. Combined with initiatives underway in other parts of the organization such as product development and manufacturing, GM’s demand and supply chain integration efforts are leading to quantifiable results, most notably in the areas of higher customer loyalty, reduced delivery lead times, and higher delivery reliability, while maintaining or increasing market share in a fiercely competitive global automotive industry. The latest standings for R.L. Polk & Co.’s Automotive Loyalty Awards2 showed that more customers returned to GM to buy and lease vehicles than any other automaker. According to Polk’s findings, 65.2 percent of GM vehicle owners that returned to market in 2001 repurchased a GM vehicle, the highest loyalty percentage in the industry and 11 points higher than the industry average. On the supply chain side, a 50 percent reduction in delivery lead times and 32 percent improvement in delivery reliability over the last two years are further signals of progress. As GM continues its launch and roll-out of new, innovative cars and trucks and builds on the business model it is putting together, its performance is likely to improve further. While some of the initiatives GM has taken yield immediate benefit (see Box “Putting the Model to Work: The Chevrolet Celta”), many of the results from the overall move toward strengthening the customer experience, enhancing customer satisfaction, and building customer loyalty through better — and better-integrated — CRM and SCM capabilities, and enhancing the product line-up will arrive over the long haul. For example, the time between purchases for the average customer in the automotive industry can be three years or longer, suggesting that many benefits will take at least that long to materialize. Fundamentally, a DLN is all about satisfying different customer needs with differentiated supply chain capabilities, which increases value for all members of the network. And in helping to improve the automotive industry business model, a DLN allows automakers to move from the transaction mindset of selling a car to a relationship mentality based on the desire to offer a customized stream of products and services to meet customers’ needs over a lifetime. By better recognizing what customers want, identifying the most valuable current and prospective customers, developing the right product portfolio, and then closely collaborating with suppliers and dealers to make the model work, GM can continually improve the model and reap the benefits of increased loyalty and bottom-line profitability of an automotive digital loyalty network.

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End Notes
1

David Stockman, former Director of the Office of Management and Budget; co-founder, Heartland Industrial Partners R.L. Polk Automotive Loyalty rankings and annual awards are based on Polk’s Manufacturer Loyalty Excelerator™ report. This report was created to provide household loyalty information to manufacturers at many different levels. It is now used to provide loyalty percentages for the entire automotive industry and allows for cross-industry comparisons of loyalty behavior. R.L Polk collects, compiles, and interprets state vehicle registrations and title information, and supplies demographic, lifestyle, and other information about consumers. The report measures loyalty throughout the entire model year so that manufacturers may keep abreast of loyalty trends as they occur in the industry.

2

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Deloitte Research – Integrating Demand and Supply Chains in the Global Automotive Industry

About Deloitte Research
Deloitte Research identifies, analyzes, and explains the major issues driving today’s business dynamics and shaping tomorrow’s global marketplace. From provocative points of view about strategy and organizational change to straight talk about economics, regulation, and technology, Deloitte Research delivers innovative, practical insights companies can use to improve their bottom line performance. Operating through a network of dedicated research professionals, senior consulting practitioners, and academic and technology partners, Deloitte Research exhibits deep industry knowledge, functional expertise, and a commitment to thought leadership. In boardrooms and business journals, Deloitte Research is known for bringing new perspective to real-world concerns. For more information about Deloitte Research, please contact the Global Director, Ann Baxter, at 415 268 1026 or via email: [email protected]. Peter Koudal is Director, Deloitte Research—Manufacturing Institute. He leads the global manufacturing research and focuses on business strategy and performance, supply chain management, customer relationship management, and demandsupply integration and optimization. He is a member of the Academic Steering Council of the Stanford Global Supply Chain Management Forum. Peter Koudal can be reached at Tel: +1 212 492 4275; e-mail: [email protected].

About the Stanford Global Supply Chain Management Forum
The Stanford Global Supply Chain Management Forum is an industry-academic consortium with the mission of advancing the theory and practice of global supply chain management. The Forum conducts research, develops teaching materials, collaborates with industry, organizes industry seminars and roundtables, and provides a forum for professional networking. For more information, please contact Ms Debbie Newman, Assistant Director, Stanford Global Supply Chain Management Forum, Graduate School of Business, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305-5015; Tel: +1 650 723 4289; e-mail: [email protected]. Hau L. Lee is the Thoma Professor of Operations, Information and Technology in the Graduate School of Business, at Stanford University. His research focus is on supply chain management and global logistics. He is currently a co-Director of the Global Supply Chain Management Forum at Stanford University. He can be reached at Tel: +1 650 723 0514; e-mail: [email protected]. Seungjin Whang is the Jagdeep and Roshni Singh Professor in Operations, Information and Technology at Stanford University’s Graduate School of Business. His research focus is on e-business, information systems and supply chain management. He is currently the co-Director of the Stanford Global Supply Chain Management Forum. Seungjin Whang can be reached at Tel: +1 650 723 4756; e-mail: [email protected]. Barchi Peleg is the Research Director of the Stanford Global Supply Chain Management Forum. She directs research in e-business, inventory modeling and supply chain management, and teaches global supply chain project coordination at Stanford. Barchi Peleg can be reached at Tel: +1 650 736 1831; e-mail: [email protected]. Paresh Rajwat is a doctoral student in the Management Science and Engineering Department at Stanford University, and a research assistant for the Stanford Global Supply Chain Management Forum. His research interests are in supply chain management and new product introduction. Paresh Rajwat can be reached at Tel: +1 650 704 7701; e-mail: [email protected].

Deloitte Research – Integrating Demand and Supply Chains in the Global Automotive Industry

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Acknowledgements
Deloitte Research and the Stanford Global Supply Chain Management Forum gratefully acknowledge the contributions to this study from Michael Mitterer, Nadine Trinh, Richard Tully, Harry Wisniewski, and a number of other people at Deloitte as well numerous executives at General Motors. The study is part of a multi-year, global research program around demandsupply chain integration and digital loyalty networks by Stanford University and Deloitte Research under the direction of Hau Lee, Jin Whang, Barchi Peleg and Peter Koudal.

For Further Information, Please Contact
GLOBAL AUTOMOTIVE PRACTICE
PAUL WELLENER Tel: +1 216 706 0281 e-mail: [email protected] RICHARD GABRYS Tel: +1 313 396 3250 e-mail: [email protected] MICHAEL J. FRADETTE Tel: +1 617 850 2040 e-mail: [email protected] WIM VAESSEN Tel: +49 211 6211 0411 e-mail: [email protected] KEES VAN DORP Tel: +31 33 479 2726 e-mail: [email protected] BILL FORSYTHE Tel: +1 216 706 0212 e-mail: [email protected] KEVIN GROMLEY Tel: +81 3 4288 5005 e-mail: [email protected] ALAN FLANDERS Tel: +65 6530 5574 e-mail: [email protected] LARRY KOCH Tel: +1 313 396 3234 e-mail: [email protected]

©2003 Deloiite Consulting. All rights reserved. ISBN 1-892384-41-1

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