STORIES · AUTOMOTIVE & MOBILITY
Change has to reach production faster than error does.
JIT, frequent engineering changes, global supply chains and growing product complexity make information part of the production process itself.
Automotive does not forgive inertia.
The right component must be produced in the right version, arrive at the right place and do so exactly when it should.
That is why digitalization here is not about convenience. It is about controlling change.
4 STORIES
JIT & SUPPLIERS
JIT · MES · SAP · SUPPLY CHAIN
How to keep the speed of a small supplier without giving up the control automotive requires
CONTEXT
Component production for European automotive manufacturers, operating in a JIT model with a network of local suppliers at very different levels of digital maturity.
PROBLEM
Small suppliers were competitive because of their low costs and operational simplicity. At the same time, analogue information flows increased inertia, risk of error and delays in an environment where every change had to reach production immediately.
CHANGE
Instead of building costly individual integrations for every supplier, universal MES endpoints were designed to operate locally as remote extensions of the production environment. They handled production IN/OUT, process reporting and SAP integration without imposing heavy IT infrastructure on suppliers.
MY ROLE
Solution design, process architecture, integration of business and technology requirements, and bringing the solution into operation across a multi-company environment.
RESULT
Digital process control was extended beyond the boundaries of the organization without increasing the operating costs of its suppliers.
ADVANTAGE
The speed of a small supplier combined with the process control of a large manufacturer.
FROM THE PROJECT
The same plant produced components for global automotive brands competing in the same market.
Technically, their processes could be similar. From a business perspective, they had to remain completely separate.
At no point could the wrong packaging, label, marking or any other element appear that might associate a component with another brand.
The same production environment had to deliver maximum standardization internally and absolute separation externally.
GROWTH & DATA
ERP · MES · WMS · DATA
What happens when the business grows faster than its processes
CONTEXT
A rapidly growing commercial vehicle manufacturer whose scale was expanding faster than its processes, systems and data quality.
PROBLEM
As long as the entire business is growing, the total can hide local losses and inefficiencies. Over time, unreliable information begins to affect planning, logistics, production and the organization's ability to understand its own profitability.
CHANGE
Strengthening the organization's digital backbone across ERP, MES and WMS, integrating information between processes and building management practices based on actual operational data.
MY ROLE
Responsibility for ERP, MES and WMS within a broader digital transformation.
RESULT
Processes and data began to catch up with the scale of the business.
ADVANTAGE
Growth driven not only by people's entrepreneurship, but also by the predictability of the organization's operating system.
FROM THE PROJECT
When the pandemic disrupted automotive supply chains, the system could show zero inventory for a critical component.
Except sometimes all it took was walking through the warehouse and looking.
Parts that officially did not exist could still be found there. Including unregistered gearboxes.
A good illustration of the difference between having a system and having reliable information.
R&D & E-MOBILITY
R&D · MTO · ERP · MES · WMS
How to combine the uncertainty of R&D with the discipline of production
CONTEXT
Development of dedicated battery technologies for global brands, combining an R&D environment with production and suppliers operating in a Make to Order model.
PROBLEM
R&D means variability, experimentation, multiple variants and the absence of a stable process. Production needs almost the opposite: repeatability, traceability and control.
CHANGE
Connecting both worlds through a coherent business and production process integrated by ERP, MES and WMS and extended to external suppliers.
MY ROLE
Designing the process logic and integrating business, production and technology environments.
RESULT
Product change could become part of a controlled process instead of an exception handled outside the system.
ADVANTAGE
The speed of experimentation without losing production discipline.
FROM THE PROJECT
Production relied primarily on manual work. The project, however, assumed significantly greater automation and partial robotization over time.
When employees learned about the planned automation, their productivity visibly increased.
Several months later, the first elements of automation went live. They did not result in layoffs, while productivity in areas remaining outside automation subsequently declined again.
Technology began changing people's behavior before it even started doing part of their work.
PRODUCT & PRODUCTION
ENGINEERING · CHANGE · SECURITY · PRODUCTION
When product change has to move from engineering to production without losing control
CONTEXT
The environment of a premium car manufacturer spanning series production, research projects and motorsport.
PROBLEM
Engineering changes can emerge extremely quickly, while their physical effect may need to be available in the next production cycle. In motorsport, the time between an engineering decision and implementation can be measured in days.
CHANGE
Building a solution enabling engineering changes to move rapidly and under control into production while maintaining traceability, version control and strict access rules.
MY ROLE
Designing and leading a solution connecting the engineering process, product change and the production environment.
RESULT
A shorter path between an engineering decision and the controlled implementation of change in the physical product.
ADVANTAGE
Speed of change without losing control over the product, information or intellectual property.
FROM THE PROJECT
The project covered not only series-production cars, but also research and motorsport programs.
In motorsport, an engineering change could emerge during one race weekend and its physical result had to be ready for the next.
The entire process operated under extremely demanding confidentiality requirements and strict digital access control.
In this environment, speed and security cannot be a trade-off. They have to work together.
IN THIS PROJECT
- Engineering
- Change Management
- Production
- Integration
- Security
- Access Control
COMMON DENOMINATOR
Different products. Different processes. The same mechanism of change.
JIT, R&D, series production, supplier networks and motorsport differ in scale, pace and requirements.
They have one thing in common.
Change creates value only when information, process, technology and accountability reach the right place at the same time.
EXPLORE OTHER STORIES
Technology creates value when it changes how the organization operates.
If you see a problem, an opportunity or a change that cannot be addressed with another standard project, let's talk about the result you want to achieve.