The ever-evolving automotive industry, characterised by complex engineering and intricate supply chains, poses unique challenges for OEMs working with suppliers and partners. While these challenges are especially evident in the automotive industry, they are not limited to this domain and are equally significant in any industry dealing with complex engineering products.
In our recent ShareAspace Forum 2023, we examined the top five challenges the automotive industry faces in collaborating with suppliers and partners. A detailed analyst report on automotive trends also supported this exploration. Let’s dive deeper into these challenges and see how ShareAspace by Eurostep, a supplier collaboration platform that enables secure engineering data exchange, can be the solution of choice.
Five big challenges
Here are the top 5 automotive challenges we identified:
- Quality Control: The automotive industry requires high levels of quality control and precision. Suppliers and partners must adhere to stringent standards to ensure the safety and reliability of the vehicles produced.
- Cost Management: In this highly competitive industry, cost management is essential for profitability. Suppliers must deliver high-quality components at competitive prices to remain viable.
- Supply Chain Disruptions: The automotive sector is vulnerable to supply chain disruptions, such as shortages of critical components or delivery delays. Managing these risks is crucial to avoid production delays and lost revenue.
- Intellectual Property Protection: Innovation is key in the automotive industry, and protecting intellectual property is necessary for competitiveness. This includes safeguarding trade secrets, patents, and trademarks.
- Regulatory Compliance: The industry is heavily regulated, requiring compliance with various regulations and standards, including safety, environmental guidelines, labour laws and trade restrictions. Non-compliance can result in legal penalties, reputational damage, and lost business opportunities.
In response, companies are investing in digital solutions such as PLM systems to improve their business processes. With this investment, companies expect faster, cheaper, and better processes. When working with hundreds of partners, even small improvements can lead to significant cost savings and efficiency gains.
Different types of collaboration
During the ShareAspace Forum, we discussed three types of collaboration: system purchase, build-to-print, and co-engineering. From a high-level viewpoint, they are all similar in that engineering data is shared between an OEM and its supplier(s). Sometimes the data is complemented by additional details from one or the other party. However, sharing information between OEMs and their suppliers is crucial to the partnership’s performance, and the process can be complex and nuanced.
A reliable, efficient method of communication and data exchange is essential to ensure smooth collaboration. The challenge of running a conversation about engineering information with hundreds of counterparts in parallel is a perfect storm for errors. This is the kind of problem ShareAspace is designed to solve.
What is ShareAspace?
Think of ShareAspace as an ‘Information Loading Bay.’ Here, manufacturers can check data before using it in their systems. By automating this process, ShareAspace saves time and boosts productivity.
With a focus on sustainability and initiatives like the Digital Product Passport, manufacturers need to maintain a complete digital record of their products. As more tasks move to external partners, this responsibility extends across the supply chain. ShareAspace helps collect and maintain this information over time.
Magnus Färneland, our Director Manufacturing Industry Vertical, sums it up: “We guide our clients on their digital transformation journey and add crucial information to the product’s digital thread.”
ShareAspace is more than just a tool for supply chain collaboration. It’s part of the digital transformation journey, enriching the product’s digital thread and enabling OEMs to navigate automotive industry challenges with greater confidence.
Watch the full presentation, including the latest demo of ShareAspace Design to Manufacturing.