Well I have just finished my weekly review of the automotive news websites, trying to keep up with the fast pace developments in the world of automotive manufacturing.  It is always interesting to find out what the OEMs are planning, its like watching a giant game of chess unfold in front of your eyes.  Companies trying to make the right move at the right time to gain competitive advantage, but how often do companies make the ‘right’ move. 

All eyes are on the emerging markets at the moment, automotive companies, both OEMs and suppliers establishing a presence in China, India and Eastern Europe.  In addition, you have the opposite effect of OEMs based in the emerging markets trying to get a foothold in western economies.  You can just imagine what the suppliers must be going through, they see their main customer entering a new market and they have to take the decision of whether to join them to retain their custom or wait on the sidelines while their competitors win the business instead.   

Fortunately most of the OEMs manage to keep their supply chains in place and one of the key enablers to this is developing a B2B platform which allows their suppliers to be fully integrated with them, no matter where they are manufacturing around the world.  The rise of the internet and improvement in telecommunication networks has allowed many OEMs to establish 24/7 manufacturing plants in all key economies around the world.  In order to do this, many of the OEMs have not only had to think about their own B2B strategy but also that of their suppliers.  In addition, the OEMs have an added complexity of trying to integrate many different enterprise systems into one seamless platform. Ten years ago, it seemed impossible to link Enterprise Resource Planning, Product Lifecycle Management and Supply Chain Management systems together.  Today, this dream of system integration is just starting to become reality. 

Collaborative environments, shared platforms, integrated applications, call them what you will, but they all have one purpose in life and that is to make it easier for companies to share and get access to information anytime, any place and anywhere.  The internet has certainly made it easier for companies to share information with their suppliers but what are the key components for setting up a collaborative environment?  I guess that topic alone will provide me with a few more blog entries in the near future!,  but until then I will leave you with one thought, integrating business applications is no longer a luxury for today’s automotive company, it is a necessity.