In industrial compartment, a ‘‘standard’’ is a product or process technical solution exactly defined, successfully tested and usefully repeatable by application.
The availability of a certain set of standard solutions helps the enterprise to:
(a) consolidate ‘‘best practices’’, increasing quality and reliability levels, reducing times and costs to develop new product and manufacturing systems;
(b) obtain economy scales in the productive process and in the purchasing of materials and working means;
(c) determine the interchangeability of parts, so as to facilitate repair operations on products and manufacturing systems and product maintenance costs;
(d) reduce work in the process of internal and external flows.
Standardization fieldscould be:
1. Institutional Technical Regulation by International Government Depart- ments, with the participation of producer and user associations (ISO, UNI, ASA, CUNA, ETSI…). In this field: technical languages and measurements are made uniform, basic material and the characteristics of common parts are unambiguously defined, assuring interchangeability, quality certification methodologies and product and working means approval procedures are nor- malized, also considering user/customer and environmental policies.
2. Product Standardization, in the same enterprise or industrial group: design elements are defined, as to what application can be extended to a wide range of products. Furthermore, model standard solutions are defined, so that they can be easily transferred from project to project.
3. Industrial Process Standardization, even for the same enterprise or industrial group, to consolidate and spread out the ‘‘best practices’’ in their own internal processes. In this field, we have: design and testing of products and working means, control plans for materials and transformation processes, and determi- nation and assembly of sub-assembled parts usefully transferable from project to project.
M. Gobetto,Operations Management in Automotive Industries,
Springer Series in Advanced Manufacturing, DOI: 10.1007/978-94-007-7593-0_2, Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht 2014
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4. Information Technology Systems, set for an enterprise or an industrial group, considering homogeneous solutions in hardware and software for product design (CAD/CAE), manufacturing systems engineering (CAD/CAM/CAPE), and logistics management (PDM, MPS, MRP systems). It is also important to adopt a standard administrative procedure to simplify and speed up the accounting systems. Application of homogeneous information technology systems helps to reduce fixed costs of the enterprise, thanks also to the eco- nomic scale effect obtainable by using software and hardware solutions.
In the second and third standardization items in particular, consistent know-how is required, allowing enterprises to grow, both internally and towards partnerships and joint enterprise.
To promote the standardization process, management must focus on the con- solidation of ‘‘best practices’’ without obstructing the introduction of new tech- nological and organizational solutions that could offer competitive advantages for the enterprise.
Innovation must be matched by standardization. Standard solutions must not be considered ‘‘prohibitive’’, but ‘‘progressive’’, according to the logic of continuous improvement of product and process.
In the strategic setting of new models belonging to morebrandsof the same industrial group, it has to be decided which product modules can be most conveniently standardized, for reasons of economic scale, and what must be developed specifically, in regard to the distinctiveness of individual brands (style shapes, engine and space-frame solutions…).
For ‘‘mass produced’’ products, there is a prerogative push towards standardi- zation, while for ‘‘premium’’ products, there is a prerogative push towards ‘‘dis- tinctiveness’’, without renouncing standard component solutions that are not perceived by the customer as ‘‘distinguishing brand originality’’ and, for this reason, are usefully derived from a larger productive scale.
Let us now look at the general guidelines for setting product design forauto- motive products.
First of all, the new product’s performance targets and functional and style requirements are set and are carefully compared to similar existing products, including those of the company’s foremost competitors. The best-fitting materials and best technologies are chosen, starting from the standard solutions available based on company know-how. Geometric shapes and structural composition description sketches are prepared. For each module component of the final assem- bled product, specific parts are distinguished with a ‘‘new part number’’, taken from those respectively belonging to the ‘‘common component database’’, company- owned, or purchased from specialized suppliers chosen to beco-designers.
These are preliminary studies in a setting phase (pre-engineering) and they end with the institution of ‘‘technical specifications’’ relative to the product to be sold on market and their components. Documents and input data necessary for the development of the executive project normally include:
(1) Manufacturing characteristics of the final product, relative subassemblies and functional modules, through blocks schemes and 3D sketches representative of the product’s technical architecture and macro-composition(Product Macro- Structure = PMS).
(2) Performance targets and functional and aesthetic requirements, relative to the products destined for market and consequently for each of the functional modules/subsystems included in the PMS (Product Function Deploy- ment = PFD; Quality Requirements = QR).
(3) Cost targets,relative to the final product in each of its versions and to each item included in the PMS (unitary production costs, foreseen for the running of normal production).
(4) Project development expenses, specific investments for industrialization, costs for production ramp-up and commercial launch for new models.
(5) Profit targets,relative to the final product in each of its versions (unit prizes without considering distribution cost, sales volume within the industrial life cycle).
(6) ‘‘Time to market’’ targets.
The decision-making process normally applied for the creation of executive projects, verifying coherence with targets, matches the scheme detailed in Sect. 1.4.
We should point out that PFD performance targets are set using classic indi- cators for the setting up of powertrains, bodies and vehicle systems. Other target parameters derive from approved norms for safety, fuel consumption and exhaustion emission minimization.
During the setting up phase of a project, target parameters for customer quality, life cycle, maintainability and consequent warranty costs are always specified. For this purpose,carmakersapply evaluation methodologies based on experience and according to criteria adopted by institutionalized internationally qualified Tech- nical Departments.
The auditing process for fulfilling the above targets is normally performed by the Quality Assurance Department, as delegated by top management, for the purpose of having an objective judgment based on comparison with competitors’
products and to be sure that the root causes are correctly identified and that this information is passed on to the right company department or suppliers.
For the technical–economic part of the project, a specific activity of value/cost analysis for each item of the PMS is undertaken. The specific cost is referred to each module/subsystem. Adding the estimated cost of operation and for direct material required to complete the vehicle process (body painting, final assembly and testing), the cost target of the final product is determined. Value/cost analysis is done preventively (during the setting up phase) and continues during the executive phases in an analytical way, through the end of the industrialization process. Project Responsible has to search for necessary corrections and put them into action, collaborating withManufacturingandPurchasingResponsible.
Even in the subsequent set-up for the executive phase of the project, it is necessary to ensure coherence with the above points 2, 3, 4 and 5. It is clear, for instance, that the sale price of the product depends on its value (i.e., on PFD and QR indicators), just as sales volume (market share) depends on the comparison of the prices to those of competitors. Investment requirement and the process of obtaining capital depend consequently on sales volume.
In modern industrial automotive organizations, these important coherence tests are performed by a specific top management staff, in charge of Product Devel- opment Planning. This department, in collaboration with Marketing and Brand and other industrial departments for powertrain and vehicle development, must design the Product Range Plan, assuring synergy and defining the appropriate level of standard carry-over and specific solutions for modules and components.
Finally, Finance and Administration has to perform an economic and financial analysis in industrial initiatives and an audit on profit results.