The automotive supplier industry and the relationship between car manufacturers and suppliers has been confronted with major changes resulting from OEMs' strategy of stronger product integration and the building of so-called systems, sub-systems and components and segmentation of the supplier industry. Former valid work processes, division of work, organisational structures and also, the general manufacturer-supplier relationship has been subject to intensive evaluation and appropriate adaptation to the changed circumstances. This research project aims to investigate these changes in the European car industry in greater detail, particularly: The OEMs' system-building strategy What requirements OEMs must meet at the individual supplier levels (system, sub-system, component) and The main factors involved in the development of a more efficient relationship between OEMs and suppliers. To achieve this object, various activities were undertaken including the collecting of information from previous studies, preparing standardised questionnaires and performing investigations within the European car industry and also at a major automotive supplier. The work is based on empirical investigations and personal interviews conducted with key persons in automobile companies and automotive suppliers with the aim of painting a picture of the future situation and developing a proposal based on the information compiled. Finding answers to the above-mentioned issues may be very important and useful in determining internal organisational structure and resource allocation and in making strategic decisions in respect of alliances and collaborations when preparing one's own business for the even fiercer competition that will face automobile suppliers in the future.

Abstract Problem Little research has been conducted on how packaging and returnable packaging are managed within suppliers in the Scandinavian automotive supply chain. Sources also propose that returnable packaging is dealt with inefficiently within the automotive suppliers.    Purpose The purpose of the thesis is to explore and analyze how packaging and returnable packaging are managed within suppliers in the ASC. It also aims to identify perceived important factors for efficient returnable packaging management from the perspective of suppliers, sub-suppliers and OEMs. Method The research is based on a holistic single case study. Further, it adopts the inductive approach and exploratory purpose. Data collection is facilitated by qualitative methods, using ten semi-structured interviews and four on-site observations. Conclusion Packaging was found to be managed somewhat differently in the internal, outbound and inbound flows. Non-returnable and returnable packaging was found used in all flows at different ratios. Further, several factors were regarded important for efficient returnable packaging management. These were found specific for the internal, outbound and inbound flows and further divided into fundamental and efficiency factors.

M. Com. (Logistics Management) / The opening of the first dedicated Supplier Park by Seat adjacent to its Abrera assembly facility in 1992, in many ways, marked the beginning of a global trend. Since then, more than forty parks in various configurations have been established around the world. Initially, this trend was mostly confined to Europe but the Supplier Park concept quickly gained momentum in newly industrialised countries like Brazil and, more recently, the USA and South Africa (Reichhart & Holweg, 2007: 52). The world’s automotive industry is a vital part of the workings of the global economy and the wellbeing of the world’s citizens (OICA, n.d.). According to the International Organisation of Motor Vehicle Manufacturers (OICA, n.d.), the world’s automotive industry manufactured over 66 million cars, vans, trucks and buses in 2005 which is equivalent to a global turnover of close to € 2 trillion. If vehicle manufacturing were a country, it would be the sixth largest economy in the world requiring the direct employment of nearly eight million people in manufacturing the vehicles and the parts that go into them. This is more than 5% of the world’s total manufacturing employment. In addition to these direct employees, many more people are employed indirectly in related manufacturing and service provision industries (OICA, n.d.).

Sous la pression croissante de l'innovation, les entreprises sont plus que jamais obligées de s’occuper de la gestion de l'innovation, et plus particulièrement la génération systématique et la sélection des idées. Ceci s’applique en particulier aux secteurs technologiques tels que l'automobile.L’idéation signifie la procédure de la génération et sélection des idées pour les innovations de nouveaux produits, services où modèles d’affaires avec un potentiel commercial sur le marché. Elle se situe au début de la phase floue amont (« fuzzy front-end », FFE) du processus de l'innovation et détermine le processus de développement de nouveaux produits (« New Product Development », NPD).Dans ce contexte, cette thèse vise à répondre à la question de recherche suivante: « Comment est-il possible de créer une approche structurée qui fait de l’idéation la tâche principale de la FFE et l’implémenter comme processus dans un environnement d'entreprise pour faciliter la gestion de l'innovation? » À cet objectif, la principale contribution de ce travail est un modèle « étape – points de décision » (« stage-gate » en anglais) d’un processus d’idéation de référence qui est basé sur un ensemble des facteurs clés de succès identifiés dans la littérature et des entrevues d'experts.Le modèle de processus d’idéation de référence proposé s’appuie sur l’intégration forte et systématique des acteurs internes et externes dans l'idéation et intègre ainsi intrinsèquement le paradigme modern de l'Innovation Ouverte. Il a été conçu de manière qu’il puisse être intégré dans les processus d'innovation existants avec des efforts raisonnables, et qu’il assure l’alignement des activités d'idéation avec la stratégie commerciale de l'entreprise.La validation du modèle de processus de référence proposé a été faite chez le sous-traitant automobile allemand KSPG Automotive Group essentiellement par la dérivation d'un processus spécifique à cette entreprise à partir du processus de référence. Ce processus dérivé prend en compte le contexte spécifique de l'innovation et l'idéation chez cette entreprise et facilite par conséquence son intégration dans la culture organisationnelle de l'entreprise et son paysage de processus.Dans le cadre de cette thèse, la faisabilité de l'approche globale ainsi que le processus d'idéation lui-même ont été validés, et un concept pour l'introduction du nouveau processus a été établi. Sur cette base solide sont données des perspectives pour les prochaines activités de recherche qui sont directement liées à l'introduction et l'amélioration du processus, ainsi que la détermination de l'applicabilité de l'approche dans d’autres secteurs industriels. / Under the rapidly increasing innovation pressure, companies are forced—more than ever before—to deal with the subject of innovation management, particularly with systematic idea generation and selection. This is especially true in technology-driven sectors such as automotive.Ideation denotes the procedure of idea generation and selection for innovations of products, services or business models with commercialisation potential on the market. It is located in the very beginning of the fuzzy front-end (FFE) of the entire innovation process and sets the course for New Product Development (NPD).In this context, this work attempts to answer the following research question: “How is it possible to create a structured approach which makes ideation the core task of the FFE, and to implement it as a process in a corporate environment such that it facilitates innovation management?” To this aim, its principal contribution is an ideation stage-gate reference process model based on a set of key success factors identified from literature and expert interviews.The proposed ideation reference process model capitalises on the strong and systematic involvement of internal and external stakeholders in ideation, and therefore follows intrinsically the modern paradigm of Open Innovation. It is designed in a way that can be integrated in existing innovation processes with reasonable effort, and it assures the alignment of ideation activities with the company’s business strategy.The validation of the proposed reference process model has been done at the German automotive supplier KSPG Automotive Group based on the derivation of a company-specific ideation process from the reference process. This derived process takes into account the company’s specific context of innovation and ideation, and is consequently focused on facilitating its integration into the company’s organisational culture and process landscape while introducing a fundamentally new approach to systematic ideation activities.In the scope of this thesis, the feasibility of the total approach as well as the ideation process itself has been demonstrated, and a concept for the broad introduction of the new process has been established. On this solid basis, perspectives for future research activities directly linked to the introduction and the improvement of the process, as well as to the determination of the applicability of the approach in different industry sectors are given.

An die Musterfertigung von Systemlieferanten stellt sich die besondere Anforderung, Prototypen verschiedener Erzeugnisse, in vielfältigen Kundenvarianten, in jeweils unterschiedlichen Produktreifegraden, parallel zu fertigen. Daraus resultiert eine spezifische Variabilitätsausprägung der Produktionsplanungsparameter, die zu einer hohen Komplexität und Turbulenz in der Ablaufsteuerung einer Musterfertigung führt. Infolgedessen gilt der Planparametervariabilitätsfall Musterfertigung, sowohl in der Theorie als auch in der betrieblichen Praxis, als ein bislang ungelöstes Steuerungsproblem, welches ein hohes Verbesserungspotenzial aufweist. Die vorliegende Arbeit analysiert und beleuchtet diesen Problemfall im Rahmen einer vergleichenden Fallstudienuntersuchung. Aufbauend auf den gewonnenen Erkenntnissen wird ein Konzept zur Steuerung einer Musterfertigung bei Systemlieferanten entwickelt und in seinem Anwendungszusammenhang evaluiert. / Sample production of tier 1 automotive suppliers demands producing simultaneously different product samples in many customised versions and within various maturity levels. The associated variability of the time-phased work content leads to a high degree of complexity and turbulence in the manufacturing process of such a production type. Therefore, sample production control becomes significantly more complicated and most existing control approaches fail in the real world. For this reason the present thesis examines this subject matter by means of a comparative case study. Based on the findings a customized production control concept will be introduced that fully adapts the specific needs of sample production of tier 1 automotive suppliers.

An die Musterfertigung von Systemlieferanten stellt sich die besondere Anforderung, Prototypen verschiedener Erzeugnisse, in vielfältigen Kundenvarianten, in jeweils unterschiedlichen Produktreifegraden, parallel zu fertigen. Daraus resultiert eine spezifische Variabilitätsausprägung der Produktionsplanungsparameter, die zu einer hohen Komplexität und Turbulenz in der Ablaufsteuerung einer Musterfertigung führt. Infolgedessen gilt der Planparametervariabilitätsfall Musterfertigung, sowohl in der Theorie als auch in der betrieblichen Praxis, als ein bislang ungelöstes Steuerungsproblem, welches ein hohes Verbesserungspotenzial aufweist. Die vorliegende Arbeit analysiert und beleuchtet diesen Problemfall im Rahmen einer vergleichenden Fallstudienuntersuchung. Aufbauend auf den gewonnenen Erkenntnissen wird ein Konzept zur Steuerung einer Musterfertigung bei Systemlieferanten entwickelt und in seinem Anwendungszusammenhang evaluiert. / Sample production of tier 1 automotive suppliers demands producing simultaneously different product samples in many customised versions and within various maturity levels. The associated variability of the time-phased work content leads to a high degree of complexity and turbulence in the manufacturing process of such a production type. Therefore, sample production control becomes significantly more complicated and most existing control approaches fail in the real world. For this reason the present thesis examines this subject matter by means of a comparative case study. Based on the findings a customized production control concept will be introduced that fully adapts the specific needs of sample production of tier 1 automotive suppliers.