E-Commerce Commission Press Kit

The Internet will permit even further reductions by broadening the network of businessesconnected electronically and by facilitating collaboration on projects across work teams andgeographical locations.Few industries faced a greater challenge to reduce cycle times than the automotive industry in theearly 1980s. While Japanese automakers could take a car from concept to mass production inapproximately three years, American companies typically took four to six years.First, a full-scale clay model was built to see how the vehicle would look in real life.Incorporating changes to the model could take months. Once approved, single- or multipleprototypevehicles were built by hand to see whether parts fit together correctly and whether thecar could be built economically. Engineers worked with the prototype builders to refine theengineering specifications. Once the prototype was ready, the engineers would design theindividual components and the tooling needed to make the components. Then, purchasing agentswould work with suppliers to produce prototype tooling and parts for assembly of pilot or preproductionvehicles. If everything went smoothly, the manufacturing-engineering team wouldthen assemble the vehicle to discover any assembly problems. Finally, after additionalmodifications, the vehicle was mass produced. 47Today, all parties involved in designing a new platform or vehicle—designers, engineers,suppliers, and manufacturing and assembly personnel—work as part of a team, contributing to theprocess from beginning to end. As a result of computerization, steps that used to take weeks ormonths can now be done in a matter of days. Sharing information electronically allows thedifferent members of the group to work on projects together, rather than having to wait for eachmember to finish his step before the next one can be taken. Through the use of computer-aideddesign (CAD), computer-aided manufacturing (CAM) and computer-aided engineering (CAE),the whole team can share computer files and use 3-D modeling techniques to design the vehicleand see how parts fit without building prototypes by hand. Changes to the components can bemade without building sample tooling and parts.When the final design is agreed on, CAM data is loaded into machines that build the tooling andprototype parts. The same techniques are being used to reconfigure and retool assembly plants.Working as a team and sharing information electronically has cut the time it takes to develop andbuild a new vehicle to about 30 months. 48Automotive companies now want to shorten the design cycle to less than 24 months by setting upplatform teams in different parts of the world and linking them electronically. By using globalcommunication links, engineers in Detroit can assign a problem to engineers on their team inIndia. With the time zone difference, the engineers in the Far East can work on the problem andget an answer back to their Detroit counterparts by the next business day. 49Cycle times are also being shortened for production. Before the use of EDI, automotivecompanies communicated production requirements and schedules to their suppliers by phone, faxor mail. This meant time-consuming manual data entry, photocopying and information hand-offs17