James Seevers, CIO & GM, Toyoda Gosei
Cars! To many people, the word conjures memories of freedom, raw power, and the first purchase we were able to afford as we started off on our own life, separate from our parents. Technology was not something we were concerned with. Fast forward to the present -technology has become interwoven with the very fabric of cars. No longer is the consumer satisfied with the mere notion of travelling somewhere; now each person behind the wheel of a car desires to have any and all amenities with them as they cruise throughout the day. This need for the luxuries, comfort and hi-tech environments has created a need for cars and technology to be so interwoven one can no longer be seen as separate from the other.
Cars are expected to be fuel efficient, yet powerful; full of the very
An example of the use of technology in the automotive process can be seen in today’s Supply Chain Process. Prior to the latest wave of technology in the automotive world, material was largely handled in a highly manual process. Obviously, this process came with the associated costs incurred with a largely manual labor force required to order material (by phone, email or sometimes if fortunate enough, via EDI), and then to manually process the material once received. The very act of receiving was itself a lengthy process involving verification of material; manifest manually compared to Purchase Order; material placed into the warehouse for later consumption based on (usually) a known physical map. Today’s process is now highly refined and has technology imbedded in every facet. Supply Chain Monitoring and Processing, in many companies uses the Web to deliver and process the same information as which used to be accomplished by a multitude of planners, warehousemen, purchasing agents and accountants.
