The changes currently taking place in the automotive-supplier industry from the need to go global to the emergence of new competitors in low-cost countries have increased business uncertainties and turned decision making that used to be straightforward into a much more complicated process.
From new lighting technologies to breakthrough powertrain solutions, suppliers manage the frontlines in an attempt to find superior solutions for their OEM customers. They're also responsible for roughly 70 percent of the industry's costs, placing them front and center in the continuing effort to boost productivity.
We help supplier companies in all the steps of the value chain. Our projects range from growth strategies and business-plan development to R&D topics such as material-cost optimization and supply-chain optimization, as well as sales and aftermarket processes. We help clients reduce capital intensity, optimize and standardize their specifications, and refine their approach to innovation and R&D investment. We also have perspectives on globalizing and localizing products, talent management, and corporate-finance topics.
With dozens of dedicated consultants and experts around the world, we can address any question a supplier may have. In addition, we work with regional industry groups to maintain a cutting-edge perspective on the issues that matter most. And we invest in knowledge development to address key industry concerns – for example, we recently developed a toolbox of nine elements that play an outsize role in an automotive supplier’s success.
Recent examples of our work
- We helped an automotive supplier implement value-based pricing in its key product categories.
- We worked with a supplier to devise a strategy to profitably tap the booming car market in China.
- By applying best-practice material-cost-optimization tools and approaches across electronic, mechanical, and electro-mechanical components, we helped various leading tier-one automotive suppliers gain savings in the range of 15 percent or more.
- We assisted a global tier-one supplier with defining a non-automotive growth strategy.
- We helped identify and target specific opportunities for a supplier in the electric-vehicle market.