Autor: Sven Schulze

Based on the prevailing opinion in industry, politics and science, in the automotive sector electric mobility is becoming increasingly important and will succeed in the long term. With the resulting displacement of internal combustion engines, new conditions arise for the stakeholders in the automotive industry. The value share of the electronics in the vehicle will continue to rise new suppliers and competitors will enter the market. But not only the production of the vehicles is exposed to new circumstances, in particular the automotive aftermarket is affected. The demand for services and spare parts will be displaced considerably so that all stakeholders must reposition themselves strategically in this market. The purposes of this paper are the new market conditions and the consequences for the stakeholders.

Currently an increasing number of small and medium-sized enterprises (SME) is facing the challenge of seeking cost saving opportunities by shifting their production to foreign (low cost) countries. This trend is strengthened by the desire to offer a high service level to global customers on a local basis. In the majority of cases a lack of know-how, financial, and human resources hinders the establishment of an own production abroad by the SME. Outsourcing of manufacturing processes or utilizing joint ventures with foreign enterprises might be applicable solutions. However, the fear of product counterfeiting or plagiarism keeps most of the SME from expanding internationally. In order to assure an effective protection against the aforementioned issues SME have to identify their core competencies and develop capable safety measures.

The international competition pressure and the increased customer requirements regarding delivery time and individual expression of the products provide the basic conditions for the capital goods industry in Germany. Besides a high productivity the change ability is a prerequisite within the production to also be able to consist in wage-intensive fields competitively at the market. In this article its use is described by flexible production modules with a practice example in the capital goods industry.