Reduce New Product Development Lead Times Case Study

As with 75% of the automotive supply base, spreadsheets and silo client-server applications with lack of standardization was hindering the global growth objectives of this customer. Their goal was to locate a global partner who understands APQP and can implement a single-window software solution for all the APQP / PPAP documentation and also provide implementation and training services worldwide. This problem’s solution must be easy-to-use, easy-to-configure, centrally controlled, and have the ability to be shared across all their facilities worldwide.

CUSTOMER PROFILE:

A leading Tier 1 Automotive Supplier for Lighting/Visibility Solutions

INDUSTRY: Automotive

LOCATION: Headquarters in France, with 155 global sites.

EMPLOYEES: Approximately 91,000+

The Customer:

A leading Tier-1 Automotive Supplier focused on Visibility Solutions and partnered with all major OEMs. This supplier operates in 32 countries and has 155 production facilities across the globe with multiple business units, including thermal & powertrain solutions.

The Problem:

As with 75% of the automotive supply base, spreadsheets and silo client-server applications with lack of standardization was hindering the global growth objectives of this customer.

Their goal was to locate a global partner who understands APQP and can implement a single-window software solution for all the APQP / PPAP documentation and also provide implementation and training services worldwide. This problem’s solution must be easy-to-use, easy-to-configure, centrally controlled, and have the ability to be shared across all their facilities worldwide.

The Solution:

After carefully evaluating the many solutions in the market, this client chose Omnex as having the most qualified and comprehensive solution. Omnex began the partnership in 2012 with a pilot project at one of their largest Design & Development centers in Spain. The Omnex APQP / PPAP Documentation solution, which is part of our Enterprise APQP Suite, was a perfect fit for this. The Omnex concept of developing Design & Process documents as libraries and grouping them as Family-Parts was met with great relief for the Engineering & Process teams. The software was implemented and utilized for 2 years before larger goals were to be reached.

Being a market leader in Visibility Solutions, APQP / PPAP documentation was not only a mere document for our customer but was the life line of New Product Development. In order to retain market leadership, they raised the bar for APQP / PPAP Documentation so high that our out-of-the-box solution needed customization for the enhanced performance.

As always, Omnex was ready for these challenges. Customer Leadership Team, Omnex Subject Matter Experts & Product Development Teams joined together to create an innovative solution that was tailored to fit customer needs. Project Kick-Off committed both Technical & IT resources from both the customer & Omnex. Our weekly and monthly Project Review meetings assisted in tracking & monitoring the Design & Development of the solution. Omnex’s underlying platform was very flexible and generic enough to allow the scaling up of customer requirements. The customized solution was developed in less than 5 months and made available for business users in 2016.

The Omnex implementation & roll-out journey started in the Winter of 2016.Omnex global presence greatly assisted in the software implementation in many countries including Europe, the Americas, Asia and more.

This software is now being used in all major Development Centers across the globe.

The Benefits:

• 65% reduction in New Product Launch Lead time using existing Design & Process Libraries.
• 30% reduction in reuse of information between Family-Parts.
• 35% savings on tracking and con- trolling Special Characteristics.
• 30% savings in Standardization and Change Management.
• 20% reduction in Communication Management on Information Avail- ability & Accessibility.
• 50% savings in Knowledge Management across the Enterprise.