Modularization in Automobile Logistics

Researcher:

Partners:

Daimler AG, Ulm

Financed by:

Daimler AG

Motivation:

Product complexity is increasing, while requirements regarding time-to-market and product price are putting additional pressure on the car manufacturers. Modularization of the product architecture can be seen as a promising remedy in this situation. Even though modularization is already well known and implemented in automotive production, a structured method to quantify its effects on logistics is lacking.

Objectives:

The main objective is the identification and evaluation of effects of modularization in the inbound logistic chain. This requires the analysis of the state of the art logistic processes in the automotive industry, the design of new processes and their evaluation.

Activities completed:

Within the first phase, the inbound logistic processes have been analyzed. In the second phase new process steps have been designed to handle the modules and afterwards an evaluation of the designed process chain has been executed in a third phase. The project showed a multitude of factors that are relevant when designing a logistic chain for modules. An approach for an optimal process design on tactical and operational level based on the identified factors is currently elaborated.