Blue Yonder > Case Studies > Driving Increased Vehicle Customization

Driving Increased Vehicle Customization

Customer Company Size

Large Corporate

Region

Europe
America

Country

United Kingdom
United States

Product

JDA® Build to Order

Tech Stack

Automated decision-support tool

Implementation Scale

Enterprise-wide Deployment

Impact Metrics

Cost Savings
Productivity Improvements
Customer Satisfaction

Technology Category

Functional Applications - Manufacturing Execution Systems (MES)

Applicable Industries

Automotive

Applicable Functions

Discrete Manufacturing
Logistics & Transportation

Use Cases

Manufacturing System Automation
Supply Chain Visibility

About The Customer

Headquartered in Gillingham, England, Delphi Automotive PLC is a leading supplier of technologies for the worldwide automotive and commercial vehicle markets. The company’s Electrical/Electronic Architecture business unit provides complete design of vehicles’ electrical architecture, including connectors, wiring assemblies and harnesses, electrical centers, and hybrid high voltage and safety distribution systems. Delphi has manufacturing plants worldwide, as well as a network of third-party manufacturing partners.

The Challenge

Delphi Automotive PLC, a key supplier to the world’s leading automakers, faced the challenge of incorporating increased delivery speed and product customization into its operations. The company assembles and delivers critical components to automotive OEM assembly lines, in a predefined sequence at short notice. This is particularly challenging due to the complexity of Delphi’s products. For instance, a single electrical harness may be composed of hundreds of miles of wire, connecting to thousands of points within the vehicle. Delphi recognized the need for an automated decision-support tool to help it support these increasingly complex build-to-order requirements.

The Solution

Delphi chose to implement JDA Build to Order from JDA Software’s Manufacturing Planning suite of solutions to address this challenge. The solution considers every possible way of fulfilling a given customer order by exploring a variety of production plans and manufacturing sites, enabling Delphi to determine the fastest, most cost-efficient way to meet each customer’s needs. JDA Build to Order receives each customer order electronically, then maps the most efficient, low-cost pathway across Delphi’s many production steps. These steps typically include cutting wire (KAN BAN), assembling harness “kits,” performing final assembly according to each customer’s unique Vehicle Order Number, conducting a couple of testing steps including electrical testing, and finally packaging products based on exacting customer specifications.

Operational Impact