MIT Libraries homeMIT Libraries logoDSpace@MIT

MIT
View Item 
  • DSpace@MIT Home
  • MIT Sociotechnical Systems Research Center (SSRC)
  • International Motor Vehicle Program
  • View Item
  • DSpace@MIT Home
  • MIT Sociotechnical Systems Research Center (SSRC)
  • International Motor Vehicle Program
  • View Item
JavaScript is disabled for your browser. Some features of this site may not work without it.

Modularization and Outsourcing: Implications for the Future of Automotive Assembly "Management of the Extended Enterprise" Research Team

Author(s)
Warburton, Max; Helper, Susan; MacDuffie, John Paul; Pil, Frits; Sako, Mari; Takeishi, Akira; ... Show more Show less
Thumbnail
DownloadModStudy.pdf (38.15Kb)
Metadata
Show full item record
Abstract
Overview Twice in this century, automotive assembly has been the setting for dramatic innovations in production organization that have transformed the basis of competition in the auto industry. Henry Ford's mass production and Taiichi Ohno's lean production are both systems of interrelated practices held together by a core "logic" - powerful ideas shaping how we think about "making things". As we approach the second century of the car, there are important debates about whether, once again, auto manufacturing will strike off in a new direction -- commonly described as "modular assembly." Our IMVP research team aims to contribute to this debate through the research project described below. Deverticalization through the outsourcing of production from the large automakers to their suppliers has been a dominant trend during the 1990s, including the transfer of component design responsibility as well as manufacturing. A related trend is the effort to develop more modular designs, i.e. self-contained functional units with standardized interfaces that can serve as building blocks for a variety of different products. These trends have been visible in other industries for some time, but they are relatively recent in the auto industry; as a result, the implications are still not clear. In industries such as consumer electronics and personal computers, the ultimate consequence of extensive outsourcing is often that the final customer, i.e. the Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM), manufactures very little in-house. When extensive outsourcing is combined with more modular designs, the outcome can be a dramatic reshaping of the value chain. We want to investigate the extent of these trends in the auto industry and evaluate the implications for the role of automotive assembly and the structure of the entire industry, by doing case studies of specific modules.2
Date issued
2002-06-26
URI
http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/1407
Keywords
automotive assembly, modularization, outsourcing, commodization

Collections
  • International Motor Vehicle Program

Browse

All of DSpaceCommunities & CollectionsBy Issue DateAuthorsTitlesSubjectsThis CollectionBy Issue DateAuthorsTitlesSubjects

My Account

Login

Statistics

OA StatisticsStatistics by CountryStatistics by Department
MIT Libraries homeMIT Libraries logo

Find us on

Twitter Facebook Instagram YouTube RSS

MIT Libraries navigation

SearchHours & locationsBorrow & requestResearch supportAbout us
PrivacyPermissionsAccessibility
MIT
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Content created by the MIT Libraries, CC BY-NC unless otherwise noted. Notify us about copyright concerns.