Manufacturing newsletter - February 2008
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Welcome to PA’s latest manufacturing industries newsletter. We are passionate about bringing you the latest innovative thinking in the sector and in this edition we share three feature articles:
- The European way: competitive strategies to outperform Toyota in the next decade
- Finance business partnering: are you stepping up to the challenge?
- Turning green into gold: pushing back the boundaries in consumer products.
Please feel free to pass this newsletter to your colleagues. We hope you will find the articles of interest and, as always, we would greatly appreciate your feedback on the newsletter and would be happy to discuss any of the topics in this edition in further detail.
Martin Smith
Head of Global Manufacturing Industries
PA Consulting Group
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The great trading entities of auto manufacturing – Asia, the US and Europe – have pursued different strategies over the last decade in their pursuit of growth. As the dust settles, one result is clear: Asia is in the driving seat, the US strategy has largely failed, and if Europe is not careful, its industry could go the way of the US. How can we ensure that the European automotive industry follows a strategy that is successful and sustainable? This analysis represents the ‘European Way’; it deliberately avoids imitation of the ‘Toyota Way’ and instead offers a strategic approach that plays to the strengths and specific characteristics of the region’s industry. >more |
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The role of finance is undergoing a radical period of change – moving from a traditional gatekeeper role involving control, compliance and closing the books to a more forward-looking business support role focused on data interrogation, analysis and interpretation. A global survey of 900 CFOs, undertaken by Accountancy Age, found that although 61% considered business partnering a high priority, only 31% believe they are effective at actually doing it. 'Finance Business Partnering – Are you stepping up to the challenge?' explores why business partnering is not working and what needs to be in place to ensure success. >more |
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'Green' issues are playing an increasingly important role in individual purchasing decisions, with a growing majority of consumers willing to pay more for goods they regard as environmentally responsible. Companies on the road to sustainability need to develop a true understanding of the commercial benefits versus environmental and social impacts right across product life cycles, to find the right balance between consumer needs, technical feasibility and commercial reality. Done well, a commercial focus on sustainability will lead to bottom line savings, risk reduction and increased sales. >more |
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 Article in the Financial Times, 10 December 2007, by Martin Smith and Chris Poole: designing a supply chain ‘from the shelf back’
It may seem obvious that if you do not have products on the shelf, then business will be lost. What is not obvious, however, is the extent to which this can destroy value for retailers and manufacturers. To counter this, one approach is to design and operate the supply chain ’from the shelf back‘, delivering whatever it takes to win with the consumer. We explain three main factors: driving the top line business, integrating with sales and marketing, and building joint business plans. >more
PA and Nissan win President's Medal for world-first assignment
PA, along with its client Nissan, was awarded the Operational Research Society's President's Medal. The President's Medal recognises the benefits delivered to date and also the major achievement in 2007 of enabling Nissan to build up to five different car models simultaneously on just two production lines originally designed to produce only two models at its Sunderland plant. Michael Simpson from Nissan, said: "We knew this was a very difficult system to solve and PA had experience of solving very difficult problems". >more
Agenda 11 IT Newsletter
The latest PA update on IT and systems in business, which includes the following articles: ‘The road to infrastructure optimisation’, ‘Is your business seriously committed?’, ‘The changing role of technology leaders’, ‘Sharing the load of shared service centres’ and ‘Information Technology Infrastructure library’. >more
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© PA Knowledge Limited 2008
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