Supply Chain Metrics that Matter

Chapter 8What Drives Value in the Value Network?Industry Progress in the Automotive Value Chain

After lunch we continued the discussion by focusing on the auto industry. It seemed that cars had dominated a large portion of our strategy session on prior days, so it only seemed fitting that the session end with a focus on the automotive value network.

When the team returned to their seats, I started the discussion by saying, “The auto industry is back. The demand for cars is strong and increasing. In August 2013, the Detroit Three—Chrysler, Ford, and General Motors—sold over 600,000 vehicles domestically. Total U.S. auto sales were estimated at 1.48 million units. The industry is on track to match or exceed 2008 annual sales (16.1 million units) by the end of 2014.¹ Let the good times roll, right?”

At that point Frank smiled, and quipped, “I hope you're right. You know I love my cars. I even have a picture to prove it.” As he held it up and moved it sideways in front of him, Joe said, “Don't forget, I now have one, too! We're joined at the hip, you and I.”

Laughter rippled through the room as Frank and Joe went back and forth with their car jabs, but for Filipe this was the moment he had been waiting for.

“Come on guys. I've waited three days for this. I'm excited to see the results for the automotive industry,” said Filipe. “It was great to see Intel pull forward on the index in semiconductor. I'm sure that we will see Toyota outperform as well. They did such great work on lean ...