Innovation in the Industry

Recharge Supplier Innovation to Breakthrough!

Mike Jackson

Executive Director, Strategy and Research 248.430.5954 │ mjackson@oesa.org

The sequential crises of the COVID-19 pandemic and resulting supply chain disruptions have taken a toll on the economy and auto industry, driving suppliers to do more with less. Innovation is the fuel to delight customers, outpace competitors and drive out-sized returns on investments – even more vital in a challenging market environment. Suppliers must assess and prioritize investments in the context of new market realities, while taking calculated risks.

Innovation is at the very heart of the automotive industry. The industry continues to change, transitioning from the past vertically oriented top-down hierarchical approach toward a more lateral, collaborative peer-to-peer ecosystem. Recent history reminds us that not every program or feature is a commercial success, yet increasingly the supplier community recognizes the value of intellectual curiosity and continual learning. Many of these calculated risks provide know how to achieve the next breakthrough.

As the industry continues to retrench and emerge from the impact of the pandemic, new approaches offer an opportunity to surpass expectations and realize gains. Partnerships are a vital pathway to gain insight and expertise while reducing risk. OESA invites industry executives to learn valuable innovation outcomes from dynamic supplier executives who are reinventing processes to gain advantage at the Leveraging Capital and Collaboration to Accelerate Innovation event on October 21, 2021, in person at the OESA Conference Center and virtually via Zoom.

Leading industry analyst, Colin Langan, automotive & mobility, Wells Fargo, will kick-off the discussion with a detailed sector analysis. He will share Wall Street perspectives on supplier innovators funding advanced technologies to position for growth through the industry recovery.

Jim Penman, managing director, Donnelly Penman & Partners, will discuss industry dynamics, highlighting supplier value creation including compelling examples along with a debrief of an evolving M&A paradigm to optimize capital allocation and investment strategies.

Dan Bonucchi, associate, Warner Norcross + Judd, will give a detailed review on the legal landscape within a rapidly changing marketplace, sharing critical factors when establishing M&A strategies and technology partnerships as suppliers position for success within the innovation process.

Industry mega trends continue to exert undue influence on future business strategies, including a dramatic shift from hardware toward software. To this end, the industry offers dramatically different approaches between traditional and emerging automakers, offering both risk and reward.

Hear from Jean-Luc Blancou, Group Business Development Senior Vice President, Novares, on ways the global plastic solutions leader in automotive is gaining momentum by embracing open innovation and prioritizing collaboration. This pursuit has strong support from the top, as Novares CEO, Pierre Boulet served on an expert jury to judge startup pitches at their third annual ‘Novares Venture Day’ in June. Novares CEO Pierre Boulet said, “We want to continue to invest in innovation and we are committed to rapidly integrating the best ideas into our automotive portfolio.”

Learn from industry expert, Artur Seidel, Vice President of the Americas, Elektrobit, on ways suppliers can leverage available tools to speed software development and increase reliability. Of a typical vehicle today that requires 100-200 million lines of code, Seidel says about 60% is nondifferentiating software. Elektrobit is helping automakers and suppliers through its software platform called EB xelor, made of a collection of foundational software. EB xelor offers stakeholders a production-proven solution with open-source and third-party software.

Brose Tuscaloosa sparks innovation by arming teams with culture and technology. Recent investments in plant and equipment help tell a great story: 99.8% on-time delivery, 60% reduction in scrap, 36% increase in first-pass yield. However, in response to a tight labor market, Brose has created a compelling environment that brings workers in and keeps them engaged. Gain rich insights from Jim Barbaretta, general manager of Tuscaloosa and New Boston on Brose’s ‘management build’ program as well as its mechatronics apprenticeship effort with Lawson State Community College.

The pandemic has created new challenges yet accelerated opportunities driving suppliers to do more with less. Nearly all auto makers are working with their venture capital arms to foster innovation and gain awareness in scouting technology. Suppliers have cost-effective opportunities to realize gains with little expense by using new approaches.

Supporting Sponsors:

Panelists:

Register for OESA events at www.oesa.org. For registration assistance, contact OESA at info@oesa.org.

Contact Mike Jackson to learn more about automotive supplier sentiment. He can also provide information on economic and industry trends, as well as the Chief Financial and Chief Purchasing Officers Councils.