Auto supplier and OEM relationships - 6 automakers studied

[The Critic]

Auto supplier and OEM relationships: Insights from the 2022 WRI® Study | Our Insights | Plante Moran

How do OEMs and suppliers view their working relationships amid industry challenges? The 2022 Plante Moran WRI® Study findings offer actionable insight.

www.plantemoran.com

2022:

2023:

Auto supplier and OEM relationships: Insights from the 2023 WRI® Study | Our Insights | Plante Moran

OEM-supplier relationships directly impact auto industry competitiveness. That’s why we measure them annually with the Working Relations Index (WRI)(R) Study.

www.plantemoran.com

I think we can agree that supplier relationships are critical at the OEM level. Do these results directly correlate to the current backorder situation? Maybe, maybe not - but there is one OEM on this list that has a reputation for serious quality struggles....I wonder if this has something to do with it.

 

[Audiman]

None of them have a relationship that’s classed as good though, would be interesting to know if any auto maker get‘s into that 350+ area.

 

[KGMtech]

From my 24 years in NA Automotive, ending in 2019, the numbers and charts are pretty darn close to what I saw and heard from others.

It was practically a joke how easy it was to become a supplier to Fiat Chrysler back then. It would seem nothing has really changed.

 

[ctechbob]

Speaking of OEM/Manufacturer relationships

A little piece of inside baseball I noticed reading through all of the released documents from the GM 8 Speed class action is that GM was apparently a little afraid of taking on Exxon Mobil when they discovered their fluid problem. There were initially talks of them trying to make EM pay some of the warranty claims, and then there was mention of something to the effect that they'd best let that sleeping dog lie.

Also, the larger issue was that EM made the fluid to GM's spec, so they (GM) didn't really have a leg to stand on, but it sounded like they were a little desparate since they've been bleeding 8 speed money for almost a decade now.

 

[benjamming]

Is this for Tier 1 suppliers or further down the chain as well?

 

[KGMtech]

Is this for Tier 1 suppliers or further down the chain as well?

Not always. I worked in Tier 2 and Tier 1. The T2 experience can be better than dealing with OEM depending on who you are working with, as one could expect. However if the OEM is a %&#@, don't expect the T1 to make this better for the T2. The T1 can only do so much.

 

[KGMtech]

I remember working on a stamping part for Honda in the early 2000's, we were not a T1 at the time but the part we were to supply to a Civic was considered very unique because it was one of the first made with high strength 420Mpa YS steel. (You can laugh now) So Honda was very involved with all the meetings for this Body In White part. Our T1 customer was a total pita to deal with, but Honda was very good to us, and provided much needed clarity on what features were important to them and what dimensions were for us to be "as stamped". We almost never got that kind of insight because usually the T1 would reject wrong dimensions without explaining why the dimension needed to be controlled so closely. It was obvious the T1 didn't want to ask Honda for fear the question would make T1 look stupid or annoying.

I had a Honda engineer explain at a meeting at T1 that a cut out on the stamped BIW part was there only to allow a screwdriver to be inserted at assembly of car. It had no need to be controlled with +/- 0.05mm profile of line call out (IIRC) but the feature needed to exist. No problem for us, but when we learned this we got the T1 to remove the print requirement to check the dims on our control plan. So if you can get a good communication flow with all suppliers both UP and DOWN then the project does much better.

So many engineers don't want to ask questions of their customer because they fear loss of face. This is human nature, and all industries have this issue. Maybe Aviation is better?