Case Study of Nissans Cogent Co-Development

Case Study of Nissans Cogent Co-Development In early 1990s Nissan started its NX96 improvement initiative focusing on quality(Q), cost(C), delivery(D), development and management(M). Thus Nissan could measure QCD performance levels of components from supplier, then set and achieve improvement targets. But that was not the case in development assessment due to diverse range of challenges in terms of widely varying nature of suppliers products and technologies, resulting in poor overall performance and threat for their competitiveness. These deficiencies of development in NX96 initiative were considered and replaced with NEXT21 (Nissan Euro eXcellnce Towards 21st century) incorporating new approach to design and development (DD). Nissans requirement from its supplier base was about 75%. Though suppliers had world class quality levels with defect rate of less than 10ppm, in publics perception Nissan remained below its competitors even after surpassing them in quality data figures. With these feedbacks, Nissan focused on attractive quality apart from basic quality. In 1995 Nissan formulated COGENT, Co-development re-generation tool, an initiative developed with partnership between NETC (Nissan European Technology Centre), Cranfield University and 89 of its suppliers. COGENT has a Latin origin meaning, Drive Forward Together, and runs hand-in-hand with NEXT21 programme. The aim of COGENT was to improve overall performance of product; that is to get best quality at cheaper price with faster delivery. The fact that 80% of quality performance determined at development phase brings in significant overall benefit at production stage justifies the need to focus on component DD itself. The specific goal of COGENT was to bring DD activities of suppliers in close alignment with that of Nissan itself. The objective was primarily to develop better understanding and more effective relationship between Nissan and its suppliers by having open communication at early stages of product development and also to maintain the momentum. Part 2: Overview of theories involved Supply chain management is the integration of each element of supply, design, production, and distribution from extraction of raw material to end customer delivery. (Rudzki et al. 2006). Managing supplier relationships is the vital part of strategic supply management as market changes and trends makes external suppliers a critical part of a firms value chain (Trent 2007). Through a good relationship, supplier development activities by means of collaboration with suppliers in various forms of partnerships, enables to improve overall effectiveness and efficiency of the supply chain as a whole (Ford et al. 1998). One of the important steps in supplier development during Integrative Development stage is Supplier Integration in New Product development (NPD). Suppliers are integrated into buyers supply chain network by means of supplier involvement in DD of new products, processes, and services (Krause 1999 Module note page: 45, Refer appendix Fig. A for supplier development Model Step#10). Early supplier involvement(ESI) is the process of relying on suppliers, either physically or virtually, to provide support early on during strategic planning, demand and supply planning, continuous improvement projects, project planning and development of new technologies and products. ESI is often associated with new product development and the factors that drive include the need for continuous improvement, the need to develop new products, services, and processes quickly and also save cost by doing the design right at first time, thus achieving reduced cycle times of concept-to-customer (Trent 2007). Though there are various expenses involved in supplier relationship management, buyer companies reap the benefits such as achieving are lower production costs by means of right first time design, improved material flow through reduced inventory, and reduced administration costs by means of integrated information systems (Ford et al. 1998). Overall benefits to the buyer company are reduction in material cost, reduction in development and manufacturing cost, reduction in development cycle time, improvement in quality, functionality, features and technology. Table1 presents findings from the study that focused on how different organisations involve suppliers during product and process development and reveal that ESI deliver better performance results (Trent 2007).   Early Involvement Reduction in material costs 20% Reduction in development cycle time 20% Improvement in material quality 20% Reduction in development costs 20% Reduction in manufacturing costs 10% Improvement in product functionality, features, technology 20% Table1. Median Improvements from ESI (Trent 2007:227) . In general, long-term relationships result in improvements in: Supplier involvement focus and ownership of product focus on continuous improvement implementation method focus on quality teamwork on new product introduction shared vision alignment of people and systems clearly defined responsibility and accountability (Burnes and Dale 1998). Part 3: COGENT Implementation and Achievements MDs of some of Nissans supplier companies were invited to NETC to discuss about key points of co-development, what was required to be done for them to achieve world class levels of design by year 2000 and how they would implement changes. NETC and Cranfield University worked together intensively with Nissans first tier suppliers for the first year, trying to communicate the very essence of COGENT. But they realized that the message was not reaching the wide supplier base fast enough. Thus fast-track COGENT was initiated. Suppliers were invited for a day long intensive event to work through three specific workshops that takes through the core messages of COGENT. The fast track COGENT concentrated in three areas for aligning different aspects of co-development aligning perceptions, aligning processes, and aligning project targets and key milestones. The steps followed for each areas of alignment were same where do we want to be, where we are now, how to get there, and implement and monitor improvement plan. Suppliers were asked to consider their current perceptions of their relationship with Nissan, analyse their own existing development processes and their plans to meet NEXT21 targets. Also, they were asked to start thinking about where they want to be in terms of world class performance levels of development and were discussed in each session of fast track COGENT, ultimately leading to the very important question how to get there. This enabled Nissan and suppliers to identify possible improvement activities to strengthen their development capabilities and also to prioritize areas of improvement resulting in a clearly defined improvement plan. Again the suppliers were encouraged to further prioritize their specific improvement actions and to begin generating improvement action monitor sheet from their findings. On completion of fast track activity each supplier is clear with what is being expected of them with a set of mutually agreed action plans for DD improvement. Thus success of COGENT can be monitored against their action to assess suppliers development performance. COGENT was primarily designed to invest more time and resources in starting of development phase itself, thereby avoiding the concern of re-design after testing and verification of trial design parts and also improve lead time. This eliminates majority of waste throughout the whole development cycle and also total resources used are comparatively less. Those suppliers who took part in COGENT initiative displayed outstanding achievement levels in NEXT21 performance appraisal. The fig.1 projects the rate of improvement that suppliers might have achieved by year 1998 to about 1% if they had continued with NX96 and where as NEXT21 targeted at 5%. However, average figures achieved by suppliers who took part in COGENT achieved 11% improvement. Part 4: Conclusion Through the workshop, Cranfield University created an environment to ease effective communication and understanding between supplier and Nissan, and to have a better combined work relationship in order to identify what Nissan and supplier needs to do to stay competitive in the global market. The entire process is not just to find out areas of improvement for supplier, but also a mutually beneficial joint effort of development for future to bring performance improvements and continuous improvement thereafter, which will help eliminate wastes at every stage, from concept to successful delivery. COGENT has enabled Nissan identify what is required to be done to overcome the flaws, under shared basic understanding of challenges and problems they are likely to face during the process of product DD in order to bring about the most effective co-development relationship. The approach as a whole, has not only given a face-lift for measuring success in DD, but also gave an opportunity for Nissan to align its suppliers development processes alongside its own. COGENT has enable Nissan work more closely and effectively in their relationship with its suppliers throughout the whole DD phase. Nissan and its suppliers together are developing future products with attracted quality to satisfy their customer by driving forward together. As more and more suppliers are introduced to COGENT through fast track, the achievements continue to represent a significant step change in performance. By 2000, 90% of Nissan vehicle sold were built in Europe and this demonstrates Nissans vital European operation which was achieved as a result of COGENT initiative, aiding Nissan gain competitive advantage in the automotive market. Part 5: Theory linked to practice Key Learning points In an effective supply chain management suppliers and customers work together in a coordinated manner by sharing and communicating rapid flow of information. Suppliers and customers must have shared goals and vision, and also must participate together in DD of products/processes of the supply chain to achieve their shared goals. In context of Total Quality Management (TQM), benchmarking is essential for assessing current performance to identify possible improvements. Benchmarking is measuring where the company is positioned now and using that as a guideline identify where the company wants to be in future by setting performance goals in each areas of supply chain (Module Note, page 51-54). During the course of mutually benefiting bilateral relationship in supply chain, one of the important steps is ESI in DD, which has a major role in minimizing total cost. This basic understanding brings in the need of co-development, where suppliers are involved in early stages of new product DD and hence most buyer companies are making ESI one of their most important supply management strategies. Effective integration of suppliers into the supply chain will be a key factor for manufacturers in achieving improvements necessary to remain competitive and to improve supply chain as a whole. Part 6: Future trends Automotive manufacturers in general have their own strategy for bring out best quality and cheapest cars in short time to the competitive market. In case of Nissan, they have a pool of potentially capable suppliers who meet the production requirements in terms of quality and delivery with reasonably good cost factors and are driving for continuous improvement towards the achieving further set targets by Nissan. With COGENT initiative, Nissan has started the integrative development by involving its first-tier suppliers in their NPD activities and is essentially the success story behind success of its new products in recent few years. The future trend for Nissan would be to establish performance improvements in second-tier suppliers and also possibilities to establish improvements in third-tier suppliers and so on. These supplier development steps will definitely help Nissan achieve a globally aligned supplier network in future ahead. Part 7: List of References Anon. (1999) Nissans cogent: the co-development regeneration tool. [DVD] Burnes,B, Dale,B (1998) Working in partnership. Hampshire: Gower Publishing Limited Ford,D, Gadde,L, Hakansson,H, Lundgren,A, Snehota,I, Turnbull,P, Wilson,D (1998) Managing Business Relationships. West Sussex: John Wiley Sons Ltd Handfield, Robert B.; Ragatz, Gary L.; Petersen, Kenneth J.; Monczka, Robert M (1999) Involving Suppliers in New Product Development.. California Management Review 42 (Issue 1), 59-82 M25EKM Supply Chain Management Module Notes : Module Leader Phil Southey Rudzki,R.A.,Smock,D.A.,Katzorke,M and Stewar,S.Jr (2006) Straight to the Bottom Line-An Executives Roadmap to World Class Supply Management. Indiana: J.Ross Publishing Trent,R.J. (2007) Strategic Supply Management: Creating the Next Source of Competitive Advantage. Indiana: J.Ross Publishing Part 8: Appendix 1. Fig.A. Supplier Model (Krause 1999 Module note page: 45)

Blood Alcohol Content Essay

The thought of alcohol being involved in fatal crashes brings about an emotional response. Recently, there has been a movement based on emotion rather than logic to change a certain drinking and driving law. This involves lowering the Blood Alcohol Content (BAC) from 0. 10% to 0. 08% nationwide. However, this attention is misdirected. By looking at my personal experiences, statistics, and current laws, it is clear that there is no need for lowering the BAC. First off, I do not drink. Yet, I’ve had many experiences relating to drinking and driving through my friends. One thing I’ve noticed is that it is extremely hard for people to tell if they are legally drunk or not. Furthermore, I have never heard any of my friends say that they feel that they should drive home because they have only a . 09% BAC. The law has very little effect on how many drinks a person decides to consume. Therefore, lowering the legal drunk limit will not result in people acting more responsible. Supporters of lowering the BAC like Judith Lee Stone in her essay â€Å"YES! † think they are targeting the problem of drunken driving, but the real problem lies within the higher BACs. Ninety three percent of fatal accidents are 0. 10% BAC and above, and half of those ninety three percent have a BAC of 0. 20% and above. The average BAC for fatal accidents is at actually at 0. 17%. This seems like a more logical target for new laws then 0. 08%. Furthermore, Stone asks â€Å"Who would want their children in a car driven by someone who has consumed three, four, or even more beers in an hour† (Stone 46)? I couldn’t agree more. However, this common argument from the pro-0. 08% side is more like a parent responsibility question. They use this to manipulate our emotion by putting an innocent child in an improbable and unrelated situation. She also goes on to state, â€Å"A study at Boston University found that 500 to 600 fewer highway deaths would occur annually if all states adopted 0. 08%† (Stone 47). On the other hand, a similar study at University of North Carolina shows no significant change after their adoption of 0. 08%. Which study is correct? Most likely, both have some truthfulness. It could be either way depending on the state. The lowering of the Blood Alcohol Content percentage law is unnecessary and useless. Nevertheless, some states have already moved to the 0. 08%, and we hear the argument: â€Å"It makes no sense for a driver to be legally drunk in one state but not in another† (Stone 46). To that, I ask a couple questions of my own. Why can I carry a concealed gun in one state and not another? Why is it that I can drive a certain speed in one state, but a different speed in another? The response to those questions and Stone’s statement is all of the above are state laws. At this point, the federal government seems to get confused. In October 2000, congress passed a law that uses the states’ money against them. It asserts that if a state doesn’t lower its BAC percentage to 0. 08% by 2003, it will lose two percent of its highway money. States that don’t like the law will be forced to vote for it because they are desperate for highway construction money. Strings shouldn’t be attached to this money. What are lost in all of this are the current laws for drunk driving. Driving while impaired is already illegal whether the person tests 0. 04% or 0. 10%. Courts can use alcohol test of 0. 04% and higher as evidence of impairment. It’s at 0. 10% where a person is legally drunk and cannot legally operate a vehicle. Therefore, it’s not as if people who test 0. 08% are going unpunished like the other side would have you believe. In conclusion, anybody who picks out one particular aspect and says that it is not working hasn’t looked that the whole problem. The president for the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, Brian O’ Neill, says that he’d rather see resources directed toward enforcing existing drunken driving laws. Hopefully, with more education, more awareness, and more enforcement we can successfully reduce drinking and driving fatalities. Bibliography Stone, Judith Lee. Yes!. Reading and Writing Short Arguments. Ed. William Vesterman. Mountain View, California: Mayfield Publishing Company, 2000. 46-47. Word Count: 702.

Swot Analysis Financial Analysis - 1388 Words

Financial Analysis According to INVESTOPEDIA the definition of the DuPont analysis is that â€Å"assets are measured at their gross book value rather than at net book value in order to produce a higher return on equity (ROE)† (INVESTOPEDIA, 2003, pg.1). The DuPont analysis breaks down the return on equity into three parts. These three parts include: operating efficiency which would be measured by profit margin, assets and there use of efficiency which is measured by total asset turnover, and financial leverage which can be measured by equity multiplier (INVESTOPEDIA, 2003). The basic formula to measure the return on equity would be profit margin (profit/sales) X turnover (sales/assets) X equity multiplier (assets/equity). In September 2015 Church Dwight had a return on equity of 20.16%. In June of 2015 Church Dwight had a return on equity of 19.99%, and in March of 2015 Church Dwight had a return on equity of 20.45% (YCharts, 2016). 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Marketing - 644 Words

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