Directed Component Sourcing Within the Sourced System

Recent trends in the automotive industry is toward system sourcing of major components such as Cockpit Systems, Rear Package Trays, Chassis Systems, Door Cassettes, Integrated Front End Systems, etc. Modular System sourcing offers a number of advantages to the Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM): reduces the number of Tier 1 suppliers, reduces cost, ease of manufacturing at the vehicle assembly plant with pre-built and pre-tested sub assemblies, etc.. In spite of the advantages of modular systems and assemblies, there are several constraints that typically affect the sourcing of modular systems. In this paper, the issues related to designing an optimized modular system are discussed.