Companies all around the world have realized that internal cost reduction focus as well as real cooperation between the supply chain are key factors for market success. There is also an understanding that labor and pricing negotiations have a relatively small influence on total product cost as the design intelligence, oriented to cost, quality and manufacturing, sets 70% or more of the product price.
The purpose of this paper is to present the Sprint Engine Cylinder Blocks Commonization Project which was implemented after 1 year of hard work. This achievement impacted in: Pricing & Tooling cost reduction; Quality improvements - better casting & less weight; Managerial efficiency - ordered components dropped from 45 to 28 parts; Logistics optimization - less components to manage, stock and feed the assembly lines; Machining optimization - takt time & setup reduction, tools commonization; Foundry optimization - new block smarter design delivers several process benefits: less cores, easier manufacturability and less scrap level.
That's an extraordinary example of how important persistence is to overcome technical issues during the engineering development and how the whole automotive chain can work together in benefit of everybody: MWM International, Customers and Suppliers. Many tried, one get the job done by the comprehension that problems are not stop signs, they are guidelines. This is a matter of conscience and survival for any company, but especially the automotive ones, as part of one of the most competitive markets in the world.