Abstract | Table of Contents

Following significant developments year on year, the Global Best Practices Statistical Yearbook is now in its 7th Edition, and has become the foremost annual scientific analysis of automotive supplier competitiveness.

The yearbook is an invaluable tool for managers wishing to better understand their performance in relation to international best practice. It covers the entire value chain, including inventory control, internal and external quality performance, operational reliability and flexibility, human resource development and product innovation.

The Global Best Practices Statistical Yearbook helps you answer questions such as:

1. Are we meeting the rapidly changing standards of the global automotive industry?
2. How competitive are our operations?
   
3. Do we know what defines global best practice standards for our operations, and do we meet them?
   
4. In which areas do we excel and/or fail?
   
5. What cost do we transfer on to customers as a result of our operational deficiencies?
   
6. Does ownership, geographical location, firm-size, or market-focus really matter in respect of performance standards?
   
7. Do we measure properly? If not, which measures apply particularly to us and how can we begin measuring them?

Created with participation from companies such as Becker, DaimlerChrysler, Dana, Faurecia, Federal Mogul, GM, Lear, Timken, Toyota, Visteon, Denso, Dunlop and ZF Lemförder, it consists of six sections of firm-level statistical data, grouped under six market driver indicators:

1. Cost control
   
2. Quality performance
   
3. Value chain flexibility
   
4. Value chain reliability
   
5. Human resource development
   Product development

Detailed seventh edition changes and improvements

Reacting to customer demand, the seventh edition significantly improves coverage in several key areas:

1. Database growth: The database of benchmarked firms has grown significantly to a total of 377 firms, with much greater US firm coverage
   
   
2. Operational profile and performance measure section: The Yearbook now contains an analysis of the profile and average performance levels for each of the categories of firms assessed, allowing readers to gauge the importance and weighting of particular performance areas to their business type.
   
   
3. Enhanced cost performance benchmark: Cost benchmark analysis (how firm performance affects cost competitiveness) has been significantly expanded for the 7th edition, with an average and upper quartile cost benchmark performance assessment now included for each of the categories of firms in Sections 2 to 7.
   
   
4. Qualitative analysis of performance: Each sub-section of the Yearbook now contains analysis of the key competitiveness issues for the particular types of firms covered in that sub-section.
   
   
5. Global automotive industry developments: Coverage of the latest trends and developments of the automotive industry at a global level has been significantly expanded, and is now included as an additional appendix at the end of the Yearbook.
   
   
6. Industry performance data spread: An additional appendix has been included that outlines the spread of firm-specific benchmarking data for each of the market driver measures assessed.
   
   
7. New yearbook navigational assistance tool allows you to quickly reference specific key datasets (e.g. internal reject rates for firms in the glass sub-sector, or raw material inventory holding levels for JIT Assembly firms).