Autoliv

High customer expectations

Servicing a global industry that is driven by just-in-time (JIT) manufacturing and lean operating processes requires a supplier to be agile, responsive and cost-effective. This is a continuous goal for Autoliv’s business operations. After a period of rapid expansion, Autoliv looked to consolidate its internal systems to ensure effective management of its business.

Ivan Corvillo, EDI Manager at Autoliv, explained: “We embarked on a major project to consolidate our ERP systems. This gave us the opportunity to look at how we were trading with our customers and suppliers, and we realized that EDI was an area where we could improve the service we offered our customers.”

After evaluating the market, the company selected OpenText™ Trading Grid™ as the basis of its new electronic data interchange (EDI) messaging platform. One of the main reasons for the choice was the global reach and quality of support that OpenText delivers.

With OpenText, Autoliv can adhere to its business philosophy and commitment to put customers first. Autoliv can trade with customers and suppliers in the way that is best for the individual customer or supplier, rather than trying to enforce a particular communication or messaging standard. The result is that the company must support a wide range of document types and EDI standards.

“We have over 600 suppliers in 30 countries worldwide that we trade with daily. In addition, we have automated as many of our business documents and processes as possible, from initial purchase order demands to advance ship notices, received delivery schedules to invoicing, all integrated to our accounting and back-office systems. In all, I’d estimate we are processing over 12 million inbound and outbound messages a year. It’s essential that each one is sent and received successfully if we’re to deliver the service levels our customers expect,” Corvillo explained.

It’s quite common for Tier 1 automotive suppliers to locate their production facilities close to those of their customers to satisfy the service demands of JIT manufacturing and meet customer expectations. Autoliv has taken this one step further by introducing the concept of  “Sequencing Centers” in the vicinity of or within its customers’ manufacturing plants.

Sequencing Centers are responsible for final assembly and ensuring that the correct Autoliv products are fed into the customer’s production process at the right time and in the right order. The company estimates that an Autoliv Sequence Center receives a new order almost every minute and that order is executed and delivered within two to five hours, depending on the product.

Secure, flexible business response

Autoliv moved to OpenText™ Trading Grid™ Messaging Service, a worldwide transaction management service that enables companies to exchange electronic business documents quickly and securely.

The service allows Autoliv to trade electronic documents with customers and suppliers using a wide range of formats, including the latest XML as well as traditional EDI standards.

“OpenText has become a strategic supplier for us and key to our commitment to exchange information in the best way possible with our partners. The company has proved to be very good in ensuring we can exchange a wide range of documents with our partners regardless of their technical capabilities or geographic location. Using Trading Grid means that we can trade effectively with companies that have communications platforms that we can’t support internally or those with no capabilities at all,” added Corvillo.

OpenText’s global presence means new suppliers can be enabled and onboarded as quickly as the business dictates. “As a business, we have quite a mature trading partner community, but we are still adding 10 or 20 new partners every month. As our customers and our own company seek to utilize some production in low-cost countries, the ability to onboard a new network of suppliers quickly is important. Trading Grid gives us this capability and the whole process can be achieved with a minimum of effort,” said Corvillo.

Autoliv has developed a great deal of additional functionality in-house and has integrated its in-house systems with Trading Grid, an approach that has given Autoliv the flexibility to respond quickly to business needs.

 “A large benefit that OpenText delivers to us is autonomy. We have the freedom to quickly do what we want. With OpenText, everything can be achieved with just a few clicks. We have the confidence that we are successfully exchanging critical business documents in a format that our partners are happy with. This ability has always been good, but it has definitely been enhanced by OpenText Trading Grid,” explained Corvillo.

“The portal gives me much greater control over the exchange of our business documents, and it makes a whole range of tasks, such as partner onboarding or monitoring the status of documents, much easier.”

Enhanced customer relations

OpenText Trading Grid provides the flexibility and scalability to allow Autoliv to support their customers’ complex JIT manufacturing processes anywhere in the world. Being able to adjust supply levels quickly to meet varying vehicle production levels allows Autoliv to significantly increase customer satisfaction and build much tighter relationships with their global customers.

“From my point of view, one of the real benefits is the saving in time and effort for us. We have confidence that our documents will be exchanged and actioned in a timely manner. We have been able to reduce our dealings with support departments to find out what’s happened to an important document or why our partner is unable to work with the document we sent. Now, it just works, which is important for our agile business operations,” said Corvillo.

Equally as important as the technology solution is the relationship that Autoliv establishes with its partners.

“OpenText has become a strategic supplier for us and key to our commitment to communicate in the best, most efficient way possible with our partners,” Corvillo said. “The company has proven to be very good in ensuring we can exchange a wide range of documents with our partners regardless of their technical capabilities or geographic location.”