Transportation and Automotive

Be More Than Just a Status Quo PMO

Digital Transformation Revolution

Digital transformation and disruptive technologies are revolutionizing the automotive sector. The pace of advancement of advanced safety and convenience features is exceptionally fast, and with such fierce competition, there is no chance of it slowing down anytime soon. Every model year, manufacturers have to demonstrate significant innovation to demanding consumers or risk losing significant market share.

Delivering that kind of progress in such short time windows isn’t easy, and managing such complex product development programs requires total transparency into what is happening, where resources and funds are being invested, and what progress has been achieved. That can only happen with a fully integrated PPM solution designed to deliver not just information on program status, but insight into the implications – providing decision support for adjustments, validating progress, and confirming the value being earned.

Supply Chain Challenges

Few industries have as complex a supply chain as the automotive industry. The vast number of parts and suppliers, the global supplier network and geographically diverse product markets, mean that there are numerous potential failure points. With the massive supply chain disruption that started with the COVID-19 pandemic and still continues, transportation and automotive companies are having to fundamentally rethink their entire supply chain.

This may mean getting into the shipping business, it may mean bringing some parts production in house, it may be redesigning components to eliminate bottlenecks. It may well be all of those things and more, but it needs to be done quickly, with minimal disruption. And it needs to be successful.

This kind of disruption is more than replanning. It’s a fundamental rethinking of strategic priorities and it requires the ability to quickly bring multiple, disparate business areas together and collaborate on the best possible set of solutions. That requires a PPM solution that supports easy, intuitive planning and communication, powerful portfolio analysis and the ability to distill strategies into investments, work, and ultimately realized benefits.

Maintaining Alignment

In an industry that is evolving as rapidly as transportation and automotive, leaders must constantly monitor to ensure that the investments that they are pursuing, and the work that they are completing, is optimally aligned with the long-term strategic priorities and short-term value needs. That relationship is continuously evolving and if not proactively managed it will result in time, money and effort being spent in less-than-optimal areas. That becomes particularly difficult when the industry is so reliant on outside partners and suppliers – keeping them aligned requires effective communication and collaboration.

That’s where the right PPM solution can make all the difference. It will enable intuitive communication of plans, contextualizing that communication to make it relevant for all audiences, and accurately tracking all actual performance information. That helps all partners to stay aligned, and provides an early warning when variances do occur, making corrections easier, cheaper and less disruptive.

Optimized Efficiency

Transportation and automotive projects require large investments of time, effort and capital several business cycles ahead of any potential for return on those investments. It is therefore essential that these major programs are run as efficiently as possible – not just controlling costs, but ensuring the right focus on risk management, early identification of variances to minimize wastage, rapid incorporation of changes where required, etc.

Achieving this requires perfect visibility into what is happening and the drivers behind those actions, and that’s where a powerful PPM solution is key. The ability to consolidate performance data from multiple teams and work methods, and then consolidate and analyze that data to identify trends and underlying issues is critical. Only with this level of insight can leaders make the right decisions to ensure that their investments don’t just deliver great products and services, but that they deliver profitable products and services.