Challenge 

 The challenge I have faced is related to the delivery of a cover   subassembly for the automotive industry which is delivered by a   leading supplier of the German automotive market . This product is   part of the Electronic throttle control ( ETC ) , an automobile   technology which electronically connects the accelerator pedal to   the throttle , replacing a mechanical linkage . In other words there   is no mechanical linkage between the accelerator pedal and the   throttle valve with electronic throttle control . Instead , the position   of the throttle valve , which controls the amount of air coming into the engine is fully controlled by the   ETC software via the electric motor . Our supplier is asking for a price increase of 46 % , due to rump   down quantities and increase production costs related to the product . 

 Selection 

 The learning launch method combined with visualization ( as a form of visual thinking ) have been   chosen to get closer to the root - cause of the problem and to understand to cost drivers coming from   the production . The helpful perspectives of colleagues coming from Automotive Supplier   Development to conduct Value Stream Analysis and from Expert Calculators to carry out CSA ( Cost   Structure Analysis ) have been integrated to widen the perspective and understanding we have from   the product and all integrated production costs . This has been in my concept the best alternative   available to build the negotiation strategy and to structure the measurements to be introduced . 

 Application 

 The first attempt to apply this method included visiting the production facilities located at the north- east region of Germany . We have previously prepared a cost break down including all relevant   knowledge we had about the material , montage and overhead costs submitted by the supplier from   the past . This served as a basis for further calculations and to raise concrete and smart questions about   cost drivers for the material ( related to glue paste and sealing ) , OEE ( Overall Equipment Efficiency ) for   the manufacturing process and quality costs related to the product . This helped as gained a better   understanding of the cost drivers and to evaluate the arguments delivered by the supplier . 

 On a second step we again visited the supplier one week later together with the Automotive Supplier   Development experts to conduct a Value Stream Mapping . This was very helpful to register all the   sequent steps involved in the production process and better understand where possible bottlenecks   during the assembly process . Unfortunately the supplier was not willing to disclose further required   information related to specific cycle times and other major shortcomings coming the design concept   of the production . 

 This however helped us understand the current situation related to the high energy costs and other   aspects which lead to inefficiency , waste of material and increase of maintenance costs . 

 Insight 

 After the application phase we meaningfully used the gained insights to conduct the Cost Structure   Analysis . Our Automotive Supplier Development experts recognized the low inefficiency of the   production line due to the low demands of the product and the age of the line . For this reason we   have set a conservative OEE ( Overall Equipment Efficiency ) of 60 % and a scrapping rate of 3 % due to   the downtimes of the old machines involved in the production line and the continuous switch on and   off of the machine . The results of the Cost Structure Analysis though , showed that a price increase of   +27 % ( instead of +46 % ) was more than reasonable and a good starting point for our negotiation   strategy . A new cost break down was again prepared including all blocks related to Material , Assembly   and Overhead costs and were then explicitly discussed during our negotiation with the supplier . 

 As a result we achieved a better price which was accepted by the business unit ( +32 % ) and helped   reduce the negative impact for the plants involved . 

 Approach 

 What would I do differently next time ? I think , I will try to integrate my colleagues from the purchasing   department in the whole process to profit from their knowledge dealing with difficult suppliers and in   order to analyze the situation from other perspectives . For the above I will definitely use again the   visual thinking tool and the Mind Mapping approach as a complement . 


EMAIL: 
ID_NUM: 
NAME_STUDENT: 
PHONE_NUM: 
STREET_ADDRESS: 
URL_PERSONAL: 
USERNAME: 

### Task: You are a PII (Personal Identity Information) Detection. Given a essays written by students, you have to identify ONLY the following:
NAME_STUDENT - The full or partial name of a student that is not necessarily the author of the essay. This excludes instructors, authors, and other person names.
EMAIL - A student’s email address.
USERNAME - A student's username on any platform.
ID_NUM - A number or sequence of characters that could be used to identify a student, such as a student ID or a social security number.
PHONE_NUM - A phone number associated with a student.
URL_PERSONAL - A URL that might be used to identify a student.
STREET_ADDRESS - A full or partial street address that is associated with the student, such as their home address.
### Input: Challenge 

 The challenge I have faced is related to the delivery of a cover   subassembly for the automotive industry which is delivered by a   leading supplier of the German automotive market . This product is   part of the Electronic throttle control ( ETC ) , an automobile   technology which electronically connects the accelerator pedal to   the throttle , replacing a mechanical linkage . In other words there   is no mechanical linkage between the accelerator pedal and the   throttle valve with electronic throttle control . Instead , the position   of the throttle valve , which controls the amount of air coming into the engine is fully controlled by the   ETC software via the electric motor . Our supplier is asking for a price increase of 46 % , due to rump   down quantities and increase production costs related to the product . 

 Selection 

 The learning launch method combined with visualization ( as a form of visual thinking ) have been   chosen to get closer to the root - cause of the problem and to understand to cost drivers coming from   the production . The helpful perspectives of colleagues coming from Automotive Supplier   Development to conduct Value Stream Analysis and from Expert Calculators to carry out CSA ( Cost   Structure Analysis ) have been integrated to widen the perspective and understanding we have from   the product and all integrated production costs . This has been in my concept the best alternative   available to build the negotiation strategy and to structure the measurements to be introduced . 

 Application 

 The first attempt to apply this method included visiting the production facilities located at the north- east region of Germany . We have previously prepared a cost break down including all relevant   knowledge we had about the material , montage and overhead costs submitted by the supplier from   the past . This served as a basis for further calculations and to raise concrete and smart questions about   cost drivers for the material ( related to glue paste and sealing ) , OEE ( Overall Equipment Efficiency ) for   the manufacturing process and quality costs related to the product . This helped as gained a better   understanding of the cost drivers and to evaluate the arguments delivered by the supplier . 

 On a second step we again visited the supplier one week later together with the Automotive Supplier   Development experts to conduct a Value Stream Mapping . This was very helpful to register all the   sequent steps involved in the production process and better understand where possible bottlenecks   during the assembly process . Unfortunately the supplier was not willing to disclose further required   information related to specific cycle times and other major shortcomings coming the design concept   of the production . 

 This however helped us understand the current situation related to the high energy costs and other   aspects which lead to inefficiency , waste of material and increase of maintenance costs . 

 Insight 

 After the application phase we meaningfully used the gained insights to conduct the Cost Structure   Analysis . Our Automotive Supplier Development experts recognized the low inefficiency of the   production line due to the low demands of the product and the age of the line . For this reason we   have set a conservative OEE ( Overall Equipment Efficiency ) of 60 % and a scrapping rate of 3 % due to   the downtimes of the old machines involved in the production line and the continuous switch on and   off of the machine . The results of the Cost Structure Analysis though , showed that a price increase of   +27 % ( instead of +46 % ) was more than reasonable and a good starting point for our negotiation   strategy . A new cost break down was again prepared including all blocks related to Material , Assembly   and Overhead costs and were then explicitly discussed during our negotiation with the supplier . 

 As a result we achieved a better price which was accepted by the business unit ( +32 % ) and helped   reduce the negative impact for the plants involved . 

 Approach 

 What would I do differently next time ? I think , I will try to integrate my colleagues from the purchasing   department in the whole process to profit from their knowledge dealing with difficult suppliers and in   order to analyze the situation from other perspectives . For the above I will definitely use again the   visual thinking tool and the Mind Mapping approach as a complement .
### Output: 