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Supply chain management problems at South African automotive component manufacturers


MJ Naude
JA Badenhorst-Weiss

Abstract

The problems that automotive component manufacturers
(ACMs) experience in automotive supply chains is an important
contemporary issue. The role of ACMs in the competitiveness and
survival of the automotive industry has never been as pronounced.
Original equipment manufacturers (OEMs, also known as automotive
assemblers) face pressure from government to drastically increase
local content (components and services they purchase from local
ACMs). The problem is that local ACMs are not as competitive as
suppliers from India and China. The improvement and extension of
the local ACM supplier base is therefore important. The purpose
of this article is to report on a study that investigated supply chain
management problems of ACMs and the extent of these problems.
Supply chain problems may cause ineffi ciencies that impact on the
competitiveness of ACMs. The study was exploratory in nature,
and consisted mainly of a survey among ACMs in South Africa. It
was found that of the 75 identifi ed problems, the most signifi cant
problems were internal process problems, followed by customerrelated
problems. The most signifi cant problems lie in the demand
management area in the supply chain.

Journal Identifiers


eISSN: 1998-8125
print ISSN: 1561-896X