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However, this willingness is tempered by a number of concerns. Automotive manufacturers are worried not just about a lack of suitable suppliers, for example for high volume electronics systems, but about the ability of those that do exist to deliver components at the speed and volume required by the vehicle manufacturers. There is a perception that UK suppliers lack the technical or processing capability to undertake the business. ( 製造業回流的問題, 不在沒電子廠商供應鏈不願意跟著回來; 而在於供或速度能否符合汽車廠的需要) 

What can the UK automotive supply chain do to address these concerns and ensure they can offer the kind of world class, high technology products required by these manufacturers – and offer them quickly, efficiently and cost-effectively?

Software is the key to success
For many years the manufacturing sector has struggled to successfully implement Product Lifecycle Management and Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) software systems. Despite the fact that ERP was initially developed to help the automotive sector manage increasingly complex supply chains and process automation, many firms can find themselves wrestling with what CIO.com calls one of “the most expensive, time-consuming and complicated tasks an IT department can take on.” ( PLM 和 ERP 需求)

However, in an increasingly IT-enabled, machine-to-machine, big data world, creating and delivering world-class parts and systems relies on the effective use of software at every stage. From research and development through to production, performance and distribution, and even within the parts and systems themselves, software is everywhere, embedded and critical.

Software is the enabler, but when it becomes excessively complex or even fails, it becomes the barrier, halting operations and even growth in its tracks.

Looking to the future

In a 2013 strategy for the growth and sustainability of the automotive sector in the UK, the Automotive Council identified six main areas for action.

These include
(1). developing process excellence capability,
(2).reducing total delivered cost,
(3).strengthening supply stability, and
(4).improving supply chain flexibility and
(5).complexity management – all areas where robust and
(6).tested software systems will prove critical.
The message is clear – giving your business the software backbone that will enable it to compete in the global marketplace could make the difference between success or failure. Working with an outsourced UK-based specialist can ensure software systems are delivered faster, more robustly and ultimately more suited to the business need. This independent quality assurance will ensure capable and secure solutions are available to any manufacturer, big or small. And if the automotive industry is to reach and sustain the record-breaking production levels predicted by the SMMT it must ensure that its software is ready to meet these demands.