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Q&A with John Sloan, former director, Jeep Brand Global Product Marketing
In today’s post, John Sloan talks about challenges dealers face in ordering inventory that best matches customer demand.
Emcien: Describe the Chrysler-Emcien initiative that examined dealers’ struggles with complexity in the ordering process.
JS: In a soft “push” market where volume is driven by heavy incentives versus the merits of the brand / model, managing cost is paramount. A key piece to focus on is product inventory. Dealers get roughly 60 days of no-interest floor plan. In a soft market, vehicles can easily sit for longer than two months before being sold, so it’s critical that vehicles be easy to order, stock and sell. Simple is better.
Emcien worked on a model to simplify the Chrysler PT Cruiser product mix. There were thousands of possible build configurations for the PT Cruiser, creating significant complexity for engineering and the assembly plant, as well as the supplier extended enterprise. Emcien’s ability to accurately forecast demand is invaluable for a complicated product line because it can assist with reducing the build configurations to those that best match demand. The PT Cruiser initiative validated the power of the Emcien inventory model.
Is quality really important?
Seems like it’s almost fashionable to kick the three U.S. automakers these days, and I rarely hear people mention U.S. built as one of their first choices. Yet people almost always cite reliability as one of their most important criteria for buying a vehicle.
The most recent J.D. Power and Associates rankings show that 2 of the top 5 highest-ranked brands for vehicle dependability are from U.S. automakers. Two other U.S. brands had top rankings in other vehicle segments. It seems that many foreign makers have a perception of quality that is based on past success or marketing. Manufacturing of products in the U.S. has seen a steady rise in quality over the past 10-15 years; the perception in the marketplace should keep pace. If nothing else, the data points out that buyers should consider U.S. brands and not jump to conclusions on outdated results.
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