Data has impacted a number of sectors immensely. Decisions which were previously taken with experience are now taken by crunching information. Be it the e-marketing tools used by various companies or the multi-product retail giants who want to identify the most relevant products for the consumers .Its influence is ever increasing and affecting most aspects of business. The Automobile industry has lagged as far as application of big data goes. There are a number of areas where it can bring about significant financial as well as non-financial benefits for automobile companies. Big data is changing not only how automobiles are produced but also what we drive and how we drive. Some of the ways data crunching can be beneficial are:
Cash Flow Planning
Cash flow planning activity is conducted at regular intervals by organizations. The frequency of such activities are limited by technological capabilities in terms of the processing power of machines, the decision making algorithms used for identifying various activities as well as the amount of short-term funds that needs to be allocated. Big data products can enable running more complex algorithms at a regular frequency, which will lead to more effective decision making by finance managers.
Consumer Finance
Analysis of vehicle sales, with respect to the financing options, combined with various other factors like demography and geographical locations will give insights into the consumer needs. This will help in developing better financing solutions.
Management of Incentives
Incentives for marketing teams as well as dealers are generally decided at the beginning of the year by companies based on historical sales data, current economic situation in that region and other foreseeable factors. Once the dealers achieve their targets or are close to them they lose the motivation to sell more. A more real-time analysis of incentives can help in situations where if a region is doing exceedingly well and a region is particularly lagging behind, then the incentives can be redistributed from the lower performing region to higher performing region.
Customer Feedback/Social Data
Feedback given by consumers on various websites/blogs as well as other social networking platforms can be analyzed for developing better marketing tools and channels. This will in effect help in channelizing effort to the right set of customers.
Extended Supply Chain
The different aggregates of vehicles like the engine, gearbox, front axle, rear axle, are handled by different vendors. Currently the availability of the critical subcomponents of each of these aggregates is not available with the OEMs. Real-time information about the availability of critical components with various vendors can help in more effective planning of production schedules of different vehicles.
Availability of Spares
Information related to warranty trends (vis-à-vis car, component, geography or season), predictive maintenance trends and product performance problems can be used for more effective and efficient inventory planning and transportation systems. It is a win-win situation for customers, dealers, and manufacturers.
Warranty Analysis/ Predictive Maintenance
Consumer comments available at various service centres, social networking sites, blogs as well as warranty claims can be used to calculate the future warranty cost. Huge amount of data is generated by hundreds of on-board sensors that have the potential to quickly highlight abnormal events and to proactively take remedial actions on potential performance problems.
Manufacturing Simulations
Product assembly time as regards the different work stations, the time consumed and manpower involved can be simulated to identify the most optimum assembly time. Time consumed at each workstation by different automobiles of the same company can also be calculated to have more flexibility, better line balancing and reduction in Tact Time.
Conclusion : The influence of Big Data in every aspect of automobile is inevitable. But which companies will derive maximum benefit out of it, is something we will come to know in due time.
Source: http://supplychainminded.com/big-data-impacting-automobiles-drive/
