Q#1:

GIVE AN OVERVIEW/SYNOPSIS OF THE CASE:

ANS:
This case is about BMW 7series which luxury sandan car on 21th June, 1991
this started and redesign 7series which code name was E-99 after a few
month they design proto type shop in this model Dr.Hans dedided to apply a
new cock pit which would be fabricated and use more auto mile method
more specialized tooling less skill work.
At the time when BMW launch 7 series redesign it only held 1.5Million shares
of world. And at that time BMW was sixteen largest car markets. When BMW
launch this car Honda also introduce Acra in 1989 and Nissan introduced
Infinity in 1990 Japanese came up with series competitor of BMW between
1986 and 1989 their share jumped to 1.6 to 11.8 and 20% from other
European car feel impact like Britain Jackward was forced to sale out to Ford.
Top management of BMW and shareholder forced to increase production
quality more frequent product introduce, improve quality of new model.
Six years before the schedule introduction, stylish of BMW design studio
began exploring various alternative of the car exterior appearance. BMW
typically spend about two year in styling, long than most others automobile
companies and far longer than six moth typically spend the Japanese luxury
car market. Dr. Rath Geber who had experienced this phase in development.
A vehicle under development was divided into thirty major sub system or
module such as cockpit, interior trim, trunk, side door, rear suspension
system and breaking system, an inter functional team of people from design,
production engineering, product engineering, prototyping, vehicle testing,
procurement, manufacturing and other function was responsible for each
model of car from start to launch.
BMW carefully manage the transition from final prototype to high volume
production through three phases.
1- Pilot production in engineering center pilot plant.
2- Pilot runs in the factory
3- Gradual ramp to full scale manufacture.

The cockpit which contains over ninety seven parts was both critical and
complicated.
Supplier can face problem in the production process and with parts which
they miss. We should tape their expertise earlier. They should also have
them make prototype parts so that they can learn about the parts before
they have to make it in volume.
Between January and June of 1991 the 7series cockpit module team
formulated a proposal to alter the process for prototyping the next and final
batch of 7series prototype. This final batch which would be assembled in six
months was to consist of 25 prototype vehicles.

Q2:
Cause 1:
using different tools and materials in the prototyping process as compared to the
production models
Consequences:
Current results obtained from materials used in prototype testing may not conform
with desired results in final production models
Cause 2:
used part designers drawings and clay models rather than pre-production tools in
the first prototyping stage for all parts
Consequences:
Masked many design and manufacturing problems
Lowers their opportunity to discover and fix quality problems
Require more highly skilled craftsmen to take care of the hand-built prototype =>
labour cost and more time taken
Cause 3:
mixed-model ramp up strategy: produces the new series on the same production
line as the old models
Consequences:
Greater confusion among workers and made the logistics more complex
Not all problems were discovered or solved in the pilot production phase
People spent a lot of their time identifying and solving the big problems => less
time for minor problems and fine tuning
High customer complaints despite of intensive/extra resrouces for quality
assurance, inspection and rework
==> Affected the quality of new models being produced

Cause 4:
let suppliers involve in final engineering drawings and commercial production
process late
Consequences:
If suppliers come across problems during the commercial production => take time
for adjustment in design
Unable to supply the materials or tools that BMW wants to procure
Cause 1:
Minimizing the gap between prototype and production process in terms of tools and
materials used.
Cause 2:
Using sudden changeover approach (Exhibit 7)
Giving cross-training for labours to improve the ability and flexibility in switching the
design and production of different models.
Cause 3:
Using pre-production tools to build most of prototype parts in early prototyping
(expensive investment : DM 50 for entire car)
Cause 4:
Involving the most reliable suppliers in the industry earlier in the development
process and use their experience and skill to improve efficiency in trouble shooting
Helping the supplier get a more detailed understanding of what they are looking
for exactly
Creating strong, close supplier relationships
Question 2
2 a. Recommendations concerning the 7-Series prototypes
2b. Recommendation Regarding Future Development Projects
Strategic Objective Enhancement
SO 1: considering and applying lean production/manufacturing
S0 2: decreasing the development lead time
S0 3: competitive benchmarking (lower customers complaints per car)
Adopt concurrent engineering
Expanding the relationship with the third party logistic.
Promoting the interaction, communication among departments and suppliers
Having specialists and experts participate in the production process.
Manufacturing capacity extension
Corporating with potential vendors, suppliers and universities.
New pre-production tools should be applied at the early prototype stage. Learning
from the prototypes.
Employees in the factory should be well-trained

 Reducing the time spent in development process, prepare for frequently

prototypes.
Maximizing the utilization of the existing grade tools
Focusing on core competencies and outsource if needed.
Let suppliers involve earlier in the design of prototype parts.
Additional single outside vendors to support as well as supplement the company.
2 a. Recommendations concerning the 7-Series prototypes
Question 3
What changes would you recommend in the way BMW develops new models?
What attributes of newly launched products would you expect to improve as a result
of these recommendations?
3. Recommended for changes in developing new models and expected
improvement
In construction of prototypes for new model: using the actual parts instead of
substitute parts
=> Avoid problems, complications
=> The investment will pay off in the long run.
Testing all things from the design stage
Beside investment in R&D and styling, need to conduct marketing studies
Employ Lean Product Design elements
Applying concurrent engineering
Simplify the production process & minimizing the number of parts in a product :
+
Design for Manufacturing (DFM)
+
Design for Assembly (DFA)
=> Reduce product assembly cost, number of assembly operations and design
complexity for new models
Question 4
Question 4
Point 1: Competitive and Operation strategy
BMW:
Competitive benchmarking with 1.5 customer complaints per car
Differentiation strategy
Breakthrough >< Continuous improvement ???
=> Focus on on moderately big changes
=> Sig Sixma for operation management
BMW: expanding target market to the upper-middle class clients.
=> Increasing customer base, bigger market share and sale volumes.
=> Using lean production to promote customization for variously different ordered
products
=> Focusing Sig Sigma to help improve product quality and operation efficiency
=> Reusing some standard machines and pre-production tools

 With new construction of prototypes: esemble techniques used to build in highvolume production vehicles
=> Reducing problems associated with bringing new models into production.
=> Maintaining high-quality image
=> Increasing market share
=> Reduce customer complaints
=> Be more customer-friendly
Expected Improvements:
Case Problems
Low quality launch as compared to competitors => customer complaints
Decisions over the Cockpit Design (i.e.: Hand Crafted vs. Automated Production)
Ways to improve operation objectives (quality, flexibility)
Make sure: Performance >/= Customers expectations in such of critical dimensions:
Durability (life-span)
Reliability
Defects per unit
Scrap level
Question 4
Point 2: Market extension
Limitations for recommendations
Limitation for question 2a
The initial investments: high, costly
Constrain companys flexibility and creativity to introduce a completely new design
Leak of innovative ideas and trade secretes
2b. Objective 1: limitation (for individual customization strategy)
Costs and wastes can increase if lean manufacturing is not successful
Productivity would be lower
Possibly losing their position and customer
Objective 2: limitation (Decrease the development lead-time)
Hard to keep the quality of product perfectly right
Difficult to make bold and attractive changes in design
Limitation for question 3a:
Using specified production tools => higher cost
Taking longer procurement time to purchase the right materials to do prototypes
and production.
Increasing in companys expenditure for other materials.
Delayed time to- market is possible.

Limitation for question 4

Requiring ultimate changes in organization
More time and heavy investment to enter and build a presence in a well-established
market.
Negative customer's perception on BMW branded cars
Questions and Answers
3. Recommended for changes in developing new models and expected
improvement

Q#5:

WHAT RECOMMENDATION WOULD YOU MAKE TO

CHAIRMAN VON KUENHEIM REGARDING BMW STRATIGIES
TO COMPETE AGAINTS NEW JAPANESE ENTRANTS INTO THE
LUXURY CAR MARKET
AMS:
I would be like to recommend to the chairman of the BMW to compete
against the Japanese luxury car some strategies are following if follow these
kind of strategies than compete in the market

TIME PERIOD OF DESIGN SHOULD BE SHORT

As from this cause I came to know that prototype finalization almost took
four year two external and two enteral most time was consumed in cockpit
design so I would like to minimize the time of design.

MUST HAVE TWO OR THREE PROTOTYPE:

MODEL IN hand before you start some unfinished prototype which will help to
reduce cost and time

INVEST IN EDUCATIONAL sector :

Like other famous brand now a day like Ferrari, Bugatti they have invest in
universities and colleges and some research centers help them to innovate
new product and technology

VERSTYLE PRODUCTIOM UNIT/FRIENDLY:

Production unit must be work friendly so it has capabilities to do all cost and
time will be save very much.

INTERACTION WITH PEOPLE:

Try to make some houses In which people can come and know about your
product then will be increase your sale. You must have dealership in every
country so your product would be available for every person.

FIND TARGET MARKET:

Must target famous people like actors politiations from this it will be known
to other people.