Renault has led the way in Europe in setting up a manufacturing system, which builds as many cars as possible to fulfil a specific customer order, rather than a dealer order or for stock. This should result in higher final vehicle prices and greater customer satisfaction.
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However, while Renault once targeted an order-to-delivery period of just 10 days, 21 days is now considered sufficient, and an easier target to reach in the medium-term. “We want to deliver cars to the customer in the shortest time possible,” said Michel Gornet, Senior Vice President, Manufacturing and Logistics at Renault, speaking at the AutoMAN conference in Leipzig in June.
Gornet said 21 days is an acceptable target for customers at the moment and reducing this time frame is difficult because of challenges in the vehicle distribution network, rather than in manufacturing.
Once the 21-day target is reached to a high degree of reliability (95% of cars delivered on time) then it may be realistic to aim for a shorter timeframe, explained Gornet. As of now around 70% are delivered on time, but that figure includes plants with 95+% reliability and plants that are only just being introduced to the system.
By the end of this year Renault is aiming for a target of 88% of cars being built on time and 60% within the 21 day window. The 95% target for cars delivered on time within 21 days is expected to be reached by 2010. 60% of cars will be built to a specific customer order, rather than a dealer order, by the end of this year (51% at the end of 2004).
Susan Brown
