It is interesting to see how the large automobile manufacturers differ in their opinions about working with suppliers and standardization of parts. Consider the following.
WORKING WITH SUPPLIERS
Tadaaki Jagawa, a Toyota executive vice president,said the number one Japanese automaker "received an invitation" from Ford to join the Ford Internet-based marketplace, tentatively called AutoXchange, where automakers and their suppliers hope to do business more efficiently and cut costs. Ford and GM are in a race to build the largest online marketplace to achieve greater economies of scale, and both are trying to woo other automakers. The two companies have argued that creating marketplace in which hundreds of billions of dollars in goods and services are traded would give their suppliers access to more business globally allowing suppliers and manufacturers to slash costs.
Toyota considers the Internet marketplace only a means to efficiency and not an end in itself, Jagawa said. Because the procurement process involves not only the price but also the quality, lead time, and delivery of components, Jagawa said Toyota doesn't want to put competitive components on an open market, such as GM TradeXchange; it would go against Toyota's philosophy of treating suppliers as partners. "We help suppliers cut costs through a guarantee of a long-term contract; putting those parts on the open market pits us against suppliers in an adversary relationship"
Jagawa stressed that Toyota is in discussions with GM" with an open mind." Although it may mean Toyota would trade only raw materials and commonly used parts on either the GM or Ford system, Toyota is interested in making its buying more efficient, he said.
STANDARDIZING AUTO PARTS
some of Toyota's talks with GM also involve standardizing components. That would allow the two companies and GM's other participants to share a common electronic procurement infrastructure and maximize the online network's effectiveness.
Toyota and Volkswagen are also trying to hammer out an agreement to standardize select components for vehicles sold in Europe. Jagawa said the two companies launched the talks last summer to identify specific parts they can standardize. He added, however, that the process has been slow because of a "wide gap" between what the two companies consider common components. "VW put on the table 20 to 30 parts as possible targets for standardization; we identified several at most," said Jagawa.
Toyota had said it was considering standardizing components and platforms with the German automaker to cut operating costs in Europe, where the Japanese company has had trouble reducing costs because of its limited sales volume. Toyota sold fewer than 600,000 vehicles in Europe last year.