However, the automotive industry is currently undergoing a process of restructuring, as connectivity and digitisation are the main trends among leaders in the sector.
This sector is characterised by strong investment from the market’s leading groups and high employability. According to the Spanish Association of Automotive Suppliers (Sernauto 2020), the sales of the automotive sector in Spain were 69,500 M€ in 2019, representing 5.58% of gross domestic product (GDP) (ANFAC 2020). The automotive industry is a strategic sector in the Spanish economy and has become one of the pillars of the country’s industry. Therefore, mechanisms must be established for correct communication between company departments to coordinate all manufacturing and management processes in the most efficient ways (Barclay et al. The development and industrialisation needs of the modern world have become increasingly demanding in recent years, with tight delivery times needing to be met and adequate quality guaranteed (Avelar-Sosa et al. In addition, the AR initiative generated practical and theoretical contributions for business and academia, allowing the AR initiative to be applied in other areas of the company, and contributing to the current state of the art in the industrial application of this methodology. The most outstanding results were the improvements made in the decrease in initial throughput time (34.78%) and in average daily rejections (73.53%). The application of the AR initiative in the production line of a power filter device enabled improvements in both production times and quality indicators in the manufacturing process. Four improvement and learning cycles were deployed and key performance metrics were defined to collect and measure data in order to analyse the improvements achieved. A multidisciplinary collaborative work team was created with the aim of deploying the AR initiative in combination with Lean Manufacturing and Six Sigma tools. To develop this type of optimisation and efficiency, MAHLE applied Action Research (AR) in one of its factories located in Spain.
Optimising available resources and minimising production costs and throughput time is vital for first-tier suppliers in the worldwide automotive sector.
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