INTRODUCTION In recent years, information technology and an increasingly transparent financial sector have become key driving forces in business — operations, strategies, structures, ownership, and performance. These forces cut across many industries to force changes that, in turn, have had significant economic and social impacts in rural communities. Structurally, the emerging lithium-ion battery technology industry is uncharacteristic of typical agricultural processing. The lithium-ion battery technology industry grows out of its developmental stage into a more embedded role.
The ability of traditional firms to achieve competitive advantage is predicated, in part, on their capacity to develop efficient, internalized information systems to provide market coordination and linkages between their operations and global commodity and financial markets. However, the rapid and widespread change in information technologies has arguably eroded the power provided to these global processing concerns. The automobile industry is often characterized in terms that limit the scope of discussion to the manufacture and sale of new automobiles.
The role of information technology (IT) in this process has never been in the foreground: it has always been infrastructural, making possible subtle but profound changes in nearly every aspect of the industry. This panel will examine the mechanisms and logic of transformation in a world of rapidly changing capabilities in information processing and communication. In this, we depart somewhat from the contemporary practice of focusing on the ways in which specific information technologies (e. g. , the Internet, World Wide Web, or e-commerce) change specific practices in the industry as it currently operates.
Our focus is more upon the slow accretion of capability enabled by information technology that, in time, results in fundamentally new characteristics in the industry, as the main interest is in the relationship between information and the automobile realm. We break this analysis into six regimes of change: • Property regulation, risk mitigation, and complementary asset provision • Atmospheric emissions control • Passenger safety • Entertainment, conviviality and control • Expediting and coordinating production and distribution • Manufacturer-customer relationship construction and maintenance
The most important impacts of information technology in this transformation have been deep in the infrastructure of the vehicles themselves (e. g. , emissions control, safety, entertainment), and in the records systems that have fundamentally important in altering the relationship between dealers, automobile users, and other actors in the automobile realm. The story of IT in enterprise transformation in the automobile industry is one of slow, infrastructural, accretionary change that produces powerful cumulative effects. It is not surprising that this kind of change is difficult to see.
Moreover, industry transformation is not limited to the businesses processes of the firms. It affects the broad fabric of economic and social enterprise in a world where information, knowledge, and value are easily reproduced and transported. The contemporary developments in the Internet and the World Wide Web might very well, in time, produce such changes. To this point, they have not yet done so, and it is difficult to predict whether or how they will. The history of the automobile industry has from the start been one of complementary use of IT.
The automobile industry co-evolved with modern IT, and in myriad ways, incorporated that technology as it grew. The full effects of such evolution are difficult to spot because they take a long time and so much of what is important becomes infrastructural and invisible. That is the reason why a broader view of automotive industry transformation is necessary to understand the effects of a class of technologies as broad as information technology on an industry as large, diverse, and complex as the automobile industry. PRESENT STATUS OF MITSUBISHI MOTOR CORP
Winning Production Values by Information Technology The positioning of the IT challenge as Mitsubishi’s biggest is provocative to industry experts who have watched the company compete and succeed on the manufacturing values made possible by the Mitsubishi Motor Corp. The concept originated in the 1950s as a means of achieving mass-production efficiencies with small production volumes. At that time Mitsubishi’s annual production volume was only a few thousand vehicles. Today the company claims to be the world’s fifth-largest automaker with global sales of 5. million units in 1999. The company has seven vehicle manufacturing facilities in five countries, Japan, Netherlands, Philippines, Thailand, United States, and around 20 plants co-owned in partnership with others. It also has three further engine and transmission manufacturing plants. It is easy to miss the significance of the production system as Mitsubishi’s standard fact sheets that simply say “the Mitsubishi Production System has become the basis for highly efficient ‘lean’ manufacturing in industries worldwide. While true, there is a corporate modesty in that statement that doesn’t fully explain the company’s competitive success. As one auto analyst puts it: “Mitsubishi’s success is led by unusual quality delivered at very competitive prices — sometimes despite the styling. ” Last year, J. D. Power and Associates announced the results of its initial Quality Survey. Mitsubishi was able to dominate the top three plant awards and capture the No. 1 position in nine out of 13 vehicle segments in which Mitsubishi vehicles are represented.
The production system has rewarded Mitsubishi so well through process simplification and efficiency that a whole rhetoric of “lean manufacturing vs. information technology” has grown up, notes industry analyst Martin Piszczalski, Sextant Research, Ann Arbor, Mich. Cho’s assertion that IT is Mitsubishi’s biggest challenge suggests that although implementing the solutions may be difficult, IT and TPS may not be “either/or” considerations. Rather, he is suggesting a new synergism for competitiveness in the e-business marketplace.
A study on plant efficiency by the manufacturing consulting firm of Harbour and Associates Inc. , Troy, Mich. , reveals the steadily narrowing gap of efficiency between Japanese transplants and GM, Ford, and Daimler Chrysler over the last several years. In an August speech at Traverse City, Mich. , Minoura said, “Mitsubishi can no longer afford to stand still or make only a small gain. That’s why Mitsubishi must ask itself the hard questions. ” The issues he identified: What are the strengths and weaknesses, and what must Mitsubishi strengthen in order to survive in this era of mega-competition?
Piszczalski’s answer: Derive more value from IT. And since the value of IT derives from execution, Mitsubishi could have an implementation advantage by using the production system to adapt IT as a superlative competitive tool. Diverse approaches by using Information Technology Superficially, at least, the manufacturing solutions supplied by the production system and IT seem worlds apart. For the fans of lean, the manufacturing mantra seems to be that less is best, explains Piszczalski. That means less in terms of inventory, material movement, floor space, variability, and fewer steps, options, and choices in work. In contrast, the IT approach seems to imply that more is best — more information, flexibility, functions, features, increasingly comprehensive business processes, and more people involved in the decision-making process. ” “Add to that a further complication of the human tendency to look at IT as an alternative to solving the real issues on the plant floor,” notes Mike DaPrile, vice president, manufacturing and operations support, Mitsubshi Motor Corp.
Manufacturing (He directs and manages over 8,000 employees in MMC. ) “Those IT believers think information will solve everything, but the essence of the IT solution is in what you do with the information, to make it effective without risking confusion and information overload. ” Computer-based solutions have their validity, especially since manufacturing will, if anything, become more and more complex, adds Piszczalski. He says advanced planning and scheduling systems (e. g. , i2 Technologies) may be IT’s strongest suite in a production context. While the lean approach wants to minimize if not eliminate production variability, manufacturing enterprises are increasingly being drawn into a rapidly changing e-business environment. Maximum flexibility at the last minute has new competitive significance. ” Faced with rapidly changing market conditions and capacity constraints, the production system, some industry analysts believe, may tend to delay technology investments, but they also think it can inevitably maximize the benefits from such corporate spending.
Piszczalski says IT is very effective in process optimization by focusing on getting rid of waste. “What we haven’t done as well is take advanced technology and use it to our advantage. We need to figure out how to make process management and information technology work in synchrony. ” FUTURE DEVELOPMENT OF MITSUBISHI MOTOR CORP Future Problem and Issue Climate change is happening, no doubt about it. Carbon emissions have been at unacceptable levels for a long time. It is vital to find new approaches to old problems – fresh answers to difficult questions.
Vehicle power trains need to use less fuel – and a broader mix of fuels – while still meeting requirements for power, refinement and flexibility. How do we combine high efficiency, high performance and low CO2 emissions? Low-Carbon Vehicles 2009 will cover a wide range of technological approaches to cutting CO2 emissions from vehicles. The four main themes will be: advanced IC engines, advanced transmissions, hybrid power trains and fuel cell developments. Fossil, bio- and other alternative fuels will be discussed, helping you take a fresh look at the Low-Carbon Roadmap.
With every challenge comes an opportunity. The technical advantages of such intermediaries are to make more-environmentally friendly buses, trucks, taxis and passenger cars. Next, studying the simulation and validation of affordable hybrid electric systems for urban commercial vehicles and finding out the latest developments in engine lubricants. Furthermore, investigate the design of fuel cell hybrids as well as seeking resolutions to the conflicts of hybrid vehicle design.
Developing new internal combustion engines and getting the latest developments in alternative energy storage media. Product Values by Information Technology The Mitsubishi Motors i MiEV city car was announced as the winner of the Japanese Car of the Year “Most Advanced Technology” award yesterday at the 41st Tokyo International Motor Show 2009. This no-compromise zero-emissions car was praised for the way it has applied its advanced lithium-ion battery technology into a full four-seat family city car, and having achieved full-production status.
The car was available in Japan from July this year with all 1,400 of this year’s units destined for the Japan also been received for Japan for the 2010 build allocation. The Japanese Car of the Year award underlines Mitsubishi Motors’ long standing expertise in the field of electric vehicles since the early 1970s. It also further enforces Mitsubishi Motors’ place at the forefront of electric and plug-in hybrid electric vehicle development and signals excellent progress towards its stated goal of having 20% of total production as either electric or plug-in hybrid electric vehicles by 2020.
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