Editor’s note: Peter Maithel is automotive industry principal at Infor, a provider of cloud-based business software for a number of industries, including distribution and automotive manufacturing. Maithel has some predictions for the new year. Infor is hosting a free virtual event for automotive manufacturing, Inforum, Jan. 25-26 (and viewable on-demand for 30 days after.) Register here: Automotive Industry - Inforum
"After working in the automotive industry for many years, I’ve learned that one of the most important things one can do to ensure we are providing the most strategic counsel to both colleagues and clients is to continuously learn as much as one can about past, present and future trends within the industry," Maithel said. "Discussing industry challenges and trends with my colleagues, as well as speaking with customers about their current and anticipated needs, has allowed me to have an 'on-the-ground' perspective into what is forthcoming in the automotive industry."
Prediction 1: EV growth to slow in 2022
Despite the rush to EV adoption and efforts to move away from ICE, we will see a much slower growth trajectory, especially in 2022. The industry will have to surmount some significant hurdles next year, including overwhelming uncertainty about the supply chain, hastily developed lithium batteries that present fire risks, and geopolitical conflict, including our country becoming more reliant on overseas energy sources.
Prediction 2: Digital platforms will be fundamental
Business intelligence and digital platforms designed to connect all players within the automotive ecosystem will become fundamental in 2022. With chip shortages affecting automotive production and sales, balancing the mismatch between strong consumer demand and constrained inventory will be top of mind among all automotive professionals in 2022.
What tools will OEMs use to better balance demand and inventory?
Essentially, automakers need to seek tools that will enable better visibility into their demand and inventory planning processes. Achieving enhanced visibility into these metrics depends on a company’s ability to leverage their business and customer data to gather informed business insights to plan for better balancing of both demand and inventory.
Supply chain management solutions will continue to grow in importance for automakers who are seeking to better balance demand and inventory in 2022 and beyond. Solutions that aim to connect businesses to their entire supply chain by providing enhanced supply chain visibility, collaboration and predictive intelligence will be paramount in today’s ever evolving and challenging business climate. Furthermore, embedding machine-learning solutions to automate sections of supply chain management will provide organizations with more streamlined and informed insights from their supply chain management solution investment.
Likewise, in 2022, automakers will seek better signals for detecting consumer demand so they can have accurate indicators of what to produce, based on that demand. With advanced planning, execution and insight into demand, automakers will be able to intelligently sense and respond to supply chain activities in real time.
How will OEMs better be able to sense and respond to these supply chain activities?
To ensure automakers are better able to sense and respond to supply chain activities, organizations need to put an emphasis on communicating and collaborating with their business partners using common collaboration platforms. For example, if automakers cannot efficiently send customer-specific data and information to their suppliers, there will be an adverse effect on an automaker’s ability to balance their supply and demand needs. The ability to collect customer data, along with market-sensing information from OEMs and suppliers, are critical elements for automakers to sense, respond to and ideally to anticipate supply chain events.
Essentially, automakers need to be able to collaborate with their business partners, and the ability to exchange relevant data on a timely basis is vital to this collaboration. The act of continuously sharing and analyzing business and customer data can provide automakers with actionable insights about their individual supply chains, thereby enabling more effective decision making.
Prediction 3: Focus on talent acquisition and retention
Talent acquisition and retention need to be part of the strategic agenda among automakers or else they will struggle to compete and thrive in 2022. It won’t be enough for auto professionals to say they are “mechanical engineers” or “factory workers” in 2022. We’ll see a convergence of skills, where siloed skills aren’t enough for the changing needs of the automotive industry. With rapid fluctuations and accelerating innovation occurring within the automotive industry more so than any other industry, we will see automakers struggling to evolve quickly in 2022. Automotive employers will need to offer technology courses and training in 2022 to become employers of choice.
