The Role of a Contract Manufacturer in Times of Electrification

Abstract

With over 100 years of experience in vehicle production, Magna affiliate Magna Steyr in Graz is the leading brand-independent development and manufacturing partner for both OEMs and new players in the automotive industry. Magna is the only automotive supplier in the world with expertise for the entire vehicle: from electronics to bodywork and powertrain to complete vehicle development and production. The Graz location plays a special role within the Group. It is not only Magna’s largest site worldwide, but currently also the only one where vehicles are build.

If you look at the types of mobility services that will exist until 2030 alone, the extent of the current industry change quickly becomes clear: electrification, ride sharing and hailing or even autonomous driving. Even today, mobility should be understood more as a service.

Increasing market volatility, political influences, growing complexity in automotive engineering and the reduction of time-to-market are the main challenges for future vehicle production. These challenges represent a real challenge for traditional vehicle production methods. It is therefore an essential success factor for contract manufacturers to be able to effectively map this diversity in production. If you want to be an innovation leader in such a rapidly changing industry, you have to understand the latest developments. Agility means being able to react quickly to market changes and, above all, to customer wishes and is a sustainable success factor in Magna Steyr’s business model.

The strategy consists of three blocks that build on each other. The basis is the “Digital Factory”, the digital representation of product, process and factory. This is the foundation of the “Smart Factory”. In addition to the well-known industry 4.0 applications, it includes optimum networking in the production network, including the entire production control and logistics. Finally, the “Versatile Factory” represents the highest evolutionary level, with production methods for an agile reaction of the company following the market exactly without significant fixed costs in regular operation.

To summarize, Magna has always seen change as an opportunity and still sees: with a changed view of one’s own place in this changing automotive landscape, a world with new dynamic and new players. No one in this industry can master the challenges alone. The constant pursuit of innovation and the ever faster realization of ideas require new ways. With a comprehensive knowledge of all product areas and technologies, agility and entrepreneurial thinking, Magna helps not only established manufacturers but also new players to face the change.