With consumers demanding automobiles that reflect their lifestyles and personalities, the Transportation & Mobility (T&M) industry is under intensifying pressure to increase the level of vehicle customization it can offer. This shift requires manufacturers – both OEMs and their suppliers – to become significantly more agile and responsive. Today, new software solutions for digitalizing the extended enterprise are helping companies to anticipate customer demands and collaborate efficiently to achieve mass customization.
Cummins may be best known for its truck and bus engines. But the Indiana-based company manufactures a broad catalog of engines for ocean freighters, construction, mining and drilling rigs, fire engines and agricultural equipment customized to work in US corn fields, Brazilian nut orchards and Korean vegetable farms.
The company’s secret for serving so many specialized markets? It can move as many as 200 distinctly different engines down its assembly lines simultaneously, making Cummins a recognized leader in achieving a goal that has long eluded the world’s vehicle manufacturers – the ability to manufacture products that are adapted to the needs of each customer, a model known as “mass customization.”
Read the FULL STORY in Compass Magazine.
