ManufacturerSupplierDealer Relations

Alkire, K., Flynn, M., Davis, J., Sims, M. 2002. Order-to-Delivery: Fertile Ground for Improvement.
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n late 2001 OSAT joined with EDS Automotive Solutions Group to explore how vehicle manufacturers determine the various combinations (trim levels, colors, options) of the vehicles that they sell. The project concentrated on the set of processes the industry calls �Order-to-Delivery,� or OTD. OTD is defined as those processes and procedures that are required from the time a vehicle is ordered by a dealer to the time the dealer actually takes delivery of that vehicle. Why study this issue? For one, manufacturers constantly search for ways to be more competitive. Building an improved OTD system could result in a competitive advantage: lower costs, for example. Second, there is an opportunity to provide heightened levels of customer satisfaction. Third, new technologies, especially the Internet, might offer new opportunities to improve a system that has remained largely unaltered for years.