The 3DayCar: Built-to-Order Vehicles-Is This Our Future?

WARRENDALE, Pa., Feb. 8 -- ``Thanks for visiting XYZ Automaker Company. You have configured the car you want tailored to your exact specification. May I confirm your order and when you want it delivered?''

``Yes. I will have one, red XYZ SUV with tan interior. I'll go with the deluxe airbag package, hydrogen fuel-cell power system and six-player CD. Hold the navigation system and the cup holders. And I'll have it in three days, please.''

``Thank you for your order. Your total comes to $?. You can pick up your new vehicle in three days, just as you wanted.''

Built-to-order (BTO) vehicles, a concept very much like made-to-order Dell computers, might not be that far off in the future. That's the finding of a major research programme in the United Kingdom.

``The 3DayCar: The Car You Want When You Want It'' will be presented during the SAE 2002 World Congress, March 4 - 7, Cobo Center, Detroit, Michigan, USA.

``The concept of the 3DayCar enables all customers to have a vehicle built to their own specification in a time scale that they require ... from three days upwards,'' says John C. Whiteman, Project Director for the UK-based 3DayCar Program. ``The 3DayCar not only maximizes savings in vehicle inventory costs, but also minimizes lost sales and additional discounts that are often necessary to get rid of unwanted cars on dealer lots.''

``The proportion of cars built specifically to actual customer order varies across markets,'' says Prof. Andy Graves, Director, Bath University, ``around two-thirds of Germans have their vehicles built at the factory according to their specifications, while very few Americans are given the chance to define exactly what they want in an acceptable lead time by ordering from the factory.''

Advocates of the 3DayCar admit that radical changes must take place in the automotive industry.

``Marketing Departments must be proactive in creating demand, rather than being reactive in disposing of unwanted inventory,'' says Prof. Peter Hines, Director, Cardiff University. ``Fully integrated information systems between automakers and suppliers must also be in place. In addition, suppliers must continue to introduce more simplified components such as modules and spaceframes with pre-painted, independent body panels.''

3DayCar is jointly researched by Cardiff and Bath Universities and ICDP (the International Car Distribution Programme) and sponsored by the UK government and 22 industrial sponsors including automotive manufacturers, component suppliers, dealers, logistics companies and information system houses.

Presentations on the 3DayCar will begin 1 p.m., Monday, March 4, in Room W2-64.

SAE World Congress, the world's largest showcase of automotive engineering technologies, attracts attendees from more than 50 countries. For more details, including registration and special events, visit the SAE 2002 World Congress web site at www.sae.org/congress or call 1-877-SAE-CONG (723-2664); outside the U.S. and Canada, call 1-724-772-4027.