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Main Customers (60%) car and truck producer |
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Volumes are not to bad the cost side is a problem |
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Steel-mills increase their prices dramatically |
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Our main customers and their system suppliers refuse to accept price adaptations |
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Concentration and Globalisation in between OEM's continuing - we are asked to follow |
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Increasing number of system-suppliers rend to make us tier two or tier three suppliers - meaning price pressure |
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The general Platform strategy means higher volumes but also price reductions |
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E-business can be helpful but the tool of internet auctions are to be used carefully - rules needed |
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Supply-chain projects are becoming popular. Positiv total-cost thinking but also consuming internal recourses |
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The trend of more Diesel engine powered cars and four-wheel driven suv's means higher forging volumes |
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The trend of lightweight cars with demand for low energy consumption means weight-saving and maybe non-ferrous forging |
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The European Forgers should try to be ahead of customer - this is not easy for small and medium sized companies |
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The small companies have a hard time to withstand the requests of the automotive customers |
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One way is to become a super-specialist but many of the forgers cannot move easily in that direction |
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One way is to organise themselves in their national association and try to act globally |
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Most of us is in the forging business, world-wide, is in the same boat - this demands for co-operation concerning common opportunities and threats |
