Sustainability in Automobile Production

Seminar paper from the year 2012 in the subject Business economics - Supply, Production, Logistics, grade: 1,0, Technical University of Braunschweig (Institut für Automobilwirtschaft und Industrielle Produktion), language: English, abstract: The business environment of automobile manufacturers has been increasing in complexity. The common call for sustainable development from a growing share of consumers and political authorities alike has become a crucial business driver for automotive companies and an essential prerequisite for corporate competitiveness. Therefore, it is only consequent that business mission statements on sustainability can be found in nearly every larger manufacturers public appearance. However, in order to walk the talk, characteristics of sustainability must be an inherent trait of an organization. For production to adopt normative management decisions, the production strategies are to be aligned with the superior business mission. Hence, sustainability-oriented measures should be expected to exist in any larger automobile manufacturers strategic-tactical production planning. This is where this paper sets in. In chapter 2, a framework for strategic-tactical production planning is derived from literature and serves as center of reference for the entire work. In this part, the importance of an integrated and sustainabilityoriented production management is pointed out. Sustainable automobile production links the two major chapters of this work. In chapter 3, the framework of strategic-tactical production planning is applied on the specific case of automobile production. This approach is made in two ways. On the one hand, available literature which directly addresses automobile production strategies and tools to foster sustainability is evaluated. On the other hand, relevant industrial publications such as sustainability reports are investigated to verify theoretical findings and visualize corporate approaches towards sustainable automobile prod