Introduction to Jaguar Case Study
Jaguar Land Rover PLC is the largest automobile manufacturer in the United Kingdom. The company reported annual revenue of more than 25 billion pounds in the fiscal year of 2017-2018 and a rise of 8% in the second quarter of the fiscal year 2019-2020.
A subsidiary of Tata Motors, the company caters to a diverse population with the demand for its luxury and all-purpose vehicles rising sharply. In 2018 itself, Jaguar land Rover sold a record 592,708 vehicles in 128 countries.
The company operates two central design & engineering sites, manufacturing facilities, and an Engine Manufacturing Centre with a soon-to-be-open Battery Assembly Centre.
A global interconnected supply chain is in place with essential parts, complete knockdown units, and assembled products among various vehicle manufacturing units, technological hubs, and plants.
The supply chain system of Jaguar Land Rover PLC is an exemplification in its field and is the subject of this case study.
This document highlights several remarkable aspects of the high-performance supplier chain of Jaguar Land Rover through in-depth analyses of several Jaguar case study & its SCM.
Since the new century’s turn, business organizations had begun undergoing a rapid optimization of their supply and logistics chain.
Procurement management and requisitions systems underwent a drastic overhaul across industrial sectors. With a focus on better quality and increased value, organizations began working closely with a select group of suppliers, and several management principles were brought into action.
The advent of technology allowed better information management and companies were able to consolidate their distribution chain and procurement systems like never before.
A Case Study of the UCE’S & Jaguar Land Rover’s Suppliers High-Performance Project
A Brief Introduction
Being one of the world’s largest car manufacturers, Jaguar Land Rover controls a massive, worldwide chain of suppliers, manufacturing & assembling units, and technological hubs.
The company’s supply chain system and management system was the focus of detailed research by the United Kingdom’s Commission for Employment and Skill’s High-Performance Working Practices Project. Jaguar Land Rover championed the project with its exemplary supply/distribution chain management system.
An in-depth Jaguar Land Rover case study on its SCM can act as an excellent example for large-scale firms. The project aims to encourage businesses to develop projects that will improve their supply chain processes’ management capabilities.
As a result, the case study looks into crucial research questions regarding the business’s distribution operations, namely,
- What strategic influence and role do supply chains have concerning skills and workforce development?
- How far can operational influence be exerted through a supply chain to engage the suppliers into skill development activities?
Case Study Methodology
The research methodology of this Jaguar case study followed a qualitative approach while gathering data. It enables researchers to collect rich data and vast amounts of information from a variety of information sources. Sources include several company stakeholders, such as Jaguar Land Rover employees involved in the project, senior managers of the company, and numerous participating supply chain businesses of Jaguar Land Rover.
Jaguar Over The Years
The origins of Jaguar and Land Rover date back to the 1920s. Both brands were purchased by Tata Motors in 2008 and were eventually merged in 2013.
Jaguar Land Rover is the largest automotive manufacturing business in the U.K. today. In the company, the company had sold around 462,000 vehicles through retail outlets across 160 countries.
An already sizable company, Jaguar Land Rover continues to expand and grow globally. The Company turnover increased annually over the past five years and, in 2016, was approximately 22.2 billion pounds. Retail sales of both it’s all-wheel rovers, and luxury sedans have increased by 6.4%.
A bit of a slump occurred in 2019 with low sales in China, its newest market, and decreasing demand for diesel engines in Europe.
However, the company experienced a turnaround in the second half of 2019, with increased global sales by 1.3 percent.
Land Rover experienced a sales increase of about 9.6 percent, but Jaguar faced a 17 percent drop in the same year. The downturn resulted from rising demand for unconventionally powered vehicles and stricter emission norms & regulations.
Since then, the company has made significant investments in designing, adopting, and implementing eco-friendly technologies. Jaguar Land Rover has paired up with BMW to develop electric motors, transmission, and power electronic systems, to advance its green technology initiatives.
Jaguar And Its Supply Chain
Jaguar Land Rover is an Original Equipment Manufacturer and the head of its supply chain. Several tier 1 supplier support the company.
They are typically large companies and produce specific vehicle parts (such as the side or door panels) and/or provide services (like powder coating).
The company’s complete supply chain is spread globally, but 50% of Jaguar Land Rover’s suppliers are UK-based.
The Supply Chain High-Performance Project
UKCE’S Jaguar case study on its Supplier High-Performance Working Project aimed to analyze how Jaguar supports its supply chain businesses in a comprehensive manner. The company implemented high-performance working practices and focused on business leaders’ capability to align skills, job design, and various other working methods. Jaguar Land Rover audited a supply chain business’s current capabilities and offered consultancy & support to act on the reports & bring about substantial improvements.
Our Jaguar Case Study shows us the steps via which the company implemented the project throughout the company’s supply chain.
Project Initiation
Analysts at Jaguar Land Rover took part in a deep-dive activity with a sample of 30 suppliers. The results reflected a lack of ability of most suppliers to maximize their supply chain. The High-Performance Working project aimed to bring about a new way of working and help supplier businesses adapt to newer operational methods.
The company engaged with its supply chain businesses via its existing, but relatively new, Supplier Skills Networks. Jaguar Land Rover had established this network following the ‘Deep-Dive Activity,’ which its analysts conducted in 2013. Intending to foster a ‘share and learn’ environment between itself and its suppliers, the company offered acute support through its Supplier Skills Network. Supplier businesses reaped enormous benefits from the program by up-skilling their engineers and recruiting new apprentices.
The High-Performance project by the numbers
The total investment in the project was around 506,400 pounds. The UKCES invested approximately 261700 through the UKFP ( the U.K. Futures Programme).
Jaguar Land Rover and its participating supplier businesses invested around the 212,700 pounds. Every one of the supply chain businesses needed to contribute 4000 pounds per program.
The processes of the project
The High-Performance Working Project was communicated amongst the suppliers and supply chain businesses through its Supplier Skills Networks. All members of the program were asked to interact with each other voluntarily.
An audit was performed to gauge seven critical capabilities of every supply chain business. The aspects being looked into were:
- Engagement—the quality of communications
- Enable – the capacity of a business to be in line with immediate business needs
- Energize – a business’s motivational practices and employee incentive programs
- Innovation
- Learning and Development
- Culture
- Customer Relations
The participating supplier businesses invested their time & money and received 15 days of support from coaches & lead trainers.
The number and duration of support and training programs were not limited, however. The supplier and supply chain businesses choosing to increase their engagement in the program had the option to acquire multiple tools & guidance via two additional support programs.
Project Delivery
Based on the respective audit report results, suppliers and supply chain businesses were offered the freedom and the autonomy to design their solution.
Coaches and lead trainers helped companies devise their answers, and businesses shared their progress with their peers.
Supplier Skills Network meetings allowed businesses and organizations to share their experiences, strategies, and solutions.
The Jaguar case study shows that besides the initial audit and subsequent tailor-made support & coaching, suppliers and supply chain businesses could perform a re-audit.
Jaguar Land Rover accumulated feedback by engaging continuously with the participating companies. The Supplier Skills Networks enabled wider dissemination of training, lessons, and guidance amongst participating businesses.
Every aspect of the High-Performance Working Project was utterly flexible. For example, supply chain businesses could decide upon the way they wanted to contribute to the audit. Furthermore, they could also determine the particular aspect they want to focus on during the coaching.
The following section of the Jaguar Case Study looks a bit into the High-Performance Project’s auditing processes and outcomes.
Initial Auditing and Results
The Jaguar Case Study reveals that the first phase or initial audit covered seven high-performance areas working by asking specific questions.
- In the initial audit, 4-8 employees from every supply chain business and two Jaguar Land Rover employees or consultants. In some instances, the company’s Learning & Development Manager supported the deployment and operations of the auditing process.
Many variations were involved in the auditing process. For example, one particular business utilized the auditing process to sample its employees across four sites, thereby gaining a broader picture.
- Many suppliers and supply chain businesses undertook a sample of surveys during the audit. Companies involved numerous employees right from the grassroots to the managerial level.
The audit rated every supply chain business’s performance on a scale of 0 to 5, for each of the 18 questions and the seven areas of high performance working. Such scaling enabled the businesses to identify the areas where there’s room for improvement. Through the project, Jaguar Land Rover ascertained that supplier businesses knew they had a need. Still, they required some evaluation process to determine the exact nature of the support they need.
Results given in the Jaguar’s project case study showed the highest scoring areas in the audit to be customer relations and innovation. However, most businesses score poorly in the areas of staff engagement and values.
Subsequent Support Program And Re-Audit
The participating businesses liked the autonomy of arranging their support packages.
- One particular supply chain firm, for example, used Jaguar Land Rover’s guidance and support to create a training program for the next batch of managers in their company.
- Another firm created three separate projects to address the areas they lacked, as identified by the audit results.
Overall, the supply chain businesses and suppliers had nothing but the best to say about the project’s structure and the support & consultancy they received from Jaguar Land Rover & the partner consultancy firm involved.
The auditing process and the implementation of the Project’s customized programs required a significant amount of time to be implemented.
Designing customized programs for large suppliers and supply-chain businesses had its fair share of challenges, and time was necessary to understand the effects of program implementations.
The re-auditing process enabled Jaguar Land Rover to determine the effects of the implementation of the program.
Re-auditing allowed the company to determine the progress made by the supply chain businesses and enhance their working practices.
Further visit: Complete Case Study of Toyota Company In 5 Minutes
Outcomes & Conclusions
The Jaguar Case Study identified some critical outcomes of the Supply Chain High-Performance Work Practice Programme for participating suppliers and supply chain businesses.
- Increase the capability of leaders and managers to align employee skills, job designs, and workplace practices to support high-value firm strategies.
- Boost in demand for management and leadership skills.
- Increase in the social capital of managerial personnel, the levels of interaction amongst a supply business’s workforce, and making the best use of the opportunities to learn the best practices from peers.
The learning outcomes for Jaguar Land Rover were also uncertain initially. The company was trying to assess the return of investment but knew that it would be challenging to evaluate the program’s impact in financial terms. Most changes were intangible, but the company knew that the program would have some indirect & long-term effects on its supply chain.
All in all, UKCE’S Jaguar Case Study on the High-Performance Work Project enabled the authorities to come to some critical conclusions due to the project’s implementation.
L.O. 1: Operational influence can be exerted through supply chia to engage, encourage, and enhance their capabilities & performance.
L.O. 2: Supply Chains played a strategic role in the prime company’s skills and workforce development.
