Towards Value Webs in the after-sales-service area of the German automotive industry

This paper analyzes the potentials of Value Webs for increasing efficiency and effectiveness in the German automotive industry. Value Webs are networks of collaborating partners within different stages of interlinked value chains. This collaboration is enabled by innovative ICT-supported processes. The objective of this research is to pave the way for unleashing some efficiency potentials of a zero latency solution combined with optimized IT-based business processes considering the circumstances and conditions of collaboration in the after-sales-service area of the German Automotive Industry. The issue is shown by an example of a real aftersales-service process affecting several stages of the automotive value chain. After a short description of the trends in the automotive industry, the status quo in the after-sales-service area of a car manufacturer is analyzed. Hereby special focus lies on the repair process of an Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM). Subsequently, a zero latency concept for this domain is developed and its appropriateness is analyzed. Following that, mayor barriers to the implementation of a zero latency concept are described. The paper closes with an outlook on further research.