A European Tier 1 supplier for passenger-car manual transmissions sourced a function-critical shift-fork carrier from a single Indian source. Following a supply failure, the part was transferred into the One-Supplier model within 14 weeks — with two redundant European production sites.
The shift-fork carrier (FN02, 18,4 g, 1,8 Mio units/year) had been single-sourced from an Indian MIM manufacturer for seven years. An unplanned production stop due to an energy shortage in Q3 created the risk of a line stoppage within six weeks.
The Tier 1's strategic purchasing department faced three tasks at once: short-term bridging, mid-term dual-source introduction, and a contractual reorganisation involving, ideally, a single creditor rather than two or three new master-data records.
The One-Supplier model made it possible to run both new plants under one existing creditor number — without SRM onboarding and without additional audits on the customer's side.
After ten working days, the normalised matrix was on the desk of the purchasing management. Four plants requested, three technically qualified, two recommended for release.
| Plant | Region | Unit price EXW | Lead time series | Free capacity | Q-Score | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Plant A | Germany · South | € 0,94 | 16 days | 130 % | 96 | 93 / 100 · Primary |
| Plant C | Czech Republic | € 0,88 | 20 days | 180 % | 91 | 89 / 100 · Secondary |
| Plant D | Poland | € 0,86 | 24 days | 90 % | 82 | 74 / 100 |
| Plant E | Italy | € 1,02 | 28 days | 40 % | 88 | 62 / 100 |
Weighting: price 25 %, lead time 15 %, capacity 15 %, Q-Score 20 %, audit 10 %, risk 10 %, CO₂ 5 %.
A condensed, fully documented process. Every step was recorded — customer, MIM Experts and the two network plants always shared the same level of information.
We had an open flank and closed it in under four months — without initiating a new SRM process. The One-Supplier model was the decisive lever for our purchasing department. — HEAD OF STRATEGIC SOURCING · AUTOMOTIVE TIER 1
