AUTHORS: Srujit Biradawada & Friends (Aarti, Lucy, Laura, Sumer, Vincent & Joyce)
There is no doubt that Tesla is a disruptor of the automotive industry. The company is reinventing the way cars and technology integrate, bringing to its customers a sustainable and energy efficient transportation solution. Considering the current climate scenario in the entire world, we need to reduce emissions and start contributing to climate change. According to the Pew Research Center, 88% of all Americans own a car. Electric vehicles can be a deciding factor for the world’s global warming crisis.
Considering the importance of Tesla’s innovative technology and the impressive popularity of the brand, the company continues to see a huge demand for its product and it needs to improve its logistics and supply chain processes to start delivering its products as expected.
From a management improvement perspective, the company should focus on quality, time, costs, and customer relation measurements so it can track better its data, adjusting production to current levels of supply and demand and stop being over-ambitions. Related to its supply chain, the company could focus on establishing long lasting relationships with its suppliers, reporting properly about demand levels to avoid delays. Tesla also suffers with inventory management due to its limited warehouse space in relation to expected sales. The company should expand its warehouse space to accommodate all expected sales.
Tesla is a fascinating company with unique products and relevant impact to the environment. The company needs to start addressing its inventory and supply chain processes issues if it wants to remain the “most-loved auto brand” in the world (AutoTrader, 2019).
REFERENCES
- Andre Gwilliam (Dec 13, 2017) – “RFID and the Automotive Industry: Competing at a Higher Level.” Retrieved on December 7, 2019 from https://www.rfidjournal.com/articles/view?16949
- Bilbeisi, K. M., & Kesse, M. (2017). Tesla: A Successful Entrepreneurship Strategy. B> Quest.
- Boston University MPH modules (Oct 16, 2015) – “Program Evaluation.” Retrieved on December 7, 2019 from http://sphweb.bumc.bu.edu/otlt/mph-modules/ProgramEvaluation/index.html
- Boudette, Neal E (2018), For Tesla, ‘Production Hell’ looks like the Reality of the Car Business. The New York Times, Retrieved from https://www.nytimes.com/2018/04/03/business/tesla-model-3.html
- Chen, Y., & Perez, Y. (2018). Business model design: lessons learned from Tesla Motors. In Towards a Sustainable Economy (pp. 53-69). Springer, Cham.
- Cho, G. S. (2018). A Study on Establishment of Smart Logistics Center based on Logistics 4.0. Journal of Multimedia Information System, 5(4), 265-272.
- Chung, Donald, Elgqvist, Emma, & Santhanagopalan, Shriram.(2016) Automotive Lithium-ion Cell Manufacturing: Regional Cost Structures and Supply Chain Considerations. United States. doi:10.2172/1247459.
- Coffin, David & Horowitz Jeff.(2018) The Supply Chain for Electric Vehicle Batteries: 2018 J. Int’l Com. & Econ.1. United States.
- Costa, F., do Sameiro Carvalho, M., Fernandes, J. M., Alves, A. C., & Silva, P. (2017). Improving visibility using RFID–the case of a company in the automotive sector. Procedia Manufacturing, 13, 1261-1268.
- D’Elia, G., Joseph, B., Wang, Y., & Wilkes, A. Capstone Project-Tesla.
- Dr. Malte Schmidt (Oct 11, 2015) – “Volkswagen AG Forges Ahead With Transparent Prototype.” Retrieved on December 7, 2019 from https://www.rfidjournal.com/articles/view?13601/2
- Gianesello, P., Ivanov, D., & Battini, D. (2017). Closed-loop supply chain simulation with disruption considerations: a case-study on Tesla. International Journal of Inventory Research, 4(4), 257-280.
- Kothari, C. R. (2004). Research methodology: Methods and techniques. New Age International.
- Lambert, F., Lambert, F., & Fred. (2017, September 6). Tesla Model 3 is built with 50% parts from US/Canada, and 25% from Mexico – here’s why it’s important. Retrieved November 29, 2019, from https://electrek.co/2017/09/06/tesla-model-3-supply-chain-parts-us-canada-mexico/
- Lambert, F., Lambert, F., & Fred. (2018, September 8). Tesla launches big delivery event for Model 3 deliveries as it changes strategy by matching orders. Retrieved November 29, 2019, from https://electrek.co/2018/09/08/tesla-big-model-3-delivery-event-for-model-3-deliveries-changes-strategy/
- Lambert, F., Lambert, F., & Fred. (2018, December 15). Tesla is releasing its fleet vehicles for sale to help deliveries before tax credit phase-out. Retrieved November 29, 2019, from https://electrek.co/2018/12/15/tesla-releasing-vehicles-sale-end-year-push-tax-credit/
- Lambert, F., Lambert, F., & Fred. (2018, November 15). Tesla buys trucking companies to shorten Model 3 delivery times for tax credit by the end of the year. Retrieved November 29, 2019, from https://electrek.co/2018/11/15/tesla-truck-companies-model-3-deliveries-federal-tax-credit/
- Lambert, F., Lambert, F., & Fred. (2018, September 22). Elon Musk invites Tesla owners to come help ‘educate’ new buyers during ‘incredibly intense’ delivery week. Retrieved November 29, 2019, from https://electrek.co/2018/09/21/elon-musk-invites-tesla-owners-delivery-educate-new-buyers/
- Lambert, F., Lambert, F., & Fred. (2018, September 23). Tesla launches ‘door-to-door service’ called ‘Tesla Direct’ to help with Model 3 delivery during rush week. Retrieved November 29, 2019, from https://electrek.co/2018/09/22/tesla-direct-door-to-door-service-model-3-delivery-rush-week/
- Lambert, F., Lambert, F., & Fred. (2018, August 30). Tesla is building a new delivery organization to support insane workload of Model 3 deliveries. Retrieved November 29, 2019, from https://electrek.co/2018/08/30/tesla-building-new-delivery-organization-model-3-deliveries/
- Lambert, F., Lambert, F., & Fred. (2018, December 21). Tesla starts selling and delivering cars out of Gigafactory 1 – comes with a tour. Retrieved November 29, 2019, from https://electrek.co/2018/12/20/tesla-sale-delivery-gigafactory-1/
- Lambert, F., Lambert, F., & Fred. (2019, October 9). Tesla-Panasonic relationship hits hard times as Tesla moves to make its own batteries. Retrieved November 29, 2019, from https://electrek.co/2019/10/09/tesla-panasonic-relationship-hits-hard-times-tesla-make-own-batteries/
- Lambert, F., Lambert, F., & Fred. (2019, November 27). Tesla asks suppliers to accelerate Model Y part deliveries, report says. Retrieved November 29, 2019, from https://electrek.co/2019/11/27/tesla-model-y-suppliers-accelerate-part-deliveries-report/
- Manna, D. R. (2017). Integrating Exploring Sustainability and Supply Chain Management in the Development of Smart Tiles by Tesla (p. 32).
- Matousek, M. (2019, May 13). Tesla was named the most-loved car brand by AutoTrader. Retrieved December 8, 2019, from https://www.businessinsider.com/tesla-named-most-loved-car-brand-autotrader-2019-5
- Niel, M. (2015, Feb 04). Improving Supply Chain Issues Through RFID. Retrieved December 1, 2019, from https://www.supplychaindigital.com/warehousing/improving-supply-chain-visibility-through-rf
- O’Kane, S. (2018, April 17). Elon Musk says Tesla will build Model 3s 24/7 until the end of June. Retrieved November 29, 2019, from https://www.theverge.com/2018/4/17/17249088/elon-musk-tesla-model-3-production-email-factory
- Olsen, P. (2019, November 14). Tesla Model 3 Loses CR Recommendation Over Reliability Issues. Retrieved December 1, 2019, from https://www.consumerreports.org/car-reliability-owner-satisfaction/tesla-model-3-loses-cr-recommendation-over-reliability-issues/
- Poushter, J. (2015, April 16). Car, bike or motorcycle? Depends on where you live. Retrieved December 8, 2019, from https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2015/04/16/car-bike-or-motorcycle-depends-on-where-you-live/
- Printronix (Oct 1, 2018) – “How can RFID Technology Help Automotive Manufacturers?” Retrieved on December 7, 2019 from https://printronixautoid.com/blog/rfid-technology-help-automotive/
- Q3 2019 Update – ir.tesla.com. (n.d.). Retrieved December 1, 2019, from https://ir.tesla.com/static-files/47313d21-3cac-4f69-9497-d161bce15da4
- Tao, R. (2016). Tesla Supply Chain – Custom-build World Class Supply Chain. Tradegecko.com. Retrieved from https://www.tradegecko.com/blog/tesla-custom-built-supply-chain
- Tesla Motors. (2014, July 31). Panasonic and Tesla Sign Agreement for the Gigafactory. Retrieved November 29, 2019, from https://ir.teslamotors.com/news-releases/news-release-details/panasonic-and-tesla-sign-agreement-gigafactory
- Tesla Motors. (2020). Service. Retrieved November 29, 2019, from https://www.tesla.com/service
- Voigt, K. I., Buliga, O., & Michl, K. (2017). Driving Against the Tide: The Case of Tesla Motors. In Business Model Pioneers (pp. 187-198). Springer, Cham.