MMRCDISCUSSION PAPER SERIES

MMRC-F-17

Electronic technology and Parts Procurement:
A Case of the Automobile Industry
Faculty of Economics, University of Tokyo

Takahiro Fujimoto
Jewheon Oh
December 2004

21COE, University of Tokyo

MMRC Discussion Paper No. 17

Electronic technology and Parts Procurement:
A Case of the Automobile Industry
Faculty of Economics, University of Tokyo
Takahiro Fujimoto
Jewheon Oh
December 2004

1. Introduction
With the advancement of electronic technology, the use of open networks, such as the internet,
has been advocated, and transactions like parts procurement through auctions have received muchattention in the recent years.

Under such circumstances, there were even some theories, whichargued that parts procurement for the automobile industry as a whole would be eventually take theform of auctions (bidding) using the internet.

However, as we will discuss later, in reality, partsprocurement through the internet is less than 10% in the Japanese auto industry as of 2002.

What

was the reason behind the significant gap from the prediction?
In anticipating the conclusion, “almighty internet procurement theories,” such as the above,
completely overlooked the fact that firms were influenced by factors like characteristics of parts, typeof transaction system, and the content of the information to be exchanged, in selecting theinformation technology.
Regardless of the industry, whether it be automobile or other, it is difficult to predict the kind ofelectronic procurement system that would be introduced without analyzing its product architecture(basic design idea).

To begin with, current automobiles are basically types of products in which theparts design for each product need to be mutually adjusted and optimized, in order to guarantee theperformance of the entire product.

Therefore, it is an “integral architecture” product (Fujimoto et al.,1

Fujimoto & Oh2001).

When we look at the parts to be supplied, only less than 10% are generic parts that havebeen standardized for inter-firm use. Unlike the desktop computer, the automobile is not an “openmodular architecture” product where a complete product can be made by gathering many genericparts with a standard interface.

When this difference is ignored, it leads to the mistake of applying

the simple “almighty internet procurement theories.”
We also cannot ignore the influence that the different transaction systems have in choosing thetype of information technology.

For instance, in the case of Japanese firms, the parts manufacturers

are in charge of the detailed design, and through the black box parts practice (also known as“design-in”), the parts are collaboratively developed with the auto manufacturer.

In this case, thecompetition between the parts manufacturers isn’t simply based on price bidding, but rather, acapability-building competition (known as the “development competition”) based on a multi-faceted
evaluation of the supplier.

Further in the case of development competitions and design-in (such as

the approved drawing system), heavy traffic of highly confidential 3D-CAD information is
exchanged between the assembler and supplier. Given the bandwidth assurance and insufficient
security of the current internet, there is unwillingness to exchange such information.
Therefore, at least for the time being, firms choose to use private lines or industrial standard
networks (i.e. ANX or JNX, discussed later), which guarantee both security and bandwidth to an
extent.

Eventually, it is possible that the system will centralize on internet procurement, if theinternet is improved and acquires these capabilities.

However, for the time being, the use of theinternet will be limited to generic parts or very simple single parts (10-20% of total partsprocurement at most), whereas private lines or industrial standard networks will be used forspecifically designed part which make up the majority.
As we have seen, the selection of a certain parts transaction system for a part tends to affectchoice of the mode of information system that might best fit the transaction information between thefirms. Conversely, once a particular type of information is chosen, the mode of informationexchanges, patterns of competitions between suppliers and transaction systems would also bechanged. In this way, inter-firm information systems, transaction patterns, and architectures of theparts would co-evolve through dynamic interactions among them.
Through such framework of analysis and perspective, in this paper, we will take up thedevelopment of inter-firm information systems in the auto industry, and make a concrete analysis on
the characteristics of information systems, such as firm-specific networks, industrial standard
networks and the internet.

Next, by showing the mutual relationship of the characteristics of parts2

Electronic technology and Parts Procurement

architecture, transaction systems and information networks, we will discuss their co-evolvement
through the respective choices and their interactions.

2. Building a firm-specific network (private lines and commercial VAN)
In the Japanese auto industry, the inter-firm information system was built in the early 1990s.
The sales information network between assembler and dealers, and the procurement information
network between the assembler and its major first-tier suppliers was built by the mid-80s and end of
the 1980s respectively.

By the early 1990s, sales, production and procurement information became

integrated and shared among the dealers, assemblers and suppliers.
Built under the initiative of each assembly firm, the inter-firm information networks establishedduring this period were all private communication lines of the assembly firm.

The communicationline, the communication protocol and data format of these information networks were uniquely
operated by each assembly firm.

This was due to the fact that the information networks werebasically built by gradually expanding the existing development design CAD system andorder-related business applications, uniquely operated by each assembly firm within their own
company, to their major business partners.
Since the firm-specific network was made through optimizing the existing information systemof the assembly firm, it was convenient for continuing business partners, and the transmission of
information took place safely and securely.

However, it ignored the possibility of transactions withthose outside or beyond the “keiretsu,” or major affiliated business partners.

As assembly firms

began to have transactions with multiple parts manufacturers, it lead to the problem of “too manylines and terminals” phenomenon.

This indicates a situation where a parts manufacturer must set up

a private line and specific terminal for each application, in order to make transactions with multiple
assembly firms.

For instance, if a parts manufacturer has business transactions with 3 assembly

firms and is connected on-line with each for 3 types of applications, CAD data, order EDI and BOM(Board of Materials), it needs a total of 9 separate private communication lines, leading to acomplicated network and increased capital maintenance cost on the side of the parts manufacturer.

3. Building a standard network for the auto industry(1) What is JNX ?
In order to solve the above problems, the auto industry in each country faced the task of building
an industrial standard network.

The standard network of the American auto industry (Automotive3

Fujimoto & Oh

Network Exchange, or ANX) started to operate in the fall of 1998.

This became the model for theJapanese Automotive Network Exchange (JNX) and European Automotive Network Exchange(ENX), which began to operate around the year 2000 in Japan and Europe respectively.
The goal of the auto industry’s standard network was to standardize the network infrastructure
within the auto industry. Therefore, it unified the communication protocols, before unique to eachcompany, to TCP/IP, as well as making the communication line to a one common type of network.
By standardizing the network infrastructure, companies were able to make transactions with various
companies, even outside a particular business partner group, with one common communication line
once they had joined the ANX or JNX.
Since the ANX and JNX are TCP/IP type networks like the internet, both the hardware and thesoftware can be shared with the internet, but the users are limited to registered members.
perspective, it can be distinguished from the internet where anyone can participate.

In thisTo be more

specific, the ANX and JNX have a screening system, which limits those who join to specified
members whose “identity is known.” Also by using an exclusive IP address, it is protected frombeing accessed by “unspecified individuals” (as in the case of the internet).

Further, the ANX andJNX provide “bandwidth assurance (communication speed),” “security assurance (able to sendsafely),” and “reliability assurance (able to send with certainty)” which are not fully realized on thecurrent internet.

In order to do so, they have obligated the use of IP-sec and firewalls, andintroduced a validation system for service providers.
However, we need to keep in mind that the ANX/JNX does not provide business applications
and solutions themselves.

If we were to divide the structure of an information system tocommunication infrastructure (lower layer) and business applications (upper layer), the target of the
ANX/JNX is simply to standardize the communication infrastructure.
of the upper layer is in a separate realm from the ANX/JNX.

The standardization process

In other words, this is an issue left in

the hands of the users and service providers.

(2) Current situation of the JNX
The cumulative members of the JNX were approximately 350 companies (March 2002), 580(June 2003), 820 (February 2004). JNX center, the management body, had expected the number toreach roughly 500 companies by the end of 2002, and hit 1000 during the year 2003, but thesecurrent data suggests the pace has actually been much slower.
The major reason behind this is that the transfer of the auto manufacturers’ business applications4Electronic technology and Parts Procurement

to the JNX has not progressed.

The biggest factor was that there was a delay in switching thebusiness application to the JNX standard, TCP/IP.
VAN.

Particularly, the traditional EDI frequently used

Since the communication protocols were in many cases not TCP/IP-based, it took a longer

time to transfer to the JNX compared to CAD or Web.
In the recent years, the assembly firms have begun to accommodate these aspects, leading tomore firms transferring their basic business applications, such as the CAD, EDI and Web, to the JNX.
However, compared to this, the standardization of business applications or their exchange system has
not progressed as much.

The utilization rate of STEP, used for the exchange of CAD data, is still

low, and very few firms have actually switched their order EDI to EDIFACT.

In order to facilitate

the JNX network environment to be more convenient, the standardization needs to progress more.
On the other hand, JNX center has recently introduced new services, such as Dial up access,Gateway access, which allows the access to JNX network from Internet, CAI(common application
infrastructure). These services possible to use JNX network at low cost are targeted at small andmedium parts manufacturers (i.e. Tier-2, Tier-3). Obviously, one main reason of the increasing of the
JNX members during the year 2003 is the launch of the services above.

(3) The co-existence of traditional networks and the JNX
The goal of the JNX was to intensify the individual networks of group of firms to JNX throughthe standardization of the network infrastructure.

Therefore, the aim of the JNX was to stop the useof traditional private lines and VAN, and to transfer all business applications to the JNX.

However,

in reality, there are hardly any firms who have consolidated their communication network with theirbusiness counterparts solely to the JNX.

Rather, there is a situation of co-existence, where the firms

continue to use the traditional firm-specific networks and have added the use of JNX (figure 1).
One reason is that the traditional private networks have dramatically improved in a short periodof time.

In other words, before, the private networks used private lines or VAN for each application,

as mentioned earlier, but recently these have become consolidated.

As a result, the overall negative

effects, caused by “many lines and many terminals” phenomenon, have decreased, providing lessadvantages to transfer to the JNX.
In addition, there was a limitation to the security level of the JNX, making it less attractive, interms of usefulness, when compared to the traditional private network.

Further, although JNX

focused on standardizing network infrastructure, in order to make the network easier to use,
standardization at the level of business applications must advance at the same time.
5

On the contrary,Fujimoto & Oh

the business applications of the traditional private networks are easy to use, due to the long years of
Figure 1: Inter-firm Information System after building JNX
ToyotaNissanDealers
Dealers
TDC netJNX

TDC JNX

New NET21
DIEX Service

Internet

Internet

First tier

End Users

First tierFirst tier

End Users

First tierNote: DIEX indicates VPN service.
Source: Made in referring JNX homepage and Abe(2001).

repeated improvements, and it is also superior to the JNX in terms of reliability allowing the data to
be sent with certainty.

Therefore, there has been limited incentive for firms to sacrifice all of its

current business applications and transfer to the JNX.
Further, the development of electronic technology such as the VPN (Virtual private network) has
made it easier for the co-existence of private networks with JNX.

In other words, JNX service

providers use VPN technology and guarantee connection to both the private line and JNX, with justone line.

So, there are parts manufacturers who have physically consolidated their communicationlines to one line, with the co-existence of both the private line and JNX.

Such parts manufacturers

make transactions with their major business counterparts without using the JNX, while making
transactions with others using the JNX, with a single communication line.

In either case, you arealso guaranteed connection to the internet with this single line.
In this way, the communication lines of inter-firm networks have rapidly intensified since thestart of JNX.

Some firms use VPN, and connect to the private line, JNX and internet by allocatingeach to a separate layer.

For instance, in the process of development design to mass production, theprivate network, with higher certainty and security, is used for the information network with major
business counterparts requiring minute and collaborative work.
with other firms, there is a greater tendency to use JNX.
6

On the other hand, for transactionElectronic technology and Parts Procurement

4. Trend of internet procurement (Covisint)(1) Outline of Covisint
With the rapid penetration of the internet from the mid-1990’s, electronic commerce using theinternet has become common.

Even in the auto industry, the trend towards the so-called internet

procurement, using the internet for parts procurement, has become active.

Of these, Covisint iscurrently receiving the most attention. Covisint is an assembler leading consortium for e-commerce,
which was started in December 2000 by the three companies GM, Ford, Daimler-Chrysler, alongwith Nissan and Renault.
Covisint aims to provide the application platform for inter-firm electronic commerce in the auto
industry, using the ANX/JNX and internet.

In this sense, Covisint can be distinguished as a network

infrastructure from industrial standard networks or the internet.

In other words, the Covisint lies ina different layer from ANX and JNX, and is not in direct competition with them.
Covisint provides services such as “procurement through the electronic market,” “SCMbusiness,” and “collaborative development business.”
electronic catalogue sales and on-line auctions.

The procurement business takes place using

Regarding the SCM, the major services provided

are tools, which allow sharing of information, such as state of inventory, state of delivery/distribution
and demand forecast in the supply chain.

Further, in reference to collaborative development, it

provides tools (i.e.Virtual Project Workspace) necessary for real time development and collaborative
designing.

(2) Operation of Covisint: the reality
However, when we observe the reality, of the three main pillars mentioned above, Covisint’s
main business is the procurement function through the electronic market, and the SCM andcollaborative design sections are still groping, so to say (Table 1).

The SCM and collaborative

design functions are basically operated through the firm-specific network, and therefore, the services
provided by Covisint are in direct competition with the firm-specific network.

Covisint’s goal is tounify the firm-specific network of the assembly firms to Covisint, but it seems few assembly firms
will actually decide to do so.
Therefore, Covisint’s main business, currently, is the procurement of indirect and directmaterials through the electronic market.

Since the electronic market is highly open, parts purchased

through catalog sales or auctions, are limited to generic parts or commodities in which the7Fujimoto & Oh

competition is based strictly on price.

In the case of the automobile, such parts only make up 20%

Tabe 1 : Survey on Covisint BusinessAuctions

Catalogs

Supply Chain

Q1 2001

Q2 2001

Over 100 events

Over 420 events

Over 1,200 events

Over $ 1.0 billion

Over $ 36.0 billion

Over $ 48.0 billion

Over 200 catalogs

Over 200 catalogs

Over 200 catalogs

Over 2.5 million

Over 2.5 million

Over 2.5 million

individual items

individual items

individual items

6,000 transactions

20,000 transactions

74,000 transactions

1,500 seats sold and2,300 seats sold andin usein use−Management

Q3 2001

Virtual ProjectOver 200 seats soldOver 500 seatsOver 500 seats soldWorkspaceand in use

sold and in use

and in use

Registration

Over 900 companies

Over 1,000 companies

Over4,100 companies

Source: Made in referring to Covisint Connector Newsletter.

or less of the total parts required.
The other parts are mainly specifically designed parts (approved drawing parts or some provided
drawing parts), and their prices can’t simply be decided by the price presented by the auctioning firm.
A multi-dimensional capability evaluation reflecting the product development capability or
technological capability, quality/delivery assurance capability, etc. of the parts manufacturer isnecessary.

Due to these reasons, these are not fit for net auction.

In actuality, when we observe the current situation of “net procurement” or how Covisint isbeing used, although there are a small group of American manufacturers who actively participate,most Japanese firms have been extremely cautious.

So far, major Japanese auto firms such as

Toyota and Honda have not adopted “net procurement” using the electronic market, and there is astrong tendency to estimate the percentage of parts possible for internet procurement to a very low
figure.

For instance, according to a Japanese firm that cooperated in our hearing investigation, theyclaimed only 3% of the parts could be considered for “net procurement”.

One reason for being so

careful is that electronic markets, including Covisint, do not provide any data that allow us toevaluate their reliability or capability level.
8Electronic technology and Parts Procurement

Our recent survey (UFJ Institute, 2004) also shows that the Japanese automobile companies arevery cautious to “net procurement”. According to this survey, only 3.5% companies answered “yes”
to the question whether you had carried out “net procurement” using e-marketplaces. The percentage
of internet procurement costs to the total purchasing at those companies is only 1-3%.It is obviousthat many Japanese automobile companies have a reluctance to do business with“invisible”partners
through e-marketplaces.
Although the registered companies of Covisint have reached at over fifteen thousand companies
at the end of the year 2003, the auction business of Covisint have not acquired the sales target
planned at the start of Covisint. As a result of the poor performance at the parts auction business,
Covisint has reduced 30% of the staff at the end of 2002. After all, Covisint announced at Decemberof 2003 that the parts auction service division would be acquired by Freemarket.com.
As discussed so far, the JNX was proposed as the new industry standard network that would
overcome the disadvantages of the traditional firm-specific lines for electronic procurement of autoparts in Japan.

However, the use of private lines is firmly rooted, and private lines continue to be

used together with JNX.

Purchasing on the internet is currently still very limited for automobiles.

As we have seen, we confirmed the co-existence of three different network technologies in the
procurement of automobile parts.

Next, the author will explain the basic theory behind thissituation of co-existence.

5. Interaction of information networks, transaction systems andarchitectural characteristics(1) Characteristic of the information network systems
The standard framework for the comparative analysis of information network systems is as follows:•

Structure of the network•

Transmission capability•

Security (secrecy maintenance, prevention of unlawful measures)

Through these perspectives the matching of the data processing needs of the business and dataprocessing capability of each network is analyzed and evaluated.
For instance, the internet currently has an “unlimited network” structure, which allows anyone
to connect all over the world.

Therefore, it demonstrates tremendous strength in cases ofproblem-solving (search) activities in which solution information (solution) are scattered throughout
the world.

However, compared to the private lines made for specific purposes, it falls short in the9Fujimoto & Oh

transmission capability of heavy information (wideband information), such as 3D-design.
the unlimited nature of the network, the security is not fully assured either.

Due toAs a result, if thepossessor of the solution can be specified in advance, private lines and networks with limited
members tend to be selected due to the higher transmission capability and the increased security.
For instance, collaborative development of complicated functional parts, are examples of such cases.
In addition, the frequency and the two-directional property of information transmission haveinfluence on choosing a system.

Either way, the basis for choosing an information system isselecting the one, which meets the conditions required by the architectural characteristics andtransaction system, as much as possible, for the respective parts.

(2) Characteristics in parts design architecture and information
As discussed earlier, the automobile, as a whole, is said to be a product with “integral
architecture,” but when we look at each of its part, the degree of commonness, its functional
completeness, unification of the inner structure, the degree of standardization of interface, etc. allhave differences in their architectural characteristics.

These differences in the architecturalcharacteristics are precisely what influence the choices made for transaction systems and information
systems.
Generally speaking, in the case of modular parts with standardized interface that is functionallycomplete, there is little necessity for mutual adjustment in terms of design.

As a result, it is possible

to use an information system with a comparatively small transmission volume.

On the other hand,in the case of integral parts that require detailed design adjustments between the product’s main bodyand other parts, there is a tendency for the incomplete design information (heavy 3D-CAD
information, in recent years) to frequently flow back and forth in the process of custom designing.
Therefore, an information system capable of transmitting comparatively large volume of informationis needed.

(3) Characteristics of transaction systems and information
There are several stages for parts transaction, and a transaction system is chosen for each stage.
Here, let us look at the following three as representative phases:•

supplier selection•

parts design•order of mass production parts.
10Electronic technology and Parts Procurement(i) Supplier selection: From the supplier side, this is the competition amongst suppliers to receive
the orders.

In the case of “special assignment orders,” the supplier is chosen in the beginning,

followed by the boiling down of order conditions, style and design.

In “development competitions,”

it is a capability-building competition amongst multiple firms (usually a few in number).

In thiscase, the evaluation is multi-dimensional, involving experimental design and experimental productinformation, requiring detailed exchange of information, similar to the level of “special assignment
orders” between the assembly firm and the supplier candidates.
An “auction” is basically a price competition.

The supplier candidates propose priceinformation to the ordering firm who give order conditions and design information in advance.

The

information flowing through the network is much simpler compared to that of the developmentcompetition.

In the case of “catalogue purchases” of parts, the firm simply looks at the catalogue

information proposed by the seller, and orders by specifying the product number, and thus the burdenof an individual transaction on the information system is small.

(ii) Sharing of responsibility and collaboration for parts design：In the cases of “approved design
systems” and“provided drawing system” or the so-called collaborative development systems,

incomplete design information like conceptual design, layout, style decision, test design, etc. need tobe frequently exchanged back and forth between the auto firm and parts manufacturer, and theinformation system is required to have capabilities that meet these needs.
In the case of “provided drawing system”，the basis is the detailed drawing made by the orderingfirm. So the design proposal by the supplier side is only a VE proposal (improved proposal)
according to the originally proposed design.
very big.

As a result, the load on the information system is not

However, if it is a core part bearing significance in the product discrimination, we need tobe cautious, since the VE proposal becomes highly important.
In the case of “commodities,” the firm just places the order by specifying a product number
from the catalogue developed by the supplier.

Thus, a simple information system is enough to meetthe needs.

(iii) Ordering mass production parts：When giving instructions for parts delivery of to the mass
production line, individual information, such as product number, units, delivery time, delivery place
are dispatched by coded information.

So the load on the information system is small compared to11

Fujimoto & Oh

the exchange of design information.

However, there are differences according to the frequency oforder (including unofficial announcements/information), frequency of change in order information,etc.
For instance, let us compare repeated orders and single orders.

In the case of repeated orders,

the load on the information system depends on whether it is a big lot (low frequency) or a small lot(high frequency), as in the Kanban system (just in time), and further, whether it is sufficient by“supplying in sequence” where the delivery is made in the order of production.

In the case of“supplying in sequence,” the information is liable to change frequently, due to the poor quality or
malfunctions in the production line of the assembly firm.
exchanged will greatly increase.

Then the volume of information

If advance order notices are sent out, either frequently or regularly,

as unofficial information to the supplier, the burden on the information system will also increase.
At any rate, in mass production parts order, the individual information transmission is coded andsimple, but since the number of information transmission becomes huge, the information systemneeds to be able to cope with this.

Further, the choice remains to either having a specific format oftransaction information (i.e. EDI) for each firm that is placing the order (i.e. “Kanban” of Toyota), or
standardizing the format within the industry (Takeda, 2000).

6. Conclusion
Based on these analyses, we will demonstrate the entire picture of the selection process forelectronic procurement technology.

More specifically, a good match (a fit or compatible

combinations) exists for a certain combination of information system, transaction system andarchitectural characteristic (design ideas), and information networks are selected in the process of
their mutual adaptation (Figure 2).
Statically speaking, there is a tendency for a compatible set of information system, transaction
system, and parts architectural characteristic that fit well together to be chosen.

On the other hand,

dynamically speaking, if these become disassociated, the firm will try to restore their compatibility.
Especially, when a dynamic mutual adaptation is observed between the information system,transaction system and the parts design system, one important point is which factor tries to adapt tothe other.

Each system has its stickiness, and the mutual adaptation will not always be a smoothprocess.
In the case of the information system, initial investments and maintenance on legacy system orhuman resource investments on system-specific skills are considered to be embedded costs, which
12Electronic technology and Parts Procurement

hinder the rapid switch of the information system.
Figure 2 Mutual Adjustments of Architectures, Transaction Systems and Networks

Architecture

Information Networks

Transaction Systems
core parts

intimate co-design
specialassignment

private line
very highsecurity needed

functional parts

approved drawing
closed-integral parts
system(custom-designed) developmentcompetition

auctionhigh
security
bandwidth needed

piece parts

provided drawing
systemstandard network
within industry(JNX)

simple parts(anyone can make)catalogue
open-modular parts(generic parts)

purchasing

internet

commodity parts
Purchasing systemgeneric parts(anyone can buy)

Similarly, in the transaction system, since the organizational capability or “relational skill”
required for each transaction system is different (Asanuma, 1989) and takes time to build up(Fujimoto, 1999), it is not easy to switch the transaction system from one to another.
architecture of parts design also does not change easily once it has been fixed.

The

In the case of

automobiles, there has been no fundamental change in its architecture since the T-Ford (Fujimoto etal., 2001).
As discussed, information systems, transaction systems and parts design systems, all havestickiness due to factors like technology, market, economy and organization, and perform a“tug-of-war”, so to say, in order to achieve mutual alignment.

Through this process a specificinformation system is selected.
In the future, will the parts transaction information system converge into one system (forinstance, the evolved form of the internet), or will multiple systems continue to co-exist?

The

opinions vary on this point, but nevertheless, this will be greatly influenced by the effects of the
dynamic interactions.

For example, there is a theory that the internet will evolve to satisfy alltransaction needs, resulting in a convergence to the internet.
13

This is a perspective, which places

Fujimoto & Oh

importance on the technological development of the information system.

Another perspective isthat with increased modularization and openness, there will be a trend towards the productarchitecture to adapt to the internet, resulting in an extensive increase in internet procurement of parts
On the other hand, in reality, there is yet another possibility.

As a result of the bipolarization tointernet procurement and limited network procurement (private lines and JNX), transaction systems
and architectural characteristics may also reinforce the tendency towards bipolarization through akind of mutual adaptation process.

Thus, over the long term, two systems (limited network andunlimited network) could be locked in.
Either way, parts transaction information systems, transaction systems, and architecturalcharacteristics should be seen to co-evolve as they mutually adapt to each other in aprocess-dependent way.

Therefore, it is difficult to predict their exact future at this point in time.

14Electronic technology and Parts Procurement

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pp.267-296.
Asanuma, Banri(1989) ‘Manufacture-supplier relationships in Japan the concept of relation-specificskill’, Journal of Japanese and International Economies, Vol.3, pp.1-30.
Fujimoto, Takahiro (1999) The Evolution of a Manufacturing System at Toyota, Oxford University
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Fujimoto, T., Takeishi, A., and Aoshima, Y. (2001) BusinessArchitecture: Strategic Design on

Product, Organization, Process, Yuhikaku.
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Business Research Institute, pp.79-97.
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Suishin’( The Building and Promotion of Japan automotive Network eXchange),
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Takeda, Yoko(2000) ‘Process no Architecture: Kigyo Kan Torihiki no Johoka’ (Process Architecture:
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