Life cycle oriented customer networking in the tool an die making industry

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The tool and die making industry, placed between product development and series production, functions as the central enabler of an efficient producing industry. Therefore the German tool and die making industry contributes significantly to the economic power of Germany. To face the rising cost pressure induced by low-wage countries as well as to contribute to the control of product and process complexity, the tool and die making companies have to network with the value creation processes of their customers. Networking with the upstream customer processes the tool and die making company sets its tool related know-how already into the product development. Therefore the development respectively the shift of resources to the upstream customer process is necessary. The results of this so-called frontloading are shortened time-to-market, significantly increased adherence to delivery dates as well as a decreased complexity of the development of products and tools. Services along the life-cycle of the tool respectively the overtaking of whole steps of value creation after finalization of the tool are ways to network with the downstream customer processes. Therefore the tool and die making company contributes to a decreased perceived complexity of the customers. Furthermore the life-cycle costs are reduced and the customer relationship is strengthened. Because of that the downstream networking is part of a strategy of differentiation against the companies from low-wage countries. However these days the tool and die making industry is not able to handle an holistic customer networking alongside the whole life-cycle of the tool, which means a networking regarding organizational structure, processes, information and resources. In fact the traditional thinking understands the tool and die company as the provider of tools and dies exclusively. The failure of a life-cycle oriented networking has its reasons mostly in service offers, which are not focused on the customers needs. The envisaged research project targets at the development of an adequate approach for companies of the tool and die making industry to network with the value creation processes of their customers holistically and individually alongside the whole life-cycle of the tool.