Buyer‐Supplier Relations and Industrial Relations in the UK Automotive Industry Available to Purchase

The UK motor industry has been at the centre of many important developments in British manufacturing in the 1980s. On the industrial relations front there have been reports of “macho management”, declining trade union influence (especially at the shop floor level), and new working practices and greater flexibility in the deployment and utilisation of labour. On the manufacturing front there is evidence of new production systems being developed (principally based on just‐in‐time or minimum inventory systems), of more systematic quality control systems being developed, and of new technology being widely deployed and developed (e.g. CNC machines, CAD/CAM, and robotics). All these changes have been geared towards improving the performance of the industry in respect of both price and non‐price factors (e.g. quality, lead times, design, delivery, etc). One area which researchers, and the industry itself, has tended to neglect is that of relationships with suppliers. It is only in the last 4–5 years that manufacturers such as Ford, and more recently Austin Rover, have undertaken a systematic reappraisal of their “buyer‐ supplier” relations, with the focus very much on improving quality, sharing research and development costs, and implementing stock reduction programmes and JIT deliveries. Contracts are now awarded to a much smaller number of “preferred” or “single” suppliers, frequently based on a long‐term commitment for the life of a particular model. These changes are currently transforming the structure of the component supplier network, the relationship that exists between motor manufacturer and component supplier, and production methods and industrial relations procedures throughout the industry which are now required to meet the demands of quality assurance, JIT delivery and the like.