Bridging Gaps: Goken’s Role in Facilitating Cross-Cultural and Technical Coordination for a Japan based OEM and North American Supplier

Context:

In today's globalized automotive industry, seamless coordination between international partners is crucial for successful project execution. The Japan based OEM faced substantial difficulties in coordinating with their American supplier. These challenges stemmed from language and cultural differences as well as lack of technical understanding of OEM processes. Goken had the opportunity to address because of their long term relationship with the Japanese OEMs and strong technology product development background.

The North American supplier approached Goken, seeking our expertise to enhance coordination and ensure the timely delivery of high-quality plastic parts

Requirement

Client presented Goken with the following technical challenges

1. Support the development of plastic parts
2. Ensure seamless coordination for Design for Manufacturability (DFM) activities
3. Manage the tooling kick-off for three major projects involving 30 different parts.

Solution

To achieve these objectives, Goken assigned a bi-lingual bridge engineer at GokenNIHON (Goken’s Japan office) Japan to manage all Japan-side program management with the Japanese OEM. This engineer effectively bridged language and cultural gaps, ensuring clear and effective communication. At Goken America office, a senior engineer at cooperated between GokenNIHON, the North American client, and the local tool shop, providing technical guidance and support to ensure project alignment. Goken’s technical support included developing accurate and detailed CAD models for all parts. These CAD models were optimized for manufacturability and quality. It also created comprehensive DFM documentation, highlighting key manufacturability considerations and guidelines. In addition, component-level static Computer-Aided Engineering (CAE) analysis was conducted to ensure all parts met required performance standards.

Benefits to the Client

• Key Deliverables – Goken team delivered CAD models, DFM documentation and CAE results ensuring performance and manufacturing feasibility
• Japan Presence - Eliminated the requirement for the North American client to have a physical presence or bilingual engineers in Japan.
• Minimize Client Effort - Enabled the client's program manager to focus on overall program management with minimal effort
• Cultural and Technical Coordination - Goken's global support team handled the intricacies of cross-cultural and technical coordination.
• On Time Delivery - Ensured high-quality delivery of plastic parts within the stipulated timelines.Optimized the manufacturability of parts, reducing potential production issues.

Conclusion

Goken effectively bridged the communication and technical gaps between the Japan based OEM and the North American supplier. Our strategic approach and technical expertise ensured the successful and timely delivery of high-quality plastic parts. This collaboration not only resolved immediate challenges but also set a precedent for future cross-cultural partnerships.

Goken has been working with automotive OEMs for over 20+ years, which enables us in solving complex engineering problems, overcoming resource shortages swiftly, and meeting tight schedules. We provide unique solutions specifically tailored for our clients ensuring the success of the client's project.