EFESO is an established consulting partner in the automotive industry. With an international team, we consistently align the value creation structures of our clients worldwide for the future and growth – with agile development and production networks, resilient and sustainable supply chains and profit-oriented cost structures.
STAYING FUTURE-PROOF
Success factors for a future-proof automotive industry were the focus of the Automobilwoche Congress in Berlin on November 19 & 20, 2025. In his keynote "Standing still leads to extinction. Evolution as a guiding principle for sustainable success", Florian Roth, Managing Director of EFESO DACH, explained three key areas of action for the industry:
- Cost leadership as an essential core element that determines the success or failure of a strategy.
- Transformation and innovation, for the acceleration of which organizational structures often need to be fundamentally realigned.
- Supply chain stability to keep global value creation processes profitable.
On both days of the event, we experienced multifaceted perspectives on topics such as BEV ramp-up, the use of AI agents, and brand communication. Discussions with industry leaders confirmed our approaches, which OEMs and suppliers, together with EFESO, are using to position themselves resiliently for the future.
MASTERING TRANSFORMATION
In September, we joined customers and partners at the IAA in Munich to see what trends are shaping the industry. It became clear that mobility will be more sustainable, smarter, and more software-driven than ever before.
The panel discussions and presentations focused on regulation as a driver of innovation, strategic networking instead of competition, and digital platforms as engines of growth.
Those who react early set the standards. Bring your ideas and strategies to life with EFESO and make sustainable transformation a reality!
VISION, UNITY AND COURAGE – A RECOMMENDATION FOR ACTION
The transformation of the German automotive industry is a marathon - not a sprint. In Automobilwoche's “Cockpit Talk”, Jost Kamenik and Dr. Uwe Steinkötter explain how OEMs and suppliers can take advantage of opportunities, play to their strengths and tap into new business areas.
To the Interview ›
As a client, you benefit from our unique industry expertise, which we have been using for decades as a lead advisor and expert in performance excellence in the automotive industry. Whether with OEMs, module and system suppliers, component manufacturers or parts suppliers: we combine best-practice thinking with the pursuit of innovation – and focus strictly on creating measurable results and building on successes when working with you. The focus can be on the following areas of activity, for example:
Our solution portfolio for the automotive industry
EFESO ONCE AGAIN “BEST CONSULTANTS” IN THE SECTOR “AUTOMOTIVE & SUPPLIERS”
For the twelfth time in a row, EFESO Management Consultants has been recognized by brand eins and Statista in the renowned industry study “Best Consultants” (formerly: ROI-EFESO). The respondents confirmed the top position already achieved in previous years in the “Automotive & Suppliers” industry segment of the ranking.
We would like to thank everyone involved for the trust they have placed in us and for all the recommendations that led to us being awarded the “Best Consultants” seal.
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Clients
CASE STUDIES & INSIGHTS - PRACTICAL EXAMPLES
Quality improvement in the automotive industry
CASE STUDY:
A leading global automobile manufacturer wanted to mobilize and accelerate its entire network of nine factories in terms of costs and quality. With EFESO, the group established a completely new, soccer-inspired practice of competing for a championship lead. The project team thus dynamized rigid factory structures and work routines.
Standards for operational excellence in an international factory network
CASE STUDY:
Do you speak OPEX? Can you improve on a success story? Certainly, if you have a sense for the right fields of action. An automotive supplier is well-established worldwide, with around 20 successful plants in Asia, Europe and North America. Thanks to good customer proximity, the sites have developed good business relationships over the years and organised their production processes independently. But now it was time to share this knowledge among themselves. The method: by introducing OPEX (operational excellence) together with EFESO across the entire operation area.
Lean development in R&D
CASE STUDY:
Innovation impulses for lighting designers. The LED revolution has made many business models obsolete, while the wave of digitization and the associated technological change have increased the pace of change by a factor of X. To keep pace here, agile working methods are necessary not only in manufacturing, but also in R&D. Lean methods can prove particularly helpful - but can they be transferred 1:1 from manufacturing to development?
Digital Process Twin: Process optimization through Predictive Quality and Predictive Production
CASE STUDY:
An automotive supplier improved the transparency of work and organizational processes in a production plant for dashboards. With a "Digital Process Twin" from EFESO, the company reduced the reject rate and made improvement potentials in its value creation networks visible.
Lean Digital Manager
CASE STUDY:
Shaping the factory of the future with Lean 4.0. How can lean principles be combined with the technologies and possibilities of networked digitization in value creation networks? By further qualifying employees to become decision-makers. The EFESO certification program for "Lean Digital Manager" shows how digitalization of lean production works. To do this, it combines strategies with Industry 4.0 technologies.
Electromobility: New manufacturing processes
CASE STUDY:
Predictive Quality and Production. Find out how a Tier 1 automotive supplier was faced with the task of developing electromechanical components for a future electric vehicle concept. With a steep start-up curve to the customer's usual series quality, the company had to implement a new production technology with new materials. Together with EFESO, it expanded its necessary core competencies.
Digital Shopfloor Management
CASE STUDY:
Performance increase on the shop floor. Should every employee receive shift planning via smartphone? Or the plant management can compare solution proposals on a virtual dashboard in real time in the event of disruptions in the production flow? Thanks to the available IoT technologies, these and many other work simplifications of a digital shop floor management can be easily implemented today. Automobile manufacturers in particular like to take advantage of the opportunities offered by digitization and already have various systems in use, at all stages of maturity.
Lean Transformation: Premium processes instead of fire fighting
CASE STUDY:
In the lean production system of an automobile manufacturer, a premium model with a wide range of variants and vertical integration rolled off the assembly line. But then the new head of production set the goal of introducing two additional series on the same line within just five months. The company used this challenge to realign its production, increasing the volume of manufactured cars by 85%.
Factory and logistics planning
CASE STUDY:
An automotive supplier consolidates four parts warehouses into one warehouse. Three distribution centers of a company from the automotive industry should be integrated into an existing fourth. With the support of EFESO, the company mastered this task in eight weeks. To do this, it developed five solution scenarios with different degrees of automation (“minimal invest” to “fully automated”) including layouts and monetary evaluation.
Production planning and control
CASE STUDY:
An automotive supplier harmonizes production planning and control in ten factory locations around the world. With EFESO, the company develops a suitable solution concept for a suitable software solution. This enables a standardization of the planning process and thus more flexibility and efficiency. Likewise, a long-term capacity planning of the plant group can be carried out in the new software.
Sustainability update for the global production network
CASE STUDY:
In order to achieve the sustainability targets it has set itself, an automotive supplier must optimize its more than 70 existing plants worldwide in terms of emissions and resource consumption. Together with the customer, EESO develops an overarching target picture to evaluate the maturity level and derive a sustainability roadmap for all sites.
ESG strategy with measurable results
CASE STUDY:
A leading automotive manufacturer wants to make its procurement sustainable and measure progress through KPIs. But the goals cannot be achieved via the purchasing side alone - the company needs a company-wide ESG strategy.
Transformation without limits
CASE STUDY:
Unlimited transformation: How a unified manufacturing system connects 50+ plants
Staying competitive despite global disruptions, labor shortages, and rising cost pressure? For an international automotive supplier, the answer was clear: only a bold new start could deliver the clarity, speed, and impact needed. Together with EFESO, the company developed a globally standardized manufacturing system—and unlocked the OPEX potential of over 20,000 employees in record time.
Mega Casting
INSIGHT:
Find out how mega casting can help you achieve strategic production cost advantages and reduce your carbon footprint.
Integrated Costing
INSIGHT:
With progressive cost management and proven tools to improve profitability, EFESO helps companies strengthen their financial performance – even in challenging and volatile market environments.
EV Launch Management
INSIGHT:
With EFESO’s integrated EV Launch Management approach, manufacturers can manage the development and market introduction of new vehicle series more securely, efficiently, and profitably – accelerating their path into the electric future.
Charging Infrastructure
INSIGHT:
Get exclusive insights into the charging infrastructure market with expert assessments of the key drivers for profitability and innovation.
Car Market Trends: USA
INSIGHT:
Learn more about the US market, upcoming political changes, and a five-step approach to develop a robust, forward-looking strategy.
Next Level Negotiation Results
INSIGHT:
Find out more about how you can identify and tap into savings potential with our best-practice toolset for negotiation and awarding management.
eV Battery Cell Factory
INSIGHT:
Discover how we successfully plan and execute factory projects using a ‘one-stop-shop’ approach, as demonstrated in an EFESO project for a 5 GWh battery cell factory.
End-to-End Claiming Process
INSIGHT:
Read here how EFESO’s team can help you to professionalize your receivables management and make your organization more agile and more resilient to phases of inflation/deflation.
Global Business Services
INSIGHT:
Find out more about how EFESO's expertise in the implementation of Global Business Services puts companies on the road to success.
Holistic Profitability Programs Automotive Industry
INSIGHT:
Discover how one Tier-1 supplier is expanding into the fast-growing e-axle sector, closing a profitability gap, and meeting customer-specific design requirements through a best practice project with EFESO.
Profitability Improvement via Change Management
INSIGHT:
Driving profitability through change:
With its Commercial Change Management Process (CCMP), EFESO helps Tier-1 suppliers in the automotive industry align pricing, cost, and customer demands – for measurable results in a dynamic transformation environment.
Supply Chain Resilience
INSIGHT:
Learn how to increase the resilience of supply chains while maintaining profitability. We describe a best practice EFESO client case from the automotive industry. Additionally, we name the key initial questions for four central fields of action and essential steps on the path to resilience.
Factory Layout Optimization
INSIGHT:
Leverage our expertise in factory layout redesign. This insight summarizes real-world project examples and tangible outcomes from the automotive, mechanical engineering, and other industrial sectors.
Flexible Factory Design
INSIGHT:
Discover the critical success factors: compatibility, modularity, mobility, scalability, and universality – and how these relate to the core action dimensions of production, logistics, infrastructure, and building design. Three real-world project examples further illustrate how companies bring flexibility to life in their factory designs.
Future of Distribution Center
INSIGHT:
Activate the potential of your distribution centers with our team and prepare them for future challenges. Our insight identifies initial questions and fields of action that need to be considered when developing a customer and service-oriented strategy for distribution centers.
EFESO’s M&A competence
INSIGHT:
Activate these and other value levers within your M&A project. Explore our insights on what truly matters during due diligence and integration. Rely on EFESO’s experience to accelerate execution, achieve strategic goals, and secure a competitive edge in today’s fast-paced market environment.
Range Extender for BEVs
INSIGHT:
Our EFESO Insight provides a concise overview of the growth potential of this drive variant and highlights the key differences and advantages of REEVs over BEVs. In addition, key figures from our REEV projects illustrate the cost savings that can be achieved.
Battery Costs for BEV
INSIGHT:
Our EFESO Insight provides an in-depth look at the key cost drivers in battery production across Europe. We break down the cost composition of rechargeable battery packs and cells, offering clear visibility into where costs accumulate.