Cross-brand standardisation - A case study of Volvo 3P

Abstract

Volvo 3P’s aim is to create one single truck platform which shall be used for all brands (Volvo, Renault and Mack). Having a common platform requires the support of common standards, and these are produced by the Corporate Standards department in cooperation with all three truck organisations. However, the end users at Volvo 3P are not making full use of these standards, and therefore we were asked to investigate the reasons for this. The research problem is: how can the process of standardisation be improved in order to increase the usage of common standards within Volvo 3P Lyon? The research, which consists of a pre-study and a case study, was carried out by interviewing 33 employees representing different organisational levels of Volvo 3P both in Lyon and Gothenburg. The results show that the main obstacle for using standards occurs in the implementation, but at the same time barriers can be found in the process of development. Furthermore, communication, management support and resources were other significant obstacles to standardisation. In order to improve standardisation, implementation should be initiated already during the development process and performed through a formalised process. Moreover, standardisation must become a strategic goal.