Work-time model as a competitive factor in the automotive industry

In the automotive industry in Germany, the factors flexibility and innovation play a decisive role. New factories, such as the BMW factory in Leipzig, could be built only because of a labour/management agreement on a capacity utilisation corridor of between 80% and 140% without extra personnel costs, such as overtime. Ferdinand Dudenhöffer and Carina Büttner, Center of Automotive Research (CAR) at of Applied Science, Gelsenkirchen, examine the role played by work-time models in improving worker flexibility. According to their enterprise survey, work-time models are common in the production of car makers and their suppliers. In addition to the production area, the administration, logistics and marketing are areas with potential for work-time models so that "just-in-time labour" models will increase in the automotive industry in Germany in coming years. Employees on work-time models are no longer cheap labour but qualified employees that considerably enhance the flexibility of the enterprises. Precisely here is where the authors see the greatest advantages of work-time models for the automotive industry.