Prediction of energy consumption indices in the automotive industry

Since the automotive industry is one of the most competitive markets, key players should be capable of evolving their management strategy from a reactive to proactive approach. This way, it is critical for this type of companies to explore a new performance management approach where an effective interaction between the strategic and operational layers should be achieved. In line with this vision, a framework is presented that helps stakeholders make decisions based on the ability to anticipate future performance behaviours. Using leading indicators as reference, the key idea is to structure and model the existing knowledge within a mathematical tool, in order to project the manufacturing system's behaviour into the future. In order to show the reliability and importance of this framework, this paper presents a research performed at an automotive plant. The aim is to model the factors affecting energy consumption and thus estimate the future behaviour in terms of sustainability issues.