The Annual Management Briefing Seminars on the Auto Industry Will be Held Aug. 6-10 in Traverse City, Mich.

    ANN ARBOR, Mich., July 12 The 36th annual Management
Briefing Seminars, the automotive industry's premier conference, will take
place Aug. 6-10 at the Grand Traverse Resort and Spa near Traverse City, Mich.
    More than 1,500 leaders from the global auto industry are expected to
attend the conference, which is co-sponsored by the University of Michigan's
College of Engineering through its Center for Professional Development, the
U-M Transportation Research Institute's Office for the Study of Automotive
Transportation (OSAT), and the Center for Automotive Research (CAR) at the
Environmental Research Institute of Michigan (ERIM).
    The week-long event will feature the three-day flagship Automotive seminar
(Aug. 8-10), "Driving to the New Business Model: Collaboration, Speed and
Value," moderated by David E. Cole, industry analyst and director of CAR.
Nine additional seminars, focusing on world-class manufacturing, the
automotive supply chain, information technology, e-commerce and telematics,
will take place Aug. 6-7.
    Nearly 100 executive-level speakers from major automobile manufacturers,
automotive suppliers, other related businesses and industries, and government
and academia will participate.
    These include John Devine, vice chairman and chief financial officer,
General Motors Corp.; Wolfgang Bernhard, chief operating officer,
DaimlerChrysler Corp.; Karen Francis, president, ConsumerConnect e-Business
Unit, Ford Motor Co.; Koki Hirashima, president and chief executive officer,
Honda of America; Gary Convis, president, Toyota Motor Manufacturing,
Kentucky; Kevin English, chairman, president and chief executive officer,
Covisint; Richard Snyder, founder and chief executive officer, Ardesta; and
Tom Stallkamp, vice chairman and chief executive officer, MSX International.
    The Auto 2001 seminar will address the challenges faced in remaking the
industry in a way that will lead to reasonably good profits for both
manufacturers and suppliers while meeting the growing demand of customers,
Cole says.
    "This year's theme promotes the need for a redesign of the entire business
model to allow the automotive industry to survive and prosper," he says.
"Selling a record number of vehicles but with marginal profitability is only
one sign of the need for this change.  The pressures will undoubtedly grow and
increase the sense of urgency in the days ahead.  We must use this knowledge
to craft a new way of doing business, one that will continue to provide value
to its customers."
    OSAT Director Michael S. Flynn, chairman of three sessions, says that this
evolution will require improved collaboration across the auto industry.
    "Companies will find that their future success is tied to their ability to
change and adapt to the industry's new business model, which requires new
levels of cooperation across the supply chain," he says.  "Expanding
cooperation, attention to business fundamentals and careful pursuit of the
opportunities offered by e-business tools will help the industry significantly
reduce costs while delivering better products to customers."
    For more information or to register for the Management Briefing Seminars,
call CAR, 734-662-1287, or consult the MBS 2001 Web page at
http://www.erim.org/car/mbs2001