Jaguar: The Story of a Ramp-up

The case is a follow-up to two companion cases, "Jaguar comes to Halewood: The Story of a Turnaround" and "Supply Chain Design at Jaguar: Bringing "Nirvana" to Halewood". It reviews the magnitude of the change programme (involving new work culture, workforce, processes, suppliers, and supply chain architecture) implemented by the newly-appointed management team at Halewood prior to the launch of a new Jaguar model, the X-Type. It illustrates the challenges faced by the company during ramp-up to full volume in a brand new, re-designed, revamped, and transformed plant catering to a premium market.

The case can be used to discuss the importance of the "virtual factory network" in the context of a new product launch in a tiered-structured industry that applies the lean manufacturing concept. The case can be utilized as a supply chain management or new product launch case in MBA or Executive courses on process and operations management.