Arena Case Study: ZENN Motor Company

www.zenncars.com/

ZENN Motor Company Tackles a Serious Environmental Problem with its Electric Vehicles and in the Process Changes the World

Situation

As a leading developer, manufacturer and supplier of electric vehicles, we thrive on providing drivers with choices they can feel good about. Working with our internationally respected partners, including Arena Solutions, we’re bringing the world’s finest zero-emission vehicles to market and setting a new standard for what electric vehicles should be.

Michael Bergeron
Vice President, Engineering
ZENN Motor Company

ZENN Motor Company (ZMC) was born of the idea that there had to be a better way to move around our cities without contributing to the huge degradation of air quality created by traditional cars. Tired of adding to the problem, founders of this new car company stepped up to do their part in tackling a serious environmental problem and in the process, are changing the world.

ZENN (Zero Emissions, No Noise) Motor Company, a leading developer, manufacturer and supplier of innovative zero-emission electric vehicles, is delivering quality transportation solutions that positively impact our environment and significantly reduce operating costs for drivers. As a nimble upstart company, ZMC is able to take on old ways of thinking, use technology to their advantage and come up as winners in a market that’s poised for significant growth.

Unlike other neighborhood electric vehicles — that more closely resemble golf carts — the ZENN is built on an automotive chassis. They are fully-enclosed, three-door hatchbacks with a performance-proven, steel-reinforced body, offering drivers tremendous safety advantages.

A perfect urban core, neighborhood commute vehicle, the ZENN is used to offset short rides, which account for 70 percent of trips daily.

The car is equipped with front-wheel drive, rapid acceleration and can keep pace with traffic on local streets, with its regulated maximum speed of 25 mph (40 km/h). Essentially, a ZENN allows drivers to get where they’re going safely and in efficient time. Plus, ZENN’s battery capacity gives drivers the freedom to cover a lot of ground — approximately 35 miles per charge (56 kilometers). A ZENN is a choice drivers can feel good about knowing the environmental advantages of driving an electric vehicle that generates zero greenhouse-gas emissions — quite impressive compared to the 657 pounds of regulated tailpipe emissions produced by the typical gaspowered car every year.

The Challenge

ZENN Motor Company has experienced significant growth, going from the concept to shipping over 200 units in less than 18 months.

With a manufacturing facility in Quebec, Canada and major suppliers in both Europe and North America, ZMC needed a standardized Engineering Change Order (ECO) process and the ability to quickly and accurately share appropriate information with their key supply chain partners.

In addition, the company needed to provide its engineering teams with product information at key times to fuel continued improvement to the product and drive cost improvements.

Finally, regulations associated with bringing a car to market can be onerous. ZMC required a Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) solution to help them meet industry standards and compliance requirements.

Arena PLM gives us the ability to manage a tremendous amount of product information, collaborate with our key suppliers, and comply with industry standards — all with extreme confidence — as we bring our game-changing ZENN vehicles to market

Michael Bergeron
Vice President, Engineering
ZENN Motor Company

Arena Delivers

ZENN Motor Company began their search for a PLM software solution that would provide them with a single, centralized repository for their product information, a product change management solution that ensures an appropriate, consistent process for managing product change, and a supplier collaboration tool for sharing product information with key suppliers. With a small IT staff, ZMC needed a system that would not demand new hardware or server maintenance, or require them to make additional IT investments, the way traditional client/ server software would. ZMC worked with the Arena Solutions team in validation workshops, where they could evaluate on-demand Arena PLM in ZMC’s unique environment prior to committing to the service. Before they purchased any software, ZMC had already uploaded several BOMs, created a change process, and learned basic system administration in Arena PLM. Shortly thereafter, ZMC selected on-demand Arena PLM to meet their needs.

After subscribing, a joint ZENN Motor Company/Arena Solutions team worked together to fully deploy the ZMC customized version of Arena PLM in just five weeks.

Strategic Benefits

The results of the deployment are tangible. ZMC engineering now has product costing information earlier in the development cycle. This new visibility empowers the ZMC development team to reuse components and enables them to eliminate costly mistakes.

Improved communication with the supply base gives ZMC a competitive advantage over others in the automotive industry. Supply chain problems are quickly identified and resolved.

When a change is necessary, the ZMC team routes it for approval immediately. They can track change approvals and maintain an audit trail of them, whether internal to their organization or in their extended supply chain.

Return on Investment

With several months to realize the initial benefits of using Arena PLM, ZENN Motor Company remains excited about what the future of their investment in Arena holds for them over the next year.

• Improved Product Cost Structure

  With better visibility into BOM and part information, ZMC engineering can more deliberately reuse parts. As a result, ZMC expects to cut product costs 5% by using Arena PLM.

• Reduced ECO Cycle-time

  Through automated routing and status notifications, ZMC expects to reduce ECO approval cycles by 65%.

• Improved Supplier Collaboration

  By engaging suppliers in ZMC’s product development processes, ZMC expects to reduce inventory obsolescence, product costs, and improve supplier relations.