A two year backlog closed in four months

A two year old promise is still a promise

The kits are accessory parts, not required for the car to run, but customers who paid flagship prices had been waiting as long as two years for them. When I took the project over, effectively no one was working it. It wasn't the visible, high status assignment.

I took it because the promise was two years old and still open.

The suppliers had stopped making the part

1. Low runner supplyThe flagship is a very low volume luxury vehicle, so suppliers had long stopped producing these parts. Restarting production for small quantities is a hard ask.
2. A fragmented kitEight components across four suppliers, plus a separate assembly step, and no single owner controlled the whole flow.
3. An active leakVehicles were still shipping without kits, so the backlog was compounding while I worked it.
4. Off line assemblyThe kits aren't fitted on the production line; closing them required standing up a separate assembly path and direct to customer shipping.

Owned end to end, run across five functions

I owned the project end to end once I took it over, from stopping the leak to closing the backlog to redesigning the process. It ran through Manufacturing and Compliance for gate control, the commercial team for POs, Engineering for assembly work instructions, Logistics for direct to customer shipping, and the suppliers directly on restart and terms.

Negotiated the supplier restarts, including net zero payment terms accepted at the most difficult supplier, using the lower priced next generation volume ramp as positioning.

Stop the leak, then close the backlog

1. Stopped the leak firstWorked with Manufacturing and Compliance to add a control point so no future vehicle could be factory gated without its kit. Order the car now and the kit ships with it, so the backlog could no longer grow.
2. Restarted supplyGot four suppliers to restart production of a low runner part, working the commercial team to issue the POs and accepting net zero terms where needed to unstick the hardest supplier.
3. Closed the open backlogOnce material landed, worked Engineering on assembly work instructions and Logistics on shipping completed kits directly to the ~100 affected customers.
4. Designed the failure mode outThe US based maker of the kit's foam packaging became the consolidation point. Rather than routing all eight components through a standalone task force to be kitted internally, I moved kitting to that supplier. They now supply completed kits.

Backlog closed, and the leak designed out

A two year old promise is still a promise, and the backlog is closed: about 100 customers made whole in roughly four months, with the failure mode removed behind them. The earliest of those customers had still waited close to two years before anything moved.