ABSTRACT\ud
This research report examines the changing nature of the organisation of work and\ud
production methods in the South African automotive industry through an examination of\ud
the global production network of a leading automotive company, BMW. It draws on\ud
Marxist theory of the transformation of the labour process and extends this theory to\ud
include the contemporary restructuring of the automotive industry through the\ud
introduction of global production networks. It is argued that, while this logistical\ud
revolution has increased productivity, it has also opened up new sources of bargaining\ud
leverage for workers through the introduction of new production concepts such as Just In\ud
Time (JIT) and Just In Sequence (JIS). Through an analysis of the supply chain of BMW\ud
in South Africa and Germany the study demonstrates the contradictory nature of\ud
contemporary restructuring in the global automotive industry. The method used in the\ud
study involved in-depth interviews with key actors in the industry, a field research trip to\ud
the BMW Regensburg assembly plant in Germany, extensive consultation of union\ud
documentation and extensive participant observation in the process of restructuring in my\ud
capacity as head of Organising, Campaigns and Collective Bargaining (OCCB) in the\ud
National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (NUMSA)