During economic hardships, the word "value" sounds more important than ever. Whether a business can survive such tough times has everything to do with its ability to create value.

A report from McKinsey & Co. examined North American auto suppliers' business conditions and whether they can create value. The findings, in short, suggest that over the next five years, North American auto suppliers could potentially create value across 60 to 70 percent of a vehicle's content, in three segments: innovative products; those that are consolidated with high barriers to entry; or those that that provide "early-mover" cost benefits.

The report's authors also advise North American suppliers to stay away from categories like: products that use mature technologies requiring labor-intensive production processes (for instance, transmissions); have low entry barriers (weather strips) or minimal capital expenditure requirements (functional plastics); and can be shipped long distances without adversely affecting an OEM's assembly schedules (antennas). What these products have in common is that OEMs well understand such products' cost structure and therefore have been able to reduce prices significantly.

Even products that some North American suppliers deem safe because of high shipping costs can be challenging, such as suspension modules, the study says.