The power of data, AI and digital transformation in the supply chain

June 9

Interactive workshops

We’re now splitting into groups for some interactive workshops, where experts will lead discussions on data as a differentiator, using digital technologies to reduce the supply chain carbon footprint, AI for business leaders, process mining with AI and the digital supply chain, and optimising finished vehicle logistics through digital solutions.

Manoj Tiwary, chief information officer, Subaru Canada lead the interactive workshop on optimising finished vehicle logistics through digital solutions. He says that leveraging new technologies such as telematics or AI to get more accuracte predicions of ETA is vital, as well as using digital tools to predict damage and find out causes of damage. “It’s all about working with the business, leveraging the new technologies, but the data is the key,” he says. “You have to surface up the data just so it’s visible to the business teams too, so that they’re able to make a decision based on that.”

John Rich, manager of data analytics and AI programs, Mazda North American Operations says that his workshop, which focused on AI for business leaders, found that AI should be looked at in a different way. He says AI is “not some magic fix”, but it can be used as a lever for success. “You’ve got a lot of interesting things that you can do, whether it be route optimisation, demand forecasting, anomaly detection, all of these different things that you can unleash AI on,” Rich says, “but it’s very important to understand that your data must be in a really solid place before you can leverage AI to take action on that.”

Read more: John Rich, Mazda on using digital tools and data to manage trade volatility, compliance risks and tariff disruptions

Speaking about the gaps in AI within the supply chain, he says: “I find a lot of companies these days are looking for AI-specific talent to come in, maybe someone who has AI already in their job description or in their title, and in my opinion I think that’s an oversight. I think you need to go to your data and analytics teams, and you need to talk to your data engineers, your data scientists, because you have talent already on your teams that are doing the underlying technology that is AI. When we talk about data analysis, we talk about machine learning and statistical modelling. All of those pieces of technology that make up AI you already have. I guarantee you, you already have people who are talented in those.”

June 9 

Special supply chain partnership announcement: Catena-X and AIAG

What we’ve heard consistently is that, for digital transformations to work, partnerships and collaboration must be encouraged.

Fittingly, Kevin Piotrowski, chief transformation officer, Automotive Industry Action Group (AIAG) has taken to the stage for a ceremonial handshake with Jon Jacobson, executive board member of Catena-X to mark their collaboration.

June 9

Panel: Turning logistics transparency into strategic gains

Ford’s York is being joined on stage by Grecia Luna, manager, SCM Innovation, data and analytics, Nissan Group of Americas, and John Godfrey, senior director, logistics operations, Pirelli Tire North America, to discuss how OEMs are capturing intelligence across logistics stages, from suppliers to plant yards to final delivery, in digital control towers layered with data analytics.

When increasingly integrating advanced technologies like TMS, WMS and YMS systems to enhance logistics operations and visibility, collaboration between IT and business sides is crucial for successful digital transformation. “It’s now no longer this side of the business on the left hand talking to the right hand side,” says York.

Future goals include achieving more seamless integration across systems and leveraging AI for operational decision-making, but of course, this means more training and ongoing upskilling of teams is necessary to adapt to new technologies and improve operational efficiency. “You need people with strong IT skills that can learn an application quickly and put it to use,” says Godfrey. “If you just have people that are just doing the job and not looking for the next solution, it’s always going to be a problem. You’re never going to advance.”

June 9 

Case study: Ford’s Phil York on digital strategy for asset tracking

Ford has been advancing its yard management system (YMS) to enhance supply chain efficiency, integrating real-time location services for better asset tracking. A key strategy for the OEM is an emphasis on continuous improvement and leveraging digital twin data to drive down costs.

Phil York, inbound logistics product lead, supply chain IT, Ford explains: “We started with a YMS1 solution in 2005 and it was all based on our normal use case scenarios, getting rid of our pen and paper and recording it, which was like keeping track of things in a spreadsheet but with a database. YMS2 replaced it with a new platform, with a different user interface, different look and feel to it, but everything else was essentially the same, all the data was the same/ And miraculously we came up with YMS3. With this, we introduced RTLS, which is a real time location service that gave us the ability to put tags on our trailers and also locate those tags by driving around our yards and reading the tags GPS location. And I love this because this is where the rubber meets the road.”

He adds: “We have a vendor infrastructure that is capable of not just locating trailers which we use for yard management, but also containers, tools and communication to other systems. More importantly, we have a pipe coming back into our own system, our own platform where we control the data, we remove the linear data flow, bring everything in centrally, and now we can control what we do next with that data.”

June 9

Panel: A digital network with greater speed, predictability and agility

Christoph CJ Schettler, supply chain specialist, North America, Celonis is now joining the stage with De la Torre to discuss reimagining the supply chain. 

“The key to being more proactive really sits in the data that organisations have today, and there are many ways that you can approach that. But what I see as the key to unlocking that data is taking a perspective of the process,” says Schettler. ”Supply chains are a series of very interconnected processes that are trying to achieve a common goal. The challenge is that these processes and teams, while they share the same goal, ultimately are not connected and understanding each other in the way that they could. Bringing that connection together I think unlocks that proactive change.”

He adds that a challenge in bringing teams together, particularly across different regions and countries, is working in different languages in enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems. “The challenge that I most commonly see from a technology perspective is first that how do I optimise my global supply chain if my ERP in Brazil is running in a different language with different processes and slightly different operations to my North American ERP,” he says. “Yet, they share potentially the same kind of parts and potentials for optimisation across that. So I think that the first step really, from a technology perspective is how do you introduce a data layer, a semantic layer that unifies that across the entire geography and the entire system landscape? And you typically start in one area and slowly expand. But when we think about a digital supply or supply chain, digital twin, I think it has to include all of those systems.”

June 9

Keynote: Gerardo de la Torre, Nissan on the OEM’s strategy for resilience and digital supply chain transformation

Nissan Group of Americas’ regional senior director of Supply Chain Management (SCM), Gerardo de la Torre, is delivering his keynote speech on digital transformation within the OEM in an era of uncertainty and trade turmoil. 

He says that the carmaker has been focusing in recent years on how it can be more proactive and resilient across its supply chain network in North America, and is looking to scale this approach using its SCM playbook across Latin America. The playbook includes people strategy, data and analytics strategy, regional systems, and risk sensing. De la Torre adds that transforming SCM to a highly proactive organisation involves continuous and disciplined monitoring to identify risks before impact, as well as quick action to alert appropriate manufacturing locations, and well coordinated communication between Nissan and suppliers to mitigate risk.

Interview: Nissan’s Gerardo de la Torre on Nissan’s supply chain playbook for real-time resilience 

“The playbook for us, when we have a cyber attack or a tornado risk, should be like the Formula 1 pits,” he says. “When the car enters the exit line and comes to the Formula 1 pits, everyone is ready, everyone knows what to do. That is the mindset. If we are dealing with a cyber attack, we have the teams fully aware in the region to immediately react, and I’m so proud of the results.”

As a result of Nissan’s SCM playbook, he says: “10% of alerts we received required Nissan reaction, and 90% of impacts were mitigated with zero financial loss.” 

June 9

Welcome to day one of ALSC Digital Strategies North America 2025

Christopher Ludwig, chief content officer, Automotive Logistics is taking to the stage in Nashville to welcome delegates to the second ever Automotive Logistics & Supply Chain Digital Strategies North America conference. 

Kicking off a jam-packed two days of insights and information on digital tools and strategies, and the challenges and opportunities they present, Ludwig said: ”This is, as ever, an interesting and important time to come together and talk about this topic, especially in the context of our highly uncertain, fast-changing market and trade landscape, it’s only emphasising more why so many of the things we’re going to be sharing with you over the next day and a half are so important.

“If you have real-time accurate visibility of either side of the border of a tier-n supply chain, you’re in a much better position to get ahead, whether that’s getting on top of rare earth shortages or tariffs that were there, not there, and there again.”

June 6  

Two of ALSC Digital Strategies North America’s expert speakers recently took part in our Data: Silos, security & sovereignty livestream.  

John Rich, manager of data analytics and AI programmes at Mazda North American Operations, and Skotti Fietsam, senior vice president, supply chain and CIO at Accuride, joined the Automotive Logistics team to discuss the role of data in logistics. The conversation covered everything from proper data usage to security and sharing, as well as examining how best teams can future-proof operations as processes become increasingly automated.  

At ALSC Digital Strategies North America, Fietsam will be joining the “Managing supply chain compliance for existing and rapidly emerging requirements” panel on Day 2, while Rich will be presenting a case study on hyperautomation. Rich will also be leading an interactive workshop on Day 1 focusing on AI’s potential in decision-making.   

Watch the livestream to prepare for all three digital-focused sessions.  

Watch on demand: Data: Silos, Security & Sovereignty livestream 

June 5 

Ahead of his Keynote session on Day 1, Gerardo de la Torre sat down with the Automotive Logistics team to discuss how compliance, collaboration, increased digitalisation and more are influencing Nissan’s supply chain management (SCM).  

In his role as regional senior director of SCM for Nissan Group of Americas, he leads the SCM Innovation department. The department has developed a strategic playbook that uses cross-functional and digital approaches “to anticipate, react with information and stay ahead together as one team.” The playbook better equips the carmarker to optimise network designs and operations, and deal with unexpected disruptions. 

Read the exclusive interview for a preview of what to expect at his Keynote next week.  

“Do it right and in the right time,” Nissan’s De la Torre says, as he details the four-pillar strategy for real-time resilience across the Americas 

June 4

Welcome to the countdown for Automotive Logistics & Supply Chain Digital Strategies North America 2025, happening at the Country Music Hall of Fame, Nashville, TN on June 9-10! 

This year’s event is all about moving from strategy to action. As supply chains grow increasingly complex, OEMs, suppliers and logistics leaders are tapping into the power of data, AI, automation and real-time visibility to build smarter, more agile operations.

Throughout the event, sessions will delve into the digital frontiers transforming North American logistics. Industry experts will share insights on building intelligent, data-driven logistics networks; scaling AI and automation to mitigate risk and enhance service; ensuring supply chain compliance; enabling control towers for real-time decision-making; harmonising data governance and quality across partners - and much more.

For the full overview of topics, dive into the agenda

There’s still time to register if you haven’t already - join us in person or tune in online to be part of the event. 

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