All articles by Christopher Ludwig – Page 30
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FeatureDaimler expansion pushes distribution changes
With a global onslaught of new models planned over the next three years, Daimler’s logistics team is anticipating an increase in transport demand for its main manufacturing bases in Europe and beyond.In November, Daimler once again gathered its vehicle logistics providers for its annual European Carrier Day, held at the ...
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FeatureChristine Krathwohl and the global power player that is GM
GM’s intercontinental material shipments have risen dramatically, changing the dynamic of logistics management and purchasing at the carmaker. Christine Krathwohl, executive director of global logistics and supplier diversity, tells how she is looking for global logistics engineering from providers and increased visibility to keep costs and flows under control.General Motors’ ...
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FeaturePrem Verma and the coming outbound network for Tata
Tata’s vehicle logistics are changing; from transporting trucks on trailers to providing milkrun deliveries to rural dealers, Christopher Ludwig talks to Prem Verma about the current and coming outbound network in India.Prem Verma, the man responsible for delivering Tata Motors passenger cars and commercial vehicles, is fluent in logistics, able ...
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FeatureBenteler gets global visibility
While visibility in the supply chain is a goal for all logistics managers, for many at automotive tier suppliers it is often more of a mantra than an existing management tool – repeat it enough, and hopefully its meaning will seep through to operational reality.That is because many suppliers lack ...
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FeatureVW’s European exports to China will still grow
Volkswagen appears to be looking at exports to China as one option of maintaining plant output in Europe and minimising the risk of inventory build-up. According to its CEO, Martin Winterkorn, speaking from Sao Paolo in Brazil last November, the company could soon be exporting around 200,000 cars, including Audi ...
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FeatureEurope short sea funding could sink or swim
European Union member states are currently debating a funding proposal from the European Commission under the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) that could deliver €31.7 billion ($41 billion) to improve transport infrastructure across the region. That sum is part of a bigger CEF figure of €50 billion that must also cover ...
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FeatureEditor's Note: Supply chains and purchasing
About five years ago, OEM executives described buying components in places like Southeast Asia as ‘low-cost country’ sourcing. A few years later, they started calling it the more cheerful ‘best-cost country’ sourcing. I always thought of this change as a PR cleanse – an obfuscation of the short and clear ...
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FeatureEDITOR’S NOTE: Lack of innovation in vehicle logistics
Lack of innovation in logistics, especially vehicle logistics, is an old complaint. One OEM executive told me that if you Google his name, you’ll find a quote from 2003 – probably from one of our conferences – in which he decried the lack of such progress. His opinion hasn’t changed ...
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FeatureReacting to decline and disruption
Downstream co-operationGrowth now all that counts in BrusselsChanging vehicle logistics flowsRussian resurgenceTurkey moves into Europe’s top fiveFuture trendsTrickle-down innovationEurope’s fifth straight year of falling sales and drops in production have had significant impacts across the wider continent. We report from the ECG’s 2012 gathering.The impact of the eurozone crisis on ...
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FeatureDelivering on VW's targets
Confident, cool, calmDeveloping new conceptsAdapting the European networkProviders and entrepreneurial decisionsHow to reduce emissions by 2018Transparency in visibilityThe Volkswagen Group has one of the world’s most complex distribution networks. Andrea Eck explains the advanced logistics concepts that are helping to make it faster, more precise and greener even as it ...
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FeatureToyota shows its colours in Europe
Toyota Motor Europe’s head of logistics, talks exclusively about how the global sales leader has been redesigning its supply chain and logistics as part of a strategy to improve costs and shorten order-todelivery cycles for regional productionA Strategic change;The inbound network;Mapping Toyota's flowsDiversifying the carrier base;Centralising packaging;Shortening the order-to-delivery cycle;Outbound ...
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FeatureLogistics in the front line of crisis response
Levent Yuksel, Toyota Motor Europe’s head of logistics, on how the global sales leader has been redesigning its supply chain and logistics as part of a strategy to improve costs and shorten order-todelivery cycles for regional production. He talks to Christopher Ludwig.Although Toyota has roared back to the top of ...
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Light at the end of a long tunnel
In August, Brazil’s government announced a stimulus package worth R133 billion ($66 billion) designed to improve its already outdated transport infrastructure, in which only 6% of the roads are paved, the rail network is a woefully inadequate and there have been few concessions or significant developments for port terminals in ...
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Leading car carriers under antitrust investigation
As Finished Vehicle Logistics went to print, the world’s leading car carriers were being investigated by the Japan Fair Trade Commission (JFTC) on suspicion of fixing freight rates for vehicles on trade lanes between Europe, the US and Asia.The offices of Eukor Car Carriers, K-Line, Mitsui OSK Lines, NYK Line ...
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FeatureEDITOR’S NOTE: What does innovation in vehicle logistics look like?
Calls for innovation in the vehicle logistics sector can often be found on the pages of this magazine and at our conferences. Executives from OEMs and providers regularly accuse one another of being too entrenched in established practices and too proprietary about their own data.But what does innovation in this ...
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FeatureYusen targets auto freight forwarding and aftermarket in Europe
Growing in freight forwarding;Outsourcing the aftermarket;Options in Russia and Turkey.These are tough days for container shipping, with most of the major lines reporting losses, struggling with overcapacity and trying, with varying degrees of success, to push rates back to sustainable levels. Sailing against the winds of the market is particularly ...
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FeatureRunning on empty for longer
Lowering fuel consumption is top of the agenda for car hauliers, but regulations and operational requirements can sometimes get in the way. Barry Cross examines the latest approaches and technology for cutting the fuel bill.In the face of high fuel costs and weak profit margins, the need to reduce fuel ...
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FeatureRussian Railways will buy Gefco stake
One win longer than another;Big questions for big customers.As Automotive Logistics was going to press, PSA Peugeot Citroën announced that it had entered into exclusive negotiations with Russian Railways (RZD), the state-owned rail operator, to sell a majority stake in PSA’s logistics provider, Gefco, and form a “strategic partnership”. PSA ...
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Russia needs a service revolution under WTO
When Russia joined the WTO in August, analysts pointed to risks for Russian OEMs as lower duties promised greater foreign competition. Market share leaders such as Lada for passenger cars or GAZ for light commercial vehicles would be vulnerable to European and Japanese imports on quality and the Chinese on ...
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FeatureTax advantages keep auto investment in Poland
A less taxing future?;World container index Shanghai-Rotterdam;Drewry's air freight price index.There are new developments being discussed for an automotive cluster in the Silesia region of Poland near GM’s Opel’s plant in Gliwice, which lies at the heart of the Katowice Special Economic Zone (KSEZ). It reaffirms the importance of the ...