All articles by Christopher Ludwig – Page 31
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FeatureEDITOR’S NOTE: Gefco/GM; pressures on free trade
Automotive logistics, by definition, always moves. From sorting material at crossdocks to loading in ports, sailing, trucking or flying, the supply chain is in constant flux. So too is the automotive logistics industry itself. A struggling European market brings not only painful cuts, but also changes in logistics strategies. GM’s decision ...
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Russia needs a service revolution under WTO
Beyond the wall of duties;GAZ as distributor.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 ...
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FeatureEDITOR’S NOTE: Is inbound really better and more important?
An electronic survey at our FVL North America event asked 250 delegates what OEMs thought was more important: inbound or outbound logistics. Perhaps it was unsurprising that the audience, mainly vehicle logistics providers and outbound managers at OEMs, saw the grass as greener and voted 73% for inbound.Asked which was ...
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FeatureYusen targets auto freight forwarding and aftermarket in Europe
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 difficult when moving thousands of boxes is almost always ...
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FeatureRussian Railways will buy Gefco stake
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 said that it would sell a 75% interest ...
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FeatureSecrets of a success story at JLR
Logistics providers have played a key role in the global growth of Jaguar Land Rover, and the OEM wants to extend co-operation even further.Contracts of trust;The supply chain and its history;A complete LLP strategy;Reducing premium freight spending by 80%;Global systems for order to delivery;A collaborative outbound strategy;Network planning;The recruitment challenge.The ...
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FeaturePremium logistics for a premium US service
Christopher Ludwig talks to Mercedes-Benz USA about the carmaker’s delivery and inventory management challenges in maintaining an efficient spare parts network.A different kind of dealer in the US;Why not three times a day?;The NAFTA project and sharing truckloads;In-house versus 3PL parts warehouses;Packaging standards and returnable loops;Can't just throw money at ...
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Automotive sector can do better on innovation
When it comes to innovations in logistics, the automotive industry is good at confirming the merits of its own success, but it might do better to look beyond its own factories towards solutions from other industries, as there are signs it is losing ground in logistics developments as it continues ...
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EDITOR’S NOTE: Get to know your customers' long term plans
Unpredictability continues to define this economic era. For the third time in as many years, trouble in Greece has left eurozone financial markets in turmoil, while Spain is getting a bank bailout. The Chinese economy has slowed, while India and Brazil too have hit a snag. The US, with weak ...
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FeatureA price to pay for premium success
Balancing cost with growth;Very similar networks;Diversity makes the difference;The NAFTA project;Comparing the VW Group;A study in VPC management;Return of the capacity question;A rewarding culture.German OEMs like BMW and Mercedes-Benz find themselves in a difficult yet enviable position as they work to match strong US sales growth with the necessary outbound ...
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FeatureIn Profile: Inna Kuznetsova
Inna Kuznetsova’s background is unique compared to most in the automotive and logistics industries. Having studied non-linear differential equations at Moscow State university, she left mathematics for business when academic funding dried up in the Perestroika years of the Soviet Union. Although growing up in what she calls the ‘gone ...
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FeatureAutomotive sector can do better on innovation
When it comes to innovations in logistics, the automotive industry is good at confirming the merits of its own success, but it might do better to look beyond its own factories towards solutions from other industries, as there are signs it is losing ground in logistics developments as it continues ...
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FeatureTaking everything on board at Ford
Interview with Dr Hans-Bert Bong, Ford’s manager of vehicle logistics and customs, about changes in the carmaker’s European distribution network.Emissions and regulation;Capacity and Service;Advantage for the UK;OTD System;RFID.Improvements in service and efficiency within a mature distribution network, such as that used by Ford of Europe, are more likely to come ...
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FeatureV-Scope for improvement
MarciaMacLeod learns about how Vascor integrates its software with that of OEMs to ensure efficient deliveryWhen Toyota opened its first US plant in Kentucky, a joint venture was formed between APL Logistics and Fujitrans to handle logistics. Today, Vascor–celebrating its 25th anniversary this year–operates across North America, working primarily ...
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FeatureGateway to a new era for GAZ
Bo Andersson has been leading a remarkable turnaround and a tough restructuring at Russia’s GAZ Group, with a significant focus on improving supply chain management and logistics. Christopher Ludwig presents a pertinent example of how logistics can provide a competitive advantage in Russia.
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FeaturePotential and problems in equal measure
Different strokes Heavy investment Coping with growth Finding partners for growthAccess and infrastructureA flexible futureDespite political uncertainty and its recent propensity for economic boom and bust, Russia is still a major growth market for automotive. With LSPs investing heavily in ports, inland terminals and transport assets, Chris Lewis looks at ...
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FeatureBalanced verticals are good for business at CEVA
Gaining market share;Becoming supply chain designers;When will Apollo exit?.The past year has been a particularly strong one in the automotive sector for Ceva Logistics, with some significant business wins in fast growing regions such as China, India and Brazil, as well as in markets with otherwise stagnant volume, such as ...
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FeatureIn Profile: Anrdreas Graffe
When Andreas Graffe took over responsibility for Opel/Vauxhall’s logistics last September following seven years in China–most recently as director of purchasing for SGM–the move to Rüsselsheim was a big change. But while the market conditions and pace could hardly differ more, Graffe faces no less of a challenge back in ...
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Logistics would benefit from some military discipline
At first glance, few would think that the working lives of a transport manager and an officer in the armed forces would have much parity. But being involved in running a military organisation has many factors in common with running an international fleet of multiple carriers–and is equally, if not ...
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All the risk but without the reward
With economic crises and a succession of natural disasters hitting the industry, times have been tough in the automotive world recently. Necessity is the mother of invention, however, and many claim that the sector has emerged the stronger for it. But has everyone emerged on a level pegging? At the ...