EV supply chain features – Page 8
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ArticleRunning out of juice – will demand for battery materials outstrip supply?
As OEMs accelerate their EV programmes, there is growing concern that demand for battery materials will outstrip supply. Gavin du Venage considers the risks
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ArticleSouth Africa's dream of an EV supply base
Despite negligible EV sales at home, South Africa is looking to become an exporter of their components and is putting an incentives scheme into place. But can it succeed?
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ArticleWhy all eyes are on Israel for AI
In the race to perfect autonomous driving, Israel has proven to be a hotspot of technological innovation – driven, in part, by its military expertise and surveillance tools
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ArticleStill got it: How reuse and recycling can give EV batteries a new lease of life
As the EV trend continues, it raises the question of what to do with their hazardous lithium-ion batteries once they have reached the end of their useful life. Options include reuse and recycling, but both of these require special expertise in reverse logistics
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ArticleContainerisation: Why finished vehicle logistics needs to think inside the box
While ro-ro is the traditional method of shipping finished vehicles, containerisation is becoming increasingly viable as the automotive industry decentralises and introduces more EVs. Growth in China and South East Asia offers particularly good opportunities
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From the industryIn the service of free trade
Free trade zones offer many tax and logistics benefits to the automotive supply chain. DP World, with its flagship facility in Dubai, UAE, wants to expand these services in markets in the Middle East and Africa, the UK and the US
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ArticleTechnology drives massive change in the supply chain
The rise of EVs and higher customer expectations are putting pressure on inbound supply chains and forcing structural changes. Marcus Williams reports from The Supply Chain Conference in Atlanta
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ArticleVW sets up new components division to drive efficiency
Volkswagen has established a new division – Volkswagen Group Components – tasked with reducing costs by €2 billion ($2.27 billion) while improving efficiency and taking on board the increasing importance of electric vehicles. Thomas Schmall (right), chairman of VW’s new Group Components division, with Stefan Sommer, VW Group board member ...
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ArticleThe long way home
For inbound automotive supply chains, returnable packaging just makes sense. No carmaker wants to spend money on wood, paper and cardboard again and again, only to have to fork out straight away for costly waste disposal.
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ArticleHanging in the balance
Lower production output, slower growth in export markets and several regulatory and operational issues are threatening to unbalance Poland’s finished vehicle market
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ArticlePacking a punch
Electric cars could revolutionise transport by providing a cheaper, safer and more environmentally friendly way to travel. The International Energy Agency forecasts that there will be 13m electric vehicles (EVs) on the road globally by 2020, while PwC Autofacts predicts that 55% of all new vehicle sales will be fully ...
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ArticleProgress for all to CEE
In past decades, international investment has flowed into the automotive industry in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) primarily due to it being a low-cost production centre. However, these days the region has much more to attract such investment, including a well-trained workforce, a wide-ranging supplier base and improving logistics infrastructure, ...
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ArticleBigger vehicles, bigger challenges
Last year, GM sold around 3m vehicles in the US, with roughly 775,000 imported from Canada and Mexico and the rest coming from around the world, mainly from South Korea, China and Europe. Combining deep-sea and short-sea volumes, the carmaker used seaports to receive close to 200,000 vehicles into the ...
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ArticleA crisis in human capital
As the automotive logistics sector continues to automate and let technology take the lead, there are some important human factors to resolve if such plans are to succeed – as delegates at this year’s Automotive Logistics Global conference in Detroit found out While the US car market may be ...
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ArticleAnu Goel: the highs and lows
What have been some of the high points in logistics in your career?One is the swing toward providing a level of service that customers expect, as opposed to providing a level of service that we either think they need or that the system can provide. Those are two different ...
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ArticleTwinning talent with technology
The rate at which emerging digital technologies are transforming the automotive logistics supply chain is hard to keep up with. As both an enabler of everything from platform design to procurement, finance and planning, and a disruptor of traditional supply chain operations, digital technology associated with industry 4.0 is driving ...
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ArticleSweet home Alabama
One of the most popular songs about the US state of Alabama, ‘Sweet Home Alabama’, opens with the line “Big wheels keep on turning” – and indeed the number doing so is set to grow after the January announcement that a $1.6 billion Toyota-Mazda joint-venture manufacturing plant is scheduled to ...
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ArticleMBUSI: In a state of contentment
Why has Alabama become such a mecca for automotive manufacturing?I think there are a number of reasons. You have seen the automotive industry continue to push further south into areas where there is a good workforce available. You have infrastructure that is available. The supplier network has continued to migrate ...
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ArticleMercedes-Benz: Taking an end-to-end approach
It may have taken Mercedes-Benz around 120 years to reach 1m cars per year, breaching the mark around the turn of the 21stcentury. However, the recent surge in growth of the brand has seen it rise by around 1m units in sales and production in just five years, with passenger ...
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ArticleVolvo Cars: Leaning towards greater stability
Since Geely Holdings acquired it from Ford Motor Company in 2010, Volvo Cars has been reinventing itself, from product development through to its industrial base and supply chain. Today, with a refreshed model line-up and amidst several new launches, sales have grown to record levels, with further expansion still to ...