All features articles – Page 19
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Driving value into the supply chain
Better communication is needed in the automotive supply chain, including between OEMs, suppliers, logistics providers and IT experts providing digital supply chain services. Digital technology has a lot of answers for an industry that is making strides in addressing the needs of modern manufacturing and the changing face of mobility, ...
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A hard look at software risks
Few people realise how much software runs today’s cars, observes Les Hatton, emeritus professor of forensic software engineering at Kingston University, UK. “We sit at home and can’t work out why the printer isn’t working, and then we’ll get in a car where there’s probably more software underneath,” he says. ...
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Sweet 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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MBUSI: 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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Partner Content
A global freight audit and payment solution
Amidst the growing efforts of enterprises to expand, the logistics sector has been at the forefront of helping them attain a truly global status. But some hurdles remain, including the accurate and timely payment of freight invoices – nVision Global’s iMpact TMS can help
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About ready to drop
DropCar’s mission is to “make driving fun again”, says Spencer Richardson, co-founder and CEO of the US-based start-up, which launched in New York City in 2015. The company decided to begin by offering an app-based service for car owners who live in urban areas where parking, car maintenance and even ...
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Clark seeks to reassure automotive sector on Brexit
British business minister Greg Clark (pictured) has suggested the UK government wants to avoid any new trade friction over the processing and transporting of automotive products with the European Union after Brexit, despite open disagreement among cabinet ministers over what sort of customs arrangement should be put in place. Clark, ...
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Gefco: Full of get up and go
French transport and logistics provider Gefco started 2018 with an announcement in Paris that it was looking to cooperate more closely with its partners and customers. At the same time, the company said it was looking for international growth and new business as it continued to move beyond the traditional ...
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Russia: Recovery still down the road
Sales of finished vehicles in Russia rose 11.9% in 2017 over the previous year to reach 1.59m units, according to estimates in early January by the Association of European Businesses (AEB). Russia’s long-awaited recovery began in March and gained momentum throughout the year, peaking in December with monthly sales of ...
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Making sense from the noise for the future of logistics
Convergence between the automotive and high-tech sectors isn’t a theory or prediction any more. Vehicles are as connected as smartphones, programmed with millions more lines of code than any computer, and increasingly powered by the same electric components and batteries – just on a much larger scale.
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Real-time tracking: Is it Here yet?
Real-time cargo tracking has always had its appeal. The problem has been finding a technology that could actually deliver on the aspiration
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Audi México: Risk and reward
When Audi opened its assembly plant in Mexico in September 2016, it was a milestone achievement on a number of levels. It was the first factory the German carmaker had set up outside Europe and the first that it was exclusively managing overseas (the two factories in China are joint ...
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Grimaldi añade seis naves híbridas a su flota
Shipper Grimaldi Group adquirirá seis naves ro-ro híbridas para aumentar y modernizar su flota. El pedido valorado en $400m ha sido adjudicado astillero chino Jinling.La entrega de las naves está prevista para comenzar en 2020, y tendrán capacidad para transportar 7,800 metros lineales de unidades rodantes, el equivalente a 500 ...
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Being Pragmatic about tracking
Assigning materials and components an individual identity that can be tracked easily and reliably from the goods-inward stage through production to delivery to the customer, and even throughout their lifespan, is a fundamental element of effective logistics. In a high-volume environment such as mainstream automotive manufacturing, this will mean that ...
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Waking up to a new dawn
Brazilian vehicle manufacturers are increasingly optimistic that the country can claw its way out of a deep recession. The country is experiencing a period of low inflation, low interest rates, light GDP growth and a tentative recovery in employment, reflected in improving purchasing power and consumer confidence. Moreover, consumers with ...
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Trusting the market will stay afloat
European vehicle-handling ports saw growth in vehicle vehicle volumes in 2017, however geo-political worries – not least Brexit – is causing concerns. Ports continue to invest but there are worries over future volumes and capacity levels.
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Navigating uncharted waters
At 04.00 on June 26 last year, Jim Hagemann Snabe, chairman of AP Moller-Maersk, was woken by a phone call from his office. That’s when he learned that the global shipping giant had fallen victim to a cyber-attack. Over the next few hours, the true severity of the incident became ...
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Mercedes-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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Jack Cooper: The wheels of revolution
At the FVL North America conference, you said we were experiencing a technological revolution rather than an evolution. What do you think are the biggest changes happening now?I think we’ve got to look at it in our business from both sides: what’s happening in the actual vehicles and with the ...
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Volvo 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 ...