Inbound logistics – Page 33
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FeaturePacked with promise
A case study on the ambition and limitations shaping returnable packaging provider Goodpack’s growth in IndiaWhen Mahindra Sanyo Special Steel procured an order in 2010 from FAG for supply of 60 tonnes of rings per month from India to Hungary, dispatch was the critical issue. The buyer made it clear ...
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FeatureEditor's note: Planung und Ordnung
No OEM can escape the need for reliable logistics in today’s competitive automotive industry. However, the function arguably has a more elevated status at some companies.At Audi, logistics and in-plant material flow are major if not defining features of its production system, as logistics directly influences output, worker movements and ...
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FeaturePackaging case study: An intercontinental shift
One prominent example of a tier one supplier using reusable containers for its overseas shipments is Linde + Wiemann, a supplier of body frame parts, seats, and instrument panels based in Dillenburg, GermanyOne prominent example of a tier one supplier using reusable containers for its overseas shipments is Linde + ...
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FeatureAiming to go the distance
Reusable packaging is on the rise in international supply chains for tier ones. Executives are also interested in returnable pools, though they remain difficult over long distancesThe tier one supply chain, both inbound and outbound, continues to grow more complex. As tier suppliers respond to OEMs’ global platforms – whether ...
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FeatureLast mile: Benefits on board
A Swedish rail study suggests huge potential for stakeholders in track-and-trace collaboration for both railway and automotive logistics A pilot study involving the rail shipment of components to Volvo Cars’ Gothenburg assembly plant has shown the benefits of a significant increase in the use of RFID for freight rail in ...
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FeatureAudi special report: A question of complexity and convergence
The plethora of models, derivatives and options that has boosted Audi’s success over the past decade would not have been possible without an evolution in its logistics management and processes
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FeatureAudi special report: Managing from the centre and the periphery
As ever with a sprawling entity like the Volkswagen Group, power shifts between the centre and its satellites. In Wolfsburg, Konzernlogistik (group logistics), led by Thomas Zernechel, has responsibilities that include group programme planning, setting standards (including IT and returnable packaging) and transport tenders. It also manages bundled and network transport flows, including ocean containers and ro-ro shipping, and consolidated logistics for all suppliers in the transport network.
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FeatureAudi special reports: A global outlook
Audi is exporting European best practices to support growing production ventures as far afield as China and Mexico
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FeatureAudi special report: A fast, flexible network
Audi’s inbound logistics depends on tight planning and delivery adherence, while the carmaker is also exploring more consolidation within the Volkswagen Group
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FeatureAudi special report: One crossdock, many brands
The Volkswagen Group’s European transport network is well engineered, however there is ambition for even deeper freight consolidation within it. After synchronising in-plant processes, the next stage in the NLK is to use crossdocks based close to supplier locations, which then feed multiple group plants in high frequency, full truckloads.
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FeatureEmergency logistics is an enabler for high-risk automotive supply strategies
There was a time when the supply chain was thought of as being no more than the steady flow of components through tier suppliers to vehicle manufacturers, but the level of understanding is changing at a quickening pace. OEMs are now displaying an increasing awareness of the crucial role played ...
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FeatureProtecting the parts is vital
In a market returning to strength, protective packaging can save cost, reduce damage, prevent downtime, and maintain good customer satisfaction.The UK automotive sector is having its moment, and helping to lead the recovery of Europe’s car market. According to the Society of Motor Manufacturers & Traders (SMMT), the UK market ...
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FeatureEditor's note: looking for smart guesswork
The Russian market has often confounded this magazine. Sales can change drastically between print and distribution. We’ve written about customs only for governments to reset policy. Today, amid escalating sanctions and shaky ceasefires, no one can guess the outcome for automotive (some are already forecasting plant closures, read more here).Imagine, ...
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FeatureLast mile: the end will be a start
Industries rise and fall, but logistics tends to remain.The Broening Highway moves in two lanes on either side, the road surface cracked into an asphalt web in parts, while elsewhere it is being expanded and resurfaced. It traces a landscape dotted with water towers, small factories, warehouses, empty yards and ...
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FeatureHow best to track the pack?
Recently developed RFID tags are becoming gradually more accessible to the masses, but do the benefits of this technology outweigh its initial expense.Track-and-trace technology enables users to locate and identify items throughout the supply chain. Methods adopted for such purposes on the returnable transit packaging used for moving automotive components ...
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FeatureGlobal conference: Ford is buying more boxes ‘off the shelf’
Ford Motor Company is making a global push to reduce the amount of specialised, bespoke racking and packaging that it uses to move components and parts, in favour of more ‘off the shelf’, standard equipment. The carmaker is also looking to take more ownership of containers and racks, rather than ...
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FeatureIndia’s exports could quadruple by 2020 says report
Indian automotive suppliers only account for 1% of overall global exports (worth $10 billion), but things are looking up. The Auto Component Manufacturers Association (ACMA) in India, and McKinsey, an American management consulting firm, have released a joint report entitled, ‘Capturing the Global Opportunity, the next imperative for the Indian ...
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FeatureDon’t let near-shoring promote complacency in supply chain planning
Unplanned assembly line stoppages can outweigh the advantages of manufacturing in cheaper production locations and there is now a trend for near-shoring in the automotive industry. But don’t assume that locality is the same as ready availabilityThe near- or re-shoring of vehicle manufacturers’ suppliers is more complicated and has more ...
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FeatureSupply chains: preventing a weak link
It is more important than ever for both manufacturers and suppliers to have greater resilience in their supply chains so not to fracture the growth in British automotive manufacturing.Increasing volatility and uncertainty in global supply chains can cause traditional supply chain management models to break down. Natural disasters, socio-political unrest, ...
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FeatureBridging the supply chain gap to meet intensified production
As OEMs push manufacturing toward a 24-hour business in response to demand, lead times for tier suppliers are being tested and logistics providers must look at adapting delivery schedules at all points in the supply chain, says Brad BrennanAs an increasingly buoyant automotive industry drives the need for intensifying production ...