All articles by Malcolm Ramsay – Page 2

  • The Volvo Cars manufacturing plant in Daqing, China
    Feature

    Vehicle protection: Trying to cover all bases

    2017-08-09T12:44:13Z

    In June this year, upmarket Volvo S90 sedans built at Volvo Cars’ plant in Daqing, northern China, began arriving at a car terminal at the port of Zeebrugge, Belgium for European distribution. Travelling not by sea, but by rail, they are transported in containers across Russia along the China-Europe rail ...

  • GG Picture
    Feature

    Middle East and Africa: Ford opens up the highways

    2017-07-14T12:23:53Z

    An army marches on its stomach, Napoleon is reputed to have said, in perhaps one of history’s earliest endorsements of the wisdom of sound logistics infrastructure. These days, as those in the automotive industry know, good logistics in the marketplace is often the key to winning business and meeting the ...

  • Toyota NAPCC-Ontario, Ca.
    Feature

    Education and training: The hard line on soft skills

    2017-05-12T15:25:28Z

    [in_this_story align="right" border="yes"]General Motors’ executive director for global supply chain, Todd Scott, meets frequently with the faculties of several universities. At Cranfield University School of Management – ranked number one outside the United States in Supply Chain World’s annual Top 100 Universities survey – senior supply chain executives from industry, ...

  • TGV Eurostar Velaro E320
    Feature

    Cross-Channel freight: Trucks, tariffs and tunnel vision

    2017-01-06T17:24:24Z

    Automotive Logistics reports on vehicle and component movements between the UK and the rest of Europe in the post-Brexit climateThe past year has brought freight movements between the UK and mainland Europe sharply into focus, including for automotive parts and finished vehicles. Britain’s vote to leave the European Union brought ...

  • Christian Schwede
    Feature

    Industry 4.0: Chipping away at the future

    2016-10-18T14:00:06Z

    Automotive Logistics reports on the Fraunhofer Institute’s research into autonomous warehouse decision-making and how it is working to deliver practical advantages from Industry 4.0 conceptsIn this story... 4.0 reasons to look ahead Letting the devices decide Intelligent bins Safe space for dataGermany’s Fraunhofer organisation isn’t easily explained. Founded in 1949 ...

  • UK_EU_web
    Feature

    Brexit: Who’s in the driving seat... and where are we going?

    2016-09-20T15:07:31Z

    With the dust far from settled after a shock UK referendum result in favour of leaving the European Union, we assess the country’s future trade possibilities and their implications for the automotive logistics industryIn this story... Shock to the system Gauntlet to government Cuts on the cards? Future trade scenarios ...

  • Car hauler capacity
    Feature

    Deliveries are feeling the crunch

    2016-07-27T15:07:04Z

    If you can’t get your product to market, every other competitive advantage is lost – a problem Europe’s OEMs could face as transport capacity tightens for moving finished vehiclesNew vehicle registrations across Europe have been rising, including double-digit sales increases in recent months across the EU. ACEA, the European carmaker’s ...

  • BMW bike production line
    Feature

    Two wheels good?

    2016-04-08T14:09:45Z

    From sales drops to shifting uses in different markets, the outbound demands for two-wheelers are changingVehicle logistics in Europe is, of course, not limited to passenger cars, SUVs, vans and trucks, even if collectively, these products account for a huge majority of the products that specialised car carriers, shipping lines ...

  • SCK1501_4617
    Feature

    Unpacking conventional wisdom

    2016-04-01T09:00:31Z

    Whether one-way or returnable, owned by OEMs and tier suppliers or rented from specialist providers, current packaging models are being re-evaluated in the search for efficiency and cost-savings. Within the North American manufacturing operations of global automotive supplier Magna International, a fascinating pilot project is underway. After a year-long study ...

  • Feature

    Telematics: The simple solution?

    2016-01-21T15:04:50Z

    Is it finally time for onboard telematics technology to take the crown from barcodes and RFID tags? Now more than 40-years-old, the humble barcode label underpins many, if not most, finished vehicle supply chains. Generally attached to vehicles as they leave the assembly line, or in the plant compound, the ...

  • car in yard
    Feature

    Keeping a yard ahead of the game

    2015-07-20T07:59:53Z

    Outsourcing responsibility for end-of-line yard operations can present challenges as well as benefits for both carmakers and their logistics partnersIn the relentless drive to squeeze cost out of automotive supply chains, specialisation is the watchword. Carmakers increasingly see their own core competence as manufacturing; for their part, logistics providers understand ...

  • computer server
    Feature

    Clouding the future

    2015-07-02T19:21:18Z

    The past few years have seen a boom in the take-up of software as a service among a range of industries, but carmakers are still reluctant to take what they perceive as a chance on data securityThe last time Automotive Logistics took a specific look at the automotive industry’s use ...

  • Car yard actually resized
    Feature

    Planning from first to last mile

    2015-03-26T12:35:39Z

    Logistics specialists are looking for transport management systems to do more than optimise routes and track flows; they want complete management tools for increasingly complex supply chains.At Torrance, California-headquartered Toyota Logistics Services – the outbound logistics and vehicle processing arm of Toyota Motor Sales USA – a recently-implemented Oracle transport ...

  • Kuga
    Feature

    Last mile: Real life on the super highway

    2015-03-25T12:01:59Z

    A contributor’s first-hand experience of buying a car online was far from technologically seamless, but the savings spoke for themselvesWhile researching and writing the feature on e-commerce in automotive, fate conspired to give me first-hand experience of such a transaction. I liked the look of Ford’s Kuga model (marketed as ...

  • Albert Gallagoes
    Feature

    E-commerce: Online and on the road

    2015-03-25T12:00:16Z

    E-commerce in automotive is starting to penetrate spare parts and vehicle purchases, with implications for OEMs, dealers, LSPs and customersIn the early days of eBay and Amazon, consumers marvelled at their own boldness. Buying on the internet was a step into the unknown: sending money to strangers to purchase items ...

  • Screenshot_15_09_2014_16_26
    Feature

    Out of the light and into the night

    2014-09-23T18:51:38Z

    Extended delivery hours offer the benefits of less congestion and reduced dwell time, but they depend on dealer willingness, local laws and crime rates. Surprisingly, there has been a low uptake in Britain compared to parts of the USBack in 2006, a trial began within the British operations of Honda ...

  • Screenshot_16_09_2014_13_26
    Feature

    Is there still a place for leaders?

    2014-09-23T12:40:51Z

    The ‘lead logistics provider’ concept may be undergoing its biggest ever changes. The question is whether or not it is still working for today’s automotive industry. Co-ordinated from a ‘control tower’ based on the customer's site in Solihull, England, an extensive European supply chain feeds the three British vehicle assembly ...

  • Screenshot_30_06_2014_15_41
    Feature

    Realities of a risky business

    2014-06-28T15:17:01Z

    OEMs would love to reduce their insurance premiums, but with catastrophic damage more frequent, they may have to risk their balance sheets to achieve thisWhen Superstorm Sandy made landfall on the eastern seaboard of the US in October 2012, hurricane-force high winds were just one problem. Another was the enormous ...

  • dhl_supplychain_automotive
    Feature

    The power of recall

    2014-06-24T09:33:56Z

    Recalls and a carmaker's ability to carry them out efficiently can have an effect not just on public relations, but on the company’s bottom line and share price. LSPs are increasingly getting involved.In the late morning of April 10th 2014, the general manager of University Volkswagen Mazda, a car ...

  • Buy-off. VIN Match Scan SD
    Feature

    ePOD – Delivering the future of proof

    2014-03-04T10:13:53Z

    Chrysler’s decision to mandate the use of electronic proof of delivery systems from this year has brought the process to the fore, but an industry standard may be required before everyone follows suit.At the beginning of February 2014, a new transport management system went live at Mobile Services, a UK-based ...