Red Sofa Interview: VW’s Oliver Bronder on turning disruptions into strategic advantages

Oliver Bronder, managing director of vehicle logistics at VW Group Logistics, a keynote speaker at this year’s ALSC Europe conference, says that after the disruption of the last few years logistics has transformed into a strategic advantage, driven by the goal of improving reliability for the end customer.

In this Red Sofa interview with Christopher Ludwig, Chief Content Officer, Automotive Logistics & Ultima Media, on the fringes of the conference, he says that the most important lesson that VW Group has learned over the recent period of supply chain crisis is problem solving and how to work more collaboratively across functions within the company. That is enabling VW Group Logistics to make decisions on how to solve issues in the new normal of disruption more quickly.

Bronder explains that VW Group Logistics is stronger at demand and capacity forecasting for vehicle logistics and that transparency and data are key to this. It has a big focus on digitalisation, including for bringing efficiency to finished vehicle shipments.

Like other carmakers during the recent capacity crunch in finished vehicle logistics, VW Group Logistics was forced to increase the amount of chartered trucks it used. Thankfully, in the last five months that has returned to the norm of minimal usage when greater flexibility is needed, says Bronder, and greater capacity has been put back to fulfil normal contracts.

Bronder says VW Group Logistics is coming out of the crisis with a clear agenda for decarbonising logistics in three areas – increasing train capacity powered by green electricity for vehicle and battery shipments, adopting electric trucks and, most importantly using LNG ships, which it already does. The division is looking ahead now to the use of synthetic fuels, with long-term plans for ammonia, to power vessels, a move Bronder is very optimistic about.