Watch: Autoliv's Dr Gisela Linge on data consolidation to better inform decision-making
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At Automotive Logistics & Supply Chain Digital Strategies Europe, Dr Gisela Linge, vice president of global logistics at Autoliv, shared the company's journey to smarter decisions through a concerted effort to take advantage of the data at its fingertips.
Following her presentation on smarter decision-making at ALSC Digital Strategies Europe 2025, Dr Gisela Linge, vice president of global logistics at Autoliv, joined Automotive Logistics on the Red Sofa to share more about the role data has played in informing decision-making processes at Autoliv over the past two years.
Beginning the journey
"We started two years ago and our aim was to make all the data that is dispersed all across our systems at Autoliv, on Excel and wherever, readily available for better decision-making for our colleagues," Dr Linge said.
She explained how, in close collaboration with its IT department, Autoliv built an end-to-end data model consisting not just of SEM data, but also financial, sales and product data. It then built an interface system on top of this which was able to run simulations.
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Outlining the motivating factors driving these decisions, Dr Linge commented: "In a time where there is a lot of disruption and uncertainty, we need to create visbility for our colleagues in an easy and fast way, enabling decision-making across our functional siloes to some degree."
Effective execution
Dr Linge shared her view that collaboration across functions was instrumental to Autoliv achieving its goals of increased visibility and data-informed decision-making.
She outlined three key factors in ensuring the smoothness of this project's execution: a company culture that encourages cross-functional collaboration; a compelling reason for individuals to get involved in the project in order to benefit from it; the involvement of IT professionals from the very start of the project.
Ensuring data quality
With data at the heart of this strategy, data quality is crucial to its success. "The engine of this whole command centre and digital twin is the end-to-end data model," Dr Linge elaborated.
She said "processes, people and systems" were the three main considerations for Autoliv. She explained that most of the time, it's not the data that is poor, it's that processes in place aren't collecting the right data.
Both audits and a ticketing system ensure that data quality can be regularly monitored and consistency improved. "You get better data the more you use it," she said, noting that data will never be perfect but identifying flaws and gaps in data is an important – albeit "never-ending" – process.
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Results of the project
The potential applications of the command centre are virtually limitless, according Dr Linge. She explained that in its prototype stage, it was used to estimate the impact of US tariffs and global countermeasures, with this information helping Autoliv's colleagues in the US and Mexico to understand where to focus their attention in terms of risk mitigation.
It can also be used to address supply shortages, allowing for increased visibility of stock across an entire supplier base and scenario-based simulations to predict when inventory will be depleted.
Improvements going forward
Looking ahead, Dr Linge identified that there are various ways in which the command centre can be improved, beginning with enhancing it with even more data from a wider range of functions – emissions data from sustainability leads to get a better grip on greenhouse gas accounting, for example.
There are other ways to improve too, such as the addition of a chatbot, which Autoliv is currently testing. "We have endless opportunities here, and we cannot endlessly programme dashboards," she said. "But by asking the chatbot, you can get tailored analysis."
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