Experts to discuss building resilient, digital and competitive supply chains at ALSC ASEAN

October 27

What to expect from ALSC ASEAN

After exciting events across the globe this year, from Bonn to Detroit, the Automotive Logistics & Supply Chain event series now comes to Singapore. Over the course of the day, industry leaders from Asia and beyond are coming together to explore the strategic advantages of the ASEAN region, discuss common pain points and how to overcome them, and exchange ideas to push the sector forward and foster a more resilient, digital and competitive automotive supply chain.

These three areas – resilience, digitalisation and competitiveness – are crucial to the success of modern supply chains and therefore underpin the day's agenda. Delegates can expect to hear from a range of experts offering different perspectives on ensuring resilience in a panel discussion entitled "How to build more resilient ASEAN supply chain and logistics". The panel for this session features: Praveen Durairajan Prakash – global component and supplier quality director at VinFast; Eric van Steen – vice president, supply chain at Bridgestone Asia Pacific; Julio Bellota – vice president, Commercial – Logistics, South East Asia – APAC at DP World; and Dr Michael Nikolaides, senior vice-president production network, supply chain management, Logistics at BMW Group.

And on the topic of digitalisation, a panel session entitled "Managing transformation in technology, skills and infrastructure to make ASEAN supply chains fit for the future" will see another four experts discuss the tools, skill and partnerships needed to adapt and thrive in not just today's market, but also tomorrow's. They'll touch on developing areas such as digitalisation, advances in AI and the EV transition to give the audience an idea of how supply chains in South-East Asia can keep pace and continue to innovate. Sitting on this panel are: Sanjeev M A, director – logistics, supply chain and digital transformation, international markets group at Ford Motor Company; Tuan Vi, vice president, SCM & logistics Asia Pacific at Schaeffler; Rahul Singh, global head of software, autonomous mobile robots at Aumovio; and Luis León, VP of sales at Ascent Global Logistics.

Then moving to competitiveness, a third panel discussion entitled "Competition and partnership in the South-East Asian supply chain" will explore how to best leverage the individual strengths and growth of ASEAN countries – including Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam and others – but to facilitate regional collaboration, cross-border flows and supplier partnerships. The panellist taking part in this discussion are: Dr Susanne Lehmann, managing director of Volkswagen Group Malaysia; Rizal Prasetyo Kusuma, senior vice president, automotive supply chain and production management at Infineon Technologies; Thapawee Kongcheep, director, automotive, Asia Pacific at DSV; and Ruud Vossebeld, director, business development at INFORM GmbH.

Read more: Volkswagen builds a bridge for ASEAN’s auto supply chain from Malaysia

Volkswagen Group Malaysia managing director Dr Susanne Lehmann speaks to Automotive Logistics about guiding the company’s regional strategy, using Malaysia as a base to build an integrated, future-ready footprint across South-East Asia, linked through enhanced logistics.

But that's not all. The day will kick off with two fascinating keynotes offering a look inside the supply chains of two major automotive OEMs as Ashwani Muppasani, chief operating officer at Stellantis India & Asia Pacific, explains why the supply chain is strategic for Stellantis in India & Asia Pacific, before BMW Group's Dr Michael Nikolaides shares insight into the group's impact on the ASEAN region.

Then later in the day Volkswagen Group Malaysia's Dr Susanne Lehmann will give another keynote presentation providing a look behind the curtain at the carmaker's development in Malaysia and the wider region, including multi-brand production, integration and planning across regional and global supply chains, increasing digitalisation, creative collaboration with suppliers and investment in the right technology and people.

With global disruption highlighting the need for resilience and ASEAN countries such as Vietnam rapidly developing into leaders in the next generation of automotive manufacturing, understanding trends and challenges in South-East Asia will paramount to achieving global success over the next decade. Don't miss out on this opportunity to take part in this vital discussion over the future of the region – there's still time to register to attend ALSC ASEAN, taking place on November 28 at The Westin Singapore. View the agenda here, and register now here.