How partnerships and approaches are evolving in the face of inevitable disruption

Turning pressure into performance – that is the theme of this year's Automotive Logistics & Supply Chain Global conference in Plymouth, Michigan. And there's no denying that the sector is under a great deal of pressure.

Kicking off ALSC Global 2026, Christopher Ludwig, chief content officer at Automotive Logistics and Ultima Media, outlined some of the key challenges reshaping the automotive logistics landscape: tariff and trade uncertainty, geopolitical conflict, rising costs, driver and freight capacity shortages, shipping and air freight volatility, logistics provider consolidation, supplier disruption and more.

Watch: ALSC Global 2026 Welcome Drinks Reception Wrap Up

Christopher Ludwig takes us behind the scenes at ALSC Global 2026 Welcome Drinks Reception.

And on top of all these factors, there is significant demand volatility that is adding an additional layer of complexity when it comes to planning and forecasting.

“Very few of you are going to get it right in the first forecast,” Ludwig told the audience, acknowledging the growing importance of flexibility and agility in the supply chain.

But alongside these challenges, there are also new opportunities arising as digitalisation and technology like AI enable new ways of working, planning and collecting valuable data to inform decisions.

Carrying this theme into the opening session of the conference, attendees heard from industry leaders at Nissan, Toyota, Ryder System and DP World about how their strategies and approaches to partnerships have evolved to go beyond resilience, and turn challenges into opportunities to improve performance.

The value of visibility

A shared goal across the industry is shifting from a reactive approach to a proactive one wherever possible. To achieve this, Chris Styles, vice president of supply chain management at Nissan Group of the Americas highlighted the need for OEMs to have end-to-end visibility of their supply chain. 

"At Nissan, we have put in a lot of new tools working with new partners on supply chain visibility to map the entire supply chain from a supplier standpoint so it's not just tier one mapping – it goes all the way down to the raw materials," Styles said.

However, he noted that there will always be disruptions that can't be predicted, like a fire at an aluminium supplier. But in these moments where a reactionary response is necessary, that supply chain mapping and visibility can allow OEMs to be alerted to an issue earlier and inform tier one supplier sometimes even before they are aware of it.

"There's benefits to it, but it's not going to protect us completely – that would be impossible," Styles said.

Jason Stone, general manager for supply chain development and optimisation at Toyota North America, shared that transforming visibility has also been a key priority for Toyota in recent years.

"We first focused on capturing the data, then organising the data, and now we're in the process of utilising the data to help us identify those gaps earlier in the supply chain, which allows us to shift from a reactive-type environment to a more controlled, calmer environment," he said. "I think we've seen some good progress in this space; however, we still have some blind spots that we're trying to overcome."

From a logistics provider's perspective, Joel Eigege, senior vice president of supply chain solutions at Ryder System, expressed his belief that "it's not just about visibility and predictability; it's also about connection, breaking down siloes and making sure that your data is connected as well".

Eigege noted that visibility itself does not create value; the real value lies in the data-informed actions that can take insights and use them to drive performance.

The evolution of partnerships

One way in which logistics operations are changing as the industry shifts towards being more proactive is an evolution of the way OEMs work with their logistics partners. Ryder System's Eigege identified "increased collaboration around aligned mutual benefits" as a key enabler for competiveness in the coming years, noting that the old transactional model for partnerships does not work well in times of crisis.

Collaboration is the key to managing risk and building resilience, says JLR's Levent Yuksel

AT ALSC UK, JLR's Levent Yuksel highlighted how collaborating with partners and peers can help develop a more resilient and competitive automotive supply chain in the UK.

"I think at OEMs – and across all types of supply chains, not just automotive – people are starting to recognise that logistics and supply chain can be the linchpin to that customer experience," said Eigege. "What we're trying to do is make sure that we're partnering with our OEM partners in a way where it's collaborative; we're starting to get involved in strategy upfront and we're also starting to anticipate risks."

For DP World's David D’Annunzio, involving logistics partners sooner in the planning process will be key to getting the most from a collaborative partnership. "We want to be involved in the planning, we want to be involved in helping you plan out alternatives in advance for when things go wrong, and then be the ones to help you test those alternatives," he said.

Both Nissan's Styles and Toyota's Stone agreed that at their respective companies, building and maintaining collaborative relationships with existing partners is key – but both also noted that there are opportunities to work with new partners where they can bring something new in terms of technology and innovation.