Automotive
Streamlining vehicle launcheS with
real-time viSibility T
here is excitement in the automotive market every time a new model is launched. From the assembly line to
sales, everybody must collaborate to balance supply and demand within each market. And this is no standardised undertaking, as every launch is different. Assembly plants must produce within allocated time frames, and quality and technical teams must find the right balance between batch validations, reworks and post production operations. Subsequently, logistics teams have to monitor handovers between stages and must book the right capacity with local road and rail freight providers at the right time to avoid demurrage costs or other surcharges related to exceeding transport capacity. In addition to these challenges, National
Sales Companies (NSC) and importers add pressure to distribute more units to their local distribution compounds in order to maximise sales opportunities, resulting in time-consuming calls and emails asking what stock is available and when it will arrive. Obtaining meaningful information about the real-time whereabouts and the estimated time of arrival of goods throughout all legs in the supply chain during a new vehicle launch can consume significant means and resources. That is, if companies continue to operate in an unstructured and manual fashion.
The vAlue oF reAl-Time viSibiliTy The real-time transportation visibility (RTTV) of goods is no longer considered a “nice-to-have”, but rather a “must-have” capability. In the B2C world, grocery home deliveries are now normal, and customers expect timely updates on their order. While this level of information may be unnecessary when a customer purchases a new car online, within a B2B context there are clear benefits for automotive manufacturers and their (internal) customers. Through RTTV, companies are able to
decrease freight costs through better carrier management while increasing the productivity of manufacturing or warehouse employees. They can also increase the productivity of customer service employees who will no longer, or at least not as extensively, need to communicate with
40 Autumn 2021 UKManufacturing By Wesley Haaksma, strategic account executive, Shippeo
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