All asia articles – Page 99

  • Feature

    Make way for the little guys

    2010-01-02T15:59:57Z

    Good time for a Plan CA market splintering rather than consolidatingThe US car carrier sector is in transition, and while many companies are disappearing, carmakers and 3PLs are giving more business to smaller, niche players for certain routes, reports Barry CrossThe US automotive outbound sector has seen chronic failures among ...

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    Feature

    European car ports are waiting on an Asian dream

    2010-01-02T15:54:54Z

    China’s big paper plansAssessing the European landing pointKia went to a smaller port, and so could othersChina and India have raced ahead in domestic car sales, but logistics providers and port operators in Europe are wondering when, and if, they will arrive on local shores in any substantial way. Malcolm ...

  • Feature

    Handling cars with a little less human touch

    2010-01-02T15:50:01Z

    Chock full of vehicle sizesProtect only where it countsDesign the terminal rightLooking to Asia as a guideA group effortSixthSeventhEighthWhile OEMs spend significant amounts of money on protective products, the most important measure that can be taken is training staff and developing careful processes for handling and inspecting vehicles. Carmakers and ...

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    Feature

    Designing a group logistics strategy for SAIC

    2010-01-02T14:24:47Z

    A family of logistical differencesLooking abroad, cautiouslyGetting stronger at homeA tale of two AnjisThe sprawling Chinese conglomerate is growing quickly across its indigenous brands and joint venture operations, which include truckmaker subsidiaries and an in-house logistics company, Anji Automotive Logistics. Namrita Chow takes a look inside the group to see ...

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    Feature

    Getting the sea legs back again

    2010-01-02T11:53:20Z

    Circling the globe to find growthRussian headacheShort-sea outlookCapacity conundrumPredicting the right balanceOcean carriers are sailing just a bit steadier as they emerge from the stormiest of seas this past year, with at least a mild recovery anticipated for Asian trade lanes in 2010. Finished Vehicle Logistics charts their course.The global ...

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    Feature

    Toyota to providers: ...let’s talk about price!

    2010-01-02T11:11:40Z

    Road carriers need to speak up if they want to slow downA missed opportunity and deferred risk?But it’s still business as usualA closer look at the networkHave other OEMs changed more, or just said so?Time for a change for TPS?The door is open for providersEighthToyota’s recent struggles in Europe had ...

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    Feature

    A new year, with new (old) locations?

    2010-01-01T16:53:53Z

    Since the late 1960s the geography of the automotive sector has been fairly fixed, with most car production in the region where the cars were sold. That strategy remains the mantra of many supply chain executives at OEMs today as well.The exception to this of course has been Japan and ...

  • Feature

    Logistics recession lessons

    2010-01-01T15:30:21Z

    Nobody likes a downturn, but sometimes in business, as in personal life, you have to learn the hard way. Automotive Logistics Publisher Louis Yiakoumi presents his six essential lessons from the hard timesNo rest for the wicked. Despite the downturn – which led to vehicle stockpiles, shutdowns, parked or scrapped trucks, ...

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    Feature

    TNT targets South America

    2010-01-01T15:11:44Z

    TNT is shifting gears to accelerate in the automotive aftermarket and emergency logistics sector, with particular expansion in the booming South American regionA sizeable spare parts and emergency freight businessBolstering BrazilAdvancing in ArgentinaAlthough TNT, which is best known for its €11-billion ($16.5m) revenue mail and express delivery business, sold its ...

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    Feature

    Eastern Europe hangs in the balance

    2010-01-01T15:07:58Z

    Investing for beyond the tough timesWhen the sleeping bear wakes up?A long, slow recoveryPrice, price, priceSounds like a broken recordThe day after tomorrowBeing big acts as a bufferFollowing rapid growth and considerable investment, the markets in Central and Eastern Europe were among the most promising for European logistics providers. But ...

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    Feature

    Track & trace: do we need the ‘next best thing’?

    2010-01-01T13:15:21Z

    The automotive industry has been talking up the potential of RFID for decades, but with budgets strapped, there appears to be no rush to bin the barcodeAuto's enduring affair with the barcodeRFID still only used in fragmentsTrack what is sensibleThe future is now... or soonAt the end of the production ...

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    Feature

    Logistics is holding back South Africa’s industry

    2010-01-01T12:42:28Z

    With sales and exports hit hard, South Africa’s seven OEMs are scrambling to revamp their production to become more efficient, and pushing for the country’s rail and port operator to smarten up. If that doesn’t happen, carmakers may go elsewhereA lot going on at the bottom of the worldAll for ...

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    Feature

    China builds a road inside itself

    2010-01-01T12:17:01Z

    As the largest and still the fastest growing car market in the world, carmakers in China are hoping to develop supply chains in its vast interior and western regions, with the government investing billionsLow visibilityA crowded market starts to spill inlandGo west, says the governmentRegulation and trade disputesFiat’s Jack Cheng ...

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    Feature

    Back in the fast lane

    2010-01-01T11:55:57Z

    Premium freight services nearly disappeared at the outset of the financial crisis. Now recovery and inventory cautious-carmakers have brought back the need for speed, but under new terms.Off a cliffSigns of recoverySame shipments, different dayCentralised purchasingLower cost optionsA cautious recoveryWhat will electric vehicles mean for air refight?To reduce inbound inventory ...

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    Feature

    Packing a punch

    2010-01-01T11:20:52Z

    We sort through the tiresome marketing jargon to identify the real innovations in packaging for automotive, and report on the benefitsInnovation is among those words editors should always treat with scepticism (other bugbears include optimisation, continuous improvement and synergy). A purchasing manager or logistics executive should use no less caution ...

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    Feature

    Audi: leading the pack for logistics again

    2010-01-01T10:55:08Z

    Audi has gained market share and kept a tight reign on inventory thanks to industry-leading logistics processes. Now, as Dr. Ernst-Hermann Krog tells Christopher Ludwig, it is applying its ‘new logistics concept’ further down the supply chainOrder visibility keeps Audi competitiveExtending the NLK to the supplier baseTranslating the NLK into ...

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    Feature

    Giving logistics in India a new name

    2010-01-01T10:34:30Z

    Mahindra & Mahindra’s chief operating officer, Rajesh Jejuriker (pictured right), believes logistics and ‘demand’ chain management have improved the carmaker’s customer satisfaction ratings. Christopher Ludwig speaks to him and head of supply chain, SK Krishnan (pictured left), about M&M’s groundbreaking order-to-delivery system.Logistics ranks high in the management chainThe production and ...

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    Feature

    The sleeping giant reawakens

    2010-01-01T10:03:45Z

    Signs of relief have finally come to American shores, and OEMs at this year’s conference promised big changes for the supply chain from lessons learned along the way. But what will it all mean for LSPs?American on the outside, global insideWill the supply chain be electrified?Low inventory... for a moment ...

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    Feature

    Global outlook: fixing the dam for 2010

    2010-01-01T09:57:15Z

    Automotive logistics companies were breathing easier at the end of 2009. Earlier, global light vehicle sales were projected to drop 14% to around 58m units. Production, which corresponds closely with the revenue for 3PLs, had been predicted below 50m.But incentives, a rebound in Asia, and gradual recovery have led forecasters ...

  • Feature

    Tax efficiency within the automotive supply chain

    2010-01-01T09:15:49Z

    OEMs have long strived to create the most efficient supply chain possible. With the current volatility, this has become even more prevalent as businesses streamline costs to survive.Historically, the strategies to increase automotive supply chain efficiency have focused on reducing the costs of manufacturing, procurement, distribution and transport. However, recently ...