All articles by Chris Ludwig – Page 19
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Feature
EDITOR’S NOTE: Get to know your customers' long term plans
Unpredictability continues to define this economic era. For the third time in as many years, trouble in Greece has left eurozone financial markets in turmoil, while Spain is getting a bank bailout. The Chinese economy has slowed, while India and Brazil too have hit a snag. The US, with weak ...
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FeatureA price to pay for premium success
Balancing cost with growth;Very similar networks;Diversity makes the difference;The NAFTA project;Comparing the VW Group;A study in VPC management;Return of the capacity question;A rewarding culture.German OEMs like BMW and Mercedes-Benz find themselves in a difficult yet enviable position as they work to match strong US sales growth with the necessary outbound ...
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FeatureIn Profile: Inna Kuznetsova
Inna Kuznetsova’s background is unique compared to most in the automotive and logistics industries. Having studied non-linear differential equations at Moscow State university, she left mathematics for business when academic funding dried up in the Perestroika years of the Soviet Union. Although growing up in what she calls the ‘gone ...
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FeatureAutomotive sector can do better on innovation
When it comes to innovations in logistics, the automotive industry is good at confirming the merits of its own success, but it might do better to look beyond its own factories towards solutions from other industries, as there are signs it is losing ground in logistics developments as it continues ...
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FeatureTaking everything on board at Ford
Interview with Dr Hans-Bert Bong, Ford’s manager of vehicle logistics and customs, about changes in the carmaker’s European distribution network.Emissions and regulation;Capacity and Service;Advantage for the UK;OTD System;RFID.Improvements in service and efficiency within a mature distribution network, such as that used by Ford of Europe, are more likely to come ...
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FeatureV-Scope for improvement
MarciaMacLeod learns about how Vascor integrates its software with that of OEMs to ensure efficient deliveryWhen Toyota opened its first US plant in Kentucky, a joint venture was formed between APL Logistics and Fujitrans to handle logistics. Today, Vascor–celebrating its 25th anniversary this year–operates across North America, working primarily ...
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FeaturePotential and problems in equal measure
Different strokes Heavy investment Coping with growth Finding partners for growthAccess and infrastructureA flexible futureDespite political uncertainty and its recent propensity for economic boom and bust, Russia is still a major growth market for automotive. With LSPs investing heavily in ports, inland terminals and transport assets, Chris Lewis looks at ...
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FeatureBalanced verticals are good for business at CEVA
Gaining market share;Becoming supply chain designers;When will Apollo exit?.The past year has been a particularly strong one in the automotive sector for Ceva Logistics, with some significant business wins in fast growing regions such as China, India and Brazil, as well as in markets with otherwise stagnant volume, such as ...
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FeatureIn Profile: Anrdreas Graffe
When Andreas Graffe took over responsibility for Opel/Vauxhall’s logistics last September following seven years in China–most recently as director of purchasing for SGM–the move to Rüsselsheim was a big change. But while the market conditions and pace could hardly differ more, Graffe faces no less of a challenge back in ...
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Logistics would benefit from some military discipline
At first glance, few would think that the working lives of a transport manager and an officer in the armed forces would have much parity. But being involved in running a military organisation has many factors in common with running an international fleet of multiple carriers–and is equally, if not ...
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Feature
All the risk but without the reward
With economic crises and a succession of natural disasters hitting the industry, times have been tough in the automotive world recently. Necessity is the mother of invention, however, and many claim that the sector has emerged the stronger for it. But has everyone emerged on a level pegging? At the ...
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FeatureAre shared components the right answer?
Announcements around the Geneva Motor Show suggested that carmakers are increasing the amount of standardised components across their platforms. Although shared parts provide a thoroughly developed and cost-competitive solution for vehicle manufacturers, this trend concentrates the supply chain and can encourage OEMs to rely more on single source suppliers, risking ...
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FeatureBig opportunities ahead for Gefco
For Gefco, 2012 is turning out to be a year of significant transition. In February, parent company PSA Peugeot-Citroën announced that it was divesting (an as yet undisclosed) percentage of its ownership of the transport and logistics subsidiary in an effort to raise cash and support on-going investment in its ...
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FeatureOne vision for a global platform at UTi
UTi Worldwide is standardising its organisation to better replicate global services from one market to another. Christopher Ludwig finds the firm’s top executives believe great logistics services begin with the car industryThe power of one;Replicating services globally;The potential for regional sourcing.UTi Worldwide might not be the most recognisable name or ...
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FeatureReframing a fragmented network
GM’s Opel/Vauxhall unit is making moves to centralise its aftermarket logistics and improve efficiency at its warehouses. Simon Duval Smith caught up with Sarah Kenworthy, director of aftermarket supply chain.Vauxhall’s Chalton parts warehouse, near to the OEM’s Luton plant some 55km north of London, covers 1.2m square feet (110,00m2) of ...
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FeatureOutlining supply challenges at Audi
Audi continues to grow in both its home market as well globally in India, China and North America, where it is expected to announce plans for a new factory soon. The importance of logistics has never been more evident at the carmaker in supporting growth both from production bases in ...
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An alternative to NYC’s bridge & tunnel imports
Starting in 2012, carmakers and ro-ro lines will have a direct link to vehicle distribution on the east side of the Hudson river for the first time. The South Brooklyn Marine Terminal (SBMT), in the Sunset Park industrial area of Brooklyn, will offer processing and technical services, managed by Axis ...
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Breaking up is hard to do
With some worst-case scenarios moving frighteningly closer to reality in the eurozone, Europe may already be in recession. GDP growth was anaemic (but still up) in the third quarter in France, Germany and the UK, but forecasts have been cut further. The installation of ‘technocratic’ governments in Italy and Greece ...
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FeatureCrazy for perfection
On the surface cover, a global standardDigging around the roots of damageThe damapre meeting and kaizen katsudoA lower rate of damageThe effects of climate changeNeed something else besides perfectionThe Japanese have high expectations for product perfection from fruit to cars, which is one reason why its OEMs have some of ...
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FeatureDriving through the danger zone
Exports and assets help Spanish carriers survive A deep imbalance A resilient CATGetting Europe in harmonyNot easy to be longer or higherA peculiarly British problemSeventhEighthChris Lewis investigates how European road providers are surviving in the face of another potential recession and an investment shortage. Additional reporting by Christopher Ludwig on ...