Panalpina’s former vice president of key account management, Alan Votaw, has taken up a new position at the head of the company’s automotive division – Panalpina IV Automotive.
Votaw, who has been with Panalpina since January 2002, took up his new role as senior vice president, global head of industry vertical automotive, at Panalpina Management Limited on Monday this week.
He told Automotive Logistics News that one the biggest challenges he saw facing the automotive industry was the ability of OEMs and part suppliers to turn over profits again in an economical environment that remained challenging.
Automotive LSPs also need to increase their role in supporting customers to drive out waste and cost in the supply chain while remaining flexible to the changing demands of the industry, he said.
Looking at the mid- to long-term priorities he would oversee at Panalpina IV Automotive, Votaw added that he wanted to make Panalpina the industry leader for automotive supply chain and logistics. He also identified the need for “leveraging and expanding the automotive customer base and product portfolio on a global scale [and] increasing focus on automotive supply chain products that deliver value to our clients”.
CAT UK has appointed Chris Howard to run the company’s vehicle processing centre in at the Port of Southampton. He comes from Renault SA Supply Chain Consultant and has been closely involved with the carmakers global facilities and supply points since 2005.
CAT has a close relationship with Renault, which accounts for 83% of its business in the UK.
Howard was previously with Fiat Group for seven years, where he held several positions including transport manager in France and logistics area manager in Italy.
He will report to CAT UK managing director, Stuart Warren, who said “[Chris’s] knowledge of supply chain logistics and previous good working relationship with CAT make an ideal candidate to lead CAT UK Southampton forward as the centre of excellence for automotive logistics.”
CAT opened its €1m ($1.40m) vehicle processing centre at the Port of Southampton last summer. It is designed to process 100,000 new vehicles each year.
Schneider National Inc. has named Derrel E. Chappell as director, wholesale business development, for the company’s Intermodal division. He brings more than 40 years of rail-industry experience to the role and will be responsible for Schneider’s relationship with intermodal marketing companies and 3PLs, as well as overseeing development of the company’s wholesale strategy and growth of strategic customer relationships. Chappell was most recently with Pacer Stacktrain/APL.
“I have a great passion for connecting railroads, intermodal transportation companies and shippers and collaborating to find the best solution to meet a specific customer need,” said Chappell. “Bringing together Schneider assets and award-winning service with a marketplace craving innovative and reliable solutions is an exciting opportunity.”
“The intermodal marketplace has shifted dramatically during the past year,” added Steve Van Kirk, vice president of commercial operations for Schneider National’s Intermodal sector. “Not only have relationships between the railroads and intermodal carriers changed, but transit times and rates have also been affected. These dynamics make it an ideal time to bring a wholesale offering to the marketplace, giving intermodal shippers more creative, cost-effective solutions for moving their freight.”
Vic Giardini has moved from his position as senior director of supply chain management at Arvin Meritor to take up a new role as director, global commodity management for global automotive roof and temperature management system provider Webasto.
Giardini has responsibility for direct materials commodity management within Webasto, overall control of the further commodity directors and teams, including two low-cost commodity teams in China and India respectively. His role also includes responsibility for estimation and processes and systems. He will report to Theodorus Timmerman, group vice president, purchasing & COO business group, convertible roof & body Europe.
