All Feature articles – Page 182
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PCMA Rus plant will halt output in April; Peugeot Citroën Rus restructures
PSA Peugeot-Citroën’s joint venture with Mitsubishi Motors in Russia – PCMA Rus – has said it will idle production at its plant in Kaluga because of poor sales in the country. The decision follows similar moves by VW announced last week.It also follows last year’s decision by PSA to cancel ...
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Turkey’s Autoport finally recommences operations
Turkey’s Autoport terminal, which is located at Yeniköy in the northeast Kocaeli region, has recommenced operations following an 18-month suspension of services at the port.Autoport was the first purpose-built car handling terminal in Turkey when it opened in 2008 but it was forced to suspend operations in September 2013 following ...
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Volvo Cars to build US plant amid changing supply chain strategy
The Volvo Car Group has announced that it will build its first manufacturing plant in the US, in a bid to become a truly global carmaker. In a statement Volvo indicated that it would spend around $500m, and would eventually produce at least 100,000 cars per year for both the ...
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Toyota part 3: On time, any time, all of the time
Run with the precision of its famed production system, transport management forms the backbone of Toyota’s service parts distribution, with daily, multimodal services, and strong controls over expedited freight Toyota’s North American Parts Operations (NAPO) division manages a complex set of transport flows designed to allow for the latest possible ...
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Toyota part 3: Reverse opportunities
Toyota is exploring options for integrating remanufactured and recycled parts into its logistics network.Along with dealer distribution, NAPO is responsible for reverse logistics for the return of packaging modules, as well as collecting dealer part returns. However, with the growth in hybrid vehicles, Neil Swartz and his team are moving ...
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Toyota part 3: In-house quality applications
Toyota is using its in-house truck fleet for service parts distribution as a competitive advantage, while also trialling innovations including a new smartphone app for driversToyota is fairly unique in having its own in-house fleet of trucks for parts distribution. Toyota Quality Parts Express serves major routes out of the ...
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Maintaining the flow
What are OEMs, claims managers and repair specialists doing to prevent damaged vehicles from damaging profits and customer confidence?Despite the best efforts of carmakers and their logistics providers, and despite vehicles arriving in perfect condition most of the time – up to 99.75% for some OEMs – there will always ...
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Mosolf Automotive Railway adds more cars
Mosolf Automotive Railway (MAR) is adding 100 open rail wagons to its fleet to facilitate more vehicles to be transported by rail.Since March 2015 the wagons have been leased by rail car leasing company Touax, but will become the property of MAR in 2016.The additional wagons mean MAR now has ...
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The supply chain – a holistic approach
Now more than ever, businesses must improve the efficiency of their supply chain in order to maintain a competitive advantage. All too often companies target storage, handling and transport to reduce costs, but this is just the tip of the iceberg when aiming for a truly effective end-to-end supply chain. ...
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Mind the sulphur gap
WWL’s global head of environment, Roger Strevens (left) warns that shipping lines and cargo owners risk falling into a trap if they fail to look over the horizon when adjusting fuel costs, as well as if they ignore proper enforcement of new sulphur emission control zonesOf all the scenarios that ...
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On board for progress
Ashok Leyland’s head of vehicle distribution, Chandrakant Mishra reveals how the OEM is trying to maximise its outbound logistics efficiency as much as the Indian landscape will allow.Unpaved and congested roads; long queues of vehicles waiting at state borders to pay various tolls and taxes; limited handling and storage at ...
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Planning from first to last mile
Logistics specialists are looking for transport management systems to do more than optimise routes and track flows; they want complete management tools for increasingly complex supply chains.At Torrance, California-headquartered Toyota Logistics Services – the outbound logistics and vehicle processing arm of Toyota Motor Sales USA – a recently-implemented Oracle transport ...
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TPT slaps 9% tariff increase on South African carmakers
South African terminal operator, Transnet Port Terminals (TPT), has announced it will increase tariffs for automotive cargo by almost double the average approved by the country’s port regulator, which stands at 4.8%. The latest increase follows a similar increase of 9.25% last year.The tariffs, which will come into affect at ...
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VW reported making short sea shipments between Portugal and Germany
VW is reported to have started parts shipments using a direct short sea route between its Autoeuropa production plant in Palmela, Portugal to its plant in Emden, Germany.VW has not confirmed the reports but several sources in the Portuguese press state that the first trailer of parts was moved last ...
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Analysis: European discord for logistics
Although Europe is considered to be a single market, differing laws and regulations surrounding wages, truck dimensions and weights are making it increasingly difficult for finished vehicle logistics providers. In the face of growing divisions between transport regulations in various European countries, finished vehicle logistics executives and European officials have ...
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Last mile: Real life on the super highway
A contributor’s first-hand experience of buying a car online was far from technologically seamless, but the savings spoke for themselvesWhile researching and writing the feature on e-commerce in automotive, fate conspired to give me first-hand experience of such a transaction. I liked the look of Ford’s Kuga model (marketed as ...
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Apps and logistics: Taking it all in hand
Smartphone apps are increasingly being used in areas such as track-and-trace, damage reporting and claims, as well as compliance issuesWith the growth of e-commerce, customers are increasingly accustomed to using their smartphones not only to buy products, but also track delivery right to their door. The ubiquitous rise of Uber, ...
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E-commerce: Online and on the road
E-commerce in automotive is starting to penetrate spare parts and vehicle purchases, with implications for OEMs, dealers, LSPs and customersIn the early days of eBay and Amazon, consumers marvelled at their own boldness. Buying on the internet was a step into the unknown: sending money to strangers to purchase items ...
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FCA phases out Chrysler supply to the UK
Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) has confirmed it is ending sales of Chrysler vehicles in the UK, which includes the Chrysler 300 and Grand Voyager. It will also end sales of the Ypsilon luxury supermini in 2017. Sales of the Delta hatchback ended last year. Sales of Chrysler brand vehicles dropped ...
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Penske Logistics to acquire Transfreight
Penske Logistics has announced that it has finalised an agreement to acquire Transfreight North America, a third-party logistics and supply chain solutions provider, from trading and investment giant, Mitsui & Co.This follows the news last week that Mitsui has acquired a 20% limited partnership interest in Penske Truck Leasing from ...