All features articles – Page 20
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FeatureChanje charges to an electrifying lead
Commercial electric vehicle start-up Chanje has stolen a march on some of the more established players in the US, revealing the V8070 all-electric panel van, which can carry a payload of 6,000lbs (2.72 tonnes), several months before Tesla unveiled its much-anticipated electric truck.Chanje is led by Bryan Hansel, founder of ...
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FeatureWhat3words: Innovative addressing solution
‘Innovative addressing solution’ aptly summarises the product the founders of a start-up came up with over three years ago. It also happens to be the co-ordinates of an exact 3m x 3m location in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. The original concept that would become What3words was born when ...
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FeatureChina car transporters: Axle position looks set to move centre stage
The era of the overloaded car transporter in China – the ‘aircraft carriers’, as some have referred to them – is entering its final stages this year. After more than a decade of growing lengths and dangerous loads, the country’s highways are set to see improvements in safety and standards, ...
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FeatureMexico conference: Uncertainty well-balanced with optimism
While a degree of uncertainty over the future of free trade between Mexico and its Nafta neighbours to the north once again hung over discussions at this year’s Automotive Logistics Mexico conference, it was more than matched by confidence in the future of the automotive sector. That confidence is being ...
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FeatureOutbound TMS: The search for a system that can't be beat
In recent years, growing computer power, advanced software and algorithms for logistics planning have led to a rise in the use of the transport management system (TMS), which enables companies, among other things, to receive, plan, monitor and report on collections and deliveries. Some manufacturers and logistics providers have implemented ...
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FeatureLogistics IT: Is there an app for that?
At US finished vehicle logistics specialist Jack Cooper Logistics, recounts president Andrea Amico, as part of a contract for carrying out the collection and inspection of ex-fleet vehicles on behalf of a US carmaker, the need to supply seven images of each inspected vehicle was suddenly upped to a requirement ...
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FeatureAutomation: Paving the way for progress
Ask automotive manufacturers what their primary concerns are today within warehouses and factories and they will probably allude to one of three key things – productivity, safety and waste. Although various solutions are available to help alleviate problems in these areas, one of the most important is materials handling technology. ...
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FeatureJoanne Perry takes over as editor of Automotive Logistics
Joanne Perry (pictured) has taken over from Christopher Ludwig as the editor of the Automotive Logistics group, becoming responsible for the print and digital content of Automotive Logistics and Finished Vehicle Logistics.The move follows Ludwig’s appointment as content director at parent company, Ultima Media, which organises the Automotive Logistics group's ...
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FeatureEmergency response: Weathering the storms
A volatile 2017 hurricane season saw successive storms hit the US south-east and the Caribbean, counting at least 500,000 vehicles in the US alone among its many damages and leading to emergency planning once again gaining a greater level of prominence within the finished vehicle supply chain. While matching the ...
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FeatureDisaster recovery: Prepared for the worst?
As the scale of the destruction wrought by the earthquake and subsequent tsunami that devastated Japan’s north-eastern coastline in March 2011 became apparent, managers within BMW’s purchasing function were asked if it would affect the company. Their answer? No – because BMW had no suppliers in Japan.But that wasn’t quite ...
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FeatureRising inventory: Stock lots
In any retail business, inventory management is a delicate balancing act. Hold too little and frustrated customers will be forced to shop elsewhere; but piling stock on your shelves puts a strain on working capital and if what you bought isn’t what customers want, you have little choice but to ...
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FeatureRoad transport in Mexico: no time for reflection
About three years ago, trucking capacity for the movement of finished vehicles in Mexico was a big concern. Trucks are used for the delivery of all finished vehicles for the domestic market there, as well as supporting rail in moving vehicles to and from ports, and there were simply not ...
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FeatureRussian regulation: Get local or get going
The industrial assembly policy that Russia’s government has been pursuing since 2008 initially looked to have played out quite well, encouraging the world’s leading automotive manufacturers to build assembly plants in the country. But after several economic crises, including a sharp devaluation of the rouble in 2014 and subsequent market ...
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![White Bendy road [Converted]](https://d3n5uof8vony13.cloudfront.net/Pictures/100x67/1/8/6/19186_White-Bendy-road-Converted.jpg)
FeatureTwists and turns in the road ahead
The European new vehicle market has showed strength in recent years, following a long decline after the global financial and subsequent Eurozone crises; sales have mostly recovered to pre-crisis levels and continued to rise in most major EU markets throughout 2017, with the exception of the UK.The outlook for the ...
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FeatureSeat: Delivering improvement
After reinventing much of its vehicle logistics following a severe reduction in output in the wake of the financial crisis, Volkswagen Group’s Spain-based Seat has since seen strong growth in production, exports and sales. That has put even more pressure on space and capacity at its main assembly location in ...
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FeatureAudi’s logistics part 2: Pursuing practical progression
There is little question that finished vehicle logistics has been among the least automated segments of the overall automotive production and supply chain process. From loading and unloading vehicles to and from trucks, ships and rail wagons to inspection and parking, as well as scanning vehicles into inventory and tracking systems, outbound logistics has remained, by and large, a manual, labour-intensive operation
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FeatureAudi’s logistics part 1: Prepared for a new reality
The recent history of the Audi brand is written deeply into the company’s supply chain and logistics, and can be read across the carmaker’s expanding geography, plant and parts handling operations
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FeatureRenault Nissan Automotive India part 2: Ensuring all brands are ready to go
Renault Nissan Automotive India, the joint venture division of the Renault Nissan Alliance that oversees production and distribution activities in the country, was established with a number of logistics advantages in mind. Its plant in Oragadam, close to the southern city of Chennai, is a manufacturing hub located within a ...
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FeatureA stormy year of negotiations, electric plans and cyber-attacks
As the year draws to close, major uncertainty regarding both Nafta and Brexit remains, as well a lack of clarity on what any changes could mean for the global automotive sector and the logistics industry that supports it.During the past 12 months, OEMs have made major strides towards an electric ...
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FeatureNoatum sets up automotive division to integrate Spanish port operations
Noatum Maritime has consolidated its position in Spain’s finished vehicle and ro-ro market with the integration of its vehicle handling businesses at the ports of Barcelona, Sagunto, Málaga and Santander with those in Pasajes and Tarragona.The company has now formed a new division called Noatum Maritime Automotive that will draw ...