All features articles – Page 21
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FeatureThe building blocks of demand
China and Europe are far apart, not just in terms of distance, but also culturally, economically and politically. Yet they occupy the same Eurasian land mass and trade between the two regions has been growing strongly. That includes automotive freight, with parts and vehicles moving in greater numbers in both ...
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FeatureNo more second-hand innovation
The conservation of time and the acceleration of goods in the supply chain have long been valued by OEMs and their partners in bringing new cars from production to market. Those principles are increasingly being brought to bear in the used car market, too, with tighter logistics chains and greater ...
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FeatureMoving with market currents
Growing sales prompt rising shipmentsThe first half of 2017 has seen a partial recovery in deep-sea shipments of new light vehicles. Management consultancy Maritime Strategies International (MSI) estimates that global shipments will be up around 3% during the first half of 2017, compared to the same period in 2016.According to ...
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FeatureNew awards celebrate excellence and innovation in automotive supply chains
The Automotive Logistics Group, which publishes the highly respected Automotive Logistics magazine as well as organising a series of global logistics conferences, has today announced the launch of an exciting new awards scheme for the automotive supply chain management sector.The Automotive Logistics Awards – Europe 2018 will recognise and reward ...
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FeatureSeat looks to digital supply chain and connected cars with Telefónica deal
Spanish telecommunications provider Telefónica is to become an IT supplier to carmaker Seat, following an agreement signed in the first week of November designed to develop connected car technology, as well as digitalise the supply chain and manufacturing process.Among the aims of the agreement is the application of 5G connectivity ...
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FeatureSummit report: Indian industry must turn reforms into progress
Discussions at this year’s Automotive Logistics India Summit in Chennai may have sounded remarkably familiar to those who attended the very first conference a decade earlier: infrastructure deficits, underdeveloped connections, a lack of rail transport options, a fragmented logistics market, a highly bureaucratic and unproductive customs regime, and the proliferation ...
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FeatureIT implementation: Touching the cutting edge
Twenty years ago, parts of today’s automotive supply chain would have seemed like science fiction – plants keeping just a few hours’ worth of highly traceable inventory, unmanned drones being used to monitor site activity, glasses with computer chips in them, self-driving vehicles, and management systems that predict the future, ...
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FeatureBMW tracking: Prevention is better than a cure
Few manufacturing operations have expanded as much over the past two decades as BMW’s Plant Spartanburg in Greer, South Carolina. After producing 411,000 X-series SUV models in 2016, it is now the carmaker’s largest global facility by assembly volume, and is headed towards its maximum capacity of 450,000 units per year, including the launch this year of the new X3.
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FeatureMines of information
Having invested over the past 20 years in data acquisition technology, the automotive industry is now casting around for ways to make sense of that data.
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FeatureBrunswick increases vehicle handling capacity by 50% in a year
Brunswick port, in the US state of Georgia, has reported an increase in its vehicle handling capacity at the Colonel’s Island terminal of 50% during the last 12 months.According to the Georgia Ports Authority (GPA), the ro-ro terminal has expanded storage from 60,000 spaces in 2016 to 90,000 spaces today, ...
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FeatureOne box still does not fit all
A look at automotive packaging developments over the past 20 years
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FeatureThe twilight of global trade?
Globalisation and free trade may be reversing towards regional supply chains for a mix of policy and economic reasons
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FeaturePlugged in for progress
Evolution of CCS charging technology for e-cars towards 350 kW" width="500" height="500">The last two decades have seen the emergence of the alternative propulsion vehicle market from almost nothing. According to PwC Autofacts data, sales in 1997 across all hybrid and electric vehicles numbered about 6,000 vehicles. This year, the ...
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FeatureService parts part 4: Skills and service providers
Have you changed your outsourcing strategy for service parts operations? As with other parts of the automotive supply chain, outsourcing strategies tend to vary by OEM, region and operation. Transport services, of course, remain outsourced, although some carmakers – such as Toyota on the west coast of the US or ...
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FeatureService parts part 3: Aftermarket operations and network
20 years of change in automotive service parts logistics
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FeatureService parts part 2: Next-generation service
Executives we spoke to… BMW GroupWolfgang Baumann, vice-president of parts logistics management, has been with the company since 1985 and spent most of his career in sales planning and commercial operations in Germany, before moving into his current role in service parts logistics in 2010. While he claims ...
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FeatureService parts part 1: Moving fast towards the customer
Twenty years of automotive service parts logistics
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FeatureDigital revolutions in political turmoil
Whether it has been politics, the economy, ‘Dieselgate’, collapsing German rail tunnels or adverse weather, the European transport sector has its fair share to deal with this year – at a time which also appears to mark the end to a recent cyclical high in new vehicle registrations, at least ...
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FeatureProduction & logistics part 4: Logistics organisations and skills
How has your company’s supply chain and logistics management organisation changed over the past 20 years?
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FeatureProduction & logistics part 3: Operations, packaging and IT
How have supply chain operations for logistics changed over the past 20 years?