All Inventory management articles – Page 38
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FeatureEditor's note: virtually keeping up with customers
In many sectors, logistics is being transformed by e-commerce, with brands connecting more to the mobile customer, who in turn demands order fulfilment as fast as you can swipe a screen. The effect this is having across the general logistics market is pretty staggering as companies compete to manage last ...
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FeatureToyota part 4: Looking for the ‘holy grail’ of predictability
Toyota’s visibility across its parts and distribution centres works to the great benefit of dealers, but the carmaker’s challenge is ultimately to try and distinguish real demand from stock replenishment requestsToyota’s North American Parts Operations (NAPO)has built inventory visibility across its part centres and distribution centres, thanks partly to an ...
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FeatureJDA Software webinar: Meeting the new normal
A wise man once said that the automotive industry is the industry of industries. The automotive ecosystem is vast, consisting of a complicated network of tier suppliers, 3PLs, OEMs, distributors, dealers and retailers, and not least customers. Across that network parts are being borrowed from all over.After the steady recovery ...
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FeatureToyota 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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FeatureToyota 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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FeatureThe 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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FeatureOn 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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FeaturePlanning 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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FeatureApps 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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FeatureE-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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FeatureToyota part 2: A complex stock-in-trade
Toyota’s warehouse network and operations are strategic to maintaining the costs and efficiency of its spare parts deliveries, especially considering the scale, volume and diversity of parts and order lines that they handleThe volume moving in and out of Toyota’s huge main parts centres each day is simply dizzying: the ...
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FeatureToyota part 1: NAPO organisation and 'One Toyota'
Understanding how Toyota's service parts division in the US is organised, and looking to the implication of the carmaker's consolidation in TexasAs vice-president and general manager of Toyota’s North American Parts Operations, Neil Swartz (left) manages the full scope of the service parts and accessories supply chain across Toyota Motor ...
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FeatureToyota part 1: Cornerstone of a strong supply chain
Toyota’s unique ‘two-tier’ supply chain in North America is designed to smooth distribution and ensure fast, uninterrupted supply to dealers, distributors and export marketsThe view outside the Toyota parts centre in Ontario, 50 miles east of Los Angeles, is pure California. Palm trees line the road in either direction and ...
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FeatureThe big freeze thaws
Following last year’s winter of discontent, rail providers in North America are putting record amounts of revenue back into meeting demand, while better forecasting and communication with carmakers appear to be improving services.For the North American finished vehicle rail logistics industry, 2014 was both a bumper year and a bumpy ...
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FeatureRussia: Running on empty?
Rising prices and weak spending power, combined with a devalued currency, the low cost of oil and government cuts, add up to bleak forecasts for the Russian automotive sectorThe Russian automotive logistics industry is no stranger to calamity. Veteran executives will remember Russia’s instability in 1998 during its first financial ...
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FeatureEurope conference: Are logistics companies ready for the future?
At the end of a busy conference in Bonn, senior executives from Adam Opel, Volvo Car, PSA Peugeot Citroen, and Kia Motors joined a panel discussion with editor Christopher Ludwig and publisher Louis Yiakoumi to discuss how ready the logistics industry is for new technologies, whether that is driverless vehicles ...
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FeatureChang is new manager of vehicle logistics at Porsche Cars NA
Howard Chang has moved from his role as delivery quality engineer at Porsche Cars North America (PCNA) to become manager of vehicle logistics and port operations. He replaces Justin Newell, who left the company last September and now has a position at as operations manager at Reliable Carriers, one of ...
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FeatureMazda's key to unlocking a continent
Michael Beyer (right), group manager of vehicle logistics at Mazda North American Operations, reveals how logistics for the OEM’s new Mexican plant will be crucial to its success in the US and in global markets The current decade has been a transformative one for Mazda in the US and North ...
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FeatureFuture visions of European automotive logistics
Delegates gathered in Bonn, Germany for the annual Automotive Logistics Europe conference, where senior executives discussed the role of technology, e-commerce and globalisation in the automotive supply chain. Some of the forecasts were scary, although many foresee increasing complexity and opportunity – if logistics companies can keep up with the ...
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FeatureGM to close Indonesian plant citing logistics complexity and material cost
General Motors has said it will close its Bekasi plant in Indonesia by the end of June this year citing high material costs and limitations on its ability to fully utilise the local supplier base. The company’s executive vice president and president for GM International, Stefan Jacoby, also said that ...