News – Page 336

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    Stop hanging around

    2010-07-01T11:57:08Z

    Getting in and getting out…fastChrysler-Fiat deal could nurture two-way flowPorts need to be meaner and leanerGrappling with recessionEast coast is fiercely competitiveLess attractive than containersHow the West Coast comparesWho you sell to still dictates carmakers’ choice of ports but patterns are shifting, and US ports try to keep pace with ...

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    In Profile: Joe Hinrichs

    2010-07-01T09:54:47Z

    Joe Hinrichs' rise at Ford has been as quick as it has been impressive. Having worked a decade for General Motors, and several years at a manufacturing investment firm, he first came to the attention of Automotive Logistics in 2002, when he took over as Ford’s executive director for material ...

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    Suppliers are healthier, but face capacity shortfalls

    2010-07-01T09:49:01Z

    The outlook for tier suppliers in North America has improved significantly in 2010 with higher vehicle sales coming atop aggressive moves to cut costs. The recent “Automotive Supplier Barometer”, released in May by the Original Equipment Suppliers Association (OESA), a North American supplier group, reveals significant improvements in production capacity ...

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    Russian policy is a real pain for logistics

    2010-06-30T00:00:00Z

    The most significant challenge facing automotive logistics in Russia is government policy according to attendees at last week’s Automotive Logistics conference in St Petersburg, with 65% of delegates surveyed citing it as the primary issue above the widespread infrastructure problems affecting logistics in the country (19%). And as Wilhelmina ...

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    Feature

    Export promise sways OEMs in Asia Pacific

    2010-06-30T00:00:00Z

    Ford has said that Thailand's top class automotive, logistics and export infrastructure was a factor in its decision to build a new $450m passenger vehicle plant in Rayong. The plant will have an annual production capacity of 150,000 vehicles and will begin assembling the next-generation Ford Focus from 2012 according ...

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    Gefco announces JVs with Russian operators

    2010-06-30T00:00:00Z

    The Russian division of French logistics provider Gefco used an event alongside last week’s Automotive Logistics Russia conference to announce two new joint ventures in the country – one with full service logistics provider Russian Transport Lines (RTL) and one with rail freight container operator, Transcontainer. The partnership with RTL ...

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    Eukor renews export contracts with Hyundai

    2010-06-30T00:00:00Z

    Korean-based car carrier Eukor has renewed two contracts with Hyundai for export volumes from India and Turkey. The first with Hyundai Motor India (HMI) is for three years and will start from the beginning of July this year. It builds on Eukor’s export business with Hyundai, which started a decade ...

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    Ceva builds contract with BMW in Italy

    2010-06-30T00:00:00Z

    Ceva Logistics has signed a three-year agreement with BMW to operate a new dealer metro distribution centre (DMDC) for supply of spare parts to dealers in Lombardy and Piedmont. Ceva will handle BMW and MINI parts in the new 3,100m2 centre owned by BMW at Albairate in the west of ...

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    Adampol launches rail service from Poland

    2010-06-30T00:00:00Z

    Polish finished vehicle carrier Adampol has launched a new regular rail service from the logistics centre in owns and operates in Malaszewicze on the eastern Polish border with Belarus for shipment of vehicles to Eastern Europe. Tuesday (29 June) saw the first loading, which will take Suzuki vehicles between the ...

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    Analysis China: rising currency & wages to benefit global LSPs?

    2010-06-23T00:00:00Z

    Factories in China continued to see disruptions this week to the flow of material to assembly lines following another set of strikes by parts suppliers over low wages. This time the walkouts were in Guangdon province at Denso (Guangzhou Nansha), a subsidiary of Japanese tier supplier Denso–the largest global supplier ...

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    Feature

    Practice makes perfect with proper qualification

    2010-06-23T00:00:00Z

    At a time when much of the European and North American vehicle logistics industry is still recovering from the harsh cuts in capacity and staff following the global downturn, there have been worries on both sides of the Atlantic over the potential for looming shortages not only in future transport ...

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    Reform badly needed for intermodal, customs

    2010-06-23T00:00:00Z

    If automotive logistics providers operating in Russia are to make the best of the optimistic forecasts expressed this week in St Petersburg they will need to improve rail and intermodal services, as well as be flexible and adaptive when it comes to the country’s ever-changing customs procedures, according to several ...

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    Logistics favoured Blue Springs plant

    2010-06-23T00:00:00Z

    Toyota’s decision to recommence construction on its Blue Springs plant in the US state of Mississippi and shift Corolla production there from the New United Motor Manufacturing Inc. (NUMMI) plant in Fremont, California, which closed in March, is in part based on the better logistics the plant will offer. According ...

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    VW opens $30m distribution centre in South Africa

    2010-06-23T00:00:00Z

    Volkswagen South Africa has opened a R230m ($30.4m) parts distribution centre in Centurian, near Pretoria. At the opening ceremony VW’s management board chairman Martin Winterkorn said the centre would be fully operational before the end of 2010. The new 26,000m2 centre is product of the company’s Strategy 2018 project, which ...

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    Sollers increases Ssangyong imports

    2010-06-23T00:00:00Z

    Ssangyong Motor has signed a deal with Russian holding company and partner Sollers to increase CKD kit exports to Russia over the next seven years. From an estimated total of 12,000 kits this year CKD, shipments will increase to 16,700 units next year and by 2017 the number of exports ...

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    Pirates release Asian Glory car carrier

    2010-06-16T00:00:00Z

    The car carrier VC Asian Glory, which was hijacked at the beginning of January by Somali pirates in the Indian Ocean, has now been released and escorted to Oman by the British military. The release follows the payment of a ransom of unspecified amount though reports indicate that the pirates ...

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    Feature

    A Chinese supply chain in transition

    2010-06-16T00:00:00Z

    Rising labour and logistics rates could change the landscape of supply chain management in the automotive industry in China, it emerged last week at a special workshop organised by Automotive Logistics at the transport logistics China trade exhibition in Shanghai. On the other hand, a slowdown in the growth of ...

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    Feature

    Alliance gets more ambitious with Avtovaz

    2010-06-16T00:00:00Z

    Renault’s relationship with Russian carmaker Avtovaz, which builds the Lada, has been extended across its alliance with Nissan in a move that could have widescale impacts for managing the supply chain for the carmakers in Russia and the surrounding region. The companies announced last week that they will expand shared ...

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    Feature

    Odette consortium seeks SME integration

    2010-06-16T00:00:00Z

    At this week’s Odette25 conference held in Munich, Germany, Odette International’s managing director John Canvin (pictured) revealed the progress being made on a project initiated by the EU Commission to help small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) communicate more effectively in the global automotive supply chain through digital integration and standardisation ...

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    Marco Polo proposals hit record number

    2010-06-16T00:00:00Z

    Marco Polo, the European Union's funding programme for projects that shift freight transport from the road to sea, rail and inland waterways, has received 101 project proposals for this year’s budget allocation, the highest number received in the programme so far. Funding requests arising from the proposals amount to €235m ...