Shipping and logistics provider Wallenius Wilhelmsen Logistics (WWL) is hosting a dedicated webinar with Finished Vehicle Logistics that will look closely at the business decisions related to the outsourcing of supply chain management for the outbound supply chain. The focus will be on how to increase benefits by clarifying logistics strategy, choosing the right provider and actively managing the relationship.
Outsourced logistics cover a broad spectrum of services, from transport management and inventory control to payroll and distribution. It could be argued that, traditionally, the scope of outsourced services have been more comprehensive for parts logistics than for finished vehicle logistics, as third and fourth party logistics providers take control of certain management functions, including transport purchasing and carrier selection, network management, track and trace and quality control. Examples of such relationships in the automotive industry include Ceva’s role for the Fiat Group and DHL Supply Chain for Ford of Europe.
If nothing else, such relationships tend to foster longer term and more strategic relationships between manufacturers and service providers. Although Fiat has said that it plans to take more aspects of freight forwarding in-house, it continues to contract further with Ceva for services across the group, including with Chrysler, for which Ceva recently signed some important deals in Northern Europe for aftermarket.
For vehicle logistics, outsourcing has tended to be more transport and storage orientated, with carmakers still largely responsible for purchasing and network management. However, WWL has been among the companies seeking to go further in outsourcing partnerships. In the US, for example, it has a large share of responsibility for Nissan’s inland distribution, as well as post-production work done on vehicles. It is also acting as a kind of lead logistics provider for BMW for certain niche markets, such as destinations to Australia, for example.
The company has long argued for closer and more lasting partnerships in the outbound supply chain.
The webinar, which will address these issues and more, will be held on Thursday, November 17 between 3:00 PM - 3:45 PM CET
