Automotive supply chain subjected to intensified pressures during summer shutdown preparation
Premium freight provision able to safeguard automotive supply chain, enhance resilience and reduce the threat of costly supply failure
The automotive industry is entering a period of calm before the storm, according to Evolution Time Critical, a Europe-based automotive emergency logistics specialist. Production traditionally slows as the summer shutdown period approaches, but this can herald a complex and testing period for its supply chain. While shutdowns may represent the quietest periods of automotive production, they can also raise the most troublesome problems that require expert knowledge to overcome.
“The hardest problems to counter often emerge during summer shutdowns, partly due to the skeleton staff operated by the industry during this period – premium freight and emergency logistics expertise are vital provisions to ensure that previously robust supply chain links are not fractured, or production restart jeopardised,” explains Evolution Time Critical managing director, Brad Brennan. “During the period around shutdowns, demand for Evolution Time Critical’s services peak immediately before and after, as vehicle manufacturers and their OEMs aim to optimise inventory levels and then, once production has resumed, bridge any potential shortages in their supply chain. Issues during shutdown can be exacerbated by reduced access to stocks, locations and manufacturers’ in-house expertise.”
2016 has been a hectic year for automotive production, with time contraction and a greater number of new model launches placing increased pressure on the supply chain to adapt. Summer shutdowns provide an opportunity for suppliers to catch up and reinvigorate the supply chain, and also offer an essential window for production relocation, tooling repair or replacement.
“We have worked with vehicle manufacturers to safeguard production around the shutdown period, helping to analyse supply lines and identify potential difficulties,” continues Brennan. “If stocks are prepared and manufacturers ready, the shutdown period provides a window of opportunity for the automotive industry beyond simply stopping for breath. However, problems can be increasingly difficult to overcome so it is vital that manufacturers and their suppliers prepare well for the period of reduced activity.
“We have carried out a range of innovative projects during past shutdowns, from time-critical shipment of tooling, ultra-time sensitive deliveries and movement of production between continents,” he concludes. “The automotive industry is now acknowledging the production benefits of supply chain clarity, and proactively managing operations with a third party expert such as Evolution Time Critical.”
www.evolution-timecritical.com
About Evolution Time Critical
Evolution Time Critical is a Metro Supply Chain Group company and is the world’s leading specialist in emergency logistics for the automotive industry. Analysts are available 24 hours a day, ready to develop and implement solutions in any part of the world within a 15-minute response window, calling on a vast range of techniques, skills and contacts to ensure that goods reach their destination on time.
The skills of Evolution’s team are also available for consulting projects, helping clients to achieve additional savings in their supply chains while also strengthening and improving manufacturing efficiency. Increasingly, Evolution has found that emergency logistics is playing an integral role in lean strategies as the automotive industry returns to higher production volumes, allowing further inventory reductions while maintaining the reliability of deliveries to manufacturing plants.
The expertise and techniques developed by Evolution for the automotive sector are also benefitting the aerospace and marine industries, where the company helps clients to release capital trapped in spare parts by facilitating urgent parts deliveries, and return aircraft and ships to service more quickly.
Press Contact
Gareth Charlton at Market Engineering
+44 (0)1295 277 050
gareth.charlton@m-eng.com
Sales and Marketing Contact
Brad Brennan at Evolution Time Critical
+ 44 (0)1332 814 914
bbrennan@evolution-timecritical.com
Assets
Images can be downloaded from our newsroom without registration.
Alternatively, please contact megan.davies@m-eng.com
To download this release as a PDF please click here
Tags:
