Automotive

As new technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI), robotics, and the internet of things (IoT) come of age, the automotive industry is expected to face severe disruption. We are looking at new ways to help bring meaningful solutions to this industry.

The automotive supply chain for manufacturing cars, trucks and other vehicles is one of the most complex in the world. It’s becoming more global too, second only to the electronics sector for the spread of suppliers, manufacturers and other third parties around the world. Globalization adds some unique complexity to the automotive supply chain, and demands practical solutions from vehicle manufacturers and brands.

It’s not just globalization that creates difficulties for automotive suppliers and builders. Changes in manufacturing processes, consumer demands and new, disruptive trends all impact on the vehicle supply chain network for raw materials, parts and finished automobiles. Both internal and external factors require automotive supply chain managers to minimize costs, optimize manufacturing and distribution, and ensure that parts and products get to the right organizations at the right time.

The challenge for the automotive sector now is to be able to ramp up supply chains to build more vehicles faster.  The average vehicle has around 30,000 individual parts. Each of those parts are either manufactured in-house or sourced from a third-party provider. A delay in just one section of the supply chain can slow down the manufacture and distribution of critical components, resulting in the production line getting shut down.

Simulation can help answer this question before ordering the trucks. The Hyster® warehouse simulator for example allows businesses to try different scenarios, giving a range of results closely simulating day-to-day operational variations.

As automobile builders and brands move towards just-in-time manufacturing, any impact on the smooth construction and distribution of vehicles means inventory shortages and revenue loss. It’s vital that automotive supply chain managers can work well with thousands of manufacturers and suppliers to streamline parts manufacture and distribution.