SCM Insights It’s high time to tap the potential of the 4th Industrial Revolution COVID-19, its effects on the industry and the restart of production currently dominate on the agenda. Everyone is longing for a return to normality and this will be the case in a few months' time. The world will not stand still and it is certainly not standing still at this very moment. (more…)
SCM Insights Visibility, Analytics & Intelligence: Get full transparency on your supply chain, not just in times of crisis! Planning, purchasing, logistics and transport management are traditionally separate processes, typically located in different departments. The material planners determine how many parts production requires and order these from the supplier, considering safety stocks. The suppliers operate in their own systems, as does the transport service provider. What, when, in what quantity and at what time is to be delivered usually remains unclear until goods receipt. (more…)
SCM Insights In times of Corona, how can Track & Trace help to solve the challenges ahead? The Corona pandemic took us all completely by surprise. Few people expected a "black-swan" event like this. And even the boldest risk scenarios have not foreseen or dealt with the scale of the problem we are currently experiencing.Supply chains have been severely disrupted or even completely collapsed within a short period of time, especially in the automotive and aviation industries. If important suppliers stop producing, warehouses are not working and transports out of "red zones" are not possible, then production cannot be maintained, or only with great difficulty.But not everything has come to a standstill. Where production is still going on, it is now particularly important to know what is happening during transport, how long are the waiting times at the borders, where are the restrictions and what time effects will this have on the delivery. (more…)
SCM Insights There is no future without integrated production and logistics networks Much has already been written about flexible production and logistics networks, especially in economically turbulent times. However, the reality in many companies is still that production program planning and logistics planning run side by side in a non-integrated manner. Supplier integration, too, is usually only partially implemented. (more…)
Industry News Inspirations and innovations for the financial transformation of the automotive industry in China Outside, a constant stream of vehicles and cold temperatures prevailed; inside, innovations in the automotive industry were debated in a warm atmosphere. That was the "2019 Automotive Industry Supply Chain Innovation and Financial Transformation Forum", which took place in Beijing on October 25, 2019. (more…)