Simply digital: key factors for successful automotive supply chains
Planning resources proactively, optimizing networks, automating order and transport management, syncing internal and external processes.
These are challenging times in the automotive industry. Supply bottlenecks are putting the squeeze on production processes. Transport chains are grinding to a halt. Meanwhile, technology is evolving with leaps and bounds. This is hitting an industry that already faces huge logistical challenges. Far-flung supplier networks, multimodal supply chains, just-in-time and just-in-sequence cycles for thousands of vehicle parts and components: Successful automotive production requires many elements to sync perfectly.
There is an urgent need for solutions to make automotive supply chains more resilient — solutions that give industry players smart control over logistics and production processes with the speed and flexibility to balance out fluctuations.
This is where digital technology comes in, offering a wide range of applications and use cases. Planning resources proactively, optimizing networks, automating order and transport management, syncing internal and external processes: Everything we can hope for and envision today is already possible with the right digital tools.
Revving up your supply chain
Software solutions enable end-to-end planning and organization of everything from procurement to warehousing to customer shipping by sharing order and transport data worldwide, integrating suppliers and logistics partners, and managing inbound and outbound logistics at production sites.
The supply chain control tower is undoubtedly one of the tools helping carmakers and OEMs optimize their logistics processes. It is a command center and consolidation hub all in one, connecting everyone involved in a process regardless of IT system environment, delivering the necessary transparency, and enabling end-to-end supply chain monitoring. The result: significantly lower process costs, less administrative overhead, greater reliability.
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Mastering structural adaptations
The adaptations associated with structural changes in the automotive industry are no less daunting. The growing demand for e-mobility and the ensuing reorganization of production make it necessary to rethink the supply chain as well. How do new sourcing strategies impact the logistics network? What does a smaller number of parts and components mean for procurement and manufacturing? How can sustainability goals be achieved?
The answers to these and similar questions are provided by the digital twin, the ideal sparring partner for innovative new ideas and concepts. It is a command center and consolidation hub all in one, connecting everyone involved in a process regardless of IT system environment, delivering the necessary transparency, and enabling end-to-end supply chain monitoring. The result: significantly lower process costs, less
administrative overhead, greater reliability.
The digital twin gives carmakers and logistics experts a powerful analysis and simulation tool to zero in on cause and effect in possible scenarios such as alternative supply intervals. Any tweak to the operational system can be played through in advance without risk to assess its impact on the overall process—using real data. In this way, the digital twin lays the groundwork for key strategic, tactical, and operational decisions in logistics networks.
One thing is clear: Now more than ever, efficient and resilient supply chains are a critical competitive factor in the automotive industry. Siemens Digital Logistics is the partner with the industry experience you need to find the right software solution for your company.
