Corona Situation Room #2 | CHINA-EU Automotive Industry Update on Supply Chain

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On Mai 28th I moderated the «Corona Situation Room #2« with selected experts from the automotive industry in China and EU with 94% of the Chineses industry back on track (Accenture 19.05.20).

COVID-19 laid the ground for this new format of the CAR Institute, organizer of leading conferences of the automotive and mobility industry in Germany and China. Especially the global automotive industry with open markets as well as international supply chains and just-in-time strategy is facing extraordinary challenges. This initiative aims to offer orientation and support for the automotive industry in managing the COVID-19 crisis and improving the German-Chinese economic cooperation.

One expert from China and one from Germany, as well as two industry leaders, gave an update on the current situation. An open discussion with all speakers followed.

The briefing took place in an exclusive round (by invitation only) and provided a first-hand exchange of information for and with decision-makers direct from the Huawei Open Lab in Munich.

Core questions

  1. How do supply chains before/after Corona look like, how do I deal with supply-critical suppliers and countries?
  2. What digital-driven opportunities are there to make up for lost potential after the shutdowns?
  3. How can digital solutions help to make supply-chains more robust?
  4. How can digital solutions improve collaboration within the automotive industry and (OEMs & suppliers) with a focus on China and EU?
  5. How do I prevent delivery bottlenecks and production downtime?
  6. What are best-practices and learnings from CATARC, IBM and HUAWEI?

Speakers

  • Prof. Ferdinand Dudenhöffer (Director CAR Center Automotive Research)
  • Guanqi Hao (Chief Representative Office Germany, CATARC)
  • Dr. Cesim Demir (CTO Manufacturerand Automotive Solutions, Huawei)
  • Dirk Wollschläger (General Manager Global Automotive, IBM)

Discussion points

The results of our discussion and insights on supply chain & digitization:

Information and communication technology is the blood- & nerve-vein for a digitized Industry 4.0. Headlights on functional digital infrastructure (Cloud Infrastructure and digital Eco-Systems) as a success factor.

As a consequence of the COVID-19 pandemic the focus of supply chain management changes from:

  • sustainability to agility
  • compliance to resilience management.
  • traceability of goods in transit to predicting logistic lead time
  • Just-in-Time to Just-in-Case real-time solutions

New challenges in the field of supply chain management are to evaluate and adjust. Sourcing strategies, AI and blockchain will profit from COVID-19

Final question from Hans-Peter Kleebinder:

How will the supply chain look like in 2025, considering the transformation speed increases with Corona acts as an accelerator?

Cesim Demir:
“In 2025 All Connected Artificial Intelligence Logistics (ACAIL) will significantly reduce the transport of components with 3D printing technologies. It is not components that are sent from A to B, but data so that these components can be produced on site.”

Dirk Wollschläger:
By 2025 almost 100% of Supply Chain workflows will be either automated or augmented by artificial intelligence.”

Guanqi Hao:
“There will be a global supply chain that will change the world and our lives through digitalization. We need to be prepared for that, and that may happen faster than we can imagine.”

Ferdinand Dudenhöffer:
“We will see an intelligent and smart supply chain. The data will be transmitted in real-time using 5G standard and solutions will be developed simultaneously as well as implemented in real-time.”

Conclusion – after 2 Corona Situation Rooms on Logistics & Supply Chain

COVID-19 shows us the vulnerability of our global automotive industry, which is based on the division of labour, optimization of manufacturing, and especially labour costs and just-in-time production leading to global supply chains and logistics. Intelligent supply chain management is the enabler and blood- & nerve vein. Digitization will be the main driver combined with artificial intelligence and blockchain technology as well as 3-D printing technology.

#coronarampup #reboot #automotiveindustry

 


Author: Dr. oec. Hans-Peter Kleebinder

Result Blog Corona Situation Room #1 with focus on Logistics

Relevant Background Blog: China: The new global automotive leader

Information:  https://digital.car-future.com/