Automotive Supply Chain Issues

Welcome to Time Critical Update, brought to you by Evolution Time Critical - the emergency delivery specialists. Providing you with the information you need to help you keep your supply chain running.

Coalition transport policies spell tough changes for UK-bound air and road freight

The UK’s new coalition government plans to introduce taxes on aircraft entering the country, as well as on European hauliers using the UK’s roads. It has also vetoed the building of a third runway at Heathrow and says it will prevent any further runways from being built at Gatwick and Stansted airports. This could cause significant pain for automotive production lines in the UK, as Heathrow’s two runways are already operating at 98 percent capacity, with Gatwick’s runway confirmed as the world’s busiest single-use airstrip.

“If introduced, the coalition’s plan to charge air tax by plane rather than by passenger is likely to force airlines to operate fewer flights as they will need to ensure that more flights are full in order to make each journey profitable. Such a move would reduce competition on routes and increase fares,” comments Brad Brennan, managing director, Evolution Time Critical. “Furthermore, by preventing the creation of additional runways, it could become increasingly difficult to accommodate the growing quantities of cargo from Asia, particularly given the upward trend in sourcing components from India and China.”

In the event that lack of space on direct flights posed a risk to customers’ shipments of components from Asia, Evolution would provide a variety of solutions, including scheduled flights with connections to UK regional airports, or terminating shipments in Europe and completing the transit using its Night Freighter service or dedicated road transport. Components from Europe would be less affected, due to Evolution’s policy of using smaller regional airports wherever possible, due to their flexibility, responsiveness and general speed of handling.

India invests billions in transport infrastructure as parts exports rocket

The Indian government has announced it intends to invest $50 billion in road projects over the coming year. Indian transport minister Kamal Nath has explained that his government plans to create 18,000 to 20,000 km of roads, with a target of building 20 km a day, an increase from the current rate of 12 km a day. The news will be particularly welcome to carmakers and their logistics providers in the country, where a lack of sufficient infrastructure contributes to artificially high logistics costs.

Volcanic ash disruption highlights need to reinforce contingency plans

Repercussions from April’s volcanic ash cloud caused lengthy disruptions for many automotive supply chains. Emergency logistics specialist Evolution Time Critical reported a surge in requests for time critical deliveries both during the closure of international air space and in the following weeks, as airlines struggled to cope with a backlog of thousands of tonnes of cargo as well as thousands of stranded passengers.

“The havoc brought about by the closure of international air space highlights the need for manufacturers to re-examine and reinforce their contingency plans,” comments European sales director Steve Risby. “With Tier 2 suppliers increasingly located at a considerable distance from manufacturing sites, automotive supply chains are growing longer and are consequently more at risk when unexpected circumstances disrupt the flow of air freight.”

Evolution used a combination of on-board courier, dedicated road transport and airfreight to facilitate urgent deliveries during and post-ash crisis, selecting routes via airports in southern Europe. The team also supported one manufacturer with a sequence of 20 airfreight shipments from six locations in India to a variety of European airports.

Chinese logistics industry shows strong growth yet lacks overall stability

With 730,000 logistics companies reported to be registered in China, the country’s logistics industry is certainly experiencing a booming growth period. The current size of the industry is approximately $550 billion, and it has been growing at a rate of more than ten percent per year for the last ten years. In Shanghai alone there are reported to be 16,000 registered logistics companies, which means in there is one logistics company for every 1,000 inhabitants. The majority of companies are small family run businesses, with the top 20 logistics companies constituting less than seven percent of the country’s total logistics industry.

“China’s burgeoning logistics industry is showing impressive expansion, although quality standards can vary significantly,” explains Brad Brennan. “With a lack of prerequisite conditions for start-up and the absence of globally accepted quality standards, the industry is currently rather fragmented. We work with carefully selected logistics partners in China who are well established with many years’ experience.”

Evolution Time Critical expands international teams

The Evolution Time Critical team has expanded both its UK and German teams with the appointments of Barbara Piber to the German sales team in May, while Ralph Cutting joined Evolution's operations team in June 2010.

Ralph Cutting has become Evolution’s operations manager, bringing with him nearly ten years’ experience of international time critical operations. Ralph has worked both in the UK and overseas, and in particular was responsible for managing the movement of international aircraft for a very busy operations department. “Ralph’s arrival will help to strengthen an already highly experienced operations team,” comments Andrew Hampson, operations director. “His years of experience in time critical operations will be a great asset to our organisation. He is also used to working in high pressure environments and is able to act rapidly and efficiently under pressure, a definite prerequisite for Evolution Time Critical!”

Barbara Piber joined Evolution Time Critical’s German Control Centre as business development executive. She will be dealing principally with Evolution’s German customers, helping to ensure the smooth running of their accounts, as well as developing new business. She speaks several languages, including English, German, Spanish, Croatian and Slovenian. “We’re delighted to have Barbara on-board as we continue to expand our German team,” comments Steve Risby, European sales director. “Her strong academic background and wide ranging commercial experience will complement our German sales team’s activities, while her language skills will be of great help to us in providing a truly international service.”

Financial Times interviews Evolution's Graham Little

Evolution Time Criitical was recently profiled in the Financial Times in one of a series of articles depicting the nation’s most exciting jobs. The article appeared in the 29th March edition, and saw Evolution’s Graham Little discussing the challenging and fast paced working day in Evolution’s Global Control Centre. In particular, Graham described taking calls from customers in a variety of sectors, making rapid judgement calls, identifying robust backup plans at every leg of the journey and keeping customers updated through the night.

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