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moved forward considerably since the days of Henry Ford’s
                                                            famous comment:  “You can have any colour as long as it is
                                                            black!”

                                                            The automotive smart factory is lean and is driven by JIT
                                                            sequenced manufacturing processes with robotics and   LOGISTICS
                                                            automation providing consistency in high volume complex
                                                            operations. The automotive eco-system demands similar
                                                            solutions in adjoining and offsite smart warehouses. Many of
                                                            the warehouse operations are on site and include line side
                                                            feeding of manufacturing cells.

                                                            In this environment where factory costs are driven by lean
                                                            processes and efficiency, contract logistics providers have
          Big Data Analytics & Advanced Inventory           benefited from strategic investments in programmable logic
          Management Systems                                control (PLC) automations and sensor driven technologies
          One of the largest expenses for many organisations is the   that meet efficiency and productivity targets as well as
          cost of inventory so many companies embed IoT sensors on   required safety standards.
          parts, packages and equipment to track them throughout
          their journey and know exactly where they are in the   The emergence of the driverless cars and trucks has the
          network; in manufacturing, in transit or in the warehouse.   potential to significantly disrupt the logistics industry whilst
                                                            improving safety standards of the average consumer. The
          These advanced inventory management technologies are   emergence of the air taxi and e-taxi and the ongoing
          linked in with Big Data Analytics and directly integrate just   research by companies such as Airbus, Tesla, Google and
          about every aspect of complex physical inventory into   Uber may signal the start of the convergence of the aviation
          cloud-based platforms and systems. Big Data Analytics   and automotive industries. Electrification of parts have the
          manage information outputs from logistics systems and   potential to create a more efficient lighter engine and replace
          provide increased centralised intelligence and control for   the need for hydraulic propulsion.
          organisations with multiple inventory echelons and
          distribution centres throughout the world.        Meanwhile, Aerospace is becoming a big data player.
                                                            Incredibly, the information output from the ‘c series’ aircraft,
          Blockchain and Cost Transparency                  necessary for preventive maintenance and customer
          Originally developed to support the Bitcoin digital   intelligence generates the same output as Facebook daily!
          cryptocurrency, the ability to create deeply-encrypted,   Data platforms to manage information from flight
          immutable records in a highly-secure distributed ledger will   entertainment and passenger airport activities is seen to be
          become increasingly important to increase trust between   essential for innovation in the industry, confirming the
          collaborating logistics enterprises. Blockchain technology   significance of Big Data Analytics.
          will ultimately create more agile supply chains, close
          partnership deals, ensure IP protection and ratify material
          traceability and transparency.

          Analysis of Industry Adoption by Vertical
          Contract logistics providers have increasingly moved up the
          value chain of their clients to achieve higher EBIT margins
          that justify investments in technology. Country and Regional
          Distribution Centres (RDC) often function as centres of
          logistics excellence because of the scale and complexity of
          the value add activities within the warehouse. The smart   Automation has been at the heart of automotive and aviation
          warehouse, can scale up with increased efficiency without   technologies.
          compromising service for launching ‘New Product
          Introductions’ or for supporting high volume peak periods at   Hi-Tech Vertical
          quarter end and year end. The manual warehouse carries   RDCs are consistently used for forward deployment
          greater risk particularly when work forces are flexed up and   strategies when OEMs co-locate manufacturing activities
          down with part time staff to meet peak volumes.   with value add logistics services to reduce transportation and
                                                            inventory carrying costs to improve order lead times and
          Automotive Vertical                               customer satisfaction. Value add activities include,
          The Automotive Vertical is a highly competitive and   management of both client owned inventory (COI) and
          challenging vertical for contract logistics providers. Robotics   vendor owned inventory (VOI), high volume pallet and parcel
          and automation have been at the heart of car manufacturing   sortation, in-transit merge, localisation, postponement,
          for decades and this sector has been an early adopter of new   E-commerce and final mile delivery solutions including B2B
          disruptive IoT technologies. The Automotive industry has   and B2C fulfilment.


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