Logistics provider, GEFCO says rapid advances in powertrain technology are driving it to radically alter the way in which it addresses supply chain delivery.
Conventional fossil fuel-burning vehicles can be precisely gauged as to how much petrol or diesel to add when transporting them from plant to shipping port or dealership, but the swiftly increasing uptake of hybrid and pure electric cars is posing new headaches for logistics in providing delivery solutions.
Go deeper with GlobalData
“Obviously the supply chain – when you look at powertrain – is changing – by degree and some cases by revolution,” GEFCO UK commercial director John Stocker told just-auto. “You have got everything from petrol, diesel, hybrid, full electric, different types of electricity storage systems and they bring a degree of complexity to the supply chain [as well as] management of parts in-bound and the usual delivery of the finished vehicle.
“You have got [for example] a compound of say, 20,000 cars [and] in our compounds we make sure each vehicle has enough fuel to the dealership. It is more difficult to have them [electric cars] on charge at the same time. There are charging pads – we have invested in high-capacity charging facilities. The whole process of moving the flow of vehicles through the supply chain becomes extremely interesting.
“We are at the forefront – this is new territory for everybody – some manufacturers – [for example] insist vehicles go out on full charge. How many charging facilities do you have – you can’t have 20,000 vehicles on change simultaneously.”
But added to the complexity of vast numbers of vehicles in a compound waiting to be shipped, GEFCO and other logistics providers face the new difficulty of transporting electric vehicles with heavy batteries on transporters.
How well do you really know your competitors?
Access the most comprehensive Company Profiles on the market, powered by GlobalData. Save hours of research. Gain competitive edge.
Thank you!
Your download email will arrive shortly
Not ready to buy yet? Download a free sample
We are confident about the unique quality of our Company Profiles. However, we want you to make the most beneficial decision for your business, so we offer a free sample that you can download by submitting the below form
By GlobalData“We can carry on our trucks, eight full-size Range Rovers [for example], that is a full load,” added Stocker. “These vehicles have been made lighter with aluminium, however, it is still a pretty heavy load we transport. If we want them fully loaded with lithium ion [batteries], it is an interesting challenge.
“We move around 5m vehicles a year so clearly our solution has to be a international. The same model has to work when you get those models back off lease. We need to have a model which keeps vehicles moving – there [are] a whole set of supply chain processes.”
As well as addressing the new challenges posed by electrification, GEFCO has been particularly active of late, announcing the construction of a new GBP10m (US$12m) supply centre near the UK city of Liverpool creating 100 jobs and close to Jaguar Land Rover and Vauxhall.
Opening in August this year, the new 12,000m² facility marks the next step in the development of a blueprint for GEFCO’s supply chain programme, which will be rolled out in other locations worldwide.
But as well as the British development, it is GEFCO’s recent gargantuan EUR8bn agreement with PSA Groupe to manage the automaker’s entire global manufacturing supply chain for five years, which has provided a giant vote of confidence in the logistics provider.
GEFCO will design and implement global logistics and transport solutions for the three PSA Group brands, Peugeot, Citroën and DS, as well as manage and optimise the entire supply chain, from sourcing components for production and assembly plants to distributing finished vehicles.
In addition to these outbound and inbound logistics services, GEFCO will be responsible for distributing spare parts.
The agreement will cover all countries – around 50 – where PSA Group currently operates, whether in manufacturing or distribution.
