SYNCHRONISED AUTOMOTIVE LOGISTICS: AN OPTIMAL MIX OF PULL AND PUSH PRINCIPLES IN AUTOMOTIVE SUPPLY NETWORKS

Car manufacturers are continuously examining ways to reduce logistics costs combined with higher performance in inbound delivery. The automotive industry has always been the leader in this optimisation process. Perhaps one of the most significant principles of becoming widely adopted and practised is that of Just-in-Time manufacturing and logistics. The basic principle of JIT logistics is to ensure that all elements of the automotive supplier network are synchronised and, most important of all, there must be the optimum mix of pull and push principles in inbound logistics to improve total supply network cost-effectiveness. The challenge to automotive logistics management is to find supply and replenishment strategies which respond to changed requirements and allow the implementation of systems like the “pearl necklace ” concept without an uneconomic escalation of costs. This paper examines how to use an optimum mix of push and pull supply strategies. Over the last two years the centre for automotive logistics has investigated and assessed supply principles of German car manufacturers in detail