Mercedes relies on external logisticians in Kecskemét
Mercedes Kecskemét is outsourcing operative logistics to five large service providers and is further expanding its supplier base, said Stefan Putzlocher, the company´s director for supply and logistics, at a regional automotive conference held in Budapest.
The construction and operation of a car plant require precise logistics. Supply and logistics director Stefan Putzlocher knows this very well following the preparations and two years of production at the Kecskemét plant.
His presentation at an automotive conference held at the British Embassy in Budapest was attended by many professionals working in this field, whose job is affected very badly if things don't go well in logistics.
Operative logistics tasks are sourced out at the German-based car maker. Mercedes decided to outsource these tasks to external service providers with one condition: they had to have experience in operative logistics in Hungary.
 |
Five foreign companies qualified and Mercedes informed each of these companies about the activities of the others, making sure about the transparency of the entire process.
"What do external logistics firms know what Mercedes doesn't?" someone asked Putzlocher at the conference, inquiring about why Mercedes had decided to outsource operative logistics tasks. The director pointed out that "these companies are more flexible and more efficient as a result".
"Outsourcing a group of activities is always risky. We use a multi-layer risk assessment system, including three or four levels, with which we have managed to minimize negative external effects," Putzlocher said.
The German company manufactures in just-in-sequence production, a premium variant of the just-in-time system. This allows Merceedes to conform to customer demand as much as possible and plan the entire production process more precisely.
According to the company, Mercedes is able to determine logistics routes and tasks with 99 percent precision. As a result, in two years, only two hours of idle time was registered as a result of parts shortage.
As Putzlocher gave a talk at a regional forum, he also pointed out what trends are expected on the supplier side. Mercedes is expecting suppliers to be more and more capable of the production of larger body parts, and the company has already started looking for suppliers in this field. The number of supplier hubs in the production of the CLA in Kecskemét has grown from 17 to 25.
Putzlocher added that the guidance of Tier-2, Tier-3 and Tier-4 suppliers is crucial as Tier-1 suppliers have to have similarly strict requirements in order to be able to supply Mercedes. "We cannot lower our requirements and we still have a lot to do. Among others, Mercedes would like to contribute to the development of this field by supporting dual education," Putzlocher added.
