Auto industry aims to strengthen global supply chain resiliency

Santa Clara, CA–Resilinc Corp. announced that many global automotive manufacturers are proactively mapping their global, multi-tier supply chains as a way to better understand critical dependencies and improve their ability to respond to global disruptions in a swift and cost effective fashion.

The global automotive industry is highly competitive, and automotive OEMs are under constant pressure to not only ensure their supply chain is agile and able to respond to changing demand trends, but also ensure that supply chain safety, security and long term resiliency are not compromised. 

General Motors is a major global automotive player whose operations depend on the ability of the thousands suppliers, especially the sub-tier suppliers, to deliver the materials required to consistently meet its production schedules, despite many disruptions that might occur around the world, said the Resilinc release.

“Disruptions to our production schedules caused by an unexpected shortage of systems, components or parts even for a relatively short period of time could cause us to alter or suspend manufacturing activities. The multi-tier supply chain mapping and visibility Resilinc provides gives us valuable insights into potential vulnerabilities deep in our supply chain, so we can work with our suppliers proactively to mitigate issues before they occur,” explained William Hurles, executive director of global purchasing and supply chain, GM.

“It is not sufficient in the 21st century to depend only on data from companies’ ERP systems to manage supply chain. Our customers’ supply chains extend into 40-50 countries globally and are 7-8 tiers deep. Resilinc is focused on helping our clients to harness the power of supply chain intelligence to better manage the vulnerable areas of their supply chain. Resilinc’s global supplier network and parts intelligence repository enables customers to use information to identify problems and fix them holistically with the right strategy rather than manage supply continuity purely with inventory,” said Bindiya Vakil, president and CEO of Resilinc.

Vakil said Resilinc’s SupplyIntel product is specifically designed to address the problem of lack of visibility that is experienced by manufacturers of complex products such as any automotive OEM or sub-tier supplier. Contrary to several years ago, automotive manufacturers and suppliers have a huge dependency on the high tech supply chain as more and more electronics find their way into the cars we drive. When disruptions occur, automotive companies find themselves competing for component supply with high tech stalwarts such as Apple, HP and Cisco who have developed strong relationships with component suppliers for many decades, added Vakil.

Resilinc SupplyIntel “levels the playing field by enabling companies to tap into an extensive network and centralized data repository of suppliers and parts mapped down to foundry level and beyond. This information is shared by suppliers with many customers simply by approving their access. This enables companies to gain visibility without creating an undue burden on their suppliers to publish the data over and over,” the release said.