Four times an hour or four times a month?

25th August 2010

Why the industry standard just isn’t good enough
The industry standard for the majority of 3pl’s providing ‘on-site production logistics’ within the automotive sector is to review KPI’s from week to week. Using generic framework indicators, of which some may not even be relevant to the automotive industry.

A one week lag in improvement
If many of the 3pls review their KPI’s from week to week, the changes they make to improve their processes run a week before they know if they are working. What’s more, anything which needs an immediate response is left because, using this review process, it just isn’t seen in time to take action.

Could result in breaking contractual agreements
This ‘one week lag’ means any relevant issues have potentially already escalated to a point where it’s breaking contractual agreements and cannot be addressed in time. The risk, in this lack of visibility and resulting lag in action, could impact on the automotive manufacturers’ production.

So what KPI’s should be in place, and how often do they need to be reviewed?
At a major UK automotive manufacturer, KPI’s are monitored in real-time by the R&HA management team through a database which links into the customers’ SAP management system. This is accessed by the R&HA IT structure to update the KPI’s every 15 minutes or real-time when required. It is the R&HA on-site management team’s responsibilities to continually check and assess this process.

Proactive management approach addressing potential issues in real-time
This provides the production logistics team with clarity to address any potential issues before they occur. This constant monitoring means that most potential performance reducing issues can be brought to the attention of the customer’s senior management team (or the R&HA Senior management team) in an average response time of less than two hours.

It doesn’t matter where the problem is, just as long as it is resolved
Viewing the business with the same perspective and goals as the automotive manufacturer, means we don’t care where the problem is occurring, we only care about getting it resolved. This is how we demonstrate Rudolph and Hellmann Automotive’s true extension of the automotive manufacturers business.

Protecting the automotive manufacturers business
In working together in a ‘true partnership’ we can ‘protect’ the automotive manufacturer’s business using this proactive approach to monitoring their businesses outside the services we are contracted to deliver. This means customers more often experience an improved level of service from Rudolph and Hellmann Automotive than some of their ‘in-house’ service functions.

Here’s how the 360 onsite logistics audit and assessment works!

Put us to the test, what have you got to lose?

Contact us for a FREE ‘on site' logistics audit – carried out under a non disclosure agreement - our findings will be reported in full confidence and will provide a detailed analysis of where savings and improvements can be made.

_{There’s only one condition - you must be UK based and be operating in the automotive sector, with a head count of around 25 - 30 or more operating in logistics roles.}