Driving B2B with Mark Morley

Ford's Premier Automotive Group, What Happens Next?

So the big news this week is that Ford are thinking of selling Jaguar and Land Rover, two iconic car manufacturers which have been at the heart of the British motor industry for many years. Ford is currently going through major restructuring and despite significant investment in trying to turn around the fortunes of Jaguar and Land Rover it looks as though Ford may be about to throw in the towel.  So lets see what is happening, oh and I will see if I can include some gratuitous car shots too

Software as a Service, SaaS, Will it See Widespread Adoption in the Automotive Supply Chain?

Today’s automotive Original Equipment Manufacturers  are trying to find ways of simplifying B2B infrastructures, make them easier to deploy on a global basis and at the same time ensure that all suppliers are able to use the same B2B solution, no matter what their B2B expertise may be or where in the world they may be located.

Continuing to Drive B2B Outsourcing Through the Automotive Supply Chain.

In recent months we have seen an increased interest from Tier 1 and Tier 2 automotive suppliers wishing to outsource the management of their B2B infrastructures. Automotive OEMs are asking their key Tier 1 suppliers to take on more solution based work, for example producing entire transmission, drivetrain and suspension systems for delivery to their customers. As a result, a shift of responsibilities is occurring in the automotive supply chain where the original Tier 2 suppliers are now being asked to undertake work previously carried out by the Tier 1 suppliers. In order to manage this shift in the supply chain, many of the lower tier automotive suppliers are having to re-evaluate their B2B e-Commerce strategies so that they can remain competitive and support their customers with their global expansion plans.

B2B, The Next Generation

Just in case you think I am about to review a new Star Trek movie!, I am actually going to draw comparisons between old and new generation car models and how some of the characteristics of these cars are similar in many ways to how GXS has evolved over the years.

 

AutoTech Review - Part 1

 

This was the first time I had visited AutoTech so I didn’t really know what to expect, but as it turned out, the format and presentation subjects were very similar to the Odette conference that I attended in Munich last year. AIAG claimed that there were around 1000 registered for the event but in a large venue such as the Rock Financial Showplace in Novi, Detroit, it felt as though there were less attendees than this. 

AutoTech Review - Part 2

The second part of my AutoTech 2007 review takes a look at some of the presentations that were made during the event. In addition to the presentations made by the various OEMs, there were also presentations from numerous AIAG project teams, reporting back on the progress made on their projects. In addition there were also presentations made by the various software and services vendors that were in attendance at the event. These vendors also had a chance to demonstrate their solutions on the final day of the event, but I decided to skip those demonstrations as trying to get into some of them, bearing in mind some were competing companies to GXS, was like trying to get into Fort Knox!. So this blog entry will focus on some of the key AIAG project reviews that took place and as there were multiple presentation tracks I can obviously only provide a review of the ones I attended. This will hopefully give you a flavour for the type and breadth of projects that AIAG gets involved with. I will provide a summary of others once the presentations are posted up to the AIAG website. So where do we start, OK, how about…

Detroit Bound, GXS Sponsor AIAG AutoTech 2007

 

So no sooner do I get back from a two week holiday, I fly out to Detroit to attend the AIAG Autotech 2007 Show.  AutoTech is one of two major B2B related Supply Chain Management shows this year, the other major one is Odette which is taking place in Prague in late November.

Mobile EDI, Can the Apple iPhone Deliver?

Over the last decade we have seen immense progress in the development of handheld computers. One of the first ones I owned, way back in 1996, was the Psion5. In its day it was being used by many companies for running basic office applications and allowing employees to keep in touch with the office via email whenever they were on the road. The thing that made it appealing for me was the combination of full QWERTY keyboard and touch screen interface. The Psion range of handheld computers was actually a major achievement in packaging and in terms of usability it was up there with anything that Apple had to offer at the time.

Odette 07, the Leading B2B Conference for the Automotive Industry

Every year GXS attends the Odette conference, event website, the leading B2B conference specifically aimed at the automotive Industry. This year the event is being held in late November in Prague, Eastern Europe, quite a timely event given that this region is one of the fastest growing automotive manufacturing regions in the world. GXS will have a stand at this event and yours truly will be delivering a presentation during the conference.

Can Private Equity Companies Run a Global Car Company?

History is littered with car companies that have been bought and sold, some being more successful than others, some no longer exist and once iconic brands have now bitten the dust. Many car companies received significant government incentives in the 1960s and 70s to establish their plants in particular regions or countries and some car companies became more famous when they went out of business than when they were in business.