Renault moves global supply chain systems into the cloud
1 min read
European automotive giant Renault is moving its export supply chain into the cloud in order to support its international expansion plans.
Having completed a live pilot covering the spare parts export supply chain from France to markets including Brazil, Saudi Arabia and South Africa, Renault says it will now roll out its Easy Tracker project, enabled by GT Nexus, to all markets around the world.
The deployment is part of Renault's '2016 - Drive the Change' corporate initiative, which involves the aftersales organisation focusing on its high-value spare parts and accessory business.
Francesca Gamboni, after sales logistics vice president at Renault Group, says that the visibility and control the company has already achieved through the GT Nexus cloud supply chain platform will help it better serve international customers, while also reducing inventory and transportation costs.
"The emerging markets are very competitive and Renault wants to guarantee spare parts and accessories availability at the best-in-class level, while reducing safety stocks, inventory, and expediting costs," states Gamboni.
She points out that this is no trivial undertaking, asserting that Renault's spare parts supply chain is highly complex, covering 110 export markets and 7,000 dealers across Latin America, Africa, the Middle East, Central Europe and Asia. Product diversity is also high, with more than 200,000 SKUs sourced from 1,700 suppliers.
"GT Nexus is the technology foundation that is helping us achieve our objectives," she continues. "The ability to have real-time tracking of customer orders and shipments across our value chain is a key enabler."
Why? "Customer service is vital in competitive export markets. When cars are off the road because of missing parts, our dealers will do whatever it takes to get what they need for their customers.
Gamboni insists that any lack of visibility into orders and inventory in transit can add costs and create customer service disruptions.
"By providing accurate ETA status in the cloud, through GT Nexus, our importers and affiliates now have access to the information they need to operate smoothly," she says.
