Powering Performance

Ports are a vital part of America's critical transportation infrastructure and the keystones of a strong economy — connecting rural American farmers, manufacturers, workers and consumers to the global market place.

In partnership with NQC, a global leader in cyberthreat detection, AIAG has launched a new Supply Safe™: Cyber Initiative in support of industry efforts to protect shared data throughout the supply chain.

As previously announced, AIAG and the South Carolina Automotive Council (SCAC) are partnering for a third year on their highly successful Supply Chain and Quality Conference. Scheduled for September 12 – 13, 2019, at the Trident Technical College in North Charleston, South Carolina, this unique and dynamic event covers the most relevant topics in supply chain and quality and is designed to benefit automotive companies of all sizes.

AIAG volunteer and leader of the Finished Vehicle Logistics Damage Claims committee, Sean Grant, who works as Ford’s supervisor of vehicle shipping quality and claims, shares his perspective on the work group’s key initiatives and industry challenges with Finished Vehicle Quality.

A major reason the Finished Vehicle Logistics (FVL) division of Supply Chain Management continues to grow exponentially at AIAG is due to the support and guidance provided by our volunteers and specifically those leading the FVL Oversight Committee.

British vehicle transporter ECM has expressed concerns about implications for the automotive industry should the UK exit the European Union (EU) without an agreement on October 31.

A product manufactured today that is eligible under the original NAFTA program may no longer be eligible under the newly negotiated trade agreement – commonly referred to as NAFTA 2.0. Karin Muller, director, customer compliance and trade governance for Magna International, and Steve Gardon, vice president, global indirect taxes and customs, Lear Corporation, who head up AIAG’s NAFTA 2.0 Workgroup, will present an important session on what they describe as the “ABCs of USMCA” and the differences between it and NAFTA at the upcoming AIAG Supply Chain Summit, June 18, 2019.

AIAG is launching its MMOG/LE Version 5, and long-time, award-winning AIAG volunteer Terry Onica has been on the frontlines in implementing updates and training on the new platform, which will replace the prior Excel assessment. The MMOG/LE Version 5 global volunteer workgroup was comprised of experts from AIAG, Odette, QAD, Volvo, ZF, Ford, FCA, Continental, GALIA, SMMT, General Motors, and VDA. Their revision of MMOG/LE took about 18 months to complete and was reviewed by 35 stakeholders.

AIAG is adding new features to its Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism (CTPAT) Supply Chain Security system, which assists automotive importers and their business partners get certified as a low-security threat for shipping goods and materials into the United States. The enhancements include a new heat map that shows the location of each partner on a geographical map, similar to the display on Google Maps. Additionally, CTPAT partner survey information will be tagged to help the automotive importers visually identify and track their supply chain risks.

As the opening keynote speaker at the upcoming AIAG Supply Chain Summit on June 18, 2019, Michael Galluzzi, NASA’s principal Investigator and subject matter expert on supply chain management and logistics engineering in the Exploration Research and Technology Program at the Kennedy Space Center, will share recent NASA supply chain lessons learned and how these can be applied to automotive supply chain initiatives. A talk that covers the practical as well as the visionary, Galluzzi will provide intriguing insights on technologies that will impact the U.S. manufacturing base in the near future, as well as ideas from NASA’s approach to supply chain management that could advance not only the auto industry, but also the U.S. industrial supply base.