One of the most crucial parts of any business is sorting out the supply chain, be it for components coming in, or products leaving the company. This is the lifeline of a company and several firms out there specialise in supply chain management, and Zebra Technologies is well-known amongst them.
With the automotive industry paying more attention towards cleaner mobility, Zebra Technologies’ Automotive Ecosystem Vision study indicates that consumers’ and fleet operators’ preference towards Hybrid EVs soon has created a challenging scenario for the automotive manufacturers to redefine their legacy supply-chain lifecycle to meet customers’ demands and deadlines.
Speaking on this, Rajnish Gupta, VP and Head, India and Subcontinent business, Zebra Technologies APAC region, discusses the criticality of a redefined supply chain with the gradual shift towards EV manufacturing.
With the gradual preference for EVs, how critical is it for the manufacturers to ramp up their supply-chain lifecycle?
The automotive industry’s future looks very different today with the increasing adoption of electric vehicles amidst hybrid and even autonomous vehicles. As a result, the industry is transitioning from a hardware business to a service-driven and software-based one. The digital automotive value chain will continue gaining importance and shaping customer service delivery expectations.
Such advancements are forcing organisations across the automotive supply chain to rethink the end-to-end customer experience, changing the design and production of vehicles and how they are marketed and sold to consumers or fleet managers. For example, automotive enterprises must meet new and rising consumer and fleet manager demands higher levels of safety and personalisation while also exploring new digital possibilities for the retail experience.
What are the gaps that the manufacturers face in the supply-chain lifecycle with this shift?
Automotive industry manufacturers face many challenges such as finding and retaining a qualified workforce, navigating supply-chain disruptions, and delivering on heightened customer expectations around speed and accuracy.
According to the Zebra Automotive Ecosystem Vision Study, 8 out of 10 industry decision-makers agree that their organisations are struggling to keep pace with the speed of technological innovation. Other key challenges faced by the ecosystem players include digitalisation, sustainability, and building customer trust.
How ready are the Indian automotive manufacturers to implement the next generations of technologies in their supply chain lifecycle?
Following the global pandemic, Indian automotive manufacturers have realised the vulnerabilities of their existing supply-chain lifecycle. Legacy and disconnected systems that operated in silos have resulted in poor inventory tracking, incorrect orders, and a lack of transparency between departments.
Manufacturers need to ramp up their end-to-end supply-chain visibility to build the next level of trust with their customers. This will be possible by deploying the right mix of technologies including AI, ML, IoT, and cloud amongst others.
Zebra is working with most of the top car manufacturers in India – what are the key gaps Zebra is helping them to address?
Some of the key gaps we are helping address are RFID technology, rugged handheld mobile computers and scanners, mobile barcodes, thermal printers, mobile barcode labels, wearable computers and even advanced communications tools. These solutions are meant to provide greater visibility throughout the supply chain so that critical business decisions can be made swiftly and decisively.
RFIDs and rugged handheld mobile computers and scanners help in digitalizing operations to ensure that both regulations and sustainability expectations are met effectively and efficiently. According to Zebra’s Automotive Ecosystem Vision Study, more than one-third of APAC OEMs (original equipment manufacturers) believe that these devices will improve supply chain management.
How important is the Indian automotive industry for Zebra’s APAC business?
According to industry estimates, India is expected to become the world’s third-largest automotive market in terms of volume by 2030. Further, India’s EV adoption is expected to grow at an exponential rate in the next couple of years. It is set to become the second-largest EV market in Asia, overtaking Japan.
