Better visibility for finished vehicle logistics

The Service from ICL Systems allows customers to track their finished vehicle directly from production plant to delivery.

The continuing need for accurate tracking of vehicles in the outbound supply chain became more of a critical issue last year as assembly plants ramped up production after the Covid shutdowns. Demand for new cars remained strong throughout the crisis, which shrank available inventory 32%, from 3.8m to 2.6m when plants were shut or operating on restricted schedules and according to new safety protocols. 

Buying a Porsche is a special moment, and one that should be as personal as possible, recognizing that placing the order and awaiting its delivery is part of the experience as anticipation builds. Meeting that demand put pressure on Porsche to know exactly where its vehicles are so that its vehicle logistics team could keep both dealer and end-customer informed. 

Accurate ETAs

“This has always been a challenge for Porsche because it is a premium brand that always tries to deliver a premium service and experience,” said Howard Chang, Senior Manager of North American vehicle logistics. “One of the challenges we have always had, not only for our planning but for satisfying demand at the dealership, is getting accurate ETAs.”

Porsche reached out to ICL Systems with a request for a system that standardised all the data it could gather and the key message: Be Porsche's middleman and build a system that standardises all the data requirements and collect it for Porsche. The division use it to help plan, inform the customers and dealers, and most importantly provide that Porsche experience that is expected of the team. 

ICL Systems know the vehicles that are assigned to each truck through our release and built-into-load process. As ICL see the trucks headed to the port, we can also give Porsche reports that show whether there is enough capacity in the network to meet their demand. If there isn’t they can take proactive measures to add capacity to the network or make alternative plans in terms of getting those vehicles to the dealerships in a timely fashion.

Save time though automated reporting

Once the vehicles are loaded on to the trucks ICL can track them on route to the dealership, providing continuous ETAs for the vehicle logistics team at Porsche, who can then decide on what sort of message they want to communicate out to the dealers to ensure satisfaction.

The enriched data ICL receives from the carriers also gives Porsche information to help with damage analysis of the vehicles, vehicle position on the truck, and make-up of the loads. ICL provides analytics to help Porsche see where damage is occurring and help prevent it.

ICL is aiming to automate processes with tools built on AI and machine learning, so that it can not just collect carrier data for static reports for Porsche to interpret, but develop a system that can automatically suggest alternatives, from which Porsche can choose based on its own intelligence and then automate the suggested alternatives for a load or route, or delivery schedule. Hook said ICL was keen to integrate predictive capabilities for its customers and allow them to choose the best course of action.

Find out more: Automotive Logistics Article