Machine breakdown and Covid-19 disruptions created the perfect storm: this is how Evolution Time Critical stepped in

Solution

24/7 coordination required

When our client approached us to ask for help managing the impact of a machine breakdown, we knew the job would be challenging. When the night shift was disrupted due to Covid-19, we had a real fight on our hands.

The solution required 24/7 coordination of 154 vans to nine different plants across Europe. We would be using real-time tracking to smooth communications between client and their customer, and facilitating uninterrupted production at all plants.

After two decades of supporting automotive supply chains, we are witnessing an unprecedented demand for agile, creative, and reliable solutions from carmakers and suppliers. Our clients are facing a perfect storm made up of all the normal issues exacerbated by uncertainties in demand, and all needing to be addressed with limitations on resources.

We are seeing clients currently requiring:

• Lateral thinking
• Flexibility
• Access to creative solutions

Therefore, Evolution Time Critical’s services are in high demand. This is giving us the opportunity to do what we do best – support customers that need immediate solutions to supply chain disruption.

The solution we offered

A great example of the support we have been able to provide, is a project just completed in Germany over a four week period. Evolution Time Critical managed the delivery of critical components to nine different delivery points across Europe.

Our client had a machine breakdown, that was further compounded by the need to suspend their night shift, due to staff contracting Covid-19. In the face of potential customer stoppages, penalties and reputation damage, they called us in to manage component supply to nine plants.

A key challenge in the current environment was sourcing large numbers of the right vehicles at the right times. During almost 20 years of supporting European supply chains, Evolution Time Critical has built an extensive proprietary database of all types of vehicles and operators throughout the entire continent, all working to our exacting standards.

We made it work by:

• Operating throughout the day and night from our European Control Centres
• Our staff working with this database of trusted suppliers across Germany and implemented a programme utilising 154 vans, curtain-siders and trailers
• Ensuring components coming off the production line were dispatched with the right vehicle at the right time to complete a daily schedule of deliveries to all nine plants across Europe.
• Real-time tracking information was provided to our client, so they had full visibility of the schedule for all of their customers.