Auto industry lauded for unity in troubled times

AS AUTOMOTIVE industry majors examine the feasibility of airfreight to keep their Just In Time (JIT) conveyor belts moving in the face of port congestion (see page 1), Duane Newman, who heads up the automotive industry group for Deloitte & Touche, feels that the big lesson from this latest exercise is the unification of the industry in looking at a mutual problem. “My understanding of the problem is that with a lot of normal scheduled flights things can get bumped,” he said. “So, if it’s emergency stuff - even a single bolt - that goes missing, then the production line stops.” This has already happened on a number of occasions, and the cost differential in using the airfreight option still remains huge, he said. “Remember, the manufacturer would have to bear that extra cost.”. So it would seem that the only way would be for manufacturers to pool their resources, and opt for dedicated aircraft, Newman added, and this appears to be what the German manufacturers are doing. “The strong issue that comes out of this is that members of an industry are getting together and trying to solve a problem on a mutual basis. “That is certainly a lesson for other SA industries, which are too busy competing on a local basis, without thinking of what they might gain globally through a form of co-operation.”