Evolution Time Critical prevents a £500,000 production delay by shipping 600kg of desperately needed automotive components from China to Mexico over a weekend, using just one courier and overcoming many challenges that stopped conventional logistics operations from succeeding.

Following an urgent Saturday afternoon call to its global control centre, Evolution Time Critical facilitated a weekend shipment of 600kg of desperately needed automotive components from a supplier in China to a vehicle manufacturer in Mexico, preventing production delays that would have cost around £500,000. Evolution’s analysts arranged for the transportation of the goods using a single courier despite a total weight of 600kg, provided a German speaker to coordinate with airline staff at all stages of the journey and worked closely with its customer’s supplier to provide accurate customs documentation to officers at Shanghai Airport.

Federal Mogul employees together with MP Michael O’Brien celebrate the centenary milestone of the Federal Mogul Coventry plant and unveil a commemorative plaque

Employees at Federal-Mogul celebrated 100 years of manufacturing in Coventry today, Friday 11th December, 2009, when MP for North Warwickshire, Michael O’Brien, unveiled a commemorative plaque at a special ceremony. Federal Mogul Coventry, also known locally as Federal Mogul BRICO (for the former British Piston Ring Co. Ltd.), was founded at the dawn of the motoring era in 1909 by 28 year-old William Oubridge with a few hundred pounds borrowed from his father. Today, Federal Mogul Coventry manufactures millions of engine valve seats, guides, turbo charger bushes and sealing rings for the automotive industry and is a major global manufacturer with strong exports that contribute to both the Federal Mogul’s performance and to the UK economy. The company is at the forefront of materials technology to help bring the next generation of vehicles with better performance on fuel economy and emission reductions to car owners around the world.

By applying a Zircotec ceramic coating to a bike’s exhaust system, riders can dispense with heat shields and protect paniers and their contents from heat damage

Bikers looking to protect themselves and their pillions and paniers from heat damage caused by their bike’s exhaust can now send exhaust components to thermal management specialist Zircotec for ceramic coating. Heat damage to paniers and their contents is a particular problem for riders undertaking long journeys, as the exhaust silencer reaches high temperatures during the course of the journey. By applying a ceramic coating to their exhaust system, riders gain peace of mind and avoid any costly replacement of luggage, while also gaining the option to dispense with heat shields, as the ceramic offers comprehensive heat protection to rider and pillion.

Factor 001 – the highly innovative premium bicycle is now on sale at iconic department store

The most advanced bicycle is now offered for sale at leading London department store Harrods. Created and built by motorsport specialists, BERU f1systems, the Factor 001 bicycle is a ground-breaking training tool combining innovative design and advanced electronics to provide real time human performance data.

Russian dealer group Intekra and Allison Transmission devise driving adventure to showcase productivity, safety and reliability of a new Allison-equipped DONGFENG truck

MOSCOW, RUSSIA – Allison Transmission and Intekra Group – the official distributor of DONGFENG heavy-duty trucks in Russia – have embarked on a three-week adventure which will see a 20-tonne DONGFENG DFL3251AXA (6X6) dump truck cross 2,000 km of tortuous Siberian driving conditions. The trip, which kicked off on 30th November to cover the Tyumen Region and Khanty-Mansiysk Autonomous District of Russia, is designed to highlight to construction and oil and gas industry experts that a DONGFENG truck equipped with an Allison transmission can deliver maximum productivity, use fuel more efficiently and ensure ease of operation with superior safety and reliability.

MG Rover parts specialist XPart now offers the best known aftermarket solution for head gasket repairs on K-series engines

Technicians tasked with replacing head gaskets on MG Rover K-series engines now have access to the new Multi-Layer Steel (MLS) Gasket Kit from XPart, designed to be the most efficient and durable solution to date for MG Rover K-series engine repair. XPart has developed the kit utilising the engineering expertise at Shanghai Automotive Industry Corporation (SAIC), which employs many former MG Rover engineers at Longbridge. The company will distribute the kit via its nationwide network of wholesalers and AutoService centres.

Most travellers requiring airside bus transportation enjoy the smooth combination of a COBUS airport bus and an Allison fully automatic transmission

MAINZ, GERMANY – Singapore, London, Beijing, Barcelona, Moscow, Dresden…. the COBUS airport bus by Wiesbaden-based Contrac GmbH provides safe and comfortable passenger transportation at around 345 airports in 92 countries. Last year, 286 COBUS 3000 model buses – exclusively equipped with the Allison 2000 Series fully automatic transmission since 2005 – were delivered all over the world. With more than 2,700 COBUS buses sold in total, the company enjoys a dominant 90 percent share of the global airport bus market.

New types of contingency planning are required if expensive supply chain failures are to be avoided, warns leading specialist

Record levels of automotive supply chain failures are raising questions about the ability of existing planning techniques to cope with recovering manufacturing volumes. According to one specialist, today’s best-practice analysis and contingency planning systems are no longer sufficient to prevent delays in deliveries, which in the auto industry can result in losses of up to €1million every minute if a production line has to be stopped.

Bangalore, India – As part of an ongoing product optimisation initiative, Allison Transmission is introducing a 2nd Reverse gear on all Allison 4700 and 4800 models for the 2010 model year.  This new feature offers a second ‘deep reverse’ in addition to the standard reverse to provide greater control and engine braking during operation on steep grades. 2nd Reverse will also enable increased manoeuvrability when operating in confined spaces, allowing quicker operation cycles and thereby boosting productivity performance.

Alcoa solves the problem of how to launch multiple new wheel programmes quickly with no repeat capital investment.

In the current market crisis OEMs need to revitalise the appeal of their cars and prompt new car sales, but with minimal or no investment to help reduce costs.  Adding new wheel programmes to a model range can often change the look and feel of the car and help improve the desirability of that car.  Alcoa’s flexible manufacturing process can now offer car makers the opportunity to launch these new wheels, not only in a rapid time scale, but also at low cost.