On Tuesday 16th November, DeGould CEO Ed Jones participated in a panel discussion at the AutomotiveEV conference. Jones and other industry leaders, including Bentley Motors and Jaguar Land Rover, discussed the future of finished vehicle logistics. The overriding themes underlined the importance of collaboration between OEMs and suppliers, with data being the key currency. From plants to dealerships, the DeGould Dashboard facilitates the ability to increase data visibility, creating value throughout the supply chain.

As the automotive industry advances the drive towards industry 4.0, organisations throughout the finished vehicle supply chain continue to automate manual processes. Vehicle inspections are carried out throughout the supply chain to identify any possible defects and damage. These inspections allow manufacturers to carry out any necessary repairs before the vehicle leaves the plant. Once they have left the plant, the vehicle inspections at key handover points in the logistics supply chain allow for damage liability assignment.

Automating the vehicle inspection process can help increase damage detection efficiency. Removing the risk of human error and reducing inspection time, resulting in unprecedented cost savings.

All digital vehicle inspections captured by DeGoulds solutions are stored on our cloud-based dashboard. On the dashboard, users can view a vehicles’ digital passport. Every time a vehicle passes through an inspection system, a copy of the data links to the specific vehicle’s digital passport. This record allows damage liability to be tracked with ease throughout the vehicle’s supply chain journey. As well as assigning damage liability for cost implications, organisations can also track damage based KPI’s with ease. Monitoring damage occurrence in all areas of the supply chain allows processes to be improved. If a specific area of the supply chain is causing an unusual amount of damage, changes can be implemented to improve the process.

As more organisations in the finished vehicle supply chain adopt automated vehicle inspection solutions, digital vehicle passports will develop into a mature tool that records the details of a vehicle throughout its lifespan.