Schneider Electric executives: The supply chain crisis has intensified, and the end-to-end supply chain has effectively resisted the impact

The Surging News reporter Yang Yang

"In the aftermath of the pandemic, supply chains around the world have experienced unprecedented shocks. The sailing schedule has been extended from the original 40 days to the current 70 to 80 days, and in ports around the world, whether it is Shanghai, Los Angeles or Europe, ships are waiting in long lines to enter the port to unload. At the beginning of the year, the price of raw materials such as plastics rose sharply, inflation rose sharply, and factories around the world were challenged by supply chains. Mourad TAMOUD, chief supply chain officer of Schneider Electric, said in a recent interview with the surging news that the deepening supply chain crisis since this year has triggered a new round of reflection on supply chain risks. From Schneider Electric's own practice, continuous investment in end-to-end supply chain technology has played an important role in resisting supply chain shocks.

"For example, by controlling the tower, we can manage tier 1, tier 2, tier 3 suppliers very well. The more visualized the entire supply chain, the stronger the management capabilities of the supply chain. Our R&D, production, planning and supplier networks have worked closely together over the past nine to ten months to find solutions. Mourad said that in the context of the pandemic and supply chain crisis, end-to-end supply chain management has enabled Schneider Electric and its supply chain network to work together and efficiently. In gartner's annual global supply chain list, which is recognized in the industry to measure the level of enterprise supply chains, Schneider Electric won the top four this year. Of course, the supply chain crisis has also led to further thinking, such as lean inventory management, zero inventory management model is not necessary to upgrade to a certain extent? To address similar risks, do you want to increase inventory backups? Through digital technologies, ecosystem collaborations and strategic alignment, we hope to be able to better work with our supplier partners to cope with external shocks. ”

On the day mourad was interviewed, schneider Electric Green Intelligent Manufacturing Wuxi Innovation Demonstration Park was officially completed. The Wuxi plant, schneider Electric's only electronics capability manufacturing center among 23 factories in China, was awarded the title of end-to-end "lighthouse factory" by the World Economic Forum in September this year, which means that it opens up the entire industrial value chain and creates value far beyond the physical factory itself.

At the Wuxi plant, digital technology covers every aspect from procurement to production to delivery. Applications such as 5G flexible production lines, artificial intelligence visual inspection, intelligent flexible warehousing solutions, digital twin technologies, as well as supply chain decision-making autonomous support systems and digital supplier ecosystems that connect customers and suppliers, help realize the visualization of the whole supply chain and the energy saving and efficiency of the whole life cycle.

Wuxi factory automation surface mount technology workshop

Mourad said Schneider Electric has more than 180 plants in 44 countries and nearly 100 logistics centers in 50 countries. The number of suppliers exceeds 140,000, the number of order lines processed daily is as high as 150,000, and the number of materials handled exceeds 290,000 pieces. In the past two years, the industry has encountered the challenges of the epidemic and some irreversible development trends. For example, customers are increasingly demanding individualization and low carbon. In addition, the world is becoming more and more diverse, digital or remote operation methods have become ubiquitous, customers expect more agility and resilience, all new trends have put forward higher and higher requirements for the supply chain, "agile and streamlined supply chain in order to maintain good competitiveness in the rapidly changing market, Wuxi factory is a good example of localized, intelligent supply chain." ”

According to reports, the Wuxi factory has changed the traditional operating model, through the large-scale deployment of 5G technology, making the production line modular and more flexible. At present, it takes only a few hours to adjust the layout of a production line, and in the past it took several weeks to complete the work, with a 50% improvement in production line investment and a 25% reduction in the time to market. The end-to-end electronic component quality early warning system based on cloud technology can monitor and warn of product quality in real time, and in this way, the overall defective rate is reduced by 22%. At the same time, through the sharing of real-time data, whether it is front-line operators, production line managers or department managers, they can understand the production situation in real time, which greatly improves production efficiency and on-time delivery rate.

"The Wuxi plant is characterized by the assembly and production of small batches and multi-variety products, and through the use of 5G and AI technology, it has adapted to the changes in the current production situation." Mourad said that for the production of multi-variety, small-batch discrete factories, 5G flexible production lines and AI detection applications can help them improve efficiency, Wuxi factory as a demonstration project of digital transformation, for small and medium-sized enterprises to strengthen sustainable development capabilities provide a reference solution.

Editor-in-Charge: Li Yuequn

Proofreader: Ding Xiao