Audi México

Evolution means mastering adaptation and always finding ways to thrive in any given environment--by adapting, changing colors, developing specialized bodies, and working in groups when the odds are against us. Through innovation, life succeeds.

In the last couple of years, all industries and services, as part of numerous disruptions, have suffered the consequences of a hyper-linked-complexity around the globe. A small disturbance in the flow of a River in Asia can cause transportation disruptions, which can bring down the production of a manufacturer in North America.

The ability to implement continuous improvement across all processes to increase profitability was always part of the common understanding of doing business. Most companies were already working on Major Innovations as part of their daily business; however, nobody expected the amount and criticality of disruptions in the Supply Chain we were about to experience between 2018-2022.

While young students are having fun with AI applications across the internet, the usage of AI at the industrial level in manufacturing is still in a ramp-up curve. In my personal experience observing and studying different industries, there are always gaps between the implementation of the right IT tools to solve issues in any given industry.

 A strong supply chain matrix organization steers critical functions centrally and maximizes standardization and synergies. 

To look for the right answer in any AI starts by defining the right 'prompt,' it is the current challenge to determine the right Mathematical algorithm to anticipate or identify the problems in the earliest stage possible. I recently heard from a former fireman that you “need less water to extinguish a fire when it starts, and it is still small, as when the fire is already spread out.” The metaphor reflects the effort in the industry necessary to react to any disruption in our processes. Therefore, the ability to create intelligent KPIs able to predict or anticipate, correlate values to identify opportunities, and measure the criticality of possible disruptions as soon as possible will define the success of any organization in preparing alternatives for solutions at the earliest stage possible. Finding the right thing to measure is also crucial; how often are we measuring two KPIs that reflect two different situations? For example, I would name Stocks and the occupied area in a Warehouse. You can have enough space and occupancy in the traffic light “green,” but the stock of a particular item could be overstocked in “red.” Matching all related KPIs is vital to ensure anticipation. Identifying hidden relationships in the complexity is crucial.

The generation, storage, and usage of data have achieved new magnitudes and meaning across all industries and services. More than ever, we need to cross-check reference data and create new KPIs to manage uncertainty. This is especially true in Supply Chain. From customer orders to deliveries in record times, new organizational measures are needed to thrive in uncertainty.

Therefore, data, but most importantly, the metadata of every object in the organization will play a major role in the upcoming years. Understanding data as the property of an object or given situation, I like to define the metadata as the conditions surrounding that object. Take a Picture as an example. The data would be the bits and bytes representing the picture. Metadata is more important, the time the picture was taken, which camera was used, location, frequency, and amount of pictures taken by an individual, conditions of light and time, etc.

 The Term “digitalization,” very often misused, means converting every object and process in the organization into Data and Meta-Data. The creation of Digital Twins and the use of AI to analyze, predict, and autocorrect is already the current challenge for 2024. Digitalizing is not Reporting nor implementing new IT systems. Converting Processes and Objects to usable data and creating the right questions is not easy. What does it matter is what was the absenteeism yesterday? You must be asking what would be the absenteeism next week and what are the events triggering it. You have to be able to define action no matter the complexity of the IT tool you are using in your company.

 Audi worldwide has been thriving in optimizing the supply chain with both organizational and innovation strategies. A strong supply chain matrix organization steers critical functions centrally and maximizes standardization and synergies throughout Audi companies worldwide and with maximum collaboration with the Volkswagen Group Companies in the North American Region.

Audi, as a progressive brand, has defined a very ambitious digitalization and automation strategy for the Supply Chain looking into the future. But digitalization also requires new talents, and Audi Mexico is working very closely with Local Universities in Hackathons and different projects to apply new knowledge and new talent to the organization.

Disruptive thinking, new collaboration models, and new technology will make us successful.