Vinturas, a consortium of leading Automotive logistics service providers in Europe, has announced that it will operate a digital, blockchain-based platform, in order to provide end-to-end visibility in the supply chain of finished vehicles.

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Today’s automotive logistics infrastructure is characterised by scattered information flows and multiple legacy systems, making it impossible to trace vehicles on their way to the dealer. Fraud is a growing concern in cross-border processes in Europe, especially in relation to mileage. Vinturas’ aim in adopting blockchain is to digitalise all aspects of the supply chain – from factory to dealer – and will also cover the logistics process for used vehicles in Europe. The overall goal in so doing is to achieve greater transparency, greater efficiency, an improved customer journey and lower costs.

 

Improving the customer journey

 

Creating visibility in the supply chain can help dealers to inform their customers about the location and the estimated time of arrival of new vehicles – and thus, in turn, can considerably improve the ‘customer journey’ for their clientele. The Vinturas platform will allow OEMs and fleet owners alike to manage their European flows on a near-real time basis, improving planning, optimising inventories and networks, and saving costs. Ultimately, Vinturas will contribute to a more efficient, sustainable supply chain infrastructure in Europe.

 

Founding members and strong partnerships

 

Behind the initiative are four ‘founding members’ – all respected logistics service providers for the automotive industry. Axess Logistics, NVD, Koopman Logistics Group and Autolink Group will ensure that the services of Vinturas can be delivered in a large number of European countries from the launch of the platform in September 2019.

 

EML, a large sea-carrier in Europe, will also contribute to the platform by providing visibility for the sea-bound part of the automotive supply chain.

 

Beyond those core consortium members, Vinturas is supported by a few strong partnerships in this new initiative. IBM, as technology partner, will provide the expertise to build the Vinturas platform. Grant Thornton, with its auditing, legal, advisory and blockchain expertise, will also be a valuable partner of Vinturas.

 

A platform for progress

 

Jon Kuiper (pictured) is the CEO of Vinturas. Formerly CEO of Koopman Logistics Group, Mr Kuiper brings a wealth of senior executive experience in supply chain management from various global corporations. “Vinturas aims to be the leading platform in Finished Vehicle Logistics. We strongly believe in the power of collaboration,” remarked Mr Kuiper. “The launch of Vinturas with four well-known logistics service providers and our choice of IBM as technology partner shows our long-term commitment to delivering sustainable value.”

 

Democratic data-sharing

 

Vinturas is an open eco-system and thus accessible to all players in the field of Finished Vehicle Logistics. Resultantly, software companies, logistic service providers and other application providers are also invited to work with the Vinturas consortium. The key benefit of such collaborative efforts is the ability to share data in a secure, distributed blockchain infrastructure.

  

“We do believe the future of our industry is in collaborating and democratic data-sharing,” Mr Kuiper stressed. “By working together, we can unlock significant value for all players in our industry.”

 

IBM provides Vinturas with proven blockchain technology, ensuring secured data-sharing, immutable records and the creation of a full digital record of a vehicle’s lifecycle in the supply chain.

 

Vinturas is expected to go live in September 2019, while first demonstrations of the platform are planned for July this year. More information can be found here: www.vinturas.com