Surgere Unites Automotive Industry On Single Digital Supply Chain Platform

Surgere's platform enables original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and their suppliers to operate in a single supply chain data ecosystem, sharing data and analytics to more efficiently move, track and manage container and part inventory between companies. "It's estimated that the automotive industry annually loses more than $2 billion in the supply chain through container, part, and finished vehicle inventory loss and logistics inefficiencies, through a notorious lack of visibility and inherent control," said William Wappler, Surgere CEO and the brainchild of the ecosystem.

"This is a historic event in the automotive industry," he said, adding that five top automotive OEMs and a selected number of suppliers collaborated on the system design and architecture "to essentially redefine the supply chain." The platform is being widely deployed and is expected to move into an AIAG committee to form industry standards. Founding members of the Automotive Data Ecosystem Design Group and AIAG Committee include Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, General Motors, Honda North America, Nissan North America, Toyota North America, Adient, Denso North America, MAHLE North America and Yanfeng Automotive Interiors.

"Most automotive companies struggle to reduce supply chain costs year over year," Wappler said. "We conservatively predict the participants in our digitized ecosystem can achieve double-digit cost savings through highly accurate visibility into the supply chain and through the collaborative power of shared information and analysis across OEMs and their supply base," he said.

Surgere got its name from the Latin word "surgere," which means "to rise." Wappler conceived the game-changing platform after a scene in the movie "Twister" in which airborne sensors were used in the vortex of a tornado to send back data on its physical properties in order to warn the community of impending danger. "That's very much what Surgere does, so to speak," he said, noting that Surgere's proprietary software platform leverages highly accurate sensor technologies, in conjunction with advanced data analytics, to indicate not only where inventory resides, but also the critical attributes about that inventory at any given moment, in real time.

"It's not like the industry hasn't been tackling the problems of supply chain loss and inefficiency," Wappler said. "It's just that, until now, they haven't had all the tools needed to see inside the monster tornado." He added, "We've been at this awhile with our suite of hardware and software products. Even though we've saved our clients a great deal of money, we've learned technology is simply not sufficient by itself if you want to deliver unprecedented results across an industry. Mass collaboration and participation is necessary in order to have success of this magnitude."    

"Perhaps the greatest aspect of this incredible coming together is the intent of the Automotive Data Ecosystem Design Group to make the massive collaboration an open community. All technology providers are welcome to participate. All other OEMs and suppliers are welcome to join. Let's all move past buzzwords and into the new reality of mass collaboration," Wappler said.

About Surgere:
Surgere's role in the evolving i4.0 supply chain reality is to provide their clients with advanced asset visibility, data analytics and control through each segment of the Automotive Supply Chain — Packaging, Transportation, Yard, Finished Vehicles, Plant and Cross-Global.

For more information:
David Zingery
330.705.2362

SOURCE Surgere