Global Auto Logistics

AB Volvo plans to boost workforce by employing the expertise of Kenexa which is a leading provider of talent acquisition and retention solutions. The Sweden-based automaker, world’s leading manufacturers of trucks, buses, construction equipment, drive systems for marine and industrial applications, and aerospace components and services, earlier announced that it has chosen Kenexa to support the global recruiting initiatives.

Kenexa, a Wayne-based company, will provide an online global recruitment management system, Kenexa Recruiter BrassRing, which will allow Volvo to enhance its ability to recruit the very best employees from a geographically diverse talent pool. Kenexa Recruiter BrassRing will support the automaker’s global recruitment process, including automating and streamlining the whole recruitment process and considerably slashing total hiring costs. These conditions are contained under the terms of the agreement of the two distinguished companies.

Troy Kanter, Kenexa’s President and COO, has this to say: “In the highly competitive automotive market space, implementing Kenexa Recruiter BrassRing will help Volvo to attract, recruit and retain the very best talent in their field.”

The Swedish automaker, founded in 1927, employs over 83,000 employees in 25 countries and markets its products in 185 countries. The company has already established a reputable name in the manufacture of automobiles which are equipped with quality parts like Volvo radiator. The company’s impressive business units include Volvo Trucks, Mack, Volvo Penta, Renault Trucks, Volvo Buses, Volvo Construction Equipment, Volvo Aero and Volvo Financial Services. In its 80-year history and global market penetration efforts, the units of the company have achieved outstanding worldwide brand recognition.

Kenexa Corporation, on the other hand, is a leading end-to-end provider of software, proprietary content, services and process outsourcing. Through its Recruiter BrassRing system, the company is able to manage more than 60 million candidate profiles. The company believes that talent has no limits. Hence, it endeavors to optimize human potential, increase happiness, and maximize the engagement of people by providing superior solutions for understanding, acquiring, developing and retaining talent.

Kenexa’s initiatives include applicant tracking, employment process outsourcing, employee engagement surveys, skills and behavioral assessments, performance management, structured interviews, multi-rater feedback surveys and HR Analytics. Its solutions make use of multiple sets of complex local business rules and languages within a single database. Kenexa solutions are accredited to the highest level of industry security standards. They are primarily created to enhance the efficiency of the company’s talent acquisition programs, raise employee productivity and retention, lessen costs, and perk up management decision by analyzing and shortening key HR metrics connected with employee performance.

Glady Reign
http://www.articlesbase.com/cars-articles/volvo-chooses-kenexa-to-manage-global-recruiting-initiatives-126330.html

The top executives of the largest automakers around the globe and the head of the United Auto Workers (UAW) union are set to testify before Congress this month during a high-profile hearing on climate change and the clamor for automakers to do more measures to curb global warming.

Rick Wagoner, the chairman and CEO of General Motors Corp., and Jim Press, the president of Toyota Motor Corp.’s North American division, have agreed to testify 14 March before the House Energy and Commerce Committee. The said committee is chaired by U.S. Rep. John Dingell, D-Dearborn.

The Ford Motor Co. and DaimlerChrysler AG’s Chrysler Group have also expressed their assent to participate in the hearing. Ford will be sending its executive chairman, Bill Ford Jr., to participate in the happenings. Tom LaSorda, the Chrysler Group CEO, will also represent the automaker in the said hearing. Ron Gettelfinger, the president of UAW, will also appear at a separate session of the same hearing.

Dingell is calling the largest automakers to Washington to make a compromise to President George Bush’s proposal to increase fuel economy by four percent every year. This measure is aimed at reducing vehicle emissions that have been connected to global warming. The legislator’s aim is to limit greenhouse gas emissions that the automakers could sustain.

This is the very first time in recent years that top executives of the largest automakers have been called to the US Congress as a group regarding the global warming issues. The hearing will also tackle the opposition of the automakers to fuel economy standards. Critics in the industry said that the hearing could be likened to the appearance of tobacco company CEOs in 1994 to declare that nicotine was not addictive.

Automakers expressed their dissent to the idea of comparing them to tobacco executives. They noted that the auto industry has spent billions to improve the fuel efficiency of vehicles and does not oppose achievable increases. They added that the current corporate average fuel economy requirements, more commonly known and referred as CAFE, distort the market by forcing them to heavily discount smaller, more fuel-efficient cars to meet fleet-wide mandates.

“There is change in the air,” said Dave McCurdy, the current head of the Alliance of Automotive Manufacturers, which represents GM, Ford, DaimlerChrysler and Toyota among other companies. “We are going to be at the table. I often use the Oklahoma saying, ‘If you’re not at the table, you’re on the menu.’”

In a short span, automakers have faced mounting pressure from Congress and Bush administration. The said pressure is anchored on the goal of increasing fuel efficiency of vehicles and limit greenhouse gas emissions. This goal is estimated to cost the industry billions of dollars. Aside from this, the new rules could eventually force them to cease producing heavier vehicles in favor of hybrid models.

Dingell, one of four lawmakers who met with President Bush on energy policy, has told the top automakers about the need to be part of a broad-based reduction in carbon dioxide output from many industries. He added that his committee attempts to meet a July 4 target for a draft bill.

Excerpts of Dingell’s statement obtained by The News state: “I am proud of what this committee accomplished thirty years ago, however, we are now confronted with new and pressing questions,” pertaining to the original fuel economy law in 1975. “Faced with evidence that the globe is warming, is the current method of regulating the fuel economy of vehicles the most effective way to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases, such as carbon dioxide, from cars and trucks?” he further shares.

The global warming goad is a serious matter because every one is affected. With the greater burden imposed on the government and other sectors, the solution is not as easy as producing sophisticated auto engines and blending them to effective brakes, EBC pads and a number of systems. It takes intensive studies and a considerable sum for the goal to be realized.

Anthony Fontanelle
http://www.articlesbase.com/automotive-articles/big-3-face-global-warming-goad-112202.html

If you are the type of person who wants to preempt and avoid another directions-catastrophe in the making, the trick to fix things may simply be just a car GPS system. Take your pick: a stand-alone GPS system, a handheld system or a computer or personal data assistant type? Whatever form they take, they are a big help in keeping drivers focused on the right road (or dirt path for that matter, where appropriate).

Regardless of the car GPS system you plan to avail of, note that it is possible not to have monthly fees for the automotive GPS service or other GPS-related subscription fees. What you may expect however are extra services and features that can be added, which will certainly require additional fees for you to enjoy. An example of this situation would be real-time traffic reports, or new weather updates, or high-end satellite radio, which all cost extra.

And now, a bit of history for our background. Even if GPS navigation appears unthinkable, say, some ten years ago, the network of “Global Positioning Satellites”, property of the US government, has actually been around since the 1970’s. Military purposes were actually the original behind the then-novel technology.

But where how does the public’s accessibility of this government property come in? Sure, the US Government has the last say on the GPS network, but fortunately it maintains the broadcasts in unencrypted form. This means just about anybody with a receiver can help him or herself to the free GPS data. Companies and some private high-tech folk alike use receivers in many different applications.

The use of a global positioning system is legally fine under federal law, since the federal government provides the service anyway, which is why companies cannot put charges on the car GPS service. As we have seen, the exception to all the free-loading is when you want to get turn-by-turn directions or a map of your pending travel route.

A definite perk in owning another car GPS product, a GPS-supported tracking system, in your vehicle is the security in knowing where it is at any given moment. In the rare (but very real) event your vehicle is stolen, if your system is connected to a national service, its current location can by identified and that information passed on to law enforcers.

The handheld units can be connected into your PC at home and the automotive GPS maps can be stored in your PDA for use in an upcoming trip. Signing up for the turn-by-turn directions feature greatly reduces the likelihood of losing your way and messing up precious vacation time. A lot of handheld units can be used for a variety of uses, as varied as geocaching to “looking” for ideal fishing spots.

One last idea about automotive GPS. Is a car GPS really up by one notch versus a cell phone GPS? It can surely help you sort out unfamiliar roads, help you give exact directions to someone coming to “rescue” you from your stranded vehicle or enable you to be located in the event you cannot seek help on your own.

Lei San
http://www.articlesbase.com/gps-articles/automotive-gps-to-never-again-be-lost-670335.html

When it comes to energy, Brazil is on its way to becoming a “global brand.” Although the United States recently outpaced Brazil in ethanol production, Brazil is by far the leader in sugar-based ethanol. Its exports are growing, and it could become a major energy supplier to the world. But what Brazil is particularly known for is its grand conversion-moving almost 40 percent of its automotive fuel from gasoline to ethanol.

Ethanol in Brazil is used in two ways: either blended, in a mix of 75 percent gasoline and 25 percent ethanol, or as pure ethanol pumped directly into a car’s fuel tank. On any given day, motorists across Brazil can stand in front of a pump and decide, based on price, whether they want to put ethanol or gasoline into their “flex fuel” car engine or whether they want to blend them.

Brazil has now achieved energy self-sufficiency. Ethanol is a part of the explanation, but it would be an error to think that it is the only one. There has been great success from drilling in Brazil’s offshore waters, and domestic oil output has increased by 40 percent since 2000-from 1.2 million barrels per day (mbd) to 1.7 mbd in 2006. This 500,000 barrel per day increase compares to 240,000 barrels per day of ethanol consumption.

How did ethanol achieve its prominent role in Brazil? It has been made possible by a series of factors: strong government support, especially after the 1973 oil shock; continual adoption of new technologies over more than a quarter century; and the cheapest production costs in the world.

The Brazilian government made a strong commitment to ethanol in the mid-1970s, in response to the first oil crisis. At that time, Brazil was importing more than 80 percent of its oil. The first oil shock had a highly detrimental effect on Brazil’s economy, influencing a significant drop in the country’s GDP growth, from almost 14 percent in 1973 to five percent in 1975. A program to stimulate domestic production of ethanol as a transport fuel was embraced as the way to reduce the country’s exposure to the world oil market.

This Brazilian effort began in 1975. It was championed as the Pro-Alcohol Program, since ethanol is known as alcohol in Brazil. The program consisted of both public and heavily subsidized private investment in ethanol production, together with governmental mandates to blend the fuel with gasoline and incentives to stimulate the sales of cars that ran on pure ethanol.

With government incentives, pure ethanol vehicles comprised 95 percent per cent of domestic auto production in 1984. By 1988, Brazil was consuming 1.7 gallons of ethanol for each gallon of gasoline.
In the mid-1980s, however, ethanol got caught in a vise. Oil prices fell sharply and, at the same time, international sugar prices rose. Ethanol was no longer as attractive as it had been for Brazilian producers and motorists.

By the end of the 1980s, a sharp fall in ethanol production, together with a prevalence of pure ethanol vehicles, led to a shortage, enraging motorists and damaging the credibility of Brazil’s ethanol industry. As consequence, ethanol cars fell from 92 percent of total vehicle sales in 1985 to less than 20 percent in 1990. At the end of the 1990s, ethanol production was back to same level that it had been in the mid-1980s. Today, almost no pure alcohol vehicles are being produced, in large part because of an innovation that has recently helped ethanol enjoy a new boom in Brazil. This is the “flex-fuel vehicle.”

The flexible fuel vehicle is a simple technological innovation that has dramatically enhanced the attractiveness of ethanol in Brazil by giving consumers choice of the fuel they can use in their cars.

After 2000, stimulated by rising oil prices and a new initiative by the government to encourage consumption of renewable fuels, the Brazilian automotive industry began to produce vehicles that could run on either ethanol or gasoline in any proportion. The previous experience with the Pro-Alcohol Program had left behind a strongly developed ethanol infrastructure, with more than 90 percent of the country’s filling stations capable of offering the fuel in its pure form.

Thanks to competitive pricing for the vehicles and for ethanol, flex-fuel vehicles have been widely adopted in Brazil. They represented 80 percent of all light cars sales in 2006, a number even more impressive considering that they only started to be marketed by the end of 2003.

Today, many Brazilian motorists make their fuel choice based on the relative price of gasoline and ethanol. And ethanol is able to compete without any subsidies against gasoline. This partly is because the government taxes gasoline at a higher rate-the gasoline tax burden is 45 percent of the final price, while the tax on ethanol is only 28 percent. But the main reason behind ethanol’s competitiveness is that Brazil’s sugar-based ethanol has the lowest production costs in the world-estimated at $1.10 per gallon.

Good weather and high land quality are certainly important factors in keeping down the costs of ethanol in Brazil, but they are not the only ones. Sugarcane has been grown in the country since the Portuguese colonization in the early 16th century, and industrial production of ethanol as a fuel goes back to the 1930s.

The 70-year old ethanol industry has invested heavily in new technologies and processes, and biotechnology is now employed to improve the quality and productivity of the sugarcane species. Integration of ethanol production with sugarcane processing has led to significant gains in efficiency and scale. For example, the cane fiber (called bagasse) is burned to generate electricity, which powers the sugar and ethanol production plant, with surplus power sold to the central grid.

The oil input in Brazilian’s ethanol production is minimal, restricted to the transporting of the sugarcane to the processing plant and moving ethanol from there to filling stations. The combination of these advantages provides Brazilian ethanol with a comfortable competitive position against oil.

The success of Brazil’s domestic industry poses an important question: Can Brazil go global with its ethanol? Brazil is already the largest ethanol exporter in the world, shipping 20 percent of it annual production abroad.

International demand for ethanol is expected to keep growing in the years to come. The main ethanol consumers outside Brazil are the United States and Europe, which are seeking to increase their domestic sources of ethanol supply. But, at least with current technology, their prospects are constrained.

High volume ethanol exports from Brazil to both the U.S. and Europe are also currently impeded by import duties, though some believe that growing demand for bio-fuels could lead to loosening of these barriers. But what happens to those barriers will be highly political, both in terms of domestic politics and trade negotiations.

If trade barriers fall, Brazil’s industry has much room to grow. Even excluding the rain forest and other protected areas, Brazil still has large areas that could be used to grow cane. Only two percent of the country’s total endowment of arable land-and ten percent of currently cultivated land-are now under sugarcane cultivation with half of that dedicated to ethanol production.

Advances in bio-technology have substantially enhanced plant types, improving their ability to thrive in a wider range of soils and climates. All this means that there is potential to expand Brazil’s ethanol production substantially and make it a major global energy supplier.

Furthermore, expansion of ethanol production in Brazil is unlikely to create the kind of food versus fuel conflicts that can be expected in other developing countries with agricultural potential.

How large a role Brazil will play in global markets will depend on many factors-the ability of the Brazilian industry to expand; the nature of fuel mandates and domestic industries of the large industrial countries; and international trade rules. Brazil’s ethanol industry will continue to play a large role in meeting Brazil’s domestic energy needs. It also has the potential to grow beyond the domestic market and to create large scale exports-and definitely make Brazil an energy brand around the world.

Daniel Yergin
http://www.articlesbase.com/environment-articles/ethanol-and-brazil-the-new-global-energy-brand-132231.html

Ever heard of Wikicars.org? Sounds like the information website Wikipedia.org, right? It sure sounds like that site and what makes it the same is that it is created by Internet Brands, Inc. Internet Brands, Inc. is the brain, the power, and the operator of media and e-commerce sites. And now, with Wikicars.org, netizens (a term for Internet citizens) would be able to learn more about cars and everything automotive.

Wikicars.org has already been launched. And powered by Wikipedia, it is considered as the very first of its kind – an automotive site powered by such a powerful source of information on the Internet. According to its creator, Wikicars.org has been built on the premise that the best kind of information on anything and everything automotive come from car shoppers, professionals, experts, and enthusiasts. With that, Wikicars.org allows all its guests, users, and visitors to add more information, edit information, and start new topics. And now, enthusiasts claim that this website is going to be the most comprehensive source of automotive information in the whole world.

Bob Brisco is the CEO of Internet Brands. He states, “Wikicars will combine the breadth you expect from Wikipedia with the guidance you expect from professional reviewers and informed consumers. Online shoppers are overwhelmed by information these days – including the hundreds of sites offering thousands of individual user postings. Wikicars distills all that information down to one or two pages reflecting the shared wisdom of experts and everyday drivers alike. With global collaboration as the foundation, we expect Wikicars to develop into the world’s deepest source of automotive knowledge and wisdom.”

You will find various types of automotive content in Wikicars.org. There are parts on hybrid cars and the future of hybrid cars. Information on auto parts and auto accessories like aftermarket parts for Lincoln Navigator. You will also find features and specifications of cars and automobiles at present or even those who are no longer in production. Guides on how to purchase the right kind of vehicle are also included in the site. There are even pieces of trivia on the fastest vehicles made, the best in fuel efficiency, and the most popular ones.

Pamela Hewitt
http://www.articlesbase.com/automotive-articles/automotive-information-and-definitions-all-found-in-one-website-47631.html

The design field in the auto industry recently has been given a hand by Autodesk, a leading software and service company for the manufacturing, infrastructure, building, media and entertainment, and wireless data services fields. The said company has organized the World Automotive Design Competition (WADC) in an effort to give the automotive industry a source of new automotive design talent.

It is the fifth time that the company has sponsored a competition geared towards the promotion of automotive design among students. The competition serves the automotive industry just like what a BBK cold air intake performs so that it improves the performance of a vehicle. In the same sense, the competition increases the potential of the automotive industry.

The said competition is aimed to instill in the minds of students that the automotive design field is an accessible career choice. The challenge is to make the field more desirable for students all over the world. The competition was made for students to showcase their skills in the designing of cars. The design challenge for this year is for student competitors to conceive and design a car that will be appealing not only for the younger generation drivers but also for the aging generation as well. The car that they would design must also address the current environmental problems that the global community is facing. In the design process, the students should keep in mind that they are aiming for their cars to be released for the 2014 model year. Eighteen schools from eleven countries were represented at the said competition.

After much deliberation on the part of the judges, the winners were chosen and then were announced just recently in connection with the 2007 Canadian International Auto Show (CIAS). Taking the first place is Paul Kim from the Academy of Art University of San Francisco. His Ford Legion caught the attention and interest of the judges with its bold and distinctive exterior. Moray Callum, the design director for Ford North America, is one of the judges and he has all praises for Paul Kim’s work. “Paul has done a great job of thinking of how the vehicle will actually be used and has introduced a lot of creative solutions for the customer,” Callum said. Paul Kim will take home $10,000 which will be the prize for the first place winner.

Another student from the Academy of Art University of San Francisco won at the fifth WADC. Bagging the second place is Ryan Campbell with his VW Connextion. His entry to the competition is a two seater roadster which he describes will pull the generations of enthusiasts together. Dan Sims, the general manager of the MRDA Design Studio for Mitsubishi Motors North America, Incorporated, is also a member of the panel of judges and also commended the work of Campbell in his statement: “Ryan’s VW Connextion is a cleverly designed two seat roadster, with well designed details that make this concept fresh and attractive.” Sims further added that “it is a car that I would have wanted in high school and now.” Campbell pocketed $7,500 for placing second.

The third place was won by Matthew Finbow from Humber College Institute of Technology and Advanced Learning of Toronto. His entry is the Concourse. Judge Ken Gross of Edmunds.com stated that “Finbow’s Concourse is exceptionally flexible. Concourse is defined as a meeting of friends, a place where people feel welcome, and this design would appeal, in his words, ‘to the young and the young at heart’. The Concourse has a futuristic look and its six seats and interior can be configured many different ways and safety has not been neglected. This imaginative but feasible presentation by Matthew is certainly one of the interest.” Finbow takes home $5,000 as the third placer.

Lauren Woods
http://www.articlesbase.com/automotive-articles/winners-of-world-automotive-design-competition-announced-105811.html