Neither the Twinsburg nor Buffalo warehouse has processing equipment. The warehouses simply offer a protected environment for steel to sit between the disjointed production systems of steelmakers and automakers. They may help the automaker get steel JIT, but they are a counter-JIT investment in terms of the whole supply chain. Stamping plants do not have the inventory costs on their books, but the costs are still in the system. With today's situation, the warehouses are an inherent part of the supply chain.
Integrated steelmakers take too long to fulfill customers' orders.
Automakers poorly coordinate scheduling between dealer showrooms, assembly plants, and stamping facilities. We keep getting better at communicating, and we can take care of the product-flow problems within the next ten years. Back to New Steel features archive listings. Return to New Steel home page.