The Cadiz company Europa Group participated today in the 9th AutoRevista Automotive Purchasing Day, a forum in which executives from the main companies in the sector, car manufacturers and supply chain companies met.
Jesús Otero, CEO of Europa Group, was a speaker at this event, in which José María Sánchez, purchasing manager of the Teknia Group, also gave presentations; Josep Nadal, Manager of the Automotive Cluster of Catalonia (CIAC) and Beatriz García, responsible for Connectivity Purchasing, HV-Battery & Powertrain at SEAT.
The speakers have agreed to highlight how in the last two years the management of purchases of products in the supply chain has been stressed to unknown extremes. The pandemic, the semiconductor crisis, the shortage of certain raw materials, the rise in energy costs and the war in Ukraine have generated “a perfect storm”, the effects of which must be minimized to adjust the production phase to the “fair” concept. in time”.
For the Cádiz company, “the customs process of the international production chains of vehicle manufacturers is no different from any other process that implies the delivery of material with immediacy and maximum availability. It requires the integration of the manufacturing phases and the deliveries of components that are produced in hubs in other countries, which must arrive at the assembly lines in very tight times,” said Jesús Otero.
The CEO of Europa Group assures that “the internationalization of the automotive sector goes in parallel with tremendously agile customs management in Spain and the European Union.” Otero has stressed that “it is essential that the customs procedure is part of the prior design of the flow of automotive goods, identifying in isolation the transport aspects of customs requirements. When this aspect is not valued, problems are generated. It must be taken into account that the customs administration does a fundamental job of protecting the citizen by ensuring that the product is free of all risk.” In this sense, he has highlighted “the role of customs and security figures such as the authorized economic operator (AEO), which verifies all security aspects of the logistics chain in its relationship with customs.”
Jesús Otero highlights that “in the automotive industry it is necessary to adopt preventive measures to prevent customs obligations from interfering in the logistics process,” emphasizing “the important role of the customs function in its work to protect our country, ensuring that the product that is imported “It is exempt from all risks and complies with government regulations.”