FOCUS ON – INDUSTRY 4.0
LOOKING BEYOND THE SEMICONDUCTOR SHORTAGE Industry Europe talks with Rekha Menon-Varma and David Chouvelon from Vertaeon about how the automotive industry should prepare as supply chain woes and mineral scarcity loom for the EV market.
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upply chain woes originating during the coronavirus pandemic have affected industry in several ways, but none are more pressing than the ongoing semiconductor shortage which has slowed the automotive sector to a crawl. The sector is currently under regulatory pressure across the world to reduce its overall carbon emissions, resulting in a massive transition to electric vehicles, a trend that is certain to continue throughout the next decade. Supply chains have had to become more robust to accommodate, with key automakers and tech firms investing more and more
into semiconductor capacity, urged on by governments like the US and EU. "The imbalance created by the ongoing chip shortage is an excellent example of a perfect storm caused by the convergence of evolving market trends and semiconductor industry structure, overlayed with geopolitical tensions, and post-pandemic demand surges,” Rekha Menon-Varma, co-founder and managing partner at Vertaeon told Industry Europe. “The chip shortage highlights the need for the automotive industry to have better visibility into manufacturing suppliers and partners, to gain a clear understanding of
the volatility and shortcomings within its supply chains. While there’s an enormous amount of data available, many organisations haven’t leveraged it toward meaningful contingency planning for the next shortage," she added. Vertaeon currently specialises in cloudbased analytics tools that provide risk assessment and mitigation planning for companies that act as important links in global automotive supply chains. "All the evidence we've found points to the semiconductor shortage lasting until at least 2023," according to David Chouvelon, a business development advisor for Vertaeon. Industry Europe 5
