Just-in-Sequence logistics

Automotive

In the heart of the automotive industry, a single minute of assembly line downtime can cost between €10,000 and €50,000; JIT/JIS production rates leave zero margin for a misplaced pallet or incorrect sequencing. Meanwhile, after-sales is going digital: European e-commerce for parts will reach €32 billion in 2024 and continue an annual growth rate of 11.9%.

Suppliers therefore have to balance two imperatives: deliver complex SKUs in line sequence (JIS) while also preparing multichannel D2C orders in under two hours. Add the IATF 16949 quality standard—unit-level traceability and document retention—and ESG pressure on dead stock, and the challenge becomes untenable for a generic WMS.

Fox4Work^TM combines sequence planning, an OTIF/AOG cockpit, IATF traceability and inventory-capital optimization to deliver an unbroken flow from the supplier dock to the customer’s workshop.

Your challenges

Key challenges in automotive logistics

Challenge #1

Seamless JIT/JIS sequence

A single delayed container can stop the entire line; Renault estimates that a line shortage costs ≈ €25,000/min. Each kit must therefore arrive in the correct order, to the second, or risk supplier penalties.

Challenge #2

After-sales catalog

A French dealership handles on average 70,000 active SKUs, up 30% in five years due to e-commerce and e-mobility. Slow-moving and obsolete stock weighs on cash flow while customers expect next-day delivery.

Challenge #3

IATF 16949 traceability

Standards require batch-to-part traceability and quality records to be kept for at least 15 years. Without a digital audit trail, locating a screw or harness after a recall can take days.

Challenge #4

CapEx & ESG pressure

The average cost per square meter for a 'Grade A' warehouse in Western Europe exceeds €75/year. Every incorrectly stored or overstocked pallet erodes margins and increases the carbon footprint of the parts.

JIS shortages, tied-up capital and at-risk IATF audits: without a dedicated WMS, these drifts create hidden costs that undermine profitability and brand image.

Our industry solution “Automotive”

Fox4Work: the WMS specialist for spare parts

In the demanding world of automotive distribution, efficient spare-parts management drives workshop productivity and customer satisfaction. Fox4Work^TM acts as a true WMS, optimizing parts distribution down to the technician and organizing flows by repair order.

Granular traceability of parts and linkage to Repair Orders (RO)

Fox4Work^TM provides full, detailed traceability for every spare part—from inbound receipt to final allocation. Every movement is scanned (barcode or RFID), time-stamped, and linked to the operator and, above all, to the relevant Repair Order (RO). This direct link makes it possible to instantly know where each part is, its origin, batch, and status. No more time-consuming searches: the technician can be confident that the right, certified, compliant part is ready for the specific RO, ensuring authenticity and reliability for every intervention.

Inventory optimization and faster distribution to technicians

Our solution turns your spare-parts stock into an intelligent warehouse. Fox4Work^TM optimizes storage and picking based on criticality and usage frequency, but above all on workshops’ imminent needs. With repair-order (RO) optimized workflows, the system prioritizes parts picking for urgent or scheduled jobs. This drastically reduces technician waiting time for the right part, speeds up repairs, and minimizes Vehicle Off Road (VOR), boosting workshop productivity.

Integrated compliance and document management for parts.

Spare-parts management comes with numerous regulatory requirements (OEM standards, warranties, returns management). Fox4Work^TM natively embeds these constraints. The platform automatically manages the documentation associated with each part (certificates of origin, serial numbers, warranty information) and links it directly to the RO in which it is used. This simplifies audits, ensures compliance with automotive industry and OEM standards, and reduces administrative errors—ensuring each intervention is not only fast, but also perfectly documented.

Real-time activity monitoring and proactive management

With Fox4Work^TM, warehouse and workshop managers get a real-time activity monitor that provides a dynamic view of all parts distribution operations. This interactive dashboard tracks the progress of each pick per RO, identifies bottlenecks or potential delays, and analyzes team performance. Thanks to immediate visibility into parts flows, managers can make fast, proactive decisions to reallocate resources, anticipate critical needs, and ensure consistently smooth operations—optimizing efficiency and responsiveness across the entire after-sales process.

With Fox4Work^TM, the automotive warehouse becomes a seamless link: sequences respected, parts available, audits tightened — all with less capital tied up.

Our clients

Automotive sector

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Learn more

The 4 key challenges a WMS must address

Whether it is an e-commerce hub or an industrial platform, four challenges now dominate logistical performance: maintaining a reliable inventory to avoid stockouts and overstocking, accelerating order picking—which absorbs up to 70% of warehouse labor—smoothing out receiving and shipping to reduce truck dwell time (frequently exceeding two hours), and guaranteeing exhaustive traceability capable of reaching 99% accuracy through the barcode/RFID pairing.

A WMS like Fox4Work tackles these four areas head-on: real-time visibility for every SKU, dynamic slotting and batch picking to eliminate unnecessary travel, dock scheduling and directed put-away to relieve docks, and time-stamped audit logs with live KPIs to move from annual inventories to continuous control.

Discover how Fox4Work addresses each of these challenges—and why mastering them determines a warehouse’s profitability.

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