"We still see the impact of the disruptions along the entire value chain"
“我们仍然能看到整个价值链中断的影响.”
Interview by Katrin Vogt
How is the situation regarding automotive coatings currently? We spoke to Frank Naber, Head of Automotive Coatings Solutions EMEA BASF, about challenges and changes in the sector.
目前汽车涂料的情况如何?我们采访了巴斯夫汽车涂料解决方案EMEA负责人Frank Naber,探讨了该领域的挑战和变化.
Frank Naber, Head of Automotive Coatings Solutions EMEA BASF
Frank Naber,巴斯夫欧洲、中东和非洲地区汽车涂料解决方案负责人
How does the current situation, caused by Covid-19 and political impediments, influence the automotive coatings industry?
受到新冠肺炎和政治障碍的当前行业形势,是如何影响汽车涂料行业的?
Frank Naber: The automotive industry was impacted by ongoing pandemic and global shortages of raw materials, intermediates and parts like semiconductors in 2020 and 2021. These supply chain interruptions forced our customers to temporarily curtail or even completely shut down their production. We still see the impact of the disruptions along the entire value chain. Even though the semiconductor situation slightly improves, our OEM customers still do not have sufficient volumes which they require.
Frank Naber: 2020年和2021年,汽车行业受到新冠大流行和全球原材料、半导体等零部件短缺的影响.
这些供应链中断迫使我们的客户暂时减少甚至完全停止生产.我们仍然看到整个价值链中断的影响.尽管半导体形势略有改善,但我们的OEM客户仍然没有足够的产量.
In addition, we also see a global tightness of various raw materials which are relevant to the production of automotive coatings. Therefore, we consolidate the raw material supply and shift amounts within our company to keep the production running – or find alternative raw material sources. Escalating raw material and energy prices left their mark on our business environment, too. Despite all these hurdles we continued to focus on our customers and managed the market volatility successfully in very close cooperation. The automotive market showed first signs of recovery beginning of this year. And even if we did not expect a full industry recovery in 2022, the dramatic situation in Ukraine came unexpected and aggravated the market circumstances again. Supply chain interferences and raw material shortages increased due to the conflict between Russia and Ukraine.
此外,我们还看到与汽车涂料生产相关的各种原材料在全球范围内的紧张.因此,我们在公司内部整合原材料供应和转移数量,以保持生产运行-或寻找替代原材料来源.不断上涨的原材料和能源价格也对我们的商业环境造成了影响.尽管有这些障碍,我们继续专注于我们的客户,并在非常密切的合作中成功地应对了市场波动.今年年初,汽车市场首次显示出复苏的迹象.哪怕我们没指望2022年行业的全面复苏,但乌克兰的戏剧性局势出乎我们的意料,再次恶化了市场环境.由于俄罗斯和乌克兰之间的冲突,供应链干扰和原材料短缺加剧.
Hence, we closely monitor the market developments and take counter measures to mitigate the impact on our customers and our business. So far, we could fulfil our contractual obligations, but the volatility and versatility of events is unprecedented.
因此,我们密切关注市场发展,并采取相应措施,以减轻对我们客户和业务的影响.到目前为止,我们可以履行合同义务,但全球事件的波动性和多样性是前所未有的.
What major changes will occur in the automotive coatings industry within the next years?
未来几年,汽车涂料行业将发生哪些重大变化?
Naber: Sustainability and digitalisation are key aspects driving changes in the automotive coatings industry within the next years. Sustainability is an integral part of our strategic path with concrete targets e.g., on CO2 emissions. Likewise, our automotive customers – and other partners along the value chain – aim for more sustainable solutions. We need to join forces across company boarders to find smart solutions for a more sustainable future. One example at BASF is the biomass balance approach, where fossil resources are replaced by renewable feedstock in the first chemical production steps.
Naber:可持续性和数字化是未来几年推动汽车涂料行业变革的关键因素.可持续发展是我们战略路径的一个组成部分,我们有具体的目标,如二氧化碳排放.同样,我们的汽车客户——以及价值链上的其他合作伙伴——都希望获得更可持续的解决方案.我们需要跨公司合作,为更可持续的未来找到明智的解决方案.巴斯夫的一个举措是生物量平衡方法(biomass balance approach),在化学生产初始步骤中,用可再生原料取代化石资源.
Digitalisation has developed rapidly and offers various application fields along the value chain. It allows for increasing transparency and more efficient processes in operation and supply chain, and simulation of test methods such as stone-chipping to accelerate product development – just to name a few.
One example is “AUROOM”, our online collaboration platform, which is used by OEM designers and visualisers. Both, real and virtual colours look alike and therefore, a virtual collaboration with our customers on colour developments is possible. Supported by new and disruptive digital technologies, we created exciting customer experiences and make our and our partner’s processes even more efficient.
数字化发展迅速,并服务了价值链上的各种应用领域.比如说:它在运营和供应链中增加透明度和更有效的流程,并模拟测试方法,如石材切割,以加速产品开发.
其中一个例子是我们的在线协作平台“AUROOM”,可供OEM设计师和可视化人员使用.在这个平台上,真实颜色和虚拟颜色看起来都很相似,因此,我们可以与客户在颜色开发方面进行虚拟合作.在新的颠覆性数字技术的支持下,我们创造了令人兴奋的客户体验,并使我们和合作伙伴的流程更加高效.
|
