Demand forecasting, production planning, supplier replenishment, inbound and outbound transport, warehousing, stock and cost optimization… Surrounding industrial operations is an entire function mobilized to steer the flows and information that move across the value chain of an automotive supplier, from suppliers to plants to customers: the Supply Chain.

A highly sophisticated chain

This complex function must collaborate closely with many others across the company - Purchasing, Sales, Manufacturing, IT, Finance - and is deeply data-driven and digital by nature: it both consumes and orchestrates large volumes of data. In a high-volume industry like automotive, that makes it especially critical. Our business operates in a market under constant pressure; plants process and produce large order volumes in real time. That demands a production system that is both flexible and high-performing and a logistics chain that is as agile as it is finely tuned: a single grain of sand in the gears, and the whole mechanism can seize up!
The stakes are high for a group like FORVIA, with more than 200 plants across 40 countries worldwide, supplied by thousands of vendors and serving a broad, diversified customer base that expects on-time delivery, responsiveness, quality and reliability.

The quest for excellence

At every link, our Supply Chain must aim for excellence. It must:

• Deliver outstanding service quality to keep plants running and avoid heavy penalties tied to part defects or delivery delays;
• Drive costs down to always improve our competitiveness in an ultra-demanding market;
• Minimize inventory to free up cash and reinvest in innovation;
• Lead by example in reducing its carbon footprint, given the environmental impact of transport.

There can be no trade-offs across the four sides of this “Magic Square”: in automotive, the Supply Chain must perform flawlessly, or as close to flawless as possible, on all fronts!
Reaching that level of performance depends first on well-trained teams who know how to operate under pressure. Our Supply Chain Academy regularly helps 2,500 managers build their skills. Another critical priority is providing a safe and healthy work environment. That’s why, alongside the 11 Supply Chain Fundamentals defined within our FORVIA Excellence System (FES), each site must apply 13 mandatory Health, Safety & Environment (HSE) rules (known in French as SSE) to the letter.

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Powered by digitalization and sustainability

When you’re chasing near-perfection, standing still is not an option: continuous improvement is the Supply Chain’s watchword. At FORVIA, advanced digital technologies and sustainable practices are strategic levers. Ranked 10th for the first time this year among industrial supply chains*, our Supply Chain is setting new benchmarks in the automotive sector through responsible innovation, combining cutting-edge digital tools with an ambitious environmental commitment aimed at achieving carbon neutrality by 2045.
To strengthen transparency and responsiveness, FORVIA relies on predictive analytics and real-time data consolidation supported by cloud systems. These tools enable seamless data integration, proactive decision-making and optimized logistics, helping ensure materials flow smoothly and efficiently across the entire value chain.
Our sustainability strategy draws full benefit from these capabilities. AI-driven predictive analytics, for example, improve inventory management and production planning, supporting just-in-time delivery while minimizing waste. Digital twins used to simulate manufacturing operations further enhance performance, as demonstrated in our large-scale Fengcheng plant. Another flagship site, Tarazona in Spain, is fully automated (100%) and has deployed ecological initiatives designed to fully decarbonize its operations.

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A launchpad for our talent

Behind the tools, it’s the concrete actions sparked by the commitment and creativity of our teams that drive daily performance gains: maximizing savings by optimizing every task, advancing HSE performance, shrinking our carbon footprint through route optimization and cleaner transport solutions… Through these and other projects, we have already saved several hundred million euros in inventory and reduced our CO₂ emissions by 10%.
These results are a source of deep pride for people in the Supply Chain. Because this pivotal function, like a control tower overlooking all Group activities, offers exposure to many topics, interfaces and challenges, it’s also a powerful career springboard for most who experience it!

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*About the Gartner Supply Chain Top 25: each year, the Gartner Supply Chain Top 25 highlights the world’s leading companies in supply chain management. A long-standing industry reference, the ranking evaluates a panel drawn from the Fortune Global 500 and Forbes Global 2000, using a revenue threshold of USD 15 billion. Gartner’s annual analysis recognizes organizations that demonstrate enduring, sustainable excellence, based on a composite score. The score weights peer opinion and Gartner analyst opinion equally, and incorporates financial and operational metrics: return on physical assets (and its three-year trend), revenue growth, inventory turns, and an increasingly central ESG component representing 20% of the total.