The Use of miFLEETS at FORVIA HELLA

Initial Situation at FORVIA HELLA

Reliably making volume forecasts for the aftermarket is crucial in order to avoid overstock or understock. Overstock can lead to unnecessary capital commitment costs and, on the other hand, to the scrapping of components that are in themselves good. An understock, in turn, causes in the worst case expensive subsequent designs or productions. The goal of the collaboration between miSolutions and the international automotive supplier FORVIA HELLA was therefore to further make the volume forecasts of the MDAX company more precise.

The interview was held in German and automtically translated.

Interview with Mr. Geraldy, responsible for the spare parts business in the electronics division at FORVIA HELLA

Question: Mr. Geraldy, how has the miSolutions solution “miFLEETS” changed the work processes at FORVIA HELLA?

Answer: Creating forecasts was previously often time-consuming and the results were partly not yet precise enough. Here we have achieved a significant improvement with miFLEETS.

Question: You often enter into long delivery obligations with automobile manufacturers. How exactly does miFLEETS help you to fulfill these long-term obligations?

Answer: The tool considers historical data like service and production numbers as well as specific failure and replacement behavior. We value this flexibility particularly, since in this way we also map product-specific particularities in our forecasts. Thus we reduce technical and financial risks for us and our customers to a minimum.

Question: Which specific advantages does miFLEETS offer for FORVIA HELLA?

Answer: In comparison to the previous approach, miFLEETS offers us the possibility to create forecasts for up to 30 years. In the currently very dynamic market environment, miFLEETS reduces our reaction time enormously, since even mass evaluations of relatively large product portfolios are available practically “at the push of a button”. At the same time, we can thus recognize potential bottlenecks or emerging overstocks even earlier and counteract.

Question: What effects does miFLEETS have on the sustainability of your warehousing?

Answer: Through miFLEETS we can further reduce overstocks and thus avoid possible scrapping at the end of the product life cycle. At the same time, we ensure the supply of the market with spare parts, which increases the lifespan of vehicles. Both contribute to a more efficient resource utilization and help to protect our environment.

Question: How would you describe the collaboration with miSolutions?

Answer: The collaboration with miSolutions was thoroughly positive. The implementation of miFLEETS was simple, you supported us outstandingly in doing so and were at our side at any time with questions. Since miFLEETS is also runnable without a specific IT infrastructure, we could get started quickly.

miFLEETS generates forecasts automatically and offers the option to further improve them through simple visualizations.

Accurately predicting vehicle fleet size over the next few decades is crucial for sound stocking decisions. miFLEETS contains models based on 30 years of experience that consistently prove their worth.

Conclusion

The implementation of miFLEETS at FORVIA HELLA is a success story that shows how technological innovations can improve efficiency and sustainability in the automotive industry. Through the use of miFLEETS, FORVIA HELLA saves costs every year, reduces the workload, and increases the transparency and traceability of stocking decisions. The collaboration between miSolutions and FORVIA HELLA has led to a win-win situation, which impressively proves the high added value of miFLEETS.

About FORVIA HELLA

FORVIA HELLA is a stock-exchange-listed, internationally positioned automotive supplier. As a company of the FORVIA Group, FORVIA HELLA stands for high-performance lighting technology as well as vehicle electronics and, with the Business Group Lifecycle Solutions, at the same time covers a broad service and product portfolio for the spare parts and workshop business as well as for manufacturers of special vehicles. With currently around 37,500 employees at over 125 locations, the company is active worldwide and achieved adjusted sales in the amount of 8.1 billion euros in the 2023 fiscal year.

About miFLEETS

miFLEETS is an advanced forecasting tool from miSolutions, specifically developed for Original Equipment Suppliers (OES) in the automotive industry. By utilizing various mathematical methods and interactive graphical representations, miFLEETS supports users in creating reliable forecasts in the event of supplier discontinuations, providing an answer for Last-Time-Buy decisions. These forecasts help to reduce inventory and identify risks early on. Furthermore, miFLEETS takes into account device- and customer-specific failure and replacement behavior, which increases the transparency and traceability of stocking decisions. The tool offers flexibility in methods for discontinuations, quotation generation, group forecasting, wear parts, and missing production figures, making it a robust and time-saving solution for spare parts forecasting.