CEVA renews contract and expands business with Ford Motor Company

Global third-party logistics (3PL) services provider CEVA Logistics said this week it has renewed its contract and expanded its business with Ford Motor Company.

CEVA has served Ford’s Kansas City Assembly Plant (KCAP) for more than 11 years, and with a new contract in place it will continue to provide the automotive manufacturer with various logistics-related functions at the Claycomo, Missouri-based KCAP, including sequencing of inbound materials, small lot logistics, return container management and just in time transportation to and from the plant. 

The KCAP manufactures the F-Series truck and will be the future home of the Ford Transit, according to CEVA officials. They also noted that the Kansas City operation is CEVA’s longest running automotive manufacturing support operation for Ford in the Americas.

A company official told LM that more than 200 CEVA staffers are dedicated to logistics-related business at the KCAP, with the staffers located offsite in unique buildings dedicated to Ford operations, adding that the staffers view direct broadcasts from Ford on a daily basis. What’s more, CEVA said it will invest in new facilities in Kansas City, adjacent to its existing facility, and add more than 60 jobs to the Kansas City area in support of Ford next August.

“We are pleased to be able to grow with Ford in Kansas City to support the F-Series truck. Each truck that is built is critical to Ford and their customers. Our global supply chain services to Ford improve line-side productivity and enhance Ford’s ability to increase vehicle production,”said Kerry Zielinski, CEVA Vice President of Business Development and Americas Ford Account Leader, in a statement. “Our commitment to Ford is very strong and we appreciate the trust they have in CEVA for day to day operational logistics,” said Jim Barnett, Vice President of the Automotive Sector for CEVA in the Americas. 

The automotive sector continues to make strides as an integral part of the slow-paced economic recovery as evidenced by increasing new automotive sales and on the manufacturing front, too.

IHS Global Insight Senior U.S. Economist Erik Johnson said in a research report that August’s 0.7 percent increase in manufacturing data issued by the Federal Reserve was led by a sharp reversal in production of motor vehicles and parts, which spiked 5.2% in August after declining by 4.5% in July.