Ahead of Automotive Logistics & Supply Chain UK, Lucie Dobeer, executive outreach director at Unipart \u2013 the conference’s premier partner \u2013 discusses the UK market’s shifting dynamics: from circular economy ambitions and reusable packaging to the arrival of Chinese OEMs, and why transactional supply chains are rapidly giving way to integrated, sustainability-led partnerships.<\/p>\n
For regular followers of Automotive Logistics, you’ll
\nknow the Red Sofa series well. But the red sofa has been swapped for the green
\nsofa in an interview with Lucie Dobeer, Unipart’s executive outreach director \u2013
\nand the colour change couldn’t be more fitting as she starts the conversation reflecting
\non how sustainability has moved from a secondary consideration to a defining
\nstrategic priority across the UK’s automotive supply chains.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere is a real shift in terms of sustainability,\u201d said
\nDobeer. \u201cIt\u2019s not just a topic of conversation anymore\u2026 It\u2019s very much at the
\nforefront.\u201d<\/p>\n
According to Dobeer, OEMs are increasingly reassessing
\nsupplier relationships based on sustainability capabilities, with circular
\neconomy initiatives \u2013 remanufacturing and repurposing \u2013 becoming major drivers
\nof change. “We’re getting into really big conversations now, as opposed to
\njust supplying and transactional,” she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe make it, we move it, and we improve it\u201d<\/p>\n
As Unipart prepares to join the Automotive “Our consultancy, our rail business, our manufacturing <\/p>\n Unipart is the Premier Partner of this event. Lucie Dobeer and Robin Newing from Cummins present on Thursday, 18 June, at 11:00am.<\/p>\n \n 17-18 June 2026 | Mercedes Benz World, Weybridge, UK\n<\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n That integrated model, she argued, is becoming increasingly One of the centrepieces of Unipart’s appearance at the New Chinese OEMS drive localisation opportunities<\/p>\n The discussion also turned to the rapid expansion of Chinese Heritage meets transformation<\/p>\n Dobeer was keen to highlight Unipart’s 50-year heritage in
\nLogistics & Supply Chain UK 2026<\/a> conference as premier partner, Dobeer
\nshared how over the last 18 months Unipart has reorganised globally,
\nintegrating its consultancy, manufacturing, logistics and rail operations into
\na single business model. Dobeer said that unified structure is enabling the
\ncompany to rethink how it supports OEMs facing growing pressure on cost,
\nsustainability and resilience.<\/p>\n
\nand our logistics business\u2026 we are now one Unipart,” said Dobeer. “We
\nmake it, we can move it, and we can improve it.”<\/p>\n
\nvaluable as OEMs seek fewer, more capable partners \u2013 particularly around
\nlocalisation, circularity and reusable packaging.<\/p>\n
\nconference will be a joint presentation with Cummins on reusable packaging
\ntransformation. The partnership began at an Automotive Logistics
\nconference in Germany last year, after conversations with Cummins\u2019 returnable
\npackaging operations leader Robin Newing about eliminating single-use packaging
\nand breaking packaging out of its traditional silo in the supply chain \u2013 which
\nAutomotive Logistics has covered in detail<\/a>. The solution sees
\nreusable, foldable packaging assets returned, cleaned, checked and tracked
\nthrough Unipart-operated facilities \u2013 a closed-loop model that represented new
\noperational territory even for Unipart. “It wasn’t something that Unipart
\nhad physically done before,” Dobeer admitted. “But we absolutely
\ncould do what they asked.”<\/p>\n
\nEV manufacturers \u2013 BYD, Omoda and Jaecoo \u2013 into the UK and European markets.
\nDobeer says these brands are increasingly open to new partnerships as they
\nscale aftersales and logistics operations.\u00a0“They might want to start
\ntalking to new players, they might want to start looking at new
\npartnerships,”\u00a0she said. For Unipart, geopolitical disruption,
\ntariffs and shipping instability are making its domestic manufacturing
\ncapability \u2013 parts and batteries \u2013 a timely offer.\u00a0“We can say we
\noffer localisation.”<\/p>\n
\nUK automotive manufacturing, which will be brought to life at the event \u2013
\nincluding Nigel Mansell’s Formula 3 success in 1979. But the practical takeaway
\nshe wants attendees to leave with is: “What was the problem that they had,
\nand how did Unipart play into the solution?” she said of the upcoming
\nCummins presentation. “I would like people to come away knowing a lot more
\nabout Unipart and learning about the reusable packaging to change their supply
\nchain.” <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Ahead of Automotive Logistics & Supply Chain UK, Lucie Dobeer, executive outreach director at Unipart \u2013 the conference’s…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":570898,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[59,57,58,50,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-570897","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-united-kingdom","tag-gb","tag-great-britain","tag-greatbritain","tag-news","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/570897","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=570897"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/570897\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/570898"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=570897"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=570897"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=570897"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}