Month: April 2019

HSBC and Walmart today announced the roll-out of a sustainable supply chain finance programme that pegs a supplier’s financing rate to its sustainability performance.

This global programme allows Walmart’s suppliers who demonstrate progress in Walmart’s Project Gigaton or Sustainability Index Program to apply for improved financing from HSBC based on their sustainability ratings.

Project Gigaton is a Walmart initiative to avoid one billion metric tons (a gigaton) of greenhouse gases from the global value chain by 2030 through supplier commitments. Walmart’s Sustainability Index Program gathers and analyses information across a product’s life cycle, and was developed by The Sustainability Consortium (TSC), a global organisation dedicated to improving the sustainability of consumer products, to help Walmart benchmark suppliers and encourage continuous improvement.

HSBC believes that supply chains are one of the most important levers for banks and businesses to create a positive effect on the world. According to McKinsey, a typical consumer company’s supply chain creates far more social and environmental costs than its own operations, accounting for more than 80% of greenhouse-gas emissions and more than 90% of the impact on air, land, water, biodiversity, and geological resources.

Being sustainable is seen as very important by businesses around the world. According to the recent HSBC Navigator survey, 81% of global companies say ethical and environmental sustainability is important to them and 83% aspire to be a genuinely ethical or environmentally sustainable company. Also, improving sustainability outcomes is among the top three objectives for making supply chain changes.

Following significant growth in the use of Mobile Plant equipment in the UK, a nationwide inspection and testing specialist is warning firms to be vigilant when it comes to achieving compliance.

It comes as the UK Mobile Elevated Working Platform (MEWP) rental market increased by 4% year-on-year, with demand outstripping the rest of Europe by two to one .

Under the Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations (PUWER) 1998*, users of work equipment have a responsibility to ensure that the plant or asset is safe to use. Regulations state that regular inspections must be carried out by a competent person and documented. In some cases there are additional regulations to consider, such as the Lifting Operations and Lifting Equipment Regulations (LOLER) 1998*, which covers all work equipment for lifting and lowering loads. According to Bureau Veritas, the rise of MEWP use and potential confusion around responsibility for the equipment could pose a compliance risk.

Shaezar Karim, Director for the Statutory Inspection division for Bureau Veritas UK, explains: “The growth in MEWPs has led to inevitable compliance challenges, stemming from contractors hiring assets and being able to transport them around the UK.

“Meeting statutory obligations for mobile plant and equipment can be a logistical nightmare – and that’s if users are even aware of their obligations. Many mistakenly believe it is the sole duty of the hire company to undertake PUWER and LOLER inspections but it is the user who must ensure that thorough examinations and inspections are carried out in line with the regulations.

“Organisations that face difficulties in overcoming the logistical challenges of mobile equipment inspections and therefore meeting their obligations, are at risk of costly fines, so it’s critical they ensure that the location of an asset does not affect their compliance.”

Bureau Veritas has a dedicated Mobile Plant Unit to deliver on-hire inspections; helping clients meet the logistical challenges of meeting statutory obligations for Mobile Elevated Working Platform (MEWP), lifting and crane equipment when hired out to contractors.

Logistics software specialist inconso will be at transport logistic 2019 from June 4-7, 2019 in Munich (hall A3, stand 507) featuring end-to-end products and services. The focus will be on IT and software solutions for the holistic planning and control of logistics processes along the entire supply chain. The latest software releases, cloud services and solutions for smart collaboration will be presented.

At the world’s leading trade fair for logistics, mobility, IT and supply chain management in Munich, visitors can learn about current best practices and test live demos. These include solutions for transport, yard and warehouse management that are included in the inconso Logistics Suite and based on the SAP SCE Suite. The focus is on solution scenarios for the end-to-end mapping of operational processes, which range from transport planning with inconsoTMS and SAP TM to carrier determination and freight billing through to shipment tracking over the last mile; these solutions can also be used to optimize business processes.

For companies of all sizes, transparency in the transport process is becoming increasingly important in light of the growing number of partners involved. inconso addresses this with the cloud solution inconsoPOD (Proof of Delivery) and its improved communication interfaces and options for seamless partner integration. The solution enables the carrier/driver of the delivery vehicle to easily capture and transmit transport activities, documents and signatures in order to provide customers with all vital delivery information in real time. The latest release of the slotting management system inconsoDSM (Dock & Slot Management) will also be presented, which has updated dashboard functions for the efficient planning of loading processes.

Holistic SCE solution concepts for everything from warehouse to transport and yard management through to cross-network order control will also be on display.

Travelling to the office in an autonomously driven car, taking an air taxi to the nearest airport and having a package delivered by drone? When Hypermotion takes place for the third time from 26 to 28 November 2019 in Frankfurt am Main, it will be showcasing the pioneering concepts and smart solutions that already exist for tomorrow’s mobility and logistics, with a particular focus on interdisciplinary approaches. This year marks the first time that the German Mobility Congress (DMK) is being held as part of Hypermotion. The congress is organised by the German Association of Transport Sciences (DVWG), the Rhein-Main Verkehrsverbund (Rhine/Main Regional Transport Association – RMV) and the House of Logistics & Mobility (HOLM).

The rapid pace of digitalisation in so many areas of life is a real challenge for all of us. Hyperconsumption, growing mobility requirements, ongoing climate change and increasing urbanisation all demand new mobility concepts. If we are to achieve a forward-looking and sustainable mobility transition, we must change the way we think and overcome existing systems boundaries. Ultimately, the solution lies in new, intelligently networked and multimodal systems.

When developing these systems, players and participants from the mobility, supply chain and infrastructure industries find themselves confronted with a wide range of unanswered questions, a dynamic and complex market environment, opposition and regulations that do more to restrict innovation than promote it.

It is here that Hypermotion aims to lead the way forward, by promoting interdisciplinary dialogue between established mobility and logistics companies and first movers across all modes of transport, opening up new perspectives, fostering discussion of pioneering concepts and networking everyone involved.

“With Hypermotion we have created the first platform for digital transformation that unites every mode of transport. It is our goal to drive networking within the industry, in order to pave the way for new and integrated solutions for tomorrow’s mobility,” explains Danilo Kirschner, Director of Hypermotion.

Participants include established corporations and SMEs from the fields of mobility and logistics, mobility pioneers and innovative start-ups, policy-makers and representatives from the fields of science, academia and associations.

Conferences – inspiration and talks with experts
Hypermotion participants can look forward to a stimulating and extensive conference programme on all three days of the event. This year also marks the first time that the German Mobility Congress (DMK) will be taking place as part of Hypermotion. The theme of this congress is ‘Mobility in conurbations – opportunities and challenges’. Other conferences on the programme include ‘EXCHAiNGE’, a prestigious international event focusing on supply chain management, and the ‘Logistics Digital Conference’ (LDC), an event that covers topics such as the future of freight transport. At the ‘smart mobility conference’ (smc), on the other hand, it is sustainable urban mobility concepts and digital networking that are in the spotlight.

Ideas to the forefront – Hypermotion Lab
Make way for the future: In the Hypermotion Lab, start-ups and established companies alike present their innovative business ideas and projects. In an array of interactive formats that includes elevator pitches and speed networking, newcomers show off their expertise, while finalists from established companies fight to win the coveted Supply Chain Management Award. Everyone is welcome to take part. In addition, all participants are encouraged to actively contribute to workshops and think tanks in order to discuss pressing problems and collaborate on the development of possible solutions.

Micro-mobility
Electric scooters and hoverboards will soon be legal on German roads as well. That is because these mini electric vehicles offer an environmentally-friendly and cost-effective alternative to cars for short journeys. Hypermotion has responded to this development by introducing the Micro Mobility Course at this November’s event – here, providers of lightweight vehicles for transporting people and goods will be able present their vehicles, giving people the opportunity to try out not only monowheels and Segways, but also e-bikes, cargo bikes and e-scooters.

Hypermotion will take place from 26 to 28 November 2019.
More information is available at www.hypermotion-frankfurt.com