Day: 19 June 2019

Volga-Dnepr Group and Mitteldeutsche Flughafen  have signed a MoU (Memorandum of Understanding) to expand their strategic partnership at Leipzig/Halle Airport in the areas of air freight and logistics. The deal was signed yesterday at the Paris Air Show.

The Group and MFAG will join their forces in creating effective logistics system in Leipzig/Halle Airport to boost cargo infrastructure development and set Leipzig/Halle as freight multimodal hub for scheduled and charter operations of the Group.

The Group will operate both charter and scheduled operations to/from Leipzig/Halle Airport, accumulating regular and project traffic on board AirBridgeCargo Airlines and Volga-Dnepr Airlines. Boeing freighter fleet will fly up to 20 weekly flights to/from Leipzig/Halle Airport since the end of 2021, while gradually increasing this number till 50 in 2030.

Both companies are also planning to intensify their cooperation in the fields of marketing, sales as well as the development of business and personnel. As many as 500 new jobs are due to be created in various fields of activity as part of this cooperation arrangement.

Konstantin Vekshin, Executive President, Charter Cargo Operations of Volga-Dnepr: “We have been striving to set up and develop effective system of regional hubs throughout the world to secure timely response to our customers’ re-quirements, specifically, given a recent trend involving greater share and volumes of special loads. Nearly three decades of our experience, bolstered by knowledge and expertise will serve as a guarantee for the transformation of Leipzig airport into a vertically integrated multimodal hub.”

Work on DPD’s new £150m state-of-the-art parcel hub in Hinckley, Leicestershire is well underway. Aerial footage shows the giant footprint of the 276,454 sq ft main hub building and infrastructure work taking place on the rest of the 39 acre site.

The new hub will be DPD’s fifth in the UK and the largest domestic parcel hub in Europe. It will be located close to J1 of the M69, as part of the 82 acre Hinckley Park development, being delivered by IM Properties. The new facility will be just 2 miles from two other key DPD sites in the area; Hub 4 and the firm’s International Gateway, both of which opened in Sketchley in 2015.

The Hub 5 site is the size of 22 football pitches and the main hub building is 502 metres long and 40 metres wide. It will be DPD’s most secure and technologically advanced hub, fitted out with the very latest fully automated sortation technology, the optical character recognition software to automatically scan address information, over 300 security cameras and more than 3,000 metres of conveyor. When fully operational in 2022, the giant hub will be able to sort 72,000 parcels per hour.

The new film, which clearly shows the foundations of the new hub and the structure beginning to take shape, can be viewed here: DPD Hinckley Hub 5 film

Work on DPD’s new £150m state-of-the-art parcel hub in Hinckley, Leicestershire is well underway. Aerial footage shows the giant footprint of the 276,454 sq ft main hub building and infrastructure work taking place on the rest of the 39 acre site.

The new hub will be DPD’s fifth in the UK and the largest domestic parcel hub in Europe. It will be located close to J1 of the M69, as part of the 82 acre Hinckley Park development, being delivered by IM Properties. The new facility will be just 2 miles from two other key DPD sites in the area; Hub 4 and the firm’s International Gateway, both of which opened in Sketchley in 2015.

The Hub 5 site is the size of 22 football pitches and the main hub building is 502 metres long and 40 metres wide. It will be DPD’s most secure and technologically advanced hub, fitted out with the very latest fully automated sortation technology, the optical character recognition software to automatically scan address information, over 300 security cameras and more than 3,000 metres of conveyor. When fully operational in 2022, the giant hub will be able to sort 72,000 parcels per hour.

The new film, which clearly shows the foundations of the new hub and the structure beginning to take shape, can be viewed here: DPD Hinckley Hub 5 film

Combilift’s latest innovation, the Combilift Container Slip-Sheet (Combi-CSS), has been designed for quicker and easier mechanised loading of products (particularly long ones) into containers. First unveiled during Combilift’s 20th anniversary last year, this product is now in serial production. The Combi-CSS addresses the challenges associated with the combination of forklifts and manual labour often required for this application.

Using a forklift to lift and manoeuvre the product laterally into the container and another forklift operator to push the load into the container from the end is time consuming and not overly efficient. Following the launch of the Combilift Straddle Carrier a few years ago, feedback from customers in the containerisation sector prompted Combilift to look at how these procedures could be improved.

The result is the patented Combi-CSS; a low, free-standing platform with a dual-directional motor-driven pulling mechanism, on which a Hardox 500 steel sheet rests. It has a capacity of 30,000kg and allows a full load of product to be prepared behind the container on the sheet and loaded onto a 20’ container in just three minutes (and six for a 40’ container).

Once loaded, the sheet is guided into the container by the mechanism underneath, which consists of four hydraulic cylinders moving in sequence. Hydraulic pins on the ends of the cylinders move up, fitting into holes cut into the sheet to secure it, while the cylinders pull the sheet forward, ensuring safe loading without any risk of product damage.

When the goods are fully loaded within the container, a hydraulic rear barrier gate, fixed to the end of the platform, swings across the container opening and is locked in place across the entire width of the platform. This holds the material within the container while the metal sheet is slipped out from underneath it, hence the name.

Combilift MD Martin McVicar said: “I am confident that companies dealing with containers will embrace this new product, as they did the Straddle Carrier, due to the improvements it offers in terms of safety, speed and efficiency.”

Yale dealer Charles Service last week welcomed guests to Chelles, France for the grand opening of the company’s new premises. Charles Service is the official Yale dealer for departments 77 – 93, 94 and 91.

The opening marked a new beginning and a fundamental step in the company’s history, highlighting the effort and commitment of its employees and partners in helping to rebuild the business after it suffered a major setback. In 2018 a fire swept through the Charles Service site, destroying many of the offices in the building and putting the future of the business under pressure.

For Charles Service, the event was more than just a re-opening, it was also an opportunity to thank the various stakeholders and partners who have supported the company during this period of transition.

“The inauguration of the new premises was a very special moment for the entire Charles Service team. It represents the end of a difficult time for the company, but a common positive spirit has kept us moving forward during this period and today we are back at our headquarters with the desire to provide our customers with an even better service!” said Cederic Bremard, CEO at Charles Service.

This spirit of moving forward and growth was evident throughout the event as Charles Service shared the latest innovations in materials handling with an audience that was interested to discover the most advanced technology in the field.

As a long term partner of Charles Service, a wide range of Yale solutions were on display, including Yale robotics, featuring industry-leading Baylo geo-guidance navigation technology. Balyo provided insight into the challenges and opportunities automation and robotics present, before sharing Yale robotics solutions with the audience and giving them the opportunity to ask any questions.

Yale solutions for retail and logistics applications were also showcased with rider stackers, pedestrian pallet trucks, and the award winning MP20-25T rider pallet truck all on display along with a selection of forklifts and alternative power options.

Chorley-headquartered order fulfilment and eCommerce logistics specialist, fulfilmentcrowd, has announced the opening of its latest service centre in Cwmbran, Wales, in partnership with leading seasonal decorations supplier, Festive Productions Ltd – further strengthening the capacity of its national network.

The Otters Brook facility provides an initial 10,700 sq ft of modern warehouse space for storage and worldwide shipping of eCommerce orders, with scope for significant expansion on the 17-acre site. It also strengthens fulfilmentcrowd’s industry-leading commitment to sustainability with an on-site solar farm capable of generating up to 340,000Kw per year. Otters Brook will be the first service centre to be 100% powered by renewable energy and it represents an important milestone of the provider’s Lorax Project initiative.

The success of fulfilmentcrowd’s partner network has rapidly expanded its territorial coverage and driven major commercial growth, with the latest logistics centre increasing its total capacity to 100,700 sq ft.

This mutually-beneficial model delivers additional revenue streams to retailers with under-utilised warehouse resources, with the fulfilment network generating more £2.5million in income for its four partners since launching in 2018.

Otters Brook allows fulfilmentcrowd to establish its presence in the South of the United Kingdom and plays a crucial role in delivering its long-term strategy to decentralise the distribution of stock, reduce parcel miles and facilitate same-day and specialist delivery.

Jonathan Hughes, marketing director for Festive Productions Ltd comments: “This is a fantastic opportunity for us to increase revenue from our world-class facilities and re-balance operational activity across the year with a broad portfolio of 3PL clients. fulfilmentcrowd’s technology will also enable us to offer new, value-added services to our existing customers as we adapt to a changing retail environment in the UK and beyond.”

Lee Thompson, fulfilmentcrowd’s sales & marketing director, added: “First and foremost, we are delighted to be working with Festive Productions, a fantastic company who share our values and entrepreneurial culture. The emergence of our partner network has led to rapid expansion of operations and capability with total managed capacity now exceeding 100,000 sq ft. Uniquely, our business model and cloud-based technology offers ‘elastic supply’ to accommodate almost any fulfilment requirement.”