Day: 5 July 2019

Representatives of Volvo, automotive logistics company ARS Altmann AG and other participating service providers yesterday celebrated the arrival of the first train with Volvo vehicles from China at Kluizendock railway terminal in Ghent, Belgium. With immediate effect, vehicles of Swedish OEM Volvo will be transported between China and Europe in several round trips per week. The total volume amounts to around 40,000 vehicles per year. The vehicles are transported as part of an integrated hybrid concept developed by ARS Altmann AG together with its partner Intermodal Container Logistics Vienna (ICL). The concept for the New Silk Road relation envisages the combination of covered, double-deck car transport wagons on the section between Belgium and Poland and 40-foot containers on the section between Poland and China.

Last year ARS Altmann AG had already successfully placed the first continuous automotive RoRo train from Bremerhaven to Chongqing on rail. This project was transacted via the company’s own terminal in Chernyakhovsk near Kaliningrad (Russia), which is designed for both European and Russian railway wagons. With the new hybrid concept, ARS Altmann AG now offers its customers a further solution on the New Silk Road, which is becoming more and more important. “Customers benefit from the advantages of rail transport with more reliable and shorter throughput times and far greater sustainability and climate compatibility compared to sea freight with both solutions,” says Frank Lehner, Director Internationalisation at ARS Altmann AG.

The route between China and Europe runs via Kazakhstan, Russia, Belarus and Poland. Depending on destination, the journey takes about 18 days.

Swiss rail freight operator Schweizerzug AG says it has continued its rapid network and service expansion with the start of a new direct rail link to the port of Rotterdam, which began last month. Two weekly, direct roundtrips link Frenkendorf (near Basel) and Niederglatt (near Zurich), respectively.

With the new service, Schweizerzug connects the Swissterminal-operated facilities in Frenkendorf and Niederglatt directly with Maasvlakte II in Europe’s largest container port. The service calls at APM Terminals and Rotterdam World Gateway (RTM). The new connections present a fast and efficient addition to Schweizerzug’s Rotterdam connections via the German hub Neuss and the links to the ports of Antwerp and Zeebrugge.

 

GEFCO has just reached its 30-year milestone in providing reusable packaging solutions for major automotive and aerospace manufacturers to transport and deliver components. The Group processes approximately 130,000 containers every day in its 26 reusable packaging management centres across Europe for a green ecosystem of about 2,000 users.

GEFCO’s eco-friendly solutions reduce packaging waste and require fewer trucks on the road, enabling higher truck loading rates as most GEFCO containers are foldable. Furthermore, all broken GEFCO packaging is 100% recycled.

Complete packaging management across the supply chain

In a fast-evolving environment, many manufacturers are convinced of the value of outsourcing packaging management as they refocus on their core businesses. After a leading automotive player paved the way in 1989, one premium car manufacturer has entrusted GEFCO with the management of its reusable folded container supply chain for all its plants and Tier-1 suppliers worldwide since 2014. More recently, a major aerospace company awarded GEFCO a long-term contract to support its transition to a more sustainable supply chain through reusable packaging.

Sébastien Roger, Reusable Packaging Solution Manager at GEFCO, commented: “Our reusable packaging range is designed to protect our customers’ product integrity while optimising truck loading rates, production lines and warehouse storage. As our customers face increasingly fierce market competition, we enable them to optimise their inbound supply chains and significantly boost their profitability.”

In addition to GEFCO’s unique expertise in packaging management, leading manufacturers can also benefit from a wide range of fully-trained asset auditors for insights on their supply chains and how to optimise them. Located across the GEFCO network in Europe, these asset auditors also conduct personal training to help users supervise every step of packaging management, including ordering, shipment bookings, tracking and invoicing.

To further optimise supply chain operations, GEFCO has developed NETBOX, a dedicated IT system for flow tracking. Based on the data in this system, container location and movements can be adjusted at any time in line with needs, providing customers with smart, flexible solutions. This secure predictive software generates significant savings throughout the supply chain for a more sustainable transportation model.

“I am convinced of the unique value that GEFCO’s reusable packaging solutions bring to the market, especially for manufacturers seeking smart solutions to make their supply chain greener. For them, our global network and unrivalled expertise in complex multimodal solutions can be a real game changer,” added Sébastien Roger.