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Month: December 2019

DB Schenker Opens New Warehouse on Swiss-Italian Border

Posted on by Keith McKinley

DB Schenker has opened a cutting-edge warehouse strategically located in Stabio, southern Switzerland. The new branch boasts several accreditations and a flexible and dynamic structure ideal for handling different products.

“The location of the warehouse, paired with its cutting-edge technology, enables DB Schenker to offer competitive services in the field of fashion logistics,” says Hans-Peter Trachsler, CEO of DB Schenker Switzerland. “With the new Stabio branch, we hope to better serve our customers in Switzerland by offering a wide range of customized logistics and transport solutions.”

Stabio is located adjacent to the border with Lombardy, the largest Italian region by GDP, meaning the warehouse is ideally positioned to serve customers of the demanding Italian fashion industry. The warehouse is a dedicated free zone area and several major European airports can be reached within half a day, including Paris, Frankfurt, Luxembourg, Zurich and Milan.

As a result, the warehouse serves a wide range of customers and products, from fashion to general cargo, high tech, pharmaceuticals, food and beverage. As the main transportation hub for shipments from Italy, the branch is able to offer made-to-measure B2B and B2C delivery solutions for all customers within Switzerland. Together with air and ocean freight connections, DB Schenker can offer the entire spectrum of current transport solutions.

The warehouse offers a unit load device and elevated platform, meaning goods can be transported directly from the warehouse via truck to the aircraft, without the need for re-packing. This simplified transfer process not only saves time and increases efficiency, but also offers protection against damage and theft. The Stabio branch additionally has six loading bays and a fully-customizable warehouse management system.

 

Concrete Parts Maker Sets up at Port of Dunkerque

Posted on by Keith McKinley

A Belgian firm specialising in the design, manufacture and assembly of industrial and agricultural buildings made of steel frame or reinforced concrete, has signed a building lease for the occupation of land at the port of Dunkerque.
As part of its development dynamic, Mahieu Contract wishes to set up a new activity for the production of prefabricated parts made of reinforced concrete. Under French law, a new company has been created to carry out the work, known as Premadun.

The one-hectare land which will be used to house the manufacturing facility for prefabricated parts used in construction or for building, is located near the Pont à Roseaux, on the Route des prés Février, in Loon-Plage.

In the first phase, the concrete will be delivered ready for use by the Flandres Béton Company located in the River Port area in Loon-Plage. In the second phase, Premadun plans to manufacture its own concrete on its site. It is slated to start business in the first quarter of 2020.

Concrete Parts Maker Sets up at Port of Dunkerque

Posted on by David Priestman

A Belgian firm specialising in the design, manufacture and assembly of industrial and agricultural buildings made of steel frame or reinforced concrete, has signed a building lease for the occupation of land at the port of Dunkerque.
As part of its development dynamic, Mahieu Contract wishes to set up a new activity for the production of prefabricated parts made of reinforced concrete. Under French law, a new company has been created to carry out the work, known as Premadun.

The one-hectare land which will be used to house the manufacturing facility for prefabricated parts used in construction or for building, is located near the Pont à Roseaux, on the Route des prés Février, in Loon-Plage.

In the first phase, the concrete will be delivered ready for use by the Flandres Béton Company located in the River Port area in Loon-Plage. In the second phase, Premadun plans to manufacture its own concrete on its site. It is slated to start business in the first quarter of 2020.

Industry View: Prioritise Customer Experience to Win Big in 2020

Posted on by David Priestman

Supply chains that prioritise customer experience will win big this Christmas (and in 2020), according to Sian Hopwood, SVP B2B Operations at BluJay Solutions:

The immense volume of deliveries passing through the logistics network over the Christmas period creates an extreme peak season for all supply chain stakeholders. Faced with stratospheric customer expectations for perfectly executed logistics and delivery, including later postage dates than ever, businesses could struggle with the demand for superfast delivery or even fail to deliver at all.

Faced with stratospheric customer expectations each year, many businesses will see yuletide as a season to survive. But recent research from BluJay Solutions suggests that these heightened expectations offer supply chain organisations the greatest opportunity of the year to get ahead of the competition. Delivering an enhanced customer experience is a key performance metric for many supply chain organisations, but companies which are classed as innovators and early adopters ensure that the fulfilment of these customer expectations is a priority.

Placing customers at the centre of supply chains is the crucial catalyst for innovation, especially at Christmas. Businesses must shift both their business goals, and their technology, towards this. The research suggests that too great a focus on price, as well as a reluctance to update technology, hinders supply chain organisations from achieving effective innovation. These companies tend to perform worse across the board throughout the year, not just at Christmas. Leaders must find flexible, future-proof solutions to ensure they are prepared to outperform the competition at Christmas and beyond.

With such a challenge on their hands, delivery businesses must harness opportunities for collaboration and streamlined workflow. End-to-end supply chain visibility allows tracking systems to update businesses and customers alike, while data-driven collaboration between logistics partners around the world can ensure that goods can be moved efficiently and reliably through the supply chain. To prepare for Christmas, the best logistics companies won’t be swayed by the hype surrounding blockchain and driverless trucks; they will make strides against the competition by investing in customer-centric mobile devices and apps, warehouse automation and robots.

The importance of delivery in customer experience matters more than ever: customers gain trust in businesses that can handle even the busiest of shopping days. In fact, research from BluJay Solutions found that 61 percent of supply chain and logistics professionals believe that customer experience will overtake cost as the top supply-chain differentiator over the next five years*. This means that supply chain providers should be seeking the perfect balance between upgrading their technologies for more efficient performance, and prioritising customer experience not only at Christmas, but during the rest of the year as well.

The Christmas season needn’t strike terror into the hearts of retailers. In fact, with smooth logistics, the festive period presents an opportunity to boost not only profits, but also customer satisfaction. In the age of online reviews, one bad peak period could damage the reputation of a business for years to come, despite an overall good track record. Supply chain providers which invest in the technologies which can improve reliability and efficiently of their supply chains, stand to win not just the price wars this Christmas – but increased customer loyalty too.

*= Research by Adelante SCM and BluJay Solutions: https://www.supplychainresearch.info/2019/

Industry View: Prioritise Customer Experience to Win Big in 2020

Posted on by Keith McKinley

Supply chains that prioritise customer experience will win big this Christmas (and in 2020), according to Sian Hopwood, SVP B2B Operations at BluJay Solutions:

The immense volume of deliveries passing through the logistics network over the Christmas period creates an extreme peak season for all supply chain stakeholders. Faced with stratospheric customer expectations for perfectly executed logistics and delivery, including later postage dates than ever, businesses could struggle with the demand for superfast delivery or even fail to deliver at all.

Faced with stratospheric customer expectations each year, many businesses will see yuletide as a season to survive. But recent research from BluJay Solutions suggests that these heightened expectations offer supply chain organisations the greatest opportunity of the year to get ahead of the competition. Delivering an enhanced customer experience is a key performance metric for many supply chain organisations, but companies which are classed as innovators and early adopters ensure that the fulfilment of these customer expectations is a priority.

Placing customers at the centre of supply chains is the crucial catalyst for innovation, especially at Christmas. Businesses must shift both their business goals, and their technology, towards this. The research suggests that too great a focus on price, as well as a reluctance to update technology, hinders supply chain organisations from achieving effective innovation. These companies tend to perform worse across the board throughout the year, not just at Christmas. Leaders must find flexible, future-proof solutions to ensure they are prepared to outperform the competition at Christmas and beyond.

With such a challenge on their hands, delivery businesses must harness opportunities for collaboration and streamlined workflow. End-to-end supply chain visibility allows tracking systems to update businesses and customers alike, while data-driven collaboration between logistics partners around the world can ensure that goods can be moved efficiently and reliably through the supply chain. To prepare for Christmas, the best logistics companies won’t be swayed by the hype surrounding blockchain and driverless trucks; they will make strides against the competition by investing in customer-centric mobile devices and apps, warehouse automation and robots.

The importance of delivery in customer experience matters more than ever: customers gain trust in businesses that can handle even the busiest of shopping days. In fact, research from BluJay Solutions found that 61 percent of supply chain and logistics professionals believe that customer experience will overtake cost as the top supply-chain differentiator over the next five years*. This means that supply chain providers should be seeking the perfect balance between upgrading their technologies for more efficient performance, and prioritising customer experience not only at Christmas, but during the rest of the year as well.

The Christmas season needn’t strike terror into the hearts of retailers. In fact, with smooth logistics, the festive period presents an opportunity to boost not only profits, but also customer satisfaction. In the age of online reviews, one bad peak period could damage the reputation of a business for years to come, despite an overall good track record. Supply chain providers which invest in the technologies which can improve reliability and efficiently of their supply chains, stand to win not just the price wars this Christmas – but increased customer loyalty too.

*= Research by Adelante SCM and BluJay Solutions: https://www.supplychainresearch.info/2019/

Ferretto to Supply Russia’s First Auto Storage in Packaging Sector

Posted on by David Priestman

The Ferretto Group is to supply what it says is the first automatic storage system in the paper and packaging sector in Russia.

The Italian company has signed an agreement for the construction of a material storage and handling plant for NKBK, a top Russian player in the paper market based in Naberezhnye Chelny, Republic of Tatarstan. Construction work on the storage system, which will have a capacity of 16,000 pallets, is scheduled to start in April 2020.

Riccardo Ferretto, Chairman of the Ferretto Group, comments: “This is a significant job in the Russian market, a project that is of great interest to us, also considering that we are already engaged in the creation of a self-supporting automatic pallet storage system at a controlled temperature of -20°C for a large Moscow-based company operating in the food industry. Going back to the paper project, together with the client and SIKO, our partner in Russia, we have carried out the studies and analysis needed to develop a design which enables us to meet the client’s needs and is the result of our extensive experience and innovative solutions. With this project, we continue and reinforce the internationalization that increasingly characterizes the Ferretto Group activities”.

The new automated storage system will be housed in a 34m high building next to the production facilities and will occupy an area of 3,000 sqm. The system will be equipped with stacker cranes for picking and storing pallets, while the handling operations at the head positions will be carried out by the shuttles included in the Fast Ring monorail transport system. It will enable NKBK to automate warehouse operations, solving all space problems and optimizing the production and shipment process. The automatic storage system will be completed by the end of 2021.

Ferretto to Supply Russia’s First Auto Storage in Packaging Sector

Posted on by David Priestman

The Ferretto Group is to supply what it says is the first automatic storage system in the paper and packaging sector in Russia.

The Italian company has signed an agreement for the construction of a material storage and handling plant for NKBK, a top Russian player in the paper market based in Naberezhnye Chelny, Republic of Tatarstan. Construction work on the storage system, which will have a capacity of 16,000 pallets, is scheduled to start in April 2020.

Riccardo Ferretto, Chairman of the Ferretto Group, comments: “This is a significant job in the Russian market, a project that is of great interest to us, also considering that we are already engaged in the creation of a self-supporting automatic pallet storage system at a controlled temperature of -20°C for a large Moscow-based company operating in the food industry. Going back to the paper project, together with the client and SIKO, our partner in Russia, we have carried out the studies and analysis needed to develop a design which enables us to meet the client’s needs and is the result of our extensive experience and innovative solutions. With this project, we continue and reinforce the internationalization that increasingly characterizes the Ferretto Group activities”.

The new automated storage system will be housed in a 34m high building next to the production facilities and will occupy an area of 3,000 sqm. The system will be equipped with stacker cranes for picking and storing pallets, while the handling operations at the head positions will be carried out by the shuttles included in the Fast Ring monorail transport system. It will enable NKBK to automate warehouse operations, solving all space problems and optimizing the production and shipment process. The automatic storage system will be completed by the end of 2021.

elobau Orders PSIwms from the PSI Logistics Suite

Posted on by David Priestman

elobau GmbH has commissioned PSI Logistics GmbH with the delivery of the warehouse management system PSIwms. The aim is to increase transparency and efficiency in warehousing for production supply and shipping. PSIwms replaces the existing warehouse management software.

In addition to the simplification of the IT infrastructure and an extended range of functions, the increase in process efficiency and performance of the automation systems ensured by PSIwms, the integrated container management, the possibility of digital mapping of logistics and the identification and elimination of inefficient processes were also decisive factors.

The warehouse management system will handle the coordinated process control at elobau in five warehouse areas and one external warehouse. A total of around 1,400 pallet spaces will be managed. The central automation system is also a state-of-the-art AutoStore cube with 30,000 storage locations. Due to the connection to a new interface and processes optimized for the AutoStore cube, a performance increase by 20 percent is expected.

Due to the close functional networking with the ERP system PSIpenta, already implemented at elobau, the number of interfaces can also be reduced. In addition, further optimization options can be developed by means of a uniform IT infrastructure. The PSIwms at elobau is scheduled to commence operations in the fourth quarter of 2020.

The elobau GmbH, founded in 1972 and based in Leutkirch in the Allgäu region of Germany, is today one of the leading international suppliers of non-contact sensor technology and control elements.

elobau Orders PSIwms from the PSI Logistics Suite

Posted on by David Priestman

elobau GmbH has commissioned PSI Logistics GmbH with the delivery of the warehouse management system PSIwms. The aim is to increase transparency and efficiency in warehousing for production supply and shipping. PSIwms replaces the existing warehouse management software.

In addition to the simplification of the IT infrastructure and an extended range of functions, the increase in process efficiency and performance of the automation systems ensured by PSIwms, the integrated container management, the possibility of digital mapping of logistics and the identification and elimination of inefficient processes were also decisive factors.

The warehouse management system will handle the coordinated process control at elobau in five warehouse areas and one external warehouse. A total of around 1,400 pallet spaces will be managed. The central automation system is also a state-of-the-art AutoStore cube with 30,000 storage locations. Due to the connection to a new interface and processes optimized for the AutoStore cube, a performance increase by 20 percent is expected.

Due to the close functional networking with the ERP system PSIpenta, already implemented at elobau, the number of interfaces can also be reduced. In addition, further optimization options can be developed by means of a uniform IT infrastructure. The PSIwms at elobau is scheduled to commence operations in the fourth quarter of 2020.

The elobau GmbH, founded in 1972 and based in Leutkirch in the Allgäu region of Germany, is today one of the leading international suppliers of non-contact sensor technology and control elements.

SATO Expands Auto-ID Solutions into Mexico

Posted on by David Priestman

Labeller and Auto-ID specialist SATO has launched a new group company in Guanajuato, Mexico. Guanajuato is in the Bajio region, a dynamic economic zone where world-class automotive companies and their suppliers are clustered.

SATO Mexico has a strategic focus on the automotive industry. SATO provides auto-ID solutions for manufacturers in the automotive sector and more such as barcode and RFID systems, voice and image recognition, and real-time location systems to ensure efficient and accurate incoming and outgoing shipments and operational process improvements. These can range from Kanban product management to mistake-proofing (poka yoke) assembly checks, tagging information for traceability, nameplate labels for various factory applications, and enabling of fast and accurate inspections.

SATO Mexico Director General Koichi Aoki said, “By utilizing our customer-centric know-how of real world usage applications in various industry verticals, we will match hardware, consumables and software and provide aftersales support to provide auto-ID solutions to deliver efficiencies to customers. I aim to replicate our successful value creation model established in other markets to deliver gains for our customers in terms of accurate traceability, productivity and more.”

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