Month: December 2019

NewCold and B-Built have broken ground for building NewCold’s Automated Coldstore, located in Montauban-de-Bretagne, near Rennes.

The coldstore will use state of the art technology including automated storage and retrieval systems (ASRS) to automatically move and store products in the ‘dark’ high-bay warehouse. The equipment and operators will be directed by advanced software systems, while products are kept in optimal conditions with all coldstore areas cooled down to temperatures as low as – 23°C.

This advanced cold chain solution ensures that processes are sustainable, traceable, fully integrated with the processes of NewCold’s customers and always at the very forefront of technological developments. It offers a high and consistent logistic service level and above all, offers a more sustainable and better food safety alternative than more conventional coldstore solutions.

The futuristic multi-customer coldstore enables food producers, including Froneri as anchor customer, to optimise their cold chain management, with increased agility and responsiveness to better serve the needs of their domestic and international end customers, 24/7.

The state-of-the-art freezer is a joint design effort and construction by NewCold and B-Built. The facility will be one of the largest in France with a storage capacity of over 700.000 m3 comparable to the volume of one million household refrigerators.

NewCold is an integrated service provider for cold chain logistics based in the Netherlands. B-Built designs and builds industrial facilities throughout Europe.

NewCold and B-Built have broken ground for building NewCold’s Automated Coldstore, located in Montauban-de-Bretagne, near Rennes.

The coldstore will use state of the art technology including automated storage and retrieval systems (ASRS) to automatically move and store products in the ‘dark’ high-bay warehouse. The equipment and operators will be directed by advanced software systems, while products are kept in optimal conditions with all coldstore areas cooled down to temperatures as low as – 23°C.

This advanced cold chain solution ensures that processes are sustainable, traceable, fully integrated with the processes of NewCold’s customers and always at the very forefront of technological developments. It offers a high and consistent logistic service level and above all, offers a more sustainable and better food safety alternative than more conventional coldstore solutions.

The futuristic multi-customer coldstore enables food producers, including Froneri as anchor customer, to optimise their cold chain management, with increased agility and responsiveness to better serve the needs of their domestic and international end customers, 24/7.

The state-of-the-art freezer is a joint design effort and construction by NewCold and B-Built. The facility will be one of the largest in France with a storage capacity of over 700.000 m3 comparable to the volume of one million household refrigerators.

NewCold is an integrated service provider for cold chain logistics based in the Netherlands. B-Built designs and builds industrial facilities throughout Europe.

Third-Party Logistics provider GEODIS says it set a new shipping volume record between Thanksgiving and Cyber Monday in USA, totalling 23 million units.

“The holiday season is the most critical time for our customers whose businesses hinge on GEODIS getting their products to consumers on-time for every single order,” says Randy Tucker, President and CEO, GEODIS Americas. “As volume increases, we are constantly seeking ways to strengthen our productivity. We do this through innovation in our warehouses, while also providing our talented workforce with the most robust environment and technologies so that we can be as successful as possible.”

Along with technology and automation, the GEODIS workforce will grow by more than 7,000 during the 2019 Christmas and New Year season to accommodate the increased volume.

Mike Honious, Chief Operating Officer, GEODIS Americas, said. “Our teammates take great pride in doing their part to help Santa spread joy across the world. We are grateful for our teammates, and we’re thrilled to help our clients close out 2019 on such a strong performance.”

Pan-European real estate investor Patrizia has acquired a portfolio of 42 logistics assets from BentallGreenOak for around €1.2 billion.

Located in France, Spain, Italy and the Netherlands, the portfolio comprises over 1.4 million sq m of existing lettable area as well as a further 138.000 sq m of lettable space for the three developments in Italy and Spain.

The firm says the properties are located in Europe’s key logistics corridors and are close to 90% income producing, let to a reputable and diverse tenant base of over 30 national and international businesses from the ecommerce, manufacturing and third party logistics sectors. Key tenants include Carrefour, Aldi, Dachser, DHL, Easydis, and Geodis. The overall portfolio weighted average unexpired lease term (WAULT) is over seven years.

Anne Kavanagh, Chief Investment Officer at PATRIZIA, added: “With this transaction, we at PATRIZIA have once again demonstrated our expertise and ability to structure large-scale complex portfolios on behalf of a club of institutional investors, thanks to our strong local network across Europe. To complete a deal of this magnitude by bringing three key investors together is testament to our proven track record to spot strategic opportunities and execute them.”

The institutional investors included pension funds from both Denmark and South Korea.

Pan-European real estate investor Patrizia has acquired a portfolio of 42 logistics assets from BentallGreenOak for around €1.2 billion.

Located in France, Spain, Italy and the Netherlands, the portfolio comprises over 1.4 million sq m of existing lettable area as well as a further 138.000 sq m of lettable space for the three developments in Italy and Spain.

The firm says the properties are located in Europe’s key logistics corridors and are close to 90% income producing, let to a reputable and diverse tenant base of over 30 national and international businesses from the ecommerce, manufacturing and third party logistics sectors. Key tenants include Carrefour, Aldi, Dachser, DHL, Easydis, and Geodis. The overall portfolio weighted average unexpired lease term (WAULT) is over seven years.

Anne Kavanagh, Chief Investment Officer at PATRIZIA, added: “With this transaction, we at PATRIZIA have once again demonstrated our expertise and ability to structure large-scale complex portfolios on behalf of a club of institutional investors, thanks to our strong local network across Europe. To complete a deal of this magnitude by bringing three key investors together is testament to our proven track record to spot strategic opportunities and execute them.”

The institutional investors included pension funds from both Denmark and South Korea.

Systems integrator Actemium Lyon Logistics and Interroll have won the bid for three sorters for French postal players La Poste, DPD and Viapost. The order makes the 400th sorter order worldwide for Interroll.

Three of these sorting systems will be installed for three different entities within the La Poste group in France: La Poste Roissy Hub (August 2020 – Roissy), DPD (July 2020 – Billy-Berclau) and Viapost (June 2020 – Argonay).

Rising e-commerce is leading to a steady increase in parcel volumes worldwide, more diversified packaging, as well as higher expectations on the delivery time. These trends are posing new challenges for La Poste’s logistics companies, in particular when it comes to the processing and sorting of packages.

“These new orders came also on the basis of many years of successful collaboration between Actemium Lyon Logistics and Interroll,” said Nicolas Jaffeux, Postal and Express Department Manager Actemium Lyon Logistics, and Bruno Maisonneuve, Business Unit Manager of Actemium Lyon Logistics. “Actemium is an active partner in Interroll’s ‘Rolling On Interroll’ program.”

Interroll offers horizontal and vertical crossbelt sorters for fully automated sorting processes in the courier, express and parcel service providers market. Throughput rates of 2,000 to 15,000 units per hour make the Interroll Crossbelt Sorter a highly efficient sorter for goods of all types.

With the addition of a new infeed module, Interroll has expanded its modular platform solutions for particularly efficient material flow. It is perfectly designed to work with Interroll Crossbelt Sorters.

Norwegian robotics company AutoStore won Business of the Year with Turnover of €150m or higher at the European Business Awards in Warsaw this week.

Headquartered in Nedre Vats in Rogaland, AutoStore is one of the world leaders in high-density storage with an existing award-winning robotic cube-based, storage and retrieval system that has transformed the logistics and delivery process for businesses across the globe. It was one of seven Norwegian companies nominated for last night’s awards.
Karl Johan Lier, CEO of AutoStore said, “We are incredibly proud to have won this award and to be recognised as one of the world leaders in robotics. The most exciting time for AutoStore is yet to come as we continue to develop our technological capabilities for logistics, retail and e-commerce.”

This week AutoStore announced its intention to enter the Micro Fulfillment sector to transform the retail industry with its innovative robotic cube storage system. The company continues to evolve its technology and product offering to fulfill the changing demands of the retail and logistics sectors.

Lars Saebo (left) Marketing Director for Autostore with Magne Hatteland, Media Director