Day: 10 February 2020

Well-known European sortation and automation companies VanRiet and OCM have rebranded as MHS, following their takeover by the US-based giant over two years ago.

As of today, the two European-based companies – formerly part of the MHS family – are now simply referred to as MHS, providing a unified brand identity to customers. This rename and rebrand represents a significant step in the companies’ evolution, says the company, now a one-stop-shop of material handling automation and software solutions, with experienced cross-functional teams consisting of professionals and reinforced specialisms. “Consolidating legacy brands into a single MHS identity is an important step to portray our broad capabilities and consistent customer experience worldwide,” says Markus Augeneder, the company’s CEO of International, responsible for MHS operations outside the U.S. “Since becoming part of the MHS family, our European businesses have strengthened our core values of reliability, trust and innovation to take care of our customers and support the continued global expansion of MHS.”

Settling its first office in Europe in November 2017, then with the acquisition of the Dutch VanRiet and the Italian OCM one year later, MHS expanded the company’s footprint in Europe and China. In the years since the acquisition, MHS has worked to support the research and development of new technologies, and market advanced automated solutions to a growing global market, backed with responsive local support.

“Meeting global e-commerce demand requires immense materials handling infrastructure and fuels our vision for MHS as a turnkey solutions provider with best-in-class automation technology and support,” says Scott McReynolds, CEO and Co-Founder, MHS Global. “This rebranding gives us the strong global identity to continue our growth trajectory in a fast-paced logistics market.”

Visit MHS at LogiMat, 10 – 12 March 2020, in Stuttgart Hall 1 – Stand G05.

Logistics real estate specialist Gazeley has acquired a 21-acre site at Magna Park, Milton Keynes (UK) with the intention to develop a new 312,700 sq ft unit called Magnitude 312.

The new high-specification distribution and logistics space includes over 195 HGV parking spaces, 343 double dock levelers and 4 level access doors. The building has a 19 M clear height allowing for four potential mezzanine levels.

The site is well-located within Gazeley’s Magna Park, Milton Keynes distribution and logistics park, which is already home to John Lewis, Waitrose, River Island, A.G. Barr and UK Mail. Located between J13 and J14 of the M1, the site is within a 4½ hour HGV drive of 45.8 million people in the UK, meaning it is perfectly situated for companies looking to deliver goods to the whole of the UK.

Joe Garwood, Development Director, Gazeley, said: “Across the UK, we continue to see high demand for logistics space. However, customers are increasingly requiring higher specification buildings and leading sustainability credentials. With Magnitude 312, we have focused on delivering flexible space that allows our customers to tailor to requirements while ensuring that it has all the sustainability features that modern supply chains require.”

Logistics real estate specialist Gazeley has acquired a 21-acre site at Magna Park, Milton Keynes (UK) with the intention to develop a new 312,700 sq ft unit called Magnitude 312.

The new high-specification distribution and logistics space includes over 195 HGV parking spaces, 343 double dock levelers and 4 level access doors. The building has a 19 M clear height allowing for four potential mezzanine levels.

The site is well-located within Gazeley’s Magna Park, Milton Keynes distribution and logistics park, which is already home to John Lewis, Waitrose, River Island, A.G. Barr and UK Mail. Located between J13 and J14 of the M1, the site is within a 4½ hour HGV drive of 45.8 million people in the UK, meaning it is perfectly situated for companies looking to deliver goods to the whole of the UK.

Joe Garwood, Development Director, Gazeley, said: “Across the UK, we continue to see high demand for logistics space. However, customers are increasingly requiring higher specification buildings and leading sustainability credentials. With Magnitude 312, we have focused on delivering flexible space that allows our customers to tailor to requirements while ensuring that it has all the sustainability features that modern supply chains require.”

Supply chain executives are braced for a global slowdown and see a threat to emerging markets, according to Agility’s annual survey. Bosses anticipate a recession in 2020 amid concerns about downward pressure on global trade volumes, uncertain growth prospects, and ongoing friction between the U.S. and China.

Sixty-four percent of industry professionals surveyed for the 2020 Agility Emerging Markets Logistics Index say a recession is likely in the next 12 months. Only 12% of the 780 respondents say a recession is unlikely.

At the same time, most logistics executives say their companies will ride out any turbulence in trade relations between the world’s two largest economies. Seventy-percent of those with operations and investments in China say they will stay put and that their plans are unchanged despite the U.S.-China trade battle.

If they were to move production or sourcing from China, Vietnam and India were respondents’ top choices of places to relocate. They identified rising trade barriers as the factor most likely to hurt emerging markets growth.
The survey is part of the 2020 Agility Emerging Markets Logistics Index, the company’s 11th annual snapshot of industry sentiment and ranking of the world’s 50 leading emerging markets. The Index is a broad gauge of countries’ competitiveness based on their international and domestic logistics strengths and business fundamentals.

“The fears of a recession are not to be taken lightly, especially because of uncertainty about the impact of the coronavirus outbreak,” says Essa Al-Saleh, CEO of Agility Global Logistics. “A positive sign, however, is that a large number of emerging markets economies were able to weather an array of issues — political and social unrest, structural problems, even international sanctions for some — without losing much ground in the past year.”
The Index ranks 50 countries by factors that make them attractive to logistics providers, freight forwarders, shipping lines, air cargo carriers and distributors. In 2020, the top 10 emerging markets are: China, India, United Arab Emirates, Indonesia, Malaysia, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Mexico, Thailand and Turkey.

China, India and Indonesia rank highest for domestic logistics; China, India and Mexico are top for international logistics; and UAE, Malaysia and Saudi Arabia have the best business fundamentals.

2020 Index and Survey Highlights
• China and India, atop the 2020 rankings based on their size and strength as international and domestic logistics markets, lag behind smaller rivals in business fundamentals, a category that ranks countries based on regulatory environment, credit and debt dynamics, contract enforcement, anti-corruption safeguards, price stability and market access. In that area, China ranks No. 8 and India is No. 18.

• The strongest clusters of emerging markets are in the Arabian Gulf and Southeast Asia, thanks to business-friendly conditions and core strengths – the Gulf’s energy wealth and Southeast Asian manufacturing power – that draw logistics activity. In the Gulf, UAE (No. 3), Saudi Arabia (6), Qatar (7), Oman (14), Bahrain (15) and Kuwait (19) rank among the most business-friendly emerging markets. Among ASEAN countries, Indonesia (4), Malaysia (5), Thailand (9), and Vietnam (11) are strong.

• Survey respondents see India as the market with greatest potential over China, their second choice. In rankings of best business conditions, several countries are making big moves: Egypt climbs 10 spots to #17; Ukraine jumps 10 spots to #27; Ghana drops 13 spots to #32; and Iran tumbles 12 spots to #38.

• Forty-two percent of those surveyed say a prolonged trade standoff between the U.S. and China could benefit Southeast Asian countries, which offer manufacturing and sourcing alternatives to China. This is less, however, than 56% who said last year that Southeast Asia would benefit.

• Egypt, despite a brief period of social unrest in 2019, showed significant gains across all indices. On the overall index, Egypt rose six spots to No. 20, while leaping 10 spots on the business fundamentals chart (17), six spots on the domestic opportunities index (13) and jumping five spots on the international opportunities index (23).

• The top three factors that keep small businesses out of global trade are trade bureaucracy (17%), government/border instability (14%) and inability to compete with larger rivals (14%), supply chain professionals say in the survey.

• Despite the belief a recession is likely, emerging markets still grew an estimated 3.7% in 2019 and are projected by the IMF to grow 4.4% in 2020. As for what is driving emerging markets growth, 23% say modernization of customs systems and processes, 18% cite increased internet penetration, 16% say modernization of logistics provider systems (WMS, TMS, etc.) and 15% mention increased adoption and modernization of online payment systems.

• The top five “megacity” emerging markets logistics hubs are Shanghai, New Delhi, Sao Paulo, Jakarta and Mexico City. Megacities – urban centers with populations of 10 million or more – require vast logistics support to meet domestic needs and engage in trade.

• E-commerce fulfillment is the top choice among logistics services expected to maintain or improve growth, well ahead of other services such as domestic last-mile delivery and international express parcel delivery.

• The countries with the least potential as logistics markets in 2020 are Syria, Iran, Venezuela, Iraq and Libya, according to the survey.
2020 Agility Emerging Markets Logistics Index: www.agility.com/2020index

Japanese material handling giant Mitsubishi has announced further restructuring and integration of its European operations, but says its multibrand strategy, which includes UniCarriers and TCM, will be retained.

Under the name Mitsubishi Logisnext Europe (MLE), a member of the global Mitsubishi Logisnext Group, business and strategy execution will be run via an operational management covering all channels and brands with corporate and sales & services functions headquartered in Almere, the Netherlands.

Increased collaboration and synergies between the three supply units in Europe will improve optimisation in product portfolio, costs, and production efficiency , it says. Reflecting these changes all three entities will carry the “Mitsubishi Logisnext Europe” names.

The existing multi-channel and multi-brand strategy are continued. “We build further on Mitsubishi Forklift Trucks, Cat® Lift Trucks, UniCarriers, Rocla, and TCM for agility, maximizing market coverage and reinforcement of the forklift life-cycle customer value generation,” said the company.

The fully owned local subsidiaries within MLE will change names to carry the Logisnext company name. Following the above transformation, the present European management structures of Mitsubishi Caterpillar Forklift Europe and UniCarriers Europe are to be integrated into Mitsubishi Logisnext Europe structure.

Hiroyuki Shimma (above), President of Mitsubishi Logisnext Europe B.V., says: “By establishing an integrated Mitsubishi Logisnext Europe management and supply chain structure we strengthen the customer value creation and advance the global position of Mitsubishi Logisnext.”