Month: April 2020

The supply chain companies comprising the Körber stable are to reunite under a single brand name. The group includes such names as Aberle, Cirrus Logistics, Cohesio Group, Consoveyo, DMLogic, HighJump, Inconso and Otimis among others.

Together as Körber, the companies are a global supply chain technology provider with a diverse range of capabilities spanning software, automation, voice, robotics and material handling equipment, including the system integration and consulting to tie it all together.

“For the supply chain industry, the unified Körber brand represents both the current operational structure of the organisation and its future direction,” said Clint Reiser, director of supply chain research at ARC. “Beyond a portfolio company, Körber’s range of technologies and capabilities in supply chain represent a suite of solutions and professional services that address a broad spectrum of client supply chain technology needs.”

“Over the last few years, we have strategically expanded our supply chain technologies and expertise – empowering customers to deliver upon ever-increasing requirements for speed, convenience and choice,” said Dirk Hejnal, chief executive officer for Körber Supply Chain. “In many cases, we have already leveraged this unique depth and vision for businesses worldwide. Tying it all together under a single brand was the logical next step in strengthening our position.”

“Our new branding is a natural move to bring our unique vision and message to market,” said Rene Hermes, chief marketing officer for Körber Supply Chain. “Our new tagline, ‘Conquer supply chain complexity’ embodies the ‘one-of-a-kind’ offering we have for the industry. Based on our research, more than 90% of supply chain professionals aren’t ready to handle today’s complexities. We turn what were once roadblocks into success – into opportunities today and beyond.”

The Körber Business Area Supply Chain is part of the international technology group Körber. Formerly Körber Logistics Systems, this consists of Aberle, Aberle Software, Cirrus Logistics, Cohesio Group, Consoveyo, DMLogic, HighJump, Inconso, Otimis, Langhammer, Riantics and Voiteq. Körber is home to more than 2,300 in-house professionals and nearly 100 strategic partners across the globe dedicated to advancing supply chains. As a result, businesses have access to a single provider to turn today’s supply chain challenges around labour, consumer expectations and adoption of new and emerging technologies into a strategic differentiator. With 30+ years of experience, Körber already has proven success with thousands of companies worldwide.

The Körber Business Areas Digital, Pharma and Tissue will also follow the same branding strategy – realigning to the single master brand Körber.

Three German transport and logistics companies specializing in moving temperature sensitive fresh food products demonstrate how they future proof their fleet economically and sustainably with Thermo King SLXi Hybrid refrigeration technology.

In 2019, Bodan GmbH, Brocker Logistik and Jens Thomsen Spedition decided to upgrade their fleet with SLXi Hybrid, the industry’s first true hybrid trailer refrigeration units offering the benefits of both diesel and electric power. Following months of operations, the companies experienced the flexibility of hybrid operations, easier access to restricted, low-emission and low-noise areas, and significant fuel savings.

“Environmentally-focused regulations, fluctuating fuel prices and the general aspiration to ‘be green’ are driving adoption of electrified solutions. Still, long-term economics is the primary concern in the logistics industry,” said Francesco Incalza, president of Thermo King Europe, Middle East and Africa. “Thermo King innovates to help our customers control their total cost of ownership while increasing efficiency and achieving important sustainability goals. We were the first to offer our European customers true hybrid refrigeration units, a technology that futureproofs their operations combining the best of diesel and electric power.”

• The wholesale company Bodan GmbH supplies organic markets in southern Germany with natural products ranging from fruit and vegetables to milk and meat. Being environmentally cautious, they have always been open to sustainable innovations.

One of the most important delivery routes for Bodan is an evening and night route through the German Black Forrest region. In this particular case, the ability to operate with lowest noise was equally important as sustainability and fuel efficiency.

“A typical delivery covers a noise-sensitive route of 450 to 500 kilometers per night, from 4 p.m. to 2 a.m., with seven to ten stops,” said Steffen Wolf, fleet manager at Bodan. “We operate this route six days a week servicing food retailers and farm shops. When on the road, our SLXi Hybrid unit is always in electrical mode, which not only enables almost silent cooling, but saves fuel and reduces CO2 emissions.”

• Brocker Logistik specializes in long-haul food transport and annually runs approximately 160,000 kilometers per trailer. Modern fleet, environmental mindfulness and openness to the technical innovations has always been important for the managing director, Hans-Jürgen Brocker. They didn’t hesitate to add the SLXi Hybrid system to their fleet.

“We keep our fleet up to the latest technology and emissions standards. Fuel savings and energy efficiency are top of our mind all the time,” said Hans-Jürgen Brocker.”We use the SLXi Hybrid mainly on the 600 km route between Düsseldorf and Berlin, operated once or twice a week. With set temperature between two to five degrees Celsius, it’s crucial to have stable conditions. Continuous operation of the reefer unit is very important. Using the SLXi Hybrid in electric mode is ideal for this application and we use it all the time while driving. We only use the diesel engine of the unit when parked at the loading and unloading points, in case there is no shore power connection.”

• Jens Thomsen Spedition is a family-run company specializing in food logistics, mainly fruit, vegetables, meat and dairy products. With around 300 refrigerated trailers with 200 tractors, Thomsen supplies wholesale markets and distribution centers across Germany. Their international routes go mainly to Scandinavia.

“Together with our customers and Thermo King, we regularly discuss the opportunities to make transport more economical and environmentally friendly,” said Jan Thomsen, managing director. “The new SLXi hybrid system fulfills both criteria. As soon as we heard about it, we wanted to be one of the first companies to put this innovative technology into real life operation.”

“Sustainability is increasingly important for our retail partners and their customers,” said Ulf Thomsen, managing director. “Investing in hybrid refrigeration is not only a worthwhile investment from economical point of view, but also a clear sign of our commitment to green transport technology. We see profitability and sustainability so well combined with the SLXi Hybrid system that we want keep going in this direction and further enforce this technology.”

The SLXi Hybrid is fully telematics-enabled as standard, delivering full visibility of the unit and load condition with a TK BlueBox communication device and Bluetooth® connectivity. Detailed monitoring of the unit’s operations has allowed the customers to quantify the fuel savings attributed to the electric mode.

All three transporters averaged a total saving of 1.5 to 2 liters per 100 km after offsetting the additional consumption of the tractor engine to generate the power. Depending on the individual cases, with optimized fleet operation parameters this translates into a return of investment period of approximately four years, well below the typical trailer replacement cycle of eight or more years.

The Thermo King Hybrid refrigeration systems leverage Frigoblock alternator and inverter-drive technology, which allows the unit to switch the power between diesel and electric mode as required or necessary. The SLXi Hybrid can make the switch automatically thanks to the standard connectivity and geo-location feature. This gives transport companies the flexibility to operate night-time deliveries, access in inner cities, residential areas and low emission zones.

Long-term Flexi warehouse truck user, Polyco Healthline, has hired an additional four trucks from Narrow Aisle Ltd to support increased demand generated by the COVID-19 situation to supply the NHS with products from its range of Personal Protection Equipment (PPE).

Polyco is among the largest suppliers of protective products to the NHS and the London-based company, which has a distribution centre near Peterborough, has employed a fleet of Flexi VNA warehouse trucks for over 14 years.
Flexi articulated VNA trucks designed and built by Narrow Aisle Ltd give Polyco the performance edge they need by facilitating a highly efficient, low-cost dense storage solution which enables fast and safe pallet movements within its operation.

With an ability to work within very narrow aisle racking layouts, Flexi articulated trucks achieve high volume throughputs by stacking and retrieving pallets – which eliminates the need for time wasting ‘pick and deposit’ stations at aisle ends. At sites where traditional ‘guided Man Up’ VNA systems are deployed, these handover points rely on the use of additional forklifts to transfer the palletised loads between the aisle end ‘pick and deposit’ locations and the goods-in and goods-out zones – a process which incurs costly ‘double handling’ expenses.

Steve McCarthy, logistics manager at Polyco Healthline, said: “Hiring additional Flexis for our fleet will be of significant help as we scale up supply to meet the vital needs of the NHS at this critical time. As Flexi provide all of our handling needs, we do not need to source additional materials handling equipment from elsewhere.”

Narrow Aisle managing director, John Maguire, commented: “We are particularly glad to support our customer Polyco Healthline in meeting this essential need under such exceptional circumstances. We would also like to thank our team at the Tipton factory for their amazing response to the crisis and helping deliver these and other customers in the retail supply chain with mission-critical equipment.”