Day: 11 May 2020

The Truck Call app from Linde Material Handling helps businesses return to a normalized working life while at the same time complying with the corona-related hygiene regulations: The app enables transport orders for industrial trucks to be digitally assigned via mobile phone, which assists in reducing the personal contact between logistics staff. Supporting its customers in adapting to this new way of working, Linde is offering them the chance to test the app free of charge for a period of six months.

 Physical distancing is the order of the day. This also entails modified working practices aimed at protecting the health and safety of employees in the best possible way. “All companies need to think about how they can maintain the greatest possible spatial distance between employees when lockdown restrictions and contact bans are lifted and economic life gradually returns to ‘business as usual’,” explains Marietta Landsmann, Senior Manager Digital Products at Linde Material Handling. Remote process control technologies could play a vital role in this context.

The Truck Call app works in a similar way to modern taxi apps like Uber, where a request for pick-up is sent out to all drivers in the company until one of them accepts the job. The call for a truck driver works according to the same principle. The application simplifies the assignment of transport orders significantly and speeds up communication between fleet managers and drivers. And it does so remotely without the need for personal contact between them. This is because the shift supervisors can enter the transport orders into the system from their smartphone, tablet or computer along with an urgency level for the job. The app then informs all the drivers who could take care of the request. If a driver accepts an order online it disappears from the system and once the job is complete, the shift supervisor receives notification.

Developed for both Microsoft and Apple devices, the hybrid app is available for download from the Google Play Store and is ready to use immediately after registration, either through the web browser or directly in the app. Both new and existing customers who register for the first time between 1 May and 31 July can use the app free of charge for six months. If they want to continue using the app after the free test period ends, they can sign up through the web portal. “With this offer, we are making it easier for our customers to return to normality and at the same time we are supporting them on their way to a more efficient, digital organization of their processes,” says Landsmann.

Global integrator WITRON explains a significant anniversary it is celebrating in 2020:

WITRON celebrates an anniversary in 2020. The company from the Upper Palatinate region of Germany has been present on the North American market for 25 years. Karl Högen has accompanied WITRON as CEO North America on this journey for 13 years and looks back with us.

The Bavarians came to the USA with 42 colleagues. Today, they are more than 1,000 WITRON employees in the US and Canada. They are responsible for logistics projects in the food, non-food, spare parts, and medical technology market. “I still experience working in the USA and Canada as a great enrichment. It is a privilege to work with people from different cultural backgrounds”, explains Karl Högen (above). The man from the Upper Palatinate region knows about the requirements in the two markets and quotes the company founder, Walter Winkler: “You can lose money on a project, but you must never lose your good name.” Customer proximity, trust in the people involved, in the technology, and in personal relationships are decisive for success in Europe, but above all in the USA and Canada. “I have been working with the WITRON family for 19 years and with a little more than a decade of experience as CEO, I am a newcomer in the WITRON management team. Many executives have been with us for much longer. North American customers appreciate this very much. They trust us, because when you plan a mothership project together, you are aware of the upcoming fundamental changes for the organization, for the employees, for the internal and external processes within logistics.”

New business model made in the USA

Kroger, one of the largest grocery retailers in North America, is no exception – the first OPM project worldwide was realized in the USA. “I stood in the logistics center with 50 colleagues and we planned (on site), tightened the screws, and tested until everything was running smoothly”, Högen recalls his exciting time. “At that time, the food retailing industry was looking for a solution to pick cases fully automatically, store-friendly and without errors onto pallets or roll containers. We presented our idea to Kroger and received the trust of those responsible.” Then there was work to do. Kroger reported special requirements for Parkstein, sent packing samples and the majority of the WITRON engineers did not spend their summer at the pond, but in the company. But the great commitment of the employees was rewarded. The Kroger project was the breakthrough for WITRON in the US and Canada and customers worldwide followed the example of the Americans and started to order OPM systems. In the meantime, more than 1,200 COMs have been sold. The system is already running for market-leading retailers in 13 countries in Europe, North America – even in Australia.

The projects in the USA and Canada were not only decisive for WITRON’s development in terms of technology. The business model of the general contractor for logistics from the Upper Palatinate region also changed significantly with the Kroger project. “All of a sudden, we built up a kind of production environment in the warehouse with an OPM system. We were not only responsible for the realization, but for the complete system operation. For this, we needed well-trained technicians in charge of service and maintenance. The customers did not want to do this with their own staff. They preferred to concentrate on their own core competence – retailing. Therefore, they handed this task over to WITRON specialists who are responsible for the system around the clock and thus guarantee a permanently high availability.” The idea of the “operator” was born. So-called OnSite teams were also integrated in the United States. “We have always continued to develop, were and have been different from the competition. We always want to be faster in terms of technology. We are pirates, not the Navy”, laughs Högen based on the famous Steve Jobs quote.

WITRON family

And in Parkstein? “We have learned a lot from the US colleagues, we have grown together. Many employees in the USA talk about the WITRON family. As a medium-sized German family-owned company, this is something you first have to work for. That’s a distinction.” But sometimes there are still the small language barriers. Högen laughs: “At the beginning of my career, I once got a call from an entrepreneur who wanted to sell me a kitchen and I thought he needed a logistics center for his products.”

What moves the North American market? “You can time the customer discussions well. Within the first five years, we mainly talked about IT structures, then about machines, then about the ROI, and today we are talking about intelligent automation for people, holistically “end-to-end” networked in the complete supply chain – from the supplier, over the logistics center, and through to the store or to the end consumer.” The customers are desperately looking for skilled workers. “Modern, ergonomic systems make the search easier.”

Emerging markets specialist Agility has launched Global Response Aid (GRA), a Dubai-based company established to procure certified diagnostic, testing and protective products and offer services such as a contact-tracing app and mobile testing used in the detection, treatment and prevention of COVID-19.

GRA works directly with trusted manufacturers around the world to source safe, effective products for governments, health authorities and public institutions; frontline medical facilities such as hospitals and clinics; non-government organisations involved in the COVID-19 fight; and companies looking to safeguard their workers and workplaces.
GRA-sourced products include top-quality ventilators, thermal detection equipment, thermometers, masks, goggles, protective suits, cleaning and sanitation supplies, and new point-of-care test kits that can take pressure off hospital emergency rooms.

A mobile phone app developed by GRA helps stop the spread of the virus through community-driven contact tracing and alerts. The app offers users the ability to record, time stamp, and geo-reference test results.

GRA also is deploying Mobile Diagnostic Testing Vehicles and trained teams that can perform COVID-19 testing safely on site at schools and workplaces.

Software specialist Nulogy has expanded its cloud-based platform with Rapid Contact Tracing, a new digital capability for contract packers and manufacturers to protect employee health and safety while maintaining resilient business operations.

Nulogy’s Rapid Contact Tracing enables suppliers to track employees in real time and be prepared in the event of a potential COVID-19 infection within a production site.

Users can generate reports by shift, specific time period, and production line to quickly identify and isolate areas of risk without the need to shut down an entire facility. In addition, contacts are tracked while preserving employee privacy.
“In the wake of COVID-19, external suppliers are required to continually evolve their operations to safeguard the health of their employees as well as the continued well-being of their businesses,” said Jason Tham, CEO, Nulogy.
“As the next progression of Nulogy’s pandemic preparedness initiative, Rapid Contact Tracing allows contract packagers and manufacturers to leverage data automation to minimise operational risk and protect business continuity.”

With Nulogy’s Rapid Contact Tracing, supply chain providers can protect employees and manage business risk by:
• Identifying and isolating areas to prevent a total site shutdown;
• Building trust and confidence with employees; and
• Serving customers with high levels of accountability for quality and safety.

Toronto-headquartered enterprise software provider Nulogy recently opened its first European office in Bristol and delivers software solutions for FMCG-focused contract manufacturing and packing providers.