Month: June 2020

Interroll and Modumaq, a partner of the Rolling On Interroll program, have teamed up for an extension project to provide an optimal order classification system for Arvato Supply Chain Solutions in Spain’s increasingly complex material handling processes.

Arvato needed an order classification system for business-to-business (B2B) transactions in a first phase, which has recently been extended for business-to-consumer (B2C) transactions. The system, which was installed in Alcalá de Henares, consists of two induction zones: one for the preparation of orders from the packing tables and the second for the feeding of cross-docking boxes.

“The proposed solution had to have the necessary versatility to be able to feed the system from several packing tables, while at the same time being able to receive boxes directly from a cross-docking entrance,” says Alfonso Flores, General Manager of Modumaq.

Both inductions can work simultaneously and converge to a transport collector that aligns all the boxes for a correct reading and weight control. The weight control compares the data obtained in real time with the theoretical weight indicated by the customer’s warehouse management system (WMS), automatically diverting all boxes that are not within a preset range to a quality control area where the boxes accumulate. Here, the operator will check the boxes one by one and will forward them again to the collector if the content is the desired one.

Maximum variety of goods can be transported

The boxes that are confirmed as correct will then pass to a sorting area, where they will be read again and automatically distributed to various routes leading up to a sorter system. The design of the ramps takes into consideration that the product is very fragile and that variation in weight is quite high, being able to receive boxes from just 200 grams for B2C shipments and up to 25 kilograms for B2B shipments. A superior conveyor has also been added for the recirculation and provision of empty boxes to be used for B2C, so that the personnel on the packing tables always have a buffer of boxes close to each of the workstations.

Interroll’s Modular Conveyor platform (MCP) has been chosen as the main conveyor system, which is completed by ramps designed and manufactured by Modumaq solely with Interroll material. The control system is from Siemens and the reading system from Datalogic, and a communications interface has been developed between the Modumaq system and Arvato’s warehouse management system by means of a protocol for exchanging data in real time.

“Handling fragile products safely was a top priority, so Modumaq’s design department took this into account in both the loading areas and the sorter exit ramps,” says Alfonso Flores. “We based our design on Interroll’s modular MCP platform, as this will enable us to install new elements on the line without having to carry out major modifications and stop the process.”

Modularity ensures installation without interruption 

The great advantage of the MCP system is its modularity: Since the system was installed years after the sorter, Modumaq’s installation teams were able to extend the packing and dispatch areas in record time without impacting or interrupting Arvato’s operations.

“We were faced with the challenge of rising complexity in the preparation, classification, and daily distribution of orders for an important international cosmetics company. The installation carried out by Modumaq perfectly meets our expectations, covering the needs required by the customer, such as handling a high variation of goods, high performance and great flexibility,” says Laura Alaman, responsible for Project Management and General Services at Arvato Supply Chain Solutions in Spain.

Oceaneering International has launched a new business, OceanSMART Cargo Logistics and Maritime Technology, which aims to eliminate waste and increase transparency within the bulk commodity cargo logistics industry.

OceanSMART will be led by Managing Director Bryan Phillips, who comes to the team with over 25 years’ experience in the marine shipping and cargo logistics industry, most recently as chief innovation officer at Inchcape Shipping Services. He is joined by another maritime industry stalwart with over 30 years’ experience, Neill Tomlin, who will serve as Vice President of Product and Business Development.

Over the past 18 months, Oceaneering’s Maritime Intelligence and Technology team worked to develop the OceanSMART offering to address serious industry challenges. The bulk commodity industry amounts to around 60% of world seaborne commodity movements. These cargoes include oil and gas, agricultural, and mineral products. The industry is one where there is little transparency, inherent conflicts of interest, tremendous waste, and misinformation. This environment results in delays, reactive decision making, unnecessary risk, excess cost, and other environmental impacts. This presents an incredible opportunity to revitalize the way the industry currently does business by more effectively using data and technology, getting away from paper-driven tasks and aging legacy applications.

OceanSMART is a combination of software as a service (SaaS) products, data science tools, and resourcing services that will provide cargo owners with real time visibility of their vessels, cargoes, and maritime assets. The service provides transparency to risk, hidden costs, inefficiency, and waste as well as provides the solutions to significantly save time and money and vastly improve decision making.

Rod Larson, President and Chief Executive Officer of Oceaneering, said, “OceanSMART is a perfect complement to our existing maritime business and fits well into our ‘innovate and expand’ strategic objective. We are very excited about what the team has built over the last 18 months and the growth opportunities this business offers.

“When Bryan first pitched the idea to us, it was clear that he understood the problem he was trying to solve, that he had the background and skills to lead this initiative, and that the strategy would significantly change the industry.”

Bryan Phillips, Managing Director of OceanSMART, said, “Oceaneering is the perfect organization and partner for what we are undertaking. Customers are incredibly excited by what we have built as well as the roadmap ahead of us. They are excited that we have the stable ownership of a major organization like Oceaneering, whose leadership is 100% behind us.

“Ever since I started off as an 18-year-old customs clerk in the port of Durban, South Africa, it has always mystified me how little awareness there is of the amount of money being wasted by cargo owners. Fundamentally, the more inefficient a cargo movement is, the more money several parties handling this cargo make, and this is ultimately paid for by the cargo owners. That is why, three years ago, I set out to start a business that intends to rectify this issue and change the industry.”

The OceanSMART portfolio currently includes the SaaS products SMART Position and SMART Analytics. Data science advanced algorithms have been developed that can analyze port and terminal performance in near-real time with developing predictive analytics. On the resourcing side, OCEAN Demurrage and OCEAN Barge have both received significant demand signals from the market. Additionally, OceanSMART has launched the SMART AIS mobile app. Over the next 12 months, several new SaaS products, data science algorithms, and resourcing services will be released to expand the OceanSMART product line.

With fully variable airflow, unrivalled fuel efficiency, and a significantly lowered cost of ownership, the Advancer represents the future of trailer refrigeration. That’s the claim made today by Thermo King at the launch of what it calls “a disruptive new re-imagining of the trailer refrigeration unit”.

The Advancer A-Series is available in three different versions, the A-360, A-400, and A-500, and offers an all-new design architecture that creates a bold new standard for performance, temperature control, and fleet connectivity.

“At Thermo King, we understand that with being a leader comes the responsibility to advance the technology and capability for refrigerated transport. Since we started the industry over 80 years ago, we have been innovating to meet and exceed customer needs, improve efficiency and reduce the environmental footprint of our products,” said Francesco Incalza, president of Thermo King Europe, Middle East and Africa. “Today, Advancer adds another milestone to our history. By introducing this completely redesigned trailer platform, we are challenging what is possible in our industry. This is our vision for the future of trailer refrigeration, and this future is now here for our customers.”

The ambition behind Advancer is to move beyond incremental enhancements and to create a trailer refrigeration unit that features innovations never before seen on the market. Equally, the performance delivered by the A-Series is unrivalled, featuring groundbreaking temperature control, superior load protection, and unmatched fuel efficiency. Combined, these capabilities deliver greater operational flexibility, while helping customers achieve significant improvements in fleet uptime and total cost of ownership.

“With Advancer we went back to the drawing board and asked ourselves what does the future look like?” said David O’Gorman, senior product manager, Thermo King. “We asked customers to tell us what they needed to work better, to win more business, and to cut their cost of operation. The result is a game changing solution we believe our customers are waiting for.”

The field trial testing the units in real life conditions and comparison tests against the predecessor and other flagship refrigeration units have shown that Advancer is up to 40 percent quicker to pull down and up to 30 percent more fuel-efficient than the market average.

“Our field trial units travelled over 1 million kilometres across different climate zones and counted tens of thousands of running hours in diesel and electric modes,” added O’Gorman. “They have crossed deserts, operated at high altitudes, travelled on ferries to cross the seas and on trains for intermodal operations. Throughout the tests, the Advancer units proved to be trouble free.”

The new architecture incorporates the expectations of customers that were gathered in detail and factored into the design from the outset, along with decades of Thermo King’s knowledge and experience. As a result, Advancer includes unique features that comprehensively address a wide range of operational and financial challenges, including:

• Fully variable airflow that can be regulated for each journey and cargo, and is independent from unit engine speed
• Unrivalled electrical and fuel efficiency contributing to lower CO2 footprint and engines with 50 percent less emissions than the maximum allowed by latest NRMM Stage V emission standards
• Electronic engine speed control on the A-400 and A-500 units, which makes them the first units on the market to give complete transparency of fuel levels and fuel consumption. The fuel consumption data will be recorded, displayed, and made available remotely via telematics
• Lower maintenance costs and enhanced serviceability compared to the predecessor, thanks to sensors offering more insight into the engine, fuel, battery and the performance of other key components.
• Future-ready power agnostic capabilities that can utilize diesel, axle generator, or shore power sources with ease
• Fleet intelligence as standard, with Advancer being the first-ever unit to offer 2 years of full telematics connectivity in the purchase price.

The Advancer units are manufactured in the Thermo King’s zero waste to landfill plant in Galway, Ireland. The newly designed, state-of-the-art production line uses 60 percent less energy than the production process of previous Thermo King trailer products.

Advancer aligns with Trane Technologies’ 2030 sustainability aspirations, and the commitment to reduce customers’ carbon emissions by one gigaton – equivalent to the annual emissions of Italy, France and the United Kingdom combined.