GIST Announces new Chief Executive

Logistics business Gist has announced the appointment of Michael Chambers as its new Chief Executive.

Chambers is an experienced leader who has held key operational and business roles during his 25-year career with the company. He started out at Gist as an Operations Manager at the Barnsley operational site in 1994 before being promoted through a series of positions of increasing responsibility, culminating in his appointment as Chief Operating Officer in 2016.

Chambers said, “it is a privilege to take on the role as Chief Executive of the business within which I have built my career. The current COVID crisis has shown just how vital food logistics is to our society and I am immensely proud of how our people have performed so consistently throughout the pandemic. These are truly extraordinary times that require us to act and think differently about how we run our business. I look forward to building on Gist’s strong foundations with a renewed focus on driving efficiency and continuous improvements to benefit our customers, shareholders and employees.”

He is appointed following former Chief Executive Martin Gwynn’s decision to retire.

GIST Announces new Chief Executive

Logistics business Gist has announced the appointment of Michael Chambers as its new Chief Executive.

Chambers is an experienced leader who has held key operational and business roles during his 25-year career with the company. He started out at Gist as an Operations Manager at the Barnsley operational site in 1994 before being promoted through a series of positions of increasing responsibility, culminating in his appointment as Chief Operating Officer in 2016.

Chambers said, “it is a privilege to take on the role as Chief Executive of the business within which I have built my career. The current COVID crisis has shown just how vital food logistics is to our society and I am immensely proud of how our people have performed so consistently throughout the pandemic. These are truly extraordinary times that require us to act and think differently about how we run our business. I look forward to building on Gist’s strong foundations with a renewed focus on driving efficiency and continuous improvements to benefit our customers, shareholders and employees.”

He is appointed following former Chief Executive Martin Gwynn’s decision to retire.

Refrigeration Manufacturer Prepares Operators for Diesel Price-hike

Hultsteins, the British and Swedish hydraulic refrigeration and electric hybrid systems manufacturer is advising temperature-controlled operators to seize the initiative and fit an Engine Drive PTO (power take off) to all new trucks and tractors specified for refrigerated transport.

Transport Consultant Graham Usher, who’s company Eco Truck Fridge is a sales agency on the East side of the UK for Hultsteins , explains why: “We are a little over 18 months away from HMRC’s withdrawal of the current rebate on red diesel for use in refrigerated transport. When this happens, the impact on fridge operators will be an overnight increase in diesel prices of around 100%.”

Currently, red diesel attracts duty at 11p per litre and this will increase to the current, white diesel level of 57.5p per litre in April 2022. This significant increase of 46.5p per litre will add many hundreds if not thousands of pounds extra cost, per year, per fridge, for all diesel fridge operators. However, adds Usher, operators can mitigate these cost increases and further decrease their current spend on diesel fuel, but to do so, they must have an engine Drive PTO.

“Fitting an engine-drive PTO on all new vehicles will give you the option of retrofitting an electric generator. This does not replace the existing diesel refrigeration system, but instead, works in tandem with the fridge unit and generates electric at a constant 400V – even at idle speed. The generator transforms the diesel unit into a hybrid solution which will run any marque of diesel fridge on electric by utilising its built-in electric motor.”

According to Hultsteins, operators taking this course of action, will benefit from reduced fuel consumption, reduced carbon, lower noise and a significant reduction in NOx and particulate emissions. Furthermore, the company says that the maintenance requirement of the host fridge system will also be reduced, which in turn will extend the life of the diesel fridge.

“Specifying an engine drive PTO will only increase the weekly cost over a 5-year period by a small amount,” adds Usher. “Not fitting an engine drive PTO will certainly add thousands of pounds more to the operating costs per vehicle, per year.”

He goes on to caution that operators can pay a little more now for an engine drive PTO or a lot more later if they don’t have one, as without an engine drive PTO it is not possible to retro-fit an electric generator – regardless of who it is supplied by. “My strong recommendation for anyone investing in new trucks or tractors for use with diesel refrigeration is to specify a factory-fitted PTO from their chosen truck provider, thereby making sure their investment is well and truly future-proofed.”

Refrigeration Manufacturer Prepares Operators for Diesel Price-hike

Hultsteins, the British and Swedish hydraulic refrigeration and electric hybrid systems manufacturer is advising temperature-controlled operators to seize the initiative and fit an Engine Drive PTO (power take off) to all new trucks and tractors specified for refrigerated transport.

Transport Consultant Graham Usher, who’s company Eco Truck Fridge is a sales agency on the East side of the UK for Hultsteins , explains why: “We are a little over 18 months away from HMRC’s withdrawal of the current rebate on red diesel for use in refrigerated transport. When this happens, the impact on fridge operators will be an overnight increase in diesel prices of around 100%.”

Currently, red diesel attracts duty at 11p per litre and this will increase to the current, white diesel level of 57.5p per litre in April 2022. This significant increase of 46.5p per litre will add many hundreds if not thousands of pounds extra cost, per year, per fridge, for all diesel fridge operators. However, adds Usher, operators can mitigate these cost increases and further decrease their current spend on diesel fuel, but to do so, they must have an engine Drive PTO.

“Fitting an engine-drive PTO on all new vehicles will give you the option of retrofitting an electric generator. This does not replace the existing diesel refrigeration system, but instead, works in tandem with the fridge unit and generates electric at a constant 400V – even at idle speed. The generator transforms the diesel unit into a hybrid solution which will run any marque of diesel fridge on electric by utilising its built-in electric motor.”

According to Hultsteins, operators taking this course of action, will benefit from reduced fuel consumption, reduced carbon, lower noise and a significant reduction in NOx and particulate emissions. Furthermore, the company says that the maintenance requirement of the host fridge system will also be reduced, which in turn will extend the life of the diesel fridge.

“Specifying an engine drive PTO will only increase the weekly cost over a 5-year period by a small amount,” adds Usher. “Not fitting an engine drive PTO will certainly add thousands of pounds more to the operating costs per vehicle, per year.”

He goes on to caution that operators can pay a little more now for an engine drive PTO or a lot more later if they don’t have one, as without an engine drive PTO it is not possible to retro-fit an electric generator – regardless of who it is supplied by. “My strong recommendation for anyone investing in new trucks or tractors for use with diesel refrigeration is to specify a factory-fitted PTO from their chosen truck provider, thereby making sure their investment is well and truly future-proofed.”

Large-scale AMR Sorting System for e-commerce

Geek+, a global AMR leader, has implemented a large scale AMR sorting system with Banggood, a global e-commerce player, to support the company’s growing cross-border e-commerce business of 37 international warehouses with deliveries bound for over 200 countries. In light of the accelerated shift towards e-commerce, Banggood has faced challenges of rapid growth in online sales, unpredictable demand, labor shortages, and higher requirements for safer operations. With labor-intense operations often subject to inaccurate sorting, the company turned to Geek+ to automate its warehouse using Geek+ FleetSort solution.

Kelvin Zhang, Geek+ Sorting Product Director says: “Today, e-commerce players need flexible solutions that allow them to scale operations in line with business growth and cope with unpredictable demand. The FleetSort solution automates the sorting process using AMR robots to bring ordered goods from workstations to sorting destination following a simple chutes layout. To scale operations, companies can easily adjust the number of robots and sorting destinations, and, since there’s no need for platform development, the solution can be immediately set up into existing facilities, saving considerable infrastructure costs.”

Apart from flexibility, another priority of global businesses today is safety, particularly in light of the ongoing global pandemic. Safe warehouse operations require the strictest measures to ensure employee protection and prevent products and packages from being contaminated. Geek+ FleetSort solution can be integrated with moving robots that will automatically change cages of sorted items once filled, providing around-the-clock, unmanned, and safe operations.

Wenfa Liu, Director of Banggood warehousing stated: “After the implementation, we have seen significant improvements in the average efficiency of employees and 99.99% sorting accuracy while reducing the overall reliance on manual labor. This has enabled us to meet higher customer service requirements of our B2C business while providing cost-efficient and safe operations. We’re also impressed by the level of customization provided, as FleetSort can automate sorting based on shipping routes, helping us continue to cover global markets and meet various international requirements for transportation channels.”

FleetSort uses S-series robots to sort small or middle-size parcels. Using strong algorithms, the solution monitors robot traffic and balances the task of each robot to achieve maximum sorting efficiency. The robots are adapted to work with various automation options, from manual packaging, to conveyor docking and robot arm station. FleetSort maximizes the use of the warehouse space by intelligently distributing the destination chutes’ layout on the ground.

Large-scale AMR Sorting System for e-commerce

Geek+, a global AMR leader, has implemented a large scale AMR sorting system with Banggood, a global e-commerce player, to support the company’s growing cross-border e-commerce business of 37 international warehouses with deliveries bound for over 200 countries. In light of the accelerated shift towards e-commerce, Banggood has faced challenges of rapid growth in online sales, unpredictable demand, labor shortages, and higher requirements for safer operations. With labor-intense operations often subject to inaccurate sorting, the company turned to Geek+ to automate its warehouse using Geek+ FleetSort solution.

Kelvin Zhang, Geek+ Sorting Product Director says: “Today, e-commerce players need flexible solutions that allow them to scale operations in line with business growth and cope with unpredictable demand. The FleetSort solution automates the sorting process using AMR robots to bring ordered goods from workstations to sorting destination following a simple chutes layout. To scale operations, companies can easily adjust the number of robots and sorting destinations, and, since there’s no need for platform development, the solution can be immediately set up into existing facilities, saving considerable infrastructure costs.”

Apart from flexibility, another priority of global businesses today is safety, particularly in light of the ongoing global pandemic. Safe warehouse operations require the strictest measures to ensure employee protection and prevent products and packages from being contaminated. Geek+ FleetSort solution can be integrated with moving robots that will automatically change cages of sorted items once filled, providing around-the-clock, unmanned, and safe operations.

Wenfa Liu, Director of Banggood warehousing stated: “After the implementation, we have seen significant improvements in the average efficiency of employees and 99.99% sorting accuracy while reducing the overall reliance on manual labor. This has enabled us to meet higher customer service requirements of our B2C business while providing cost-efficient and safe operations. We’re also impressed by the level of customization provided, as FleetSort can automate sorting based on shipping routes, helping us continue to cover global markets and meet various international requirements for transportation channels.”

FleetSort uses S-series robots to sort small or middle-size parcels. Using strong algorithms, the solution monitors robot traffic and balances the task of each robot to achieve maximum sorting efficiency. The robots are adapted to work with various automation options, from manual packaging, to conveyor docking and robot arm station. FleetSort maximizes the use of the warehouse space by intelligently distributing the destination chutes’ layout on the ground.

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