Day: 22 September 2020

XPO Logistics, a leading global provider of transport and logistics solutions, has been awarded a contract by the UK government to provide support to the Home Office’s Border Force operations. XPO will transport and store goods and vehicles under a five-year agreement, with live operations expected to commence in March 2021.

XPO will operate from existing government facilities, providing services that cover the entirety of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, as well as the UK border in France at Coquelles. The company is responsible for transporting items from the point where Border Force takes control to the appropriate storage location. XPO has customised an end-to-end solution that integrates its warehouse and transport management systems, providing Border Force with a single point of contact. GPS tracking and real-time visibility maintain the chain of evidence at each touchpoint, and stored goods are digitally documented.

Gavin Williams, managing director, supply chain – UK and Ireland, XPO Logistics, said, “we thank the Home Office for entrusting us with critical support of UK border control. We have designed an agile, end-to-end solution that extends our capabilities in the public sector to meet the complex needs of Border Force operations.”

Transporeon and Ortec are announcing today a strategic co-operation, aimed at offering an advanced, data-driven solution to customers looking for more efficient ways of allocating and routing freight loads. The partnership brings together the European market leader in integrated cloud-based logistics platforms with the world’s leading supplier of mathematical optimisation software.

Users of the joint solution will be able to make use of Ortec’s logistics planning software to optimise truck loading and transport routes before selecting the optimal carriers and carrying out all other logistics-related operations using the Transporeon cloud-based platform. The enhanced offering will not only help companies reduce cost and streamline operations, it will also contribute towards a more sustainable logistics industry through more efficient capacity utilisation, reduced empty journeys, and improved routes, all of which lead to a corresponding reduction in CO2 emissions.

The co-operation builds on existing complementarities between the two software and data analytical specialists. Both Transporeon and Ortec share a strong footprint within the same industries (including manufacturing, construction, retail, transport & logistics) and several customers are already using both partners’ solutions. “This co-operation represents another exciting step on our digitalisation journey and brings a very tangible benefit to our customers,” said Transporeon CEO Stephan Sieber. “Our goal is to move freight logistics forwards by providing outstanding data-driven solutions, whether these be our own developments or those of our partners. By integrating Ortec’s world-leading optimisation software, we can help our customers to streamline operations while reducing their environmental footprint.”

Stefan Huntemann, Managing Partner at Ortec commented: “The added value of leveraging data and mathematics can be realised in virtually every business process and every industry, and we see huge potential in the field of transport logistics. So we’re delighted to be able to expand on our existing activities in this field through co-operation with the European market leader in cloud-based logistics solutions. With our shared data-driven vision and a similar industrial footprint, Ortec and Transporeon will make a great team.”

myGW is the new digital customer portal of Gebrüder Weiss. It is now available to all of the company’s customers in Austria, Germany, Switzerland, the Czech Republic, Hungary, and Slovakia. With its myGW platform, Gebrüder Weiss covers the services of all business areas and, in doing so, would like to ensure that its customers have quick and easy access to the company at all times. This means that all communications with the logistics service provider can be handled online. The e-portal has already been successfully trialed by pilot customers since last spring. There are plans to roll it out in other countries in the near future.

“With myGW, we have created a digital platform through which we can provide our customers with real-time information about their flow of goods – for land transports, air and sea freight, and warehouse logistics. Not only does this ensure a maximum degree of transparency but also facilitates the flow of information throughout the entire supply chain,” says Wolfram Senger-Weiss, CEO of Gebrüder Weiss. “myGW also enables our customers to provide their own customers with information about the exact status of their consignments at all times. A huge advantage.”

During the development phase, particular emphasis was placed on ensuring usability, which means that we worked closely with customers. “Thanks to the support provided by our pilot customers, we have been able to hone the new portal to the needs of our users. Now that the pilot phase has been concluded, the portal can be used immediately by all users in a full and unrestricted way,” adds Wolfgang Brunner, Project Manager of the myGW customer portal. “myGW is intuitively designed, with customer feedback showing that the portal is very easy to use and understand. The resulting time savings represent an additional added value.”

Launching the myGW customer portal represents another important step in the digitalization strategy of Gebrüder Weiss, which is described by Wolfram Senger-Weiss as follows: “We have over 150 locations around the world and rely on the abilities of more than 7,000 employees, meaning that we have a considerable amount of expertise in physically handling transport and logistics orders. We are now able to gradually complement this traditional expertise with new digital offers to enable an unparalleled level of customer satisfaction in the logistics business. With our commitment to operational and digital excellence, it is our aim to offer our customers the best of both worlds and to cement our position as a benchmark for quality in our industry.”

During the recent Timber Packaging & Pallet Confederation (TIMCON) AGM concerns were raised regarding the mounting pressure on the availability of wood which is likely to impact prices in the weeks ahead. The organisation, which represents the manufacturing and repairing wooden pallet and packaging industries, says several factors in the post-lockdown market are putting significant upward pressure on the cost of wood from many origins, including the UK and Baltics, from where the majority of the pallet and packaging industry sources its raw materials. This issue is occurring in the UK and Ireland – but also worldwide, with countries such as the US particularly affected.

Wood prices rose due to a reduction in mill operations and closures, combined with an upswing in domestic home improvement/DIY projects during the lockdown period from March. The increases have been further fuelled by the relaxation of restrictions during the summer, which caused increasing demand as construction projects have resumed quickly. Stocks at UK and European sawmills have been critically depleted, and they are now operating at full capacity.

Other forces have compounded the problem, including an upward impact on demand as the end of the UK’s Brexit transition period on December 31 approaches; high global demand diverting timber from Scandinavian and German sawmills; and nearer to home the ongoing backlog of felling licences in Ireland, which is causing concern about the availability of logs later this year and into 2021.

Stuart Hex, Secretary General of TIMCON, said: “We are expecting timber availability to tighten, which of course has the potential to effect prices. Although demand for pallets and packaging remains moderate, we anticipate a knock-on effect of the current shortages in construction and fencing, where we have already seen record high prices and shortages. Our sector often has to compete with fencing for core and side boards. Timber prices normally stabilise or fall as demand for fencing and construction timber drops in Quarter 4 and availability rises. However, the pandemic bounce back effect as lockdown conditions eased, have led to strong demand from these two sectors and long lead times at sawmills.”