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Day: 14 December 2020

Space and Speed at Scale

Posted on by David Priestman

Ecommerce in Europe is expected to be worth €717 billion at the end of 2020. Distribution warehouses and fulfilment centres need to be ready, says an emerging player in the space, writes Paul Hamblin.

In the race for bigger market share, e-commerce companies are opening more locations across Europe. At the same time, offline businesses are increasing their online presence. It follows that the fulfilment centres of today need to get ready to meet increasing demand, not only from online and offline shops but also from the person at the end of the line, the e-commerce consumer.

According to Hristo Urumov, owner of Sofia-based storage technology and material handling specialist STAMH, this is going to be tricky for some DCs unless their managers make changes,
because many are going to receive more orders per day than they can physically fulfil. “Already, a typical online customer is likely to fill their check-out cart with more than one item per online order and it’s a fair bet that they will expect their new purchases to arrive within two days, at most, of making that order,” he points out. “And guess what – they don’t care where the fulfilment centre is located.”

It’s not just the number of online shops that is growing either. The total of items in each product line to be stored and distributed is on the rise, too. Warehouses need to accommodate a growing list of inventory, in some cases without switching location. Businesses know all too well that customer satisfaction is essential to success in the online space, which means a well functioning fulfilment and logistics centre is a vital piece of the jigsaw. Limited picking, sorting and logistics capacity can prevent business expansion because fulfilment centres simply can’t meet the demand.
E-commerce businesses need to act in order to get ready for the upcoming growth.

“There are two ways to grow – to expand the range of products offered or to enter new markets,” says Hristo Urumov. “It’s better to do both.” To solve the puzzle, growing e-commerce business can opt for 3PL or scalable automation solutions to stay in control, he says.

“Outsourcing the problem means losing control over the quality of the fulfilment process,” he argues. “If you use a 3PL, it actually means handing over the satisfaction and retention of your hard-won customers. The ability to affect and control your service to your customers is outsourced to a new partner and you are relying completely on that partner.” STAMH’s owner predicted several years ago that the next step in warehouse development would lie in the refinement of picking automation as a way to meet growing demand and to boost a DC’s capacity to prepare new orders.

He recognises that full automation can be an expensive solution. “In this context, scalable automated modules may be the answer to the growing demand,” he points out. “The engineering solutions of modern warehouses offer space optimisation and picking automation at a speed step by step and hand in hand with the growth of your business.”

STAMH’s engineering team already knows that the modularity of these solutions offer businesses the possibility to make scalable investments, according their optimisation needs. “A lot of companies are opting for partial automaton. They proceed to a full solution only when they actually see the results,” he says. Successful automated e-commerce solutions need to offer space
optimisation, productivity and 100 % picking accuracy, he argues. “They are here to stay and can offer e-commerce business the possibility to break though the wall of growing demand.”

Space and Speed at Scale

Posted on by Keith McKinley

Ecommerce in Europe is expected to be worth €717 billion at the end of 2020. Distribution warehouses and fulfilment centres need to be ready, says an emerging player in the space, writes Paul Hamblin.

In the race for bigger market share, e-commerce companies are opening more locations across Europe. At the same time, offline businesses are increasing their online presence. It follows that the fulfilment centres of today need to get ready to meet increasing demand, not only from online and offline shops but also from the person at the end of the line, the e-commerce consumer.

According to Hristo Urumov, owner of Sofia-based storage technology and material handling specialist STAMH, this is going to be tricky for some DCs unless their managers make changes,
because many are going to receive more orders per day than they can physically fulfil. “Already, a typical online customer is likely to fill their check-out cart with more than one item per online order and it’s a fair bet that they will expect their new purchases to arrive within two days, at most, of making that order,” he points out. “And guess what – they don’t care where the fulfilment centre is located.”

It’s not just the number of online shops that is growing either. The total of items in each product line to be stored and distributed is on the rise, too. Warehouses need to accommodate a growing list of inventory, in some cases without switching location. Businesses know all too well that customer satisfaction is essential to success in the online space, which means a well functioning fulfilment and logistics centre is a vital piece of the jigsaw. Limited picking, sorting and logistics capacity can prevent business expansion because fulfilment centres simply can’t meet the demand.
E-commerce businesses need to act in order to get ready for the upcoming growth.

“There are two ways to grow – to expand the range of products offered or to enter new markets,” says Hristo Urumov. “It’s better to do both.” To solve the puzzle, growing e-commerce business can opt for 3PL or scalable automation solutions to stay in control, he says.

“Outsourcing the problem means losing control over the quality of the fulfilment process,” he argues. “If you use a 3PL, it actually means handing over the satisfaction and retention of your hard-won customers. The ability to affect and control your service to your customers is outsourced to a new partner and you are relying completely on that partner.” STAMH’s owner predicted several years ago that the next step in warehouse development would lie in the refinement of picking automation as a way to meet growing demand and to boost a DC’s capacity to prepare new orders.

He recognises that full automation can be an expensive solution. “In this context, scalable automated modules may be the answer to the growing demand,” he points out. “The engineering solutions of modern warehouses offer space optimisation and picking automation at a speed step by step and hand in hand with the growth of your business.”

STAMH’s engineering team already knows that the modularity of these solutions offer businesses the possibility to make scalable investments, according their optimisation needs. “A lot of companies are opting for partial automaton. They proceed to a full solution only when they actually see the results,” he says. Successful automated e-commerce solutions need to offer space
optimisation, productivity and 100 % picking accuracy, he argues. “They are here to stay and can offer e-commerce business the possibility to break though the wall of growing demand.”

Mates in Mind Support Employee Mental Health

Posted on by David Priestman

Palletways, an Imperial Group company and one of Europe’s largest and fastest-growing express palletised freight networks, has partnered with Mates in Mind, a UK charity that helps organisations improve their workforces’ mental health.

Mates in Mind was established in 2017 to address mental ill health in the construction sector and more recently, has partnered with an increasing number of logistic and transport companies. They specialise in providing training and support for staff and employers to raise awareness, improve understanding and address the stigma that surrounds mental health.

Over the next month, Mates in Mind will run nationally accredited Mental Health First Aid training with participants from all Palletways’ sites across the UK. The two organisations have also carried out an all-staff mental health survey and are in the process of implementing a three-year wellbeing strategy to improve Palletways’ mental health provision and better support all employees.

Rob Gittins, Palletways’ UK managing director, said: “This year has been incredibly challenging for everyone, and we recognise the impact it has had on our employees’. The mental health and wellbeing of our employees is of paramount importance and that is why we are committed to investing in our staff. Our new partnership with Mates in Mind is an important step in providing extra support and training to our employees. We want to create a cultural shift where mental health is viewed on a par with physical health in our business.”

Martin Lockham, growth development manager at Mates in Mind, added, “We are delighted to welcome Palletways as a supporter of our charity at Mates in Mind. Three in five employees experience mental health issues because of work and this needs to change. As we all navigate the pandemic and the changes it has brought, and continues to bring to our lives, it has never been more important to raise awareness, improve understanding of and support our workforces by develop a culture of openness on this subject. By working with us to develop their own mental health programme, Palletways has shown the kind of progressive leadership that acknowledges that employee mental wellbeing should be at the forefront of organisational health and the future of the wider transport and logistics sector.”

Mates in Mind Support Employee Mental Health

Posted on by David Priestman

Palletways, an Imperial Group company and one of Europe’s largest and fastest-growing express palletised freight networks, has partnered with Mates in Mind, a UK charity that helps organisations improve their workforces’ mental health.

Mates in Mind was established in 2017 to address mental ill health in the construction sector and more recently, has partnered with an increasing number of logistic and transport companies. They specialise in providing training and support for staff and employers to raise awareness, improve understanding and address the stigma that surrounds mental health.

Over the next month, Mates in Mind will run nationally accredited Mental Health First Aid training with participants from all Palletways’ sites across the UK. The two organisations have also carried out an all-staff mental health survey and are in the process of implementing a three-year wellbeing strategy to improve Palletways’ mental health provision and better support all employees.

Rob Gittins, Palletways’ UK managing director, said: “This year has been incredibly challenging for everyone, and we recognise the impact it has had on our employees’. The mental health and wellbeing of our employees is of paramount importance and that is why we are committed to investing in our staff. Our new partnership with Mates in Mind is an important step in providing extra support and training to our employees. We want to create a cultural shift where mental health is viewed on a par with physical health in our business.”

Martin Lockham, growth development manager at Mates in Mind, added, “We are delighted to welcome Palletways as a supporter of our charity at Mates in Mind. Three in five employees experience mental health issues because of work and this needs to change. As we all navigate the pandemic and the changes it has brought, and continues to bring to our lives, it has never been more important to raise awareness, improve understanding of and support our workforces by develop a culture of openness on this subject. By working with us to develop their own mental health programme, Palletways has shown the kind of progressive leadership that acknowledges that employee mental wellbeing should be at the forefront of organisational health and the future of the wider transport and logistics sector.”

Brexit Supply Chain Management

Posted on by David Priestman

A provider of bespoke business services has announced the launch of a Brexit support package that will assist the management of supply chains and support companies whose staff travel to work across the EU.

Jigsaw Business Group – headquartered in the North East of England – has already in its 25 years of business carved a reputation for providing bespoke business services and transforming supply chains for global brands across Rail, Automotive, Renewables and many other STEM manufacturing Industries.

The business – over the last nine months – has applied these skills to develop a Brexit roadmap that will support manufacturing and operational locations across the EU with both supply chain management and, particularly, the movement of staff and recruitment.

This includes:
• A confirmed pool of in country EU contract staff across all 27 member countries
• An established pool of UK staff who have Frontier Worker status
• A country by country EU requirements matrix that identifies what is needed by citizens of UK Businesses to work in the EU
• Patented secure monitoring technology that allows clients to remotely see and verify, in real time, what is happening in supply chains, enabling fact driven discussion and action planning to transform the way companies collaborate and manage their supply chains.

Speaking about the company’s preparedness for Brexit, Executive Chairman of Jigsaw Business Group, Dean Stennett said: “Brexit in whatever form, will place additional administrative burdens on any UK business importing or exporting product and where staff need to work across the EU.

“Combine this with the recent impact of Covid-19, and we have witnessed a fragility to the modern supply chain like never before seen. Manufacturing businesses are now looking to design smarter, stronger and more diverse supply chains where a balance of near shoring, lower cost manufacturing, and digitization are seen as being key to building more robust supply chains and ensuring a lasting recovery. With more than 25 years’ experience supporting the management of client supply chains across the EU and Asia, Jigsaw Business Group can offer the same support to those companies now affected by the Brexit transition. We have spent more than nine months at Jigsaw Business Group preparing for all options when it comes to the end of the Brexit transition and, be it a Hard or Soft Brexit, we are making sure we can support our clients and other businesses through this transition,” added Stennett.

And, the company’s planning and innovation doesn’t stop there. The company’s recent launch of its unique patented technology – Jigsawsafe® – has seen Jigsaw Business Group take the market by storm with the first product of its type designed to support teams to collaborate remotely, gather and store data and safely enabling teams across various global locations to be onsite from their desk.

“As part of our nine-month Brexit planning we were already well underway with the development of Jigsawsafe® as part of our efforts to drive down costs, reduce response times, increase staff safety, limit carbon emissions and eliminate supply chain fragility for our clients,” Stennett continued. “Recent world events have accelerated the development of and demand for Jigsawsafe® as companies across the globe look to transform their supply chain strategies and keep their workers safe.”

Jigsaw Business Group is a leading provider of business services, delivering supply chain management, business improvement, recruitment and training and development services. The company specialises in working with clients in a range of sectors from rail, automotive and energy through to aerospace, manufacturing, engineering and retail. The business works in full accordance with all industry best practice standards including being certified to ISO9001:2015 across all its service areas.

Brexit Supply Chain Management

Posted on by David Priestman

A provider of bespoke business services has announced the launch of a Brexit support package that will assist the management of supply chains and support companies whose staff travel to work across the EU.

Jigsaw Business Group – headquartered in the North East of England – has already in its 25 years of business carved a reputation for providing bespoke business services and transforming supply chains for global brands across Rail, Automotive, Renewables and many other STEM manufacturing Industries.

The business – over the last nine months – has applied these skills to develop a Brexit roadmap that will support manufacturing and operational locations across the EU with both supply chain management and, particularly, the movement of staff and recruitment.

This includes:
• A confirmed pool of in country EU contract staff across all 27 member countries
• An established pool of UK staff who have Frontier Worker status
• A country by country EU requirements matrix that identifies what is needed by citizens of UK Businesses to work in the EU
• Patented secure monitoring technology that allows clients to remotely see and verify, in real time, what is happening in supply chains, enabling fact driven discussion and action planning to transform the way companies collaborate and manage their supply chains.

Speaking about the company’s preparedness for Brexit, Executive Chairman of Jigsaw Business Group, Dean Stennett said: “Brexit in whatever form, will place additional administrative burdens on any UK business importing or exporting product and where staff need to work across the EU.

“Combine this with the recent impact of Covid-19, and we have witnessed a fragility to the modern supply chain like never before seen. Manufacturing businesses are now looking to design smarter, stronger and more diverse supply chains where a balance of near shoring, lower cost manufacturing, and digitization are seen as being key to building more robust supply chains and ensuring a lasting recovery. With more than 25 years’ experience supporting the management of client supply chains across the EU and Asia, Jigsaw Business Group can offer the same support to those companies now affected by the Brexit transition. We have spent more than nine months at Jigsaw Business Group preparing for all options when it comes to the end of the Brexit transition and, be it a Hard or Soft Brexit, we are making sure we can support our clients and other businesses through this transition,” added Stennett.

And, the company’s planning and innovation doesn’t stop there. The company’s recent launch of its unique patented technology – Jigsawsafe® – has seen Jigsaw Business Group take the market by storm with the first product of its type designed to support teams to collaborate remotely, gather and store data and safely enabling teams across various global locations to be onsite from their desk.

“As part of our nine-month Brexit planning we were already well underway with the development of Jigsawsafe® as part of our efforts to drive down costs, reduce response times, increase staff safety, limit carbon emissions and eliminate supply chain fragility for our clients,” Stennett continued. “Recent world events have accelerated the development of and demand for Jigsawsafe® as companies across the globe look to transform their supply chain strategies and keep their workers safe.”

Jigsaw Business Group is a leading provider of business services, delivering supply chain management, business improvement, recruitment and training and development services. The company specialises in working with clients in a range of sectors from rail, automotive and energy through to aerospace, manufacturing, engineering and retail. The business works in full accordance with all industry best practice standards including being certified to ISO9001:2015 across all its service areas.

New Electric Piggyback Truck Launched

Posted on by David Priestman

Hiab, part of Cargotec, launches the MOFFETT E4 NX, its next generation eSeries of electric forklifts and the world’s first all electric 3-wheel drive truck mounted forklift. Inside the chassis of a MOFFETT M4, Hiab has constructed a zero-emission truck mounted forklift powered by lithium ion batteries with new controllers and the new HMI (Human Machine Interface) that displays battery capacity, machine performance and service information. The MOFFETT can be charged from a regular household socket or a 30 amp socket for faster charging, as well as from the truck in between deliveries.

The new MOFFETT eSeries, currently available in four E4 NX models with more being added, is not only beneficial to the environment as it has zero emissions, it is also much more comfortable and safer for the operator as it is virtually silent and has less vibrations than a diesel powered truck. The low noise means it can be operated without earplugs allowing the driver to both see and hear danger. It can also be operated at night-time and deliver the cargo inside warehouses.

The total cost of ownership is lower than the equivalent diesel model as it can be electrically charged and has reduced service costs. It is engineered with fewer moving parts, which reduces service time and spare parts costs.

“The MOFFETT eSeries is the natural choice for customers who need to enter low emissions zones, work at night or meet sustainability targets. However, as it’s cheaper to run, safer and more comfortable, we think it will prove popular with customers in a wide range of industries. We are certain that drivers will appreciate working in an exhaust free environment and being able to hear what is happening around them,” says Jann Hansen, Director, Sales & Product Business Management, Truck Mounted Forklift, Hiab.

The MOFFETT eSeries have in-built connectivity so that owners can access Hiab’s HiConnect™. HiConnect monitors over 100 machine parameters. Some are displayed on the HMI while the full range of data are available from the HiConnect web portal. Parameters range from battery capacity to delivery route and time, driver safety and service notifications.

New Electric Piggyback Truck Launched

Posted on by David Priestman

Hiab, part of Cargotec, launches the MOFFETT E4 NX, its next generation eSeries of electric forklifts and the world’s first all electric 3-wheel drive truck mounted forklift. Inside the chassis of a MOFFETT M4, Hiab has constructed a zero-emission truck mounted forklift powered by lithium ion batteries with new controllers and the new HMI (Human Machine Interface) that displays battery capacity, machine performance and service information. The MOFFETT can be charged from a regular household socket or a 30 amp socket for faster charging, as well as from the truck in between deliveries.

The new MOFFETT eSeries, currently available in four E4 NX models with more being added, is not only beneficial to the environment as it has zero emissions, it is also much more comfortable and safer for the operator as it is virtually silent and has less vibrations than a diesel powered truck. The low noise means it can be operated without earplugs allowing the driver to both see and hear danger. It can also be operated at night-time and deliver the cargo inside warehouses.

The total cost of ownership is lower than the equivalent diesel model as it can be electrically charged and has reduced service costs. It is engineered with fewer moving parts, which reduces service time and spare parts costs.

“The MOFFETT eSeries is the natural choice for customers who need to enter low emissions zones, work at night or meet sustainability targets. However, as it’s cheaper to run, safer and more comfortable, we think it will prove popular with customers in a wide range of industries. We are certain that drivers will appreciate working in an exhaust free environment and being able to hear what is happening around them,” says Jann Hansen, Director, Sales & Product Business Management, Truck Mounted Forklift, Hiab.

The MOFFETT eSeries have in-built connectivity so that owners can access Hiab’s HiConnect™. HiConnect monitors over 100 machine parameters. Some are displayed on the HMI while the full range of data are available from the HiConnect web portal. Parameters range from battery capacity to delivery route and time, driver safety and service notifications.

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