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Month: January 2021

End-to-end Logistics Services for Electric Fleet

Posted on by David Priestman

GEFCO UK is working with electric car subscription service, Onto, to provide smart repair services and delivery to and from its four finished vehicle logistics (FVL) compounds across the UK.

The project will see GEFCO initially focus on smart bodywork repair services, for Onto’s rapidly growing electric fleet. The partnership will see GEFCO provide Onto with a full end-to-end service including collection and chauffeur delivery as well as bespoke vehicle conversions on new electric vehicle models.

Onto is an all-inclusive electric car subscription service, the first in the UK to enable drivers to swap the vehicle they are driving on-demand via an app. Onto manages the entire user experience, including its own keyless entry software and dedicated fleet and charge points. GEFCO will use Moveecar, its recently implemented ‘one stop shop’ digital service platform that covers the whole end to end vehicle lifecycle. It provides real time monitoring of the delivery and collection services and has a current customer rating of 4.5/5.

Tracey Turner, Key Account Manager at GEFCO UK, commented: “This project marks an important development for our business. We are excited to grow our presence in the emerging new mobility sector, an industry that is set to expand rapidly in the coming years. We were introduced to Onto through our relationship with a leading manufacturer and superb track record in FVL. We are pleased to support the excellent service they provide for their customers and we are exploring further areas for collaboration as the project develops.”

Joe Knowles CCO at Onto commented: “With the recent launch of our new Onto brand identity and the ongoing growth of our fleet, this is an exciting time for the business. As the shift to electric vehicles progresses and customers seek ever more flexible and hassle-free services, we needed an experienced partner that matched our own ambition and commitment to quality. We look forward to a successful and dynamic partnership with GEFCO.”

End-to-end Logistics Services for Electric Fleet

Posted on by David Priestman

GEFCO UK is working with electric car subscription service, Onto, to provide smart repair services and delivery to and from its four finished vehicle logistics (FVL) compounds across the UK.

The project will see GEFCO initially focus on smart bodywork repair services, for Onto’s rapidly growing electric fleet. The partnership will see GEFCO provide Onto with a full end-to-end service including collection and chauffeur delivery as well as bespoke vehicle conversions on new electric vehicle models.

Onto is an all-inclusive electric car subscription service, the first in the UK to enable drivers to swap the vehicle they are driving on-demand via an app. Onto manages the entire user experience, including its own keyless entry software and dedicated fleet and charge points. GEFCO will use Moveecar, its recently implemented ‘one stop shop’ digital service platform that covers the whole end to end vehicle lifecycle. It provides real time monitoring of the delivery and collection services and has a current customer rating of 4.5/5.

Tracey Turner, Key Account Manager at GEFCO UK, commented: “This project marks an important development for our business. We are excited to grow our presence in the emerging new mobility sector, an industry that is set to expand rapidly in the coming years. We were introduced to Onto through our relationship with a leading manufacturer and superb track record in FVL. We are pleased to support the excellent service they provide for their customers and we are exploring further areas for collaboration as the project develops.”

Joe Knowles CCO at Onto commented: “With the recent launch of our new Onto brand identity and the ongoing growth of our fleet, this is an exciting time for the business. As the shift to electric vehicles progresses and customers seek ever more flexible and hassle-free services, we needed an experienced partner that matched our own ambition and commitment to quality. We look forward to a successful and dynamic partnership with GEFCO.”

Ensure Your Logistics Operations are Future-Proofed

Posted on by David Priestman

Ensuring your logistics operation is future-proofed is harder than ever, with the pandemic has drastically changing consumer behaviour. It has sped up what was already an upward trajectory for the adoption of online purchasing and digitalisation. In order to thrive, businesses need to ensure continuity of supply, the ability to implement remote staffing and social distancing and an agile supply chain with the capacity to meet increasing consumer demands. The change in consumer behaviour offers many opportunities to businesses. Some advice by robotic and automation solutions provider, CFK, details how you can ensure you are prepared to make the most of these.

The receipt of containerised product presents a challenge for the logistics industry in that it requires a large amount of resource to manually unload the container and palletise it. Not only is this labour intensive it can be a HSE risk due to potentially heavy loads, repetitive work and reaching to build pallets. There are extremely effective solutions in the industry to help reduce the reliance on labour and the HSE risks involved in the whole of this process. Here are some of the technologies that you can integrate to reduce the impact on your business and improve the efficiency of container unloading.

Boom Conveyors for increased throughput and reduced manpower

Boom conveyors come in a range of shapes and sizes but are all based on the same concept, a simple telescopic conveyor which can extend into a container as it is unloaded to reduce the distance walked by your operators and offer a more ergonomic handling environment. Boom conveyors help increase the unloading rate for cases and products by reducing the distance travelled by operators therefore reducing fatigue.

The types of Boom conveyor available are:

Fixed position Telescopic flat belt conveyors – these are ideal for unloading a large range of product sizes as some smaller cases do not handle well on roller conveyors, this version is fixed to the floor in front of a single loading bay and cannot be moved Rail mounted (or mobile)

Telescopic flat belt conveyors – this takes the benefits of the flat belt version but is mounted to rails or onto a substantial mobile base to allow it to be moved from one loading bay to another – this allows you to remove the waiting time of container movements as you can move to a pre-docked and booked in container immediately

Fixed or mobile telescopic roller conveyors – these work in the same way as the flat belt conveyors but utilise roller conveyors

Bendy Boom telescopic conveyors – these conveyors are based on the standard telescopic boom conveyors but have a section of conveyor which can be pivoted to cater for significantly different height vehicles (i.e. Container lorries or smaller panel vans).

Checking System to ensure full traceability

Once the cases or products are unloaded from the container the next critical step is to identify the product and book it into the higher level warehouse management system so that it can be receipted, labelled (if required) and sent to the defined storage destination. This can be an immensely time-consuming task when done manually and can lead to inadvertent human error when performed consistently for long shifts. With the development in scanning and weighing technology there are now inline systems that can perform a number of validation checks on the inbound cases such as…

Five-Sided barcode scanning – using an array of scanners the cases can be scanned on all five exposed sides to detect barcodes fixed at any point or orientation on the cases provided they are visible and in good condition

Case profiling – using laser scanners the cases can be measured precisely to confirm the case dimensions match those associated with the barcode detail, if the case is damaged or incorrect, for the barcode attached, it can be rejected locally without the risk of blocking any downstream equipment ensuring there is no downtime on your line.

Case weighing – the weight of the cases is also a very important factor to check and record in many cases when booking in product, this is another standard element of equipment that can be integrated into the system whilst the cases are in flight.

All of this information can be collated and recorded directly into your warehouse management system, if this is then coupled with an automated palletiser it can be automatically tracked and logged to a specific pallet all without the need for operator intervention.

This equipment has been proven to be highly effective in many of the main e-commerce and high-street brands and is a standard ‘off the shelf’ offering from leading vision companies such as SICK and Cognex.

Automated Palletising for a more efficient supply chain

By automating your palletising you’re ensuring a fast flowing and efficient supply chain by speeding up and increasing throughput to meet increased demand, reducing damage and improving safety for your workforce due to reduced manual handling and increased social distancing. An automated palletising system will receive mixed product from a container or multiple containers then quickly sort it into pallets. The palletising system can incorporate a full traceability system which links to the in-line check and enables the user to sort and characterise the end solution by weight and profile as well as using barcodes which enables all products that are loaded onto each pallet to be logged into your warehouse management system. By barcoding each product the system can sort the product into categories. The automated palletising system has the capability to auto wrap and label the pallets as well as offer full traceability.

Automated Guided Vehicles offer increased safety and resilience

Once the product has been palletised it can often need moving across large distances which can be very labour intensive. Automated Guided Vehicles can completely remove the need for operators in high traffic areas. The latest generation of AGVs use natural structures in the environment and don’t need a specific infrastructure or any inductive wires, magnets or reflectors in order to work. They utilise highly automated map building technology and efficient route design to ensure they fit, and can be integrated seamlessly, into an existing plant. The AGV management software can be installed onto the AGV so they don’t need specific fleet management software. Latest generation AGVs are also a cost-effective way of handling large payloads while at the same time allowing organisation to reallocate their staff from the warehouse floor into safer roles. AGVs offer organisations a quick ROI, reduction in costs but also increase resilience by reducing their dependency on manual labour.

Integration of the latest innovation for a fast ROI and a more agile logistics operation

There are many different options to ensure your business is fully prepared for a new purchasing landscape. As a systems integrator CKF do a complete feasibility analysis and then design and develop the full solution for our customers utilising the cutting-edge technology from our partners, OEMs (Original Equipment Manufacturer). We use our extensive knowledge and skilled engineering team to project manage and manufacture the full system and ensure that all elements work optimally in unison to ensure maximum productivity, minimum wastage, reduction of labour cost and better staff utilisation. In collaboration with our partners we offer operators of the new systems training and support to ensure smooth set-up and running of the new system.

Sign-up for our newsletters to keep up-to-date in the logistics sector.

Ensure Your Logistics Operations are Future-Proofed

Posted on by Keith McKinley

Ensuring your logistics operation is future-proofed is harder than ever, with the pandemic has drastically changing consumer behaviour. It has sped up what was already an upward trajectory for the adoption of online purchasing and digitalisation. In order to thrive, businesses need to ensure continuity of supply, the ability to implement remote staffing and social distancing and an agile supply chain with the capacity to meet increasing consumer demands. The change in consumer behaviour offers many opportunities to businesses. Some advice by robotic and automation solutions provider, CFK, details how you can ensure you are prepared to make the most of these.

The receipt of containerised product presents a challenge for the logistics industry in that it requires a large amount of resource to manually unload the container and palletise it. Not only is this labour intensive it can be a HSE risk due to potentially heavy loads, repetitive work and reaching to build pallets. There are extremely effective solutions in the industry to help reduce the reliance on labour and the HSE risks involved in the whole of this process. Here are some of the technologies that you can integrate to reduce the impact on your business and improve the efficiency of container unloading.

Boom Conveyors for increased throughput and reduced manpower

Boom conveyors come in a range of shapes and sizes but are all based on the same concept, a simple telescopic conveyor which can extend into a container as it is unloaded to reduce the distance walked by your operators and offer a more ergonomic handling environment. Boom conveyors help increase the unloading rate for cases and products by reducing the distance travelled by operators therefore reducing fatigue.

The types of Boom conveyor available are:

Fixed position Telescopic flat belt conveyors – these are ideal for unloading a large range of product sizes as some smaller cases do not handle well on roller conveyors, this version is fixed to the floor in front of a single loading bay and cannot be moved Rail mounted (or mobile)

Telescopic flat belt conveyors – this takes the benefits of the flat belt version but is mounted to rails or onto a substantial mobile base to allow it to be moved from one loading bay to another – this allows you to remove the waiting time of container movements as you can move to a pre-docked and booked in container immediately

Fixed or mobile telescopic roller conveyors – these work in the same way as the flat belt conveyors but utilise roller conveyors

Bendy Boom telescopic conveyors – these conveyors are based on the standard telescopic boom conveyors but have a section of conveyor which can be pivoted to cater for significantly different height vehicles (i.e. Container lorries or smaller panel vans).

Checking System to ensure full traceability

Once the cases or products are unloaded from the container the next critical step is to identify the product and book it into the higher level warehouse management system so that it can be receipted, labelled (if required) and sent to the defined storage destination. This can be an immensely time-consuming task when done manually and can lead to inadvertent human error when performed consistently for long shifts. With the development in scanning and weighing technology there are now inline systems that can perform a number of validation checks on the inbound cases such as…

Five-Sided barcode scanning – using an array of scanners the cases can be scanned on all five exposed sides to detect barcodes fixed at any point or orientation on the cases provided they are visible and in good condition

Case profiling – using laser scanners the cases can be measured precisely to confirm the case dimensions match those associated with the barcode detail, if the case is damaged or incorrect, for the barcode attached, it can be rejected locally without the risk of blocking any downstream equipment ensuring there is no downtime on your line.

Case weighing – the weight of the cases is also a very important factor to check and record in many cases when booking in product, this is another standard element of equipment that can be integrated into the system whilst the cases are in flight.

All of this information can be collated and recorded directly into your warehouse management system, if this is then coupled with an automated palletiser it can be automatically tracked and logged to a specific pallet all without the need for operator intervention.

This equipment has been proven to be highly effective in many of the main e-commerce and high-street brands and is a standard ‘off the shelf’ offering from leading vision companies such as SICK and Cognex.

Automated Palletising for a more efficient supply chain

By automating your palletising you’re ensuring a fast flowing and efficient supply chain by speeding up and increasing throughput to meet increased demand, reducing damage and improving safety for your workforce due to reduced manual handling and increased social distancing. An automated palletising system will receive mixed product from a container or multiple containers then quickly sort it into pallets. The palletising system can incorporate a full traceability system which links to the in-line check and enables the user to sort and characterise the end solution by weight and profile as well as using barcodes which enables all products that are loaded onto each pallet to be logged into your warehouse management system. By barcoding each product the system can sort the product into categories. The automated palletising system has the capability to auto wrap and label the pallets as well as offer full traceability.

Automated Guided Vehicles offer increased safety and resilience

Once the product has been palletised it can often need moving across large distances which can be very labour intensive. Automated Guided Vehicles can completely remove the need for operators in high traffic areas. The latest generation of AGVs use natural structures in the environment and don’t need a specific infrastructure or any inductive wires, magnets or reflectors in order to work. They utilise highly automated map building technology and efficient route design to ensure they fit, and can be integrated seamlessly, into an existing plant. The AGV management software can be installed onto the AGV so they don’t need specific fleet management software. Latest generation AGVs are also a cost-effective way of handling large payloads while at the same time allowing organisation to reallocate their staff from the warehouse floor into safer roles. AGVs offer organisations a quick ROI, reduction in costs but also increase resilience by reducing their dependency on manual labour.

Integration of the latest innovation for a fast ROI and a more agile logistics operation

There are many different options to ensure your business is fully prepared for a new purchasing landscape. As a systems integrator CKF do a complete feasibility analysis and then design and develop the full solution for our customers utilising the cutting-edge technology from our partners, OEMs (Original Equipment Manufacturer). We use our extensive knowledge and skilled engineering team to project manage and manufacture the full system and ensure that all elements work optimally in unison to ensure maximum productivity, minimum wastage, reduction of labour cost and better staff utilisation. In collaboration with our partners we offer operators of the new systems training and support to ensure smooth set-up and running of the new system.

Sign-up for our newsletters to keep up-to-date in the logistics sector.

Warehouse Reaching New Heights

Posted on by Keith McKinley

An automated warehouse is a breath-taking sight, as reams of pallets are automatically scanned and retrieved for delivery. But not all automation systems are made to endure extreme environments. Here’s how Technidrive Ltd and WEG partnered to help Moffett, an automated storage firm, design a vertical lift for extreme temperatures.

Industrial elevators are usually propelled by electric motors, with the aid of a counterweight system. However, when these industrial systems are in environments of varying temperatures, the equipment must also withstand extreme temperatures as well as heavy loads. This was the case for Moffett, an automated storage firm in Ireland, taking on its first international project in Dubai. The project involved building a system for a three-storey 30-metre-high building with a throughput of 85 pallets per hour. Moffett required an automated storage system to lift and lower pallets, which could operate in temperatures of minus 25 degrees Celsius to 40 degrees Celsius.

In addition, Moffett wanted to manoeuvre pallets, which weigh over 1500kg, at a rate of one metre per second, between a height of six metres to 30 metres. To put this into perspective, the average building is around ten metres tall. At the start of development, Moffett used a drive system from another company. However, the system was incorrectly selected and did not function properly or provide the necessary control. This resulted in Moffett getting in touch with Technidrive, who turned to WEG for the supply a 11kw electric motor, and a variable speed drive (VSD), along with the relevant programming software. The VSD, also known as an inverter, plays a significant role in this application.

Being inverter driven, the storage system accelerates and deaccelerates at a faster rate. Similarly, as carts move through the lift to its programmed level, adjustment is required as the weight of the cart increases and decreases. The lifts therefore needed the conventional auto-correction system found in human-carrying elevators, to account for changes in weight.

Technidrive and WEG worked together to develop an autocorrection movement within the inverter, to keep the lift level with the floor that the cart is moving along. So, instead of the lift lowering as the cart moves along the aisles carrying heavier loads, the inverter automatically corrects the cart’s stability and keeps it passing along smoothly at the correct level. In addition, Technidrive also had to be aware of regenerative energy, which is energy that returns back into the inverter. This occurs whenever a motor decelerates, or a load descends. Raising 2000kg requires a lot of energy and, in turn, lowering 2000kg creates a lot of energy.

For instance, as the inverter controls the speed of the lowering elevator, energy is being generated back into the motor. That energy then comes back into the inverter as DC bus voltage, which needs to be dissipated in a break resistor or burned off as heat, the latter being potentially dangerous. Originally, The break resistor was not large enough for extreme dutys, which would have caused overheating problems. However, Technidrive upsized its break resistors and added thermal protection to ensure no overheating problems would occur from regenerative energy.

“Currently, the system is being used by Moffett in Dubai and Dublin,” explained David Strain, technical director at Technidrive. “However, this application is global, so can be anywhere in the world. We already have two more projects lined up in Amsterdam and London.

“Technidrive did all the calculations and design from scratch, to make sure the motor was suitable for the application, with enough torque, speed and power. Our relationship with Technidrive is very good, and we are working with them on other projects with the hope for another two or three towards the end of the year. “We met with Technidrive every week during the development stage,” explained Sam Moffett, managing director at Moffett. “Technidrive were really helpful, representatives made time to call and were available when needed.

“Originally, we had a motor that did not work from another company, so we spoke to Technidrive who were able to offer what we wanted. They worked on the new motor for a few days, got it working the way we wanted and continue to provide support when needed.”

Not all automation systems are made to endure extreme environments. However, global motor and drive manufacturer WEG, along with Technidrive, ensured Moffett could design a vertical lift for extreme temperatures — adding another breath-taking automated warehouse to the list.

Warehouse Reaching New Heights

Posted on by David Priestman

An automated warehouse is a breath-taking sight, as reams of pallets are automatically scanned and retrieved for delivery. But not all automation systems are made to endure extreme environments. Here’s how Technidrive Ltd and WEG partnered to help Moffett, an automated storage firm, design a vertical lift for extreme temperatures.

Industrial elevators are usually propelled by electric motors, with the aid of a counterweight system. However, when these industrial systems are in environments of varying temperatures, the equipment must also withstand extreme temperatures as well as heavy loads. This was the case for Moffett, an automated storage firm in Ireland, taking on its first international project in Dubai. The project involved building a system for a three-storey 30-metre-high building with a throughput of 85 pallets per hour. Moffett required an automated storage system to lift and lower pallets, which could operate in temperatures of minus 25 degrees Celsius to 40 degrees Celsius.

In addition, Moffett wanted to manoeuvre pallets, which weigh over 1500kg, at a rate of one metre per second, between a height of six metres to 30 metres. To put this into perspective, the average building is around ten metres tall. At the start of development, Moffett used a drive system from another company. However, the system was incorrectly selected and did not function properly or provide the necessary control. This resulted in Moffett getting in touch with Technidrive, who turned to WEG for the supply a 11kw electric motor, and a variable speed drive (VSD), along with the relevant programming software. The VSD, also known as an inverter, plays a significant role in this application.

Being inverter driven, the storage system accelerates and deaccelerates at a faster rate. Similarly, as carts move through the lift to its programmed level, adjustment is required as the weight of the cart increases and decreases. The lifts therefore needed the conventional auto-correction system found in human-carrying elevators, to account for changes in weight.

Technidrive and WEG worked together to develop an autocorrection movement within the inverter, to keep the lift level with the floor that the cart is moving along. So, instead of the lift lowering as the cart moves along the aisles carrying heavier loads, the inverter automatically corrects the cart’s stability and keeps it passing along smoothly at the correct level. In addition, Technidrive also had to be aware of regenerative energy, which is energy that returns back into the inverter. This occurs whenever a motor decelerates, or a load descends. Raising 2000kg requires a lot of energy and, in turn, lowering 2000kg creates a lot of energy.

For instance, as the inverter controls the speed of the lowering elevator, energy is being generated back into the motor. That energy then comes back into the inverter as DC bus voltage, which needs to be dissipated in a break resistor or burned off as heat, the latter being potentially dangerous. Originally, The break resistor was not large enough for extreme dutys, which would have caused overheating problems. However, Technidrive upsized its break resistors and added thermal protection to ensure no overheating problems would occur from regenerative energy.

“Currently, the system is being used by Moffett in Dubai and Dublin,” explained David Strain, technical director at Technidrive. “However, this application is global, so can be anywhere in the world. We already have two more projects lined up in Amsterdam and London.

“Technidrive did all the calculations and design from scratch, to make sure the motor was suitable for the application, with enough torque, speed and power. Our relationship with Technidrive is very good, and we are working with them on other projects with the hope for another two or three towards the end of the year. “We met with Technidrive every week during the development stage,” explained Sam Moffett, managing director at Moffett. “Technidrive were really helpful, representatives made time to call and were available when needed.

“Originally, we had a motor that did not work from another company, so we spoke to Technidrive who were able to offer what we wanted. They worked on the new motor for a few days, got it working the way we wanted and continue to provide support when needed.”

Not all automation systems are made to endure extreme environments. However, global motor and drive manufacturer WEG, along with Technidrive, ensured Moffett could design a vertical lift for extreme temperatures — adding another breath-taking automated warehouse to the list.

Mobile Order Pickers to help with Growing e-Commerce Logistics

Posted on by David Priestman

With the dramatically increasing number of online ordered products due to the Corona pandemic, picking things faster, safer and mobile is a challenge for logistics centre’s.

Lifting company, TAWI, has developed a Mobile order picker. The innovation allows one person to do the job of two while relieving their backs from injuries caused by lifting heavy objects – at the location they need it.

The mobile order picker can be picked up with any kind of forklift or pallet jack, allowing operators to use it wherever they need to lift something. With its adjustable tower height operators can reach into pack racks or other low headroom areas giving them the greatest possible benefit in any kind of lifting operation.

Peter Wood, Global Segments Sales Manager at Piab’s Ergonomic Handling Division explains: ‘The growing concern to many companies is finding that balance between providing manual handling aids for their operators and keeping up levels of productivity, TAWI’s Mobile Order Picker does just that. The MOP removes 100% of the weight of the products that the operators currently lifts, and its ergonomic and user-friendly controls allows operators to move at speed and keep up with their day to day tasks.

“The return on investment is an added bonus with the ongoing challenges COVID 19 is putting on to the e-Commerce industry. As orders are increasing this is putting added pressure on staffing levels. With TAWI’s MOP, which is a single operator lifting aid, two persons pick teams can now be reduced to one, allowing companies to manage their staff and shifts more efficiently. As an additional benefit it also helps reduce the number of damaged items due to operators dropping the products when they are heavy or difficult to grip.”

TAWI’s MOP is a unique solution for mobile material handling and order picking from pallet racks. Operators can simply pick it up with any kind of forklift or truck and drive it wherever they need it to go. It is equipped with a vacuum lifter mounted on an articulating jib arm. Various vacuum lifter models can be used depending on the lifting capacity needed, and the jib arm can handle up to 80 kilograms loads. The articulating arm offers a great range of motion with a 4-meter diameter working area. Electronically driven height adjustment allows the unit to easily adapt to different lifting heights and height limitations.  A 24 VDC 180Ah battery keeps it moving, while a user-friendly on-board panel makes it particularly easy to operate.

Disruption is the New Normal for Supply Chains

Posted on by Keith McKinley

2020 saw huge pressures and new challenges put on global supply chains. While the fallout from the pandemic undoubtedly forced retail businesses to adapt their processes, the reality is that there were many issues placing strain on supply chains well before 2020.

The disruption that plagues supply chains in the modern day has been shaped by increasingly complex consumer demands, the shift to e-commerce, smaller pick volumes and the increasing disengagement of workforces. Covid-19 has accelerated these issues, and for retail distribution centres and warehouse operators, a drastic change was required to meet evolving demands and mitigate business-threatening consequences of the volatile retail landscape, with research showing that even a short disruption of 30 days or less has the potential of a 3-5% impact on an organisation’s entire EBITDA. Disruption isn’t going to go away, so how can retailers embrace the opportunities in their warehouses and tackle it head on?

Going digital

Technology in supply chain management has enhanced dramatically in recent years, especially in the area of artificial intelligence and advanced analytics. Despite this, new research from REPL Group has uncovered that only 40% of global retailers asked have the flexibility within their systems to model for different scenarios, with an unsurprising but huge 83% saying COVID has heightened these issued and made forecasting a challenge.

AI can be leveraged to harness data, such as IoT-enabled fleet information, and help drive efficient decision making, while demand forecasting enabled by machine learning can help reduce waste, cost and ultimately improve the customer experience. Research by McKinsey found that 61% of executives reported decreased costs from the utilisation of AI in their supply chains.

The expansion of IoT into a wide range of devices also has its part to play here. Dynamic inventory tracking can provide real-time, automated feedback, while advanced management systems can automatically send and receive inputs from different stages of the chain back to centralised software, with advanced algorithms helping to raise efficiency. Connecting siloed data to a centralised system enhances the business’s overall resilience to external influences through better connectivity and increased visibility across the whole network.

Warehouse twinning

 It’s not just AI and IoT that has a role to play in managing disruption effectively for supply chains. As interruptions add a heightened level of pressure on warehouses, many have the catch-22 situation of needing to make improvements to layouts and workflows within their buildings to ease these challenges, but cannot afford to take the time to shut the premises down in order to do so. Digital twin simulations can provide the solution by creating a digital replica of the warehouse space. Here, operators can experiment with customised floorplans and workflows to decipher more efficient strategies for the future. Implementation of digital twins has only been accelerated by Covid-19 this year, with a third of mid to large-sized companies with IoT implementations looking to incorporate at least one digital twin by 2023.

Utilising a twin digital environment allows warehouse operators to analyse areas of the SKU mix for improvements, gain insight as to the where spikes of seasonal demand lie in certain products and gain visibility of the parts of the warehouse floor and supply chain process where automotive technologies can make a difference.

The human element

Elements of digitisation can also work towards freeing human resources from the mundane tasks that can easily take up most of their time. Goods to person systems allow for items to be brought to pickers, reducing time spent travelling across the warehouse floor, while self-driving carts reduce an employee’s milage by completing most of the aisle movement while travelling from the plant to the warehouse.

While extremely valuable during a time where social distancing between human workers should be maintained due to the pandemic, giving more time back to warehouse employees through these technologies also allows them to dedicate focus on more engaging and challenging tasks within the businesses, while meeting increased consumer demand.

Dealing with disruption

 While disruption now comes in many forms for warehouse operators, pursuing digitisation can provide the productivity, agility and robustness needed to deal with developing external pressures. The Covid-19 pandemic has undoubtedly pushed supply chains to make efficiency-driven changes, but it has also introduced a change in consumer shopping habits, with REPL’s research all highlighting that 53% of retail decision-makers were anticipating an increase in online sales at the start of 2021, bringing with it concerns on the supply chain impact.

Rather than viewing this shift as a further challenge for business operations this year, warehouse operators must instead consider the opportunities, acting now to increase supply chain efficiency and compete more strongly in an ever-more complex market.

Will Shepherd, Managing Partner Supply Chain, REPL Group

Disruption is the New Normal for Supply Chains

Posted on by David Priestman

2020 saw huge pressures and new challenges put on global supply chains. While the fallout from the pandemic undoubtedly forced retail businesses to adapt their processes, the reality is that there were many issues placing strain on supply chains well before 2020.

The disruption that plagues supply chains in the modern day has been shaped by increasingly complex consumer demands, the shift to e-commerce, smaller pick volumes and the increasing disengagement of workforces. Covid-19 has accelerated these issues, and for retail distribution centres and warehouse operators, a drastic change was required to meet evolving demands and mitigate business-threatening consequences of the volatile retail landscape, with research showing that even a short disruption of 30 days or less has the potential of a 3-5% impact on an organisation’s entire EBITDA. Disruption isn’t going to go away, so how can retailers embrace the opportunities in their warehouses and tackle it head on?

Going digital

Technology in supply chain management has enhanced dramatically in recent years, especially in the area of artificial intelligence and advanced analytics. Despite this, new research from REPL Group has uncovered that only 40% of global retailers asked have the flexibility within their systems to model for different scenarios, with an unsurprising but huge 83% saying COVID has heightened these issued and made forecasting a challenge.

AI can be leveraged to harness data, such as IoT-enabled fleet information, and help drive efficient decision making, while demand forecasting enabled by machine learning can help reduce waste, cost and ultimately improve the customer experience. Research by McKinsey found that 61% of executives reported decreased costs from the utilisation of AI in their supply chains.

The expansion of IoT into a wide range of devices also has its part to play here. Dynamic inventory tracking can provide real-time, automated feedback, while advanced management systems can automatically send and receive inputs from different stages of the chain back to centralised software, with advanced algorithms helping to raise efficiency. Connecting siloed data to a centralised system enhances the business’s overall resilience to external influences through better connectivity and increased visibility across the whole network.

Warehouse twinning

 It’s not just AI and IoT that has a role to play in managing disruption effectively for supply chains. As interruptions add a heightened level of pressure on warehouses, many have the catch-22 situation of needing to make improvements to layouts and workflows within their buildings to ease these challenges, but cannot afford to take the time to shut the premises down in order to do so. Digital twin simulations can provide the solution by creating a digital replica of the warehouse space. Here, operators can experiment with customised floorplans and workflows to decipher more efficient strategies for the future. Implementation of digital twins has only been accelerated by Covid-19 this year, with a third of mid to large-sized companies with IoT implementations looking to incorporate at least one digital twin by 2023.

Utilising a twin digital environment allows warehouse operators to analyse areas of the SKU mix for improvements, gain insight as to the where spikes of seasonal demand lie in certain products and gain visibility of the parts of the warehouse floor and supply chain process where automotive technologies can make a difference.

The human element

Elements of digitisation can also work towards freeing human resources from the mundane tasks that can easily take up most of their time. Goods to person systems allow for items to be brought to pickers, reducing time spent travelling across the warehouse floor, while self-driving carts reduce an employee’s milage by completing most of the aisle movement while travelling from the plant to the warehouse.

While extremely valuable during a time where social distancing between human workers should be maintained due to the pandemic, giving more time back to warehouse employees through these technologies also allows them to dedicate focus on more engaging and challenging tasks within the businesses, while meeting increased consumer demand.

Dealing with disruption

 While disruption now comes in many forms for warehouse operators, pursuing digitisation can provide the productivity, agility and robustness needed to deal with developing external pressures. The Covid-19 pandemic has undoubtedly pushed supply chains to make efficiency-driven changes, but it has also introduced a change in consumer shopping habits, with REPL’s research all highlighting that 53% of retail decision-makers were anticipating an increase in online sales at the start of 2021, bringing with it concerns on the supply chain impact.

Rather than viewing this shift as a further challenge for business operations this year, warehouse operators must instead consider the opportunities, acting now to increase supply chain efficiency and compete more strongly in an ever-more complex market.

Will Shepherd, Managing Partner Supply Chain, REPL Group

New Executive Board for Logistics Provider

Posted on by David Priestman

On January 1, Burkhard Eling (pictured) became Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and Spokesperson of the Executive Board of logistics provider Dachser. He heads the Corporate Strategy, Human Resources, Marketing executive unit, which also includes Corporate Key Account Management and the Corporate Governance & Compliance division. Eling succeeds Bernhard Simon, who will take over as Chairman of the Supervisory Board of the family-owned company in mid-2021.

Also moving to the Supervisory Board with Simon is the former Chief Operations Officer (COO) Road Logistics, Michael Schilling. In response, Dachser has made further changes to the Executive Board as of January 1, 2021. Two Dachser managers of many years’ standing have been promoted to the logistics provider’s operational management body: Stefan Hohm as Chief Development Officer (CDO) and Alexander Tonn as COO Road Logistics. They are joined on the Executive Board by Robert Erni, who left DSV Panalpina to join Dachser on September 1, 2020 and has taken up the role of Chief Financial Officer (CFO). The five-man Executive Board team is completed by Edoardo Podestà, who has been COO Air & Sea Logistics since October 2019.

Eling, 49, joined Dachser in 2012 as deputy head of the Finance, Legal and Tax executive unit. He joined the Executive Board as Chief Financial Officer (CFO) the following year, since when he has been responsible for the logistics provider’s group-wide strategic idea and innovation management program. With a degree in industrial engineering, Eling joined Dachser from the engineering and service group Bilfinger SE, where he was Head of the controlling and internal audit departments, CFO of a US subsidiary and of an international facility management service provider. Eling started his career with the construction companies Hochtief AG and Philipp Holzmann AG.

With sound judgment and agility

“My fellow board members and I are taking over an extremely robust and fast-growing company that even the challenges of the coronavirus crisis haven’t managed to throw off course. With their tremendous know-how and commitment, the people at Dachser have succeeded in maintaining the supply chains of our global customers even under adverse conditions,” says Burkhard Eling, CEO of Dachser. “With the trust and support of the founding family, we as an Executive Board team, will preserve the unique, people-oriented culture of Dachser as a family-owned company. At the same time, we will continue to develop the company with sound judgment and agility on its way to becoming the world’s most integrated logistics provider,” Eling continues.

Alexander Tonn is a new member of Dachser’s Executive Board as of January 1, 2021. As COO Road Logistics, he will be responsible for the European overland transport networks for industrial goods and food. In addition, he will continue to lead the European Logistics Germany business unit. Tonn, 47, has been with the company for over 20 years, having held managerial positions including at Dachser’s Allgäu logistics center in Memmingen and at company headquarters, where he was responsible for the logistics provider’s global contract logistics business for several years.

Stefan Hohm, 48, will head the newly created IT & Development executive unit as Chief Development Officer (CDO). Hohm has been working for Dachser for 27 years, during which time he has managed, among other things, the branches in Erfurt (Thuringia) and Hof (Upper Franconia). Most recently, he was Corporate Director for the logistics provider’s research and development work as well as its Corporate Solutions business. Besides the further development of IT, he is now also responsible for worldwide contract logistics.

Burkhard Eling’s successor as CFO is Robert Erni, an internationally experienced logistics finance manager, who took over as CFO on January 1, 2021 after a four-month induction and transition phase. Before joining Dachser, the 54-year-old Swiss national was Group CFO at logistics provider Panalpina for nearly seven years.

There are no changes to Dachser’s air and sea freight business, which has been led by Edoardo Podestà, COO Air & Sea Logistics, since October 2019. The 58-year-old Italian, based in Hong Kong, became Managing Director of Dachser’s air and sea freight business in the Asia Pacific business unit in 2014. Podestà is also a highly experienced Dachser manager. He joined the company in 2003 when it acquired the joint venture Züst Ambrosetti Far East Ltd.

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