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Month: February 2022

Oakland reduces carbon emissions with solar roof

Posted on by Keith McKinley

A 1,608-solar panel system developed, designed, and installed by BeBa Energy has been completed at Oakland International’s Bardon facility in Leicestershire.

Producing enough power to run 265 two-bedroom homes and reducing Oakland’s carbon emissions equivalent to taking 12.19 million car-miles off the road, Oakland was keen to use its roof space at Bardon to support its innovative and sustainable supply chain solutions offer.

Oakland International co-founder and group CEO, Dean Attwell, commented: “With such a vast roof and large energy bill, not to mention a moral obligation that we should lead by example, it was an obvious choice to look up and use Bardon’s immense roof space to power our facility, with solar power being the obvious choice.”

A temperature-controlled international supply chain solution provider, Oakland International is BRCGS AA rated and operates 24-hours/7 days a week, a D2C/B2C/B2B specialist in contract packing, storage, picking, food distribution and a brand development support provider for ambient, chilled, and frozen food to the retail, convenience, discount, wholesale and food service markets in the UK, Ireland and via its partner in Spain.

Attwell added: “We’re delighted so many suppliers choose to work with Oakland because we place sustainability at the heart of everything we do, and for us solar is just one of several initiatives undertaken. Working alongside BeBa Energy for this project has been great. The project was delivered with little fuss, was on time and on budget.”

The 611.04kW 1,608 panel solar PV array system is predicted to generate c.529,887kWh per annum and will significantly reduce Oakland’s energy grid demand, cutting its carbon footprint by some 111,276kg per annum, which is the equivalent of taking 12,190,652 car miles off the road over the system’s lifetime, and equal to planting nearly 164,992 trees.

BeBa Energy Director Shaun Beattie: “Oakland’s commitment to sustainability is one of the strongest we have ever seen. For many of our clients, solar represents one of the biggest steps they can take towards NetZero; for Oakland it’s one of several.

“It’s not just a smart move for the planet either. With energy prices rising at a staggering rate, Oakland have ringfenced a large portion of their energy costs for the next 25 years.”

Transporeon takes dock scheduling to the next level

Posted on by David Priestman

Transporeon has expanded its Real Time Yard Management (RTYM) solution with a new smart re-planning feature, which enables warehouse workers and managers to instantly react to short-term changes on the day of delivery or pickup. Customers can now effectively re-plan scheduled appointments (time slot bookings) to another time and/or another location on any given day. The re-planning feature saves costs caused by waiting times and prevents poorly synchronised assets and ineffective dock planning.

According to a survey conducted by Transporeon and ARC Advisory Group, more than one in 10 loadings (11%) at warehouses need to be rescheduled throughout the day. The survey also reveals a considerable technology gap in yard operations: Nearly two-thirds of respondents handle their rescheduling completely manually. Furthermore, 16% of respondents don’t have a digital time slot management application in place at all. As a result, these logistics professionals cannot account for trucks arriving ahead of time (“early birds”) or behind schedule (“late runners”), making peaks and delays of arrivals unpredictable.

With its time slot management (TSM) offer and real-time visibility (RTV) solutions, Transporeon supports customers to update loading and unloading sequences through automatic processes with instantaneous updates. On average, survey respondents were able to reduce their daily waiting times by more than one hour solely by using the TSM application. Additionally, RTYM users receive a continuously updated overview of incoming and outgoing transports, which contributes to more efficient planning in real-time.

Transporeon CEO Stephan Sieber explains: “Over the last few years, time slot management tools have been used to plan for loading and unloading. When the time slot is booked, that are usually hours, if not days, before the process happens, and in between, delays and changes can happen. When companies combine the planning aspect of time slot management with real-time visibility data, they can use the platform to update loading and unloading sequences to optimise these processes in real-time. This leads to benefits for all participants.”

Accordingly, the survey conducted by Transporeon and ARC Advisory Group identifies a “Lack of predictability and planning” to be the second biggest cause of wait times after “Peaks and throughs of arriving vehicles”. “Communication Problems”, which were a further issue identified by participants, could also be fixed by implementing RTYM. Furthermore, the solution proposed by Transporeon, a “Combination of time slots with real-time data”, was rated by respondents as the yard management technology with the highest potential in the future.

The full White Paper Leveraging Real-Time Data and the Network Effect for Next Level Time Slot Management 2022 with the survey results can be accessed here.

Forklift picking enhanced with RFID labels

Posted on by David Priestman

Internal logistics control is still often based on pen and paper and print-outs from WMS and ERP. These time-consuming procedures cost a lot of money, have numerous disadvantages and entail inefficient operations, such as the incorrect placing of products and random driving around of forklifts.

So how to get rid of these, while staying in control of ongoing operations? This case study tells how Brady Corporation helped its customer to answer this challenge.

Custom RFID labels and integrated forklift scanners

RFID can help locate forklifts quickly. Location detection can take place in real time and continuously, or at crucial places such as zone changes, or when items are scanned, picked up and dropped off. The data generated enable pick-up and drop-off location control, efficient route calculation and route registration.

On top of that, forklifts can also be equipped with detection equipment to read RFID packaging labels on your warehouse pallets, boxes or containers. Brady can supply its L-2588-26B UHF packaging RFID label with a modifiable read range up to 10m. They can be programmed on-site with an RFID print-and-program printer, which also enables adding a barcode or serial number on the label.

Fixed RFID scanners can be set up to detect the entire inventory, and these data can be sent automatically to an asset management software linked to the company’s ERPsystem. This equipment enables automatic scanning and registration of the articles or load carriers carried along such as pallets, boxes and containers. Manual scans, and the resulting frequent forklift stops, are avoided, and drivers can fully focus on driving.

RFID forklift track & trace solutions enable an accurate and up-to-date overview of internal logistic movements through automatic location and load control. Through registration of routes, you are able to organise your rides as efficiently as possible.

Smart forklifts

Smart forklifts support flawless and efficient order picking and considerably reduce the number of inventories. The technologies used are RFID location detection, automatic load control, wireless communication and control of the drivers through a panel PC with touch screen. These technologies can considerably increase the efficiency and effectiveness of any large warehouse with forklifts.

CLICK HERE to find out more about RFID Smart Labelling

CLICK HERE to download the RFID Guide

Sustainable packaging manufacturer celebrates anniversary year

Posted on by Keith McKinley

In its anniversary year, ORBIS Europe, an international manufacturer of reusable transport packaging, continued its growth path in the European market.

“With a strong demand for durable, innovative and sustainable solutions in the market, our transport packaging solutions really hit the mark,” says Jürgen Krahé Senior Commercial Director EMEA. “Green logistics is more important than ever. Together with our customers, we continue our sustainability journey.”

ORBIS is part of Menasha Corporation, family-owned since 1849. In 2021, ORBIS Corporation celebrated its 25th anniversary in reusable packaging. ORBIS has supported European customers since 2002 and opened its ORBIS Europe in Cologne, Germany five years ago. Today it successfully represents the international corporation in the EMEA region.

ORBIS engineers and manufactures durable and sustainable transport packaging. The packaging solutions are made from high percentages of recycled plastics and 100% of ORBIS’ core products are recyclable at end of life. Following a circular economy approach, ORBIS creates a nearly closed raw material cycle. With reusable and recyclable packaging, companies can build more sustainable supply chains and move their product faster, safer and more cost-effectively.

ORBIS’ customers are medium-sized to large global organisations from different industries: from industrial manufacturing (like automotive) to retail (like food & beverage).

In order to ensure the same high quality standards at all locations in all countries, ORBIS Europe has successfully completed the ISO9001 certification process in 2021.

Added to that, ORBIS Europe extended the UN-certification for its dangerous goods container IonPak: These foldable large containers (FLCs) are now certified to transport larger batteries with a maximum gross weight of 915kg in accordance with UN50H.

“The demand for lithium-ion-battery transportation will continue to increase. With the IonPak, we can offer durable packaging solutions that are optimised to safely transport dangerous goods, such as battery cells, modules and smaller battery packs,” says Christian Hemming, Technical Director.

For ORBIS, innovation is key and starts right at the manufacturing process: Using a low-pressure injection moulding process to manufacture large transport packaging is unique in Europe. By foaming plastics and additives, the products are particularly durable and robust.

To strengthen its ability to innovate, ORBIS operates an innovation centre in the US. Krahé says: “As an international manufacturer, we are able to optimise intercontinental supply chains. After the introduction of PlastiCorr as a reusable alternative to fibre corrugated boxes for European retail supply chains last year, we continue to broaden our product portfolio in 2022 – to offer our customers additional alternatives for more sustainable supply chains.”

In 2022, ORBIS will participate amongst others in the following events:

  • Automotive Logistics & Supply Chain Europe, May 2nd-4th in Munich
  • The Battery Show Europe, July 12th-14th in Stuttgart
  • Battery Experts Forum, June 28th-30th in Frankfurt
  • FachPack, September 27th-29th in Nürnberg

 

Snack producer reduces forklift fleet size

Posted on by David Priestman

Toyota Material Handling UK has helped the award-winning premium snack producer, Burts Snacks, to reduce intralogistics costs and achieve significant handling efficiency gains across its business.

During a review of the company’s materials handling operation, Toyota identified that by replacing counterbalance machines with multi-functional reach trucks capable of operating outside a building, Burts Snacks could not only reduce the number of forklifts within its fleet – with a resultant drop in maintenance expenditure – but also boost productivity and improve on-site safety.

Burts Snacks manufactures its growing range of own-brand, licensed and private label snacks from sites in Plymouth and Leicester. At both facilities, Toyota recommended switching counterbalance trucks for Toyota Reflex outdoor reach trucks.

The Toyota Reflex outdoor reach truck has greater ground clearance than traditional models, which along with rubber wheels with tread and a revised gearbox configuration, allows it to work in yards, block-stacking, servicing outdoor racking and loading and unloading vehicles from the side.

It can also perform inside a building and at Burts Snacks’ Plymouth site, the trucks are fitted with Kooi extra-long forks with fork cameras to allow pallet loads to be put away within the storage unit’s double-deep racking scheme.

In addition, Toyota provided a mix of electric counterbalance models, powered pallet trucks and order pickers.

The equipment at both sites has been supplied on a long-term rental contract that includes service and maintenance.

Burts Snacks’ warehouse manager, Daniel Cresswell, originally approached Toyota to supply new, ultra-energy efficient trucks to replace a number of existing electric-powered counterbalance models that had been underutilised for some time and were nearing the end of their fixed contract period.

“After seeing the Toyota proposition for our fleet, it was a simple decision for us,” Cresswell says.

All of Burts Snacks’ new machines feature Toyota’s I_Site integrated telematics package as standard. The I_Site system allows truck operating hours to be closely monitored along with battery utilisation across the fleet. This feature has been particularly beneficial at the Plymouth site where the trucks are powered by a combination of Nexus fast charge, lithium-ion and lead acid batteries.

“The I_Site system monitors the forklift’s battery and highlights if the power source is being managed incorrectly. For example, if a lead acid battery is opportunity charged, this can cause significant implications to the battery. The I_Site technology can identify this before any harm is done,” says Cresswell.

I_Site also provides valuable data on the efficiency and safety of Burts Snacks’ lift truck operators, as Cresswell explains: “Because each operator requires his or her own PIN code or smart access card to operate a truck, they quickly realise that they are accountable for their actions during the course of a shift. We find that this accountability prompts forklift drivers to take more care when going about their daily routine, which of course, in turn, results in a safer environment and reduced product, truck or building infrastructure damage.”

Garbe hands over Lower Saxony logistics centre

Posted on by Keith McKinley

One year after the start of construction, Garbe Industrial Real Estate GmbH has completed a new central warehouse for the hagebau Group in Walsrode, Lower Saxony (Germany).

The property, with a total area of around 43,000 sq m, has now been officially handed over to the logistics subsidiary of the building materials and DIY store cooperation. Its omnichannel and logistics activities are to be bundled in Walsrode in the future. Garbe Industrial Real Estate invested around €34m in the new building.

The logistics centre was built on a 100,000 square metre site in the “A27park” industrial and commercial area. It is located directly on the A 27 motorway. The Walsroder Triangle is located in the immediate vicinity. There is a connection to the A7 motorway, one of the most important north-south connections in Germany.

“The central location in the Hamburg-Hanover-Bremen city triangle speaks for itself,” emphasises Jan Dietrich Hempel, Managing Director of Garbe Industrial Real Estate. “In the current difficult times, which in the construction sector are characterised by irregularities in the supply chains and shortages of materials, our thanks go to all those involved in the project for their solution-oriented and constructive cooperation.”

The city of Walsrode also contributed to the quick success of the project by cooperatively facilitating the examination and approval by the building authority within a very short period of time. The project had previously been initiated by the Deltaland mbH business development agency, which, as the city’s service provider, had put the project participants in touch with the location.

Garbe Industrial Real Estate had prevailed as preferred partner for the project development in a multi-stage bidding process conducted by Logivest as the logistics real estate consultant and project manager commissioned by hagebau, and acquired the site ready for construction in November 2020.

A building was erected on top of it, which is divided into four hall sections, each measuring 10,500 sq m. In addition, there are around 1,300 sq m for offices and social rooms. The property is equipped with 40 dock levellers and three ground-level gates. In addition, the object has a gate for side unloading.

The tenant of the new building is hagebau Logistik GmbH & Co KG. It handles the warehousing, order picking and distribution of the product range, which comprises around 10,000 different articles, for the around 360 member companies of the building materials trading and DIY store cooperation.

“The Walsrode site will set standards and play a decisive role in our logistics strategy,” explains Gerritt Höppner-Tietz, Managing Director of hagebau Logistik. The property in the “A27park” will serve as a central warehouse in the future. From there, both the five regional warehouses and the construction and building materials markets are to be supplied. In addition, online orders are to be shipped from Walsrode.

“Numerous jobs will be created in Walsrode for this purpose. A total of up to 150 people will be employed at the site,” adds Höppner-Tietz.

Parking spaces for 122 cars, 20 trucks and 20 bicycles are available in the outdoor area. A photovoltaic system is installed on the roof of the logistics centre to generate renewable energy. Garbe Industrial Real Estate is striving for certification according to the Gold Standard of the German Sustainable Building Council for the entire property.

“We will transfer the logistics centre to our own real estate management and remain a reliable contact for our tenant even after completion,” concludes Hempel, referring to the corporate strategy of Garbe Industrial Real Estate. The property still has potential for expansion. If required, a fifth hall section with an additional 10,000 sq m of space can be built.

 

Omni-channel integration during ongoing operations

Posted on by David Priestman

During ongoing operations, a high-performance logistics centre in Scandinavia is currently being expanded into an omni-channel logistics centre.

Since April 2012, the Finnish logistics service provider INEX Partners, a subsidiary of the retail company SOK, has been picking all general merchandise items at its Sipoo site using automated and semi-automated logistics systems from the general contractor Witron Logistik + Informatik GmbH. The 68,000 sq m facility near Helsinki used to exclusively supply the group’s 1,000 stores with more than 300,000 different items annually.

Now, the rapidly growing e-commerce business and the processing of click + collect orders will also be integrated. The goal of SOK/INEX is to process a wide variety of distribution channels centrally from a single logistics centre in a cost-efficient and flexible way. The operational start of the solution is scheduled for Q1/2022.

Flexible process structures

The INEX distribution centre in Sipoo is considered one of the most efficient logistics centres in Northern Europe, designed for a daily performance of processing more than one million units – clothing, cosmetics, sports items, electronic equipment, media, gardening equipment, and furniture.

Many of the non-food items are subject to fashion and music trends, or seasonal changes, which causes a constant change of products. Thus, highly dynamic and flexible logistics structures were required in the material flow processes right from the start. WITRON has already delivered a high degree of flexibility for the supply of approx 1,000 stores in the network.

This flexibility is now also a decisive factor in the development and logistical integration of further distribution channels such as click + collect and home shopping.

Decreasing logistics costs

The Covid-19 pandemic is not the only reason why the share of goods ordered online is also rising steadily in Finland. Whereas online orders could previously be manually picked by employees directly in the store and then shipped from there, a “critical mass” has now been reached at INEX, which means that this type of processing no longer appears economical. Also, given the increase in order volume, this process can no longer be covered by the employees in the store.

Faster, more flexible, but with significantly lower logistics costs – this is the process handling directly in the logistics centre. Here, employees pick small-volume items with the semi-automatic DPS (Dynamic Picking System) goods-to-person solution, pick-by-light guided from storage totes or storage pallets into the shipping tote.

With the semi-automatic pick-by-voice supported CPS (Car Picking System), large-volume or bulky items are stacked in the pick aisle from the storage pallet or layer trays into roll containers in a route-optimised manner. There is no physical separation between the e-commerce and the store logistics areas. Due to the generally low volume of e-commerce orders, totes used to pick orders for several online customers in parallel are created during the picking process.

In the following consolidation process, all small-volume and large-volume items are scanned and manually assigned to the respective customer order in a rack shelf, then packed and prepared for dispatch. Single-item orders will bypass the consolidation process. They will be scanned and packed directly from tote to carton. Shipping is also possible in form of click + collect orders to the stores.

High level of consistency

The processes integrated during ongoing operations are impressive in terms of their consistency. In principle, all items from the yearly 300,000 general merchandise product assortment are available to the SOK/INEX customers not only as a complete retail unit but also as “single items”. The formation of single items is generated dynamically as required in a separate process prior to picking. The logistics centre also handles all returns, which are returned to stock.

The merge of the e-commerce and click + collect distribution channels with the store business, storage, order picking, and shipping from one logistics centre is designed for future growth. Significant growth is expected in the coming years due to the successive change of the 1,000 SOK stores to the newly integrated omni-channel process and the increase of the overall e-commerce volume.

In addition to a further increase in premium customer service – both in the stores and in the online business – this means a variety of added benefits for INEX: cost-efficient and flexible processing for all distribution channels, processing with the same logistics personnel and the same technology, which includes a fast response to fluctuations and order peaks (e.g. Black Friday), no separate logistics areas and product storage for different distribution channels, a high level of sustainability in shipping, etc.

 

Sparck shows revolutionary ecommerce packaging systems

Posted on by David Priestman

Sparck Technologies (previously known as Packaging by Quadient), the automated packaging solutions specialist, will be highlighting its advanced ‘fit-to-size’ packaging machines at IntraLogisteX 2022, 29th – 30th March, CBS Arena, Coventry. Ecommerce businesses can find out how to save costs, reduce shipment volumes, and boost packaging performance by visiting stand 500.

With the capability to tailor-make up to 1,100 packages per hour, for multiple or single-item orders, the CVP Everest and CVP Impack packaging systems offer automated solutions for ecommerce operations challenged by increasing order volumes, labour shortages and growing demands for sustainable packaging solutions. With installations across Europe, the US and Canada, the CVP Automated Packaging Solutions effortlessly create, fill, fold and label each parcel in one seamless process – reducing package volumes by up to 50%, cutting cardboard usage by 30% and eliminating the need for void fill.

A new feature to be announced at the show is the ‘print-on-box’ facility, available with both the CVP Impack and CVP Everest models. Custom messages, logos and branding can be individually tailored for each and every package. The ability to print directly onto packages offers tremendous opportunities for enhanced branding and individualisation of the package, giving the customer a more personalised experience.

Sparck Technologies will also be unveiling a comprehensive suite of data products and analytical tools designed to help businesses understand and optimise packaging performance on their CVP machines – ranging from real-time monitoring to complete performance reporting.

Jo Bradley, Business Development Manager for Sparck Technologies in the UK, says: “E-commerce businesses are facing a ‘perfect storm’ of increasing order volumes coupled with fast-diminishing labour availability. Cost pressures too, along with mounting consumer concerns over excessive packaging and large voids around packed items, are leading to a significant rise in interest in automated solutions that can boost productivity in despatch halls – particularly at peak.

“These future-focused businesses are looking for systems that can cut waste, reduce ‘shipped air’ in transport, and provide capacity for further expansion.”

Digital innovations for lift truck maintenance

Posted on by David Priestman

Konecranes’ latest digital solutions allow lift trucks customers to monitor the status and usage of their assets. They can act upon different conditions, reducing equipment downtime and scheduling operations activities with just a few mouse clicks, using the yourKONECRANES Customer portal.

Today, the majority of Konecranes customers are operating with smart connected equipment. With TRUCONNECT Remote Monitoring as telematic solution on their lift trucks, and yourKONECRANES.com as digital experience platform, lift trucks customers can monitor the condition and use of their assets to get valuable insights to turn into immediate action, increasing both productivity and operational efficiency.

yourKONECRANES asset maintenance planner does not only provide customers with maintenance forecast, but guides them to the correct maintenance actions, and further helps planning and carrying out actions in a timely and effective way.

Customers benefit from the list of parts needed for their maintenance activities and a time estimation for each checkpoint, optimising the usage of time and resources efficiently.

This new forecasting service monitors metrics such as hydraulic oil aging and tyre pressure, exemplifying Konecranes’ direction towards a fully condition-based maintenance philosophy.

“Our digital solutions have been very popular with our customers and these new services will engage them even more,” says Bertrand Marion, Director, Business Development and Digitalization at Konecranes Lift Trucks. “Having a full view of the fleet performance with KPIs and reports is a big advantage for customers. They will gain important insights on how to systematically improve their operations and overall equipment effectiveness.”

Another exciting new development for Konecranes digital services is the ISO/IEC 27001:2013 certification for information security management, received in July. This demonstrates that the company follows internationally-recognised data security management practices, to maintain data availability and security from its collection to access. Whether it is on yourKONECRANES.com customer portal, productivity-enhancing mobile applications, or through TRUCONNECT remote service products, customers can be confident that the data they exchange with Konecranes systems is secure. Maintaining the highest level of cybersecurity to protect asset and business data is the main goal.

But this is not just about data; it’s also about the use of equipment and safety. The system follows the “security by design” concept, where specific software development practices ensure that high security risks are identified and eliminated in each phase of the software development lifecycle, and never reach the production phase.

“At Konecranes, we understand our customers’ enthusiasm for innovation, especially digital solutions that lead to clear results,” says Andreas Falk, Senior Vice President, Konecranes Lift Trucks. “Forecasting and comparison in a secure online environment are both valuable tools that help businesses build and maintain their future success.”

White paper: pharma cold chain technologies compared

Posted on by Keith McKinley

The vital role that temperature-controlled packaging plays in transporting pharmaceuticals around the world has been highlighted in a new white paper from Tower Cold Chain, with the aim of helping stakeholders find the right solution for their needs.

Compounded by the demands of the COVID-19 pandemic, the white paper provides practical advice on the various options available, with insight delivered by seven leading industry experts from across the supply chain. These include senior decision makers from Johnson & Johnson, DHL and LOT Polish Airlines, who deliver an unbiased guide that is ideal for specifiers in pharmaceuticals, 3PL and air freight looking to make informed choices.

Free to download from the Tower website, the white paper – titled ‘Passive v Active in a globally disrupted age’ – collates the key findings of a 90-minute webinar organised by Tower in late 2021. Amongst the topics covered are the rapid changes affecting the industry; the new challenges that are arising in delivering vaccines to remote areas; and the considerations that must be made in selecting the optimum container type for the task.

At the heart of the publication is an assessment of the relative merits of Active, Passive and Hybrid temperature-controlled packaging solutions with detailed insight on their use across the global pharmaceutical supply chain.

In an unbiased review of the technologies the white paper identifies a place for all types of temperature-controlled solutions within the market.

“In some circumstances, active methods are ideal. In others, passive is the only sensible choice to de-risk the shipment,” explains Kevin Doran, Global Head of Supply Chain at Tower Cold Chain.

“When it comes to patient care and the effective delivery of critical pharmaceuticals there’s no benefit in being partisan. We felt it was vital that decision makers can get a balanced view, which is why this white paper brings together a wide range of voices to survey the whole landscape and identify the scenarios for the best use of each technology.

“We’re grateful to all of the experts who gave their time and provide such a rich source of insight and information – and we look forward to sharing it with others.”

CLICK HERE to download the white paper

 

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