TVH strengthens position with new HQ building

TVH – a global parts specialist for lift trucks, industrial vehicles, construction and agricultural machinery –officially opened the doors of ‘The Hub’, its brand-new main office in Waregem, Belgium on 31st March.

In the presence of 200 guests, CEO Dominiek Valcke (pictured) inaugurated the new building. “With this state-of-the-art office building, we can now employ even more people and easily introduce visitors to our services,” says Valcke.

In April 2019, TVH started the preparatory works for the construction of a new main building. This new 13,000 sq m building, named ‘The Hub’, is the sleek, bright and contemporary solution to the impending lack of space that TVH was experiencing because of its rapid growth. In its design, great attention was paid to comfort, ergonomics and efficiency. Numerous CO2 sensors, temperature sensors and controls, ensure a pleasant indoor climate, and the many sound-absorbing materials also contribute to comfort.

Strong growth

TVH has more than 5,000 employees worldwide, with Belgium alone accounting for more than 2,500 colleagues; a number that continues to grow each year. To accommodate the growing workforce, additional workplaces had to be created.

“The growth that TVH has experienced in recent years entailed a strong increase in the number of employees. We didn’t just create more office space with The Hub. We can now also support our employees better with extra meeting rooms, an auditorium, a new company restaurant, a showroom and an extensive meeting centre,” says Valcke. “This additional space is certainly not an unnecessary luxury, since we are looking for more than 250 new colleagues to strengthen TVH, in Waregem alone.

TVH Experience Center

The pièce de résistance can be found on the ground floor of the new main building: the TVH Experience Center.

“This unique 1,500 sq m visitor centre primarily serves as a location to familiarise local and international visitors, such as customers, suppliers, associations, schools and applicants, with the offer, services, atmosphere and working method of TVH,” says Facility Manager Luc Rasschaert.

“And thanks to its interactive nature, TVH Experience Center is much more than just a showroom. Visitors can play games and test their driving skills with a virtual lift truck in a warehouse, for example.”

 

ek robotics sponsors BTCC team

Charlie Martin has joined ROKiT MB Motorsport as its Official Development Driver for the 2022 Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship, as part of an exciting new partnership with ek robotics – an industry leader in transport robotics.

Charlie brings a wealth of GT and endurance experience to the team, including in BMW machinery in the revered Nurburgring 24 Hours endurance race, the Nurburgring Endurance Series (NLS) and ADAC GT4 Germany.

In 2021, Charlie enjoyed domestic success in the Britcar Endurance Championship – taking her Praga R1 to class victory at Silverstone before claiming three further podium finishes throughout the season.

Charlie’s new role is just one element of an exciting new partnership with ek robotics that will see her test the team’s BMW 330e M Sport – run by 15-time BTCC champions WSR. Boasting more than 50 years of experience across the entire life cycle of Automated Guided Vehicles (AGVs), ek robotics has installed more than 1,000 systems and delivered over 10,000 vehicles all across Europe.

As the BTCC enters an exciting new era as it switches to hybrid power, ROKiT MB Motorsport is preparing for its third year in the championship and is delighted to be working alongside both Charlie and ek robotics in 2022. With ek robotics committed to empowering change throughout its industry – be that through adopting greener business processes or fostering inclusivity across its workforce – these principles of equality and opportunity underpin the partnership.

“I’m really excited to team-up with ROKiT MB Motorsport alongside my valued partners, ek robotics,” Charlie said. “The BTCC is the UK’s most prestigious racing championship so it is a real privilege to work with one of its most successful outfits. To be given the opportunity to work with the team and get behind the wheel as the BTCC embarks on its greenest season yet is a fantastic opportunity for me.

“I’d like to say a huge thank you to everyone at ek robotics. This is a brilliant opportunity and they’ve helped to make it possible – it’s a pleasure to work with them and I’m really pleased to continue that partnership with this exciting news.”

Mark Blundell, Sporting Director of ROKiT MB Motorsport, added: “We’re delighted to welcome Charlie and ek robotics to the team. Charlie is a true professional and her new role with her in the team will help as she explores future on-track opportunities as well. Empowering a diverse and inclusive culture in our team is very important to me and I know that is a passion which ek robotics share equally.

“Together we are delighted to be opening up this opportunity for Charlie to help take the next step in her career. Charlie is a truly inspirational character and her ambition and enthusiasm will be a great asset to the team.”

Chris Price, UK Managing Director of ek robotics, concluded: “Everyone at ek robotics is delighted to share this news today as we mark another first in the British Touring Car Championship. We share a lot of principles with the ROKiT MB Motorsport team and have enjoyed working with Charlie already, so to support in making this opportunity possible is very important to us.

“As an organisation, equality and inclusion run through every element of our work and that is reinforced via this partnership. It is great to see the BTCC adopting hybrid power in the 2022 season and the push for greater sustainability in our work is a mission we all share.”

ek robotics sponsors BTCC team

Charlie Martin has joined ROKiT MB Motorsport as its Official Development Driver for the 2022 Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship, as part of an exciting new partnership with ek robotics – an industry leader in transport robotics.

Charlie brings a wealth of GT and endurance experience to the team, including in BMW machinery in the revered Nurburgring 24 Hours endurance race, the Nurburgring Endurance Series (NLS) and ADAC GT4 Germany.

In 2021, Charlie enjoyed domestic success in the Britcar Endurance Championship – taking her Praga R1 to class victory at Silverstone before claiming three further podium finishes throughout the season.

Charlie’s new role is just one element of an exciting new partnership with ek robotics that will see her test the team’s BMW 330e M Sport – run by 15-time BTCC champions WSR. Boasting more than 50 years of experience across the entire life cycle of Automated Guided Vehicles (AGVs), ek robotics has installed more than 1,000 systems and delivered over 10,000 vehicles all across Europe.

As the BTCC enters an exciting new era as it switches to hybrid power, ROKiT MB Motorsport is preparing for its third year in the championship and is delighted to be working alongside both Charlie and ek robotics in 2022. With ek robotics committed to empowering change throughout its industry – be that through adopting greener business processes or fostering inclusivity across its workforce – these principles of equality and opportunity underpin the partnership.

“I’m really excited to team-up with ROKiT MB Motorsport alongside my valued partners, ek robotics,” Charlie said. “The BTCC is the UK’s most prestigious racing championship so it is a real privilege to work with one of its most successful outfits. To be given the opportunity to work with the team and get behind the wheel as the BTCC embarks on its greenest season yet is a fantastic opportunity for me.

“I’d like to say a huge thank you to everyone at ek robotics. This is a brilliant opportunity and they’ve helped to make it possible – it’s a pleasure to work with them and I’m really pleased to continue that partnership with this exciting news.”

Mark Blundell, Sporting Director of ROKiT MB Motorsport, added: “We’re delighted to welcome Charlie and ek robotics to the team. Charlie is a true professional and her new role with her in the team will help as she explores future on-track opportunities as well. Empowering a diverse and inclusive culture in our team is very important to me and I know that is a passion which ek robotics share equally.

“Together we are delighted to be opening up this opportunity for Charlie to help take the next step in her career. Charlie is a truly inspirational character and her ambition and enthusiasm will be a great asset to the team.”

Chris Price, UK Managing Director of ek robotics, concluded: “Everyone at ek robotics is delighted to share this news today as we mark another first in the British Touring Car Championship. We share a lot of principles with the ROKiT MB Motorsport team and have enjoyed working with Charlie already, so to support in making this opportunity possible is very important to us.

“As an organisation, equality and inclusion run through every element of our work and that is reinforced via this partnership. It is great to see the BTCC adopting hybrid power in the 2022 season and the push for greater sustainability in our work is a mission we all share.”

Exiger launches supply chain risk detection platform

Exiger, a global leader in AI-powered supply chain and third-party risk management solutions, has launched Supply Chain Explorer, its proprietary real-time supply chain risk detection SaaS platform that empowers companies and government agencies to rapidly surface, understand and mitigate critical threats to their immediate and extended supplier networks.

Purpose-built in response to market and client demand, Supply Chain Explorer was developed in close collaboration with some of the largest corporations and critical government agencies.

Supply Chain Explorer allows users to visualise, prioritise and escalate high risk relationships. A modular three-in-one solution, Supply Chain Explorer discovers supplier networks across digital footprints, global shipping data and contract awards data in a centralised application, delivering unparalleled transparency into supplier risk for government agencies and critical infrastructure sectors, including the Defense Industrial Base.

Exiger’s customers have already battle-tested the software throughout some of the most volatile geopolitical, industrial and supply chain issues in history. Over the last six months, Exiger has been working with customers to ensure the relevance and accuracy of the product to their mission. The product has been used to detect, quantify and mitigate risk in under 24 hours across a number of different supply chain crises and cyberattacks.

Supply Chain Explorer is currently used by corporations and federal government agencies to analyse Russia-Ukraine war supply disruptions, prioritise and understand Log4j impacts on their enterprise, and most recently, to assess their vulnerability to the Okta breach.

One beta customer of Exiger’s Supply Chain Explorer noted: “My team was tasked with identifying high-impact vendors in a specific region. Exiger’s commerce Supply Chain Explorer quickly gave us visibility not only [into] risk with direct suppliers, but [also] allowed us to work into the sub-tiers. Given the quick turnaround time of the request, Exiger’s tool proved invaluable to providing a timely and thorough answer to our [stakeholders].”

In a recent global market study of over 300 risk management professionals, Exiger, in partnership with Stax Inc., found that 77% of large companies indicated the need to monitor risks of suppliers down to Tier 3 or deeper.

“The turbulence of the market has given us unique insight into the challenges our clients face in trying to understand their supplier networks in both their day-to-day work and in a crisis,” said Brendan Galla, Exiger’s Chief Product Officer.

Reflecting on the last two years of product development and supply chain analytics work, Galla added: “For instance, ideating how you could use our cyber Supply Chain Explorer to identify the impact of a compromise in your software environment went from theoretical to mission-critical overnight as the Log4j news broke last year. The creation of this product was a unique opportunity to both understand our clients’ needs and help them resolve real-world issues – this effort was an embodiment of Exiger’s mission to make the world a safer place through technology.”

Supply Chain Explorer draws on an aggregated blend of internal and external open data sets, including over 31 million direct unstructured and structured data sources, 1.3 billion contract records, 7 billion source records of supply chain installations, and 16.8 million unique supply chains. This solution also provides a comprehensive view into supply chain risk across 50 different categories and subcategories, including sanctions, trade embargoes, enforcement, state-owned flags, cyber, modern slavery, and adverse media. The platform will ultimately include other macro risks, such as disruption for raw materials, natural disasters and more.

Data from Supply Chain Explorer is available in a streamlined, user-friendly interface, removing the noise and complexities that come with traditional manual due diligence and risk identification methods. The most sophisticated technology of its kind, Supply Chain Explorer leverages cutting-edge artificial intelligence and natural language processing backed by a hyper scaling database infrastructure.

“Exiger envisioned Supply Chain Explorer to simplify and democratise supplier and supply chain research,” said Brandon Daniels, President of Exiger. “However, over the last two years, it became more than that.  It was an opportunity to help the US and our allies identify the impact of sanctions on Russia.  It helped our clients rally against Uyghur Forced Labour. It has helped Exiger support the COVID-19 effort to safely procure the supplies healthcare workers desperately needed to save lives.

“The other issue we realised in working with our customers to develop this product is that risk management and procurement professionals are swamped in this environment. Supply Chain Explorer was designed to help our customers focus, prioritise and triage risk proactively. With single-click supply chain detection, high-level due diligence and risk analysis, everyone can now join the fight to secure our global supply chains.

“For the first time, customers can not only see their risk and solve the issues that have already happened, but spot potential disruptions before they impact their supply chain – in a cost-effective and scalable way.”

The launch of Supply Chain Explorer follows a period of accelerated growth and investment in Exiger’s technology and people. The company continues to recruit nationally recognised risk management experts to its executive leadership team, most recently appointing Bob Kolasky, Founding Head of Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency’s National Risk Management Center, as Senior Vice President of Critical Infrastructure. Kolasky joins Exiger Government Solutions President Carrie Wibben, former Principal Deputy for Counterintelligence, Law Enforcement, and Security for the Department of Defense.

Supply Chain Explorer will be available as a standalone product and marks the latest in Exiger’s ongoing development of solutions to address the growing need for end-to end third-party and supply chain risk management – including its foundational AI-powered technologies, DDIQ and ScreenIQ, used by the world’s largest banks for years to transform the fight against financial crime.

 

Exiger launches supply chain risk detection platform

Exiger, a global leader in AI-powered supply chain and third-party risk management solutions, has launched Supply Chain Explorer, its proprietary real-time supply chain risk detection SaaS platform that empowers companies and government agencies to rapidly surface, understand and mitigate critical threats to their immediate and extended supplier networks.

Purpose-built in response to market and client demand, Supply Chain Explorer was developed in close collaboration with some of the largest corporations and critical government agencies.

Supply Chain Explorer allows users to visualise, prioritise and escalate high risk relationships. A modular three-in-one solution, Supply Chain Explorer discovers supplier networks across digital footprints, global shipping data and contract awards data in a centralised application, delivering unparalleled transparency into supplier risk for government agencies and critical infrastructure sectors, including the Defense Industrial Base.

Exiger’s customers have already battle-tested the software throughout some of the most volatile geopolitical, industrial and supply chain issues in history. Over the last six months, Exiger has been working with customers to ensure the relevance and accuracy of the product to their mission. The product has been used to detect, quantify and mitigate risk in under 24 hours across a number of different supply chain crises and cyberattacks.

Supply Chain Explorer is currently used by corporations and federal government agencies to analyse Russia-Ukraine war supply disruptions, prioritise and understand Log4j impacts on their enterprise, and most recently, to assess their vulnerability to the Okta breach.

One beta customer of Exiger’s Supply Chain Explorer noted: “My team was tasked with identifying high-impact vendors in a specific region. Exiger’s commerce Supply Chain Explorer quickly gave us visibility not only [into] risk with direct suppliers, but [also] allowed us to work into the sub-tiers. Given the quick turnaround time of the request, Exiger’s tool proved invaluable to providing a timely and thorough answer to our [stakeholders].”

In a recent global market study of over 300 risk management professionals, Exiger, in partnership with Stax Inc., found that 77% of large companies indicated the need to monitor risks of suppliers down to Tier 3 or deeper.

“The turbulence of the market has given us unique insight into the challenges our clients face in trying to understand their supplier networks in both their day-to-day work and in a crisis,” said Brendan Galla, Exiger’s Chief Product Officer.

Reflecting on the last two years of product development and supply chain analytics work, Galla added: “For instance, ideating how you could use our cyber Supply Chain Explorer to identify the impact of a compromise in your software environment went from theoretical to mission-critical overnight as the Log4j news broke last year. The creation of this product was a unique opportunity to both understand our clients’ needs and help them resolve real-world issues – this effort was an embodiment of Exiger’s mission to make the world a safer place through technology.”

Supply Chain Explorer draws on an aggregated blend of internal and external open data sets, including over 31 million direct unstructured and structured data sources, 1.3 billion contract records, 7 billion source records of supply chain installations, and 16.8 million unique supply chains. This solution also provides a comprehensive view into supply chain risk across 50 different categories and subcategories, including sanctions, trade embargoes, enforcement, state-owned flags, cyber, modern slavery, and adverse media. The platform will ultimately include other macro risks, such as disruption for raw materials, natural disasters and more.

Data from Supply Chain Explorer is available in a streamlined, user-friendly interface, removing the noise and complexities that come with traditional manual due diligence and risk identification methods. The most sophisticated technology of its kind, Supply Chain Explorer leverages cutting-edge artificial intelligence and natural language processing backed by a hyper scaling database infrastructure.

“Exiger envisioned Supply Chain Explorer to simplify and democratise supplier and supply chain research,” said Brandon Daniels, President of Exiger. “However, over the last two years, it became more than that.  It was an opportunity to help the US and our allies identify the impact of sanctions on Russia.  It helped our clients rally against Uyghur Forced Labour. It has helped Exiger support the COVID-19 effort to safely procure the supplies healthcare workers desperately needed to save lives.

“The other issue we realised in working with our customers to develop this product is that risk management and procurement professionals are swamped in this environment. Supply Chain Explorer was designed to help our customers focus, prioritise and triage risk proactively. With single-click supply chain detection, high-level due diligence and risk analysis, everyone can now join the fight to secure our global supply chains.

“For the first time, customers can not only see their risk and solve the issues that have already happened, but spot potential disruptions before they impact their supply chain – in a cost-effective and scalable way.”

The launch of Supply Chain Explorer follows a period of accelerated growth and investment in Exiger’s technology and people. The company continues to recruit nationally recognised risk management experts to its executive leadership team, most recently appointing Bob Kolasky, Founding Head of Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency’s National Risk Management Center, as Senior Vice President of Critical Infrastructure. Kolasky joins Exiger Government Solutions President Carrie Wibben, former Principal Deputy for Counterintelligence, Law Enforcement, and Security for the Department of Defense.

Supply Chain Explorer will be available as a standalone product and marks the latest in Exiger’s ongoing development of solutions to address the growing need for end-to end third-party and supply chain risk management – including its foundational AI-powered technologies, DDIQ and ScreenIQ, used by the world’s largest banks for years to transform the fight against financial crime.

 

Stobart chooses Flexi Trucks for beverage handling

Eddie Stobart Contract Logistics has upgraded the materials handling equipment at a UK site in Magna Park, Lutterworth, with the introduction of state-of-the-art Flexi Truck articulated very narrow aisle (VNA) forklift technology.

Eddie Stobart has operated articulated trucks across its UK business for several years and the new Flexi Truck models will be deployed to service one of the company’s long-standing beverage industry accounts.

The new models have a lift height of 13.2m and, thanks to the Flexi Truck’s HiVIS lift mast, CCTV system, lift height selectors and specially developed integrated tilting and side shifting fork carriage, mast deflection when tilting is eliminated. This means that even at the highest lift heights pallet movement is fast and hugely efficient.

The trucks, which are built in the West Midlands by Narrow Aisle Ltd, have been supplied with a high-definition LCD CCTV system to ensure that the operator has a clear view of the load and the racking when retrieving and putting away pallets at height.

Like all models in the latest Flexi Truck digital range, the trucks can perform safely both inside and outside the warehouse pallet racking. This feature eliminates double handling and means that a single Flexi will do the work of two trucks: it unloads or loads from the goods-in zone like a counterbalanced truck and operates within the VNA aisleways without needing costly guidance systems or pick and deposit stations at the end of an aisle.

A dedicated battery power charging and changing system has been installed to provide round-the-clock operation at minimum energy cost. Being a food grade warehouse means the elimination of diesel and LP gas-powered forklifts is a significant benefit.

The fleet is supported by a detailed service level agreement to operate on three-shift, seven-day availability.

Narrow Aisle’s managing director, John Maguire, commented: “Eddie Stobart seek to continuously improve operational efficiencies and the decision to invest in Flexi Truck articulated lift ruck technology is part of that commitment.

“Eddie Stobart recognise the operational benefits that articulated truck-based intralogistics solutions offer and see Flexi Truck as an articulated truck brand they can trust.”

Stobart chooses Flexi Trucks for beverage handling

Eddie Stobart Contract Logistics has upgraded the materials handling equipment at a UK site in Magna Park, Lutterworth, with the introduction of state-of-the-art Flexi Truck articulated very narrow aisle (VNA) forklift technology.

Eddie Stobart has operated articulated trucks across its UK business for several years and the new Flexi Truck models will be deployed to service one of the company’s long-standing beverage industry accounts.

The new models have a lift height of 13.2m and, thanks to the Flexi Truck’s HiVIS lift mast, CCTV system, lift height selectors and specially developed integrated tilting and side shifting fork carriage, mast deflection when tilting is eliminated. This means that even at the highest lift heights pallet movement is fast and hugely efficient.

The trucks, which are built in the West Midlands by Narrow Aisle Ltd, have been supplied with a high-definition LCD CCTV system to ensure that the operator has a clear view of the load and the racking when retrieving and putting away pallets at height.

Like all models in the latest Flexi Truck digital range, the trucks can perform safely both inside and outside the warehouse pallet racking. This feature eliminates double handling and means that a single Flexi will do the work of two trucks: it unloads or loads from the goods-in zone like a counterbalanced truck and operates within the VNA aisleways without needing costly guidance systems or pick and deposit stations at the end of an aisle.

A dedicated battery power charging and changing system has been installed to provide round-the-clock operation at minimum energy cost. Being a food grade warehouse means the elimination of diesel and LP gas-powered forklifts is a significant benefit.

The fleet is supported by a detailed service level agreement to operate on three-shift, seven-day availability.

Narrow Aisle’s managing director, John Maguire, commented: “Eddie Stobart seek to continuously improve operational efficiencies and the decision to invest in Flexi Truck articulated lift ruck technology is part of that commitment.

“Eddie Stobart recognise the operational benefits that articulated truck-based intralogistics solutions offer and see Flexi Truck as an articulated truck brand they can trust.”

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