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Month: August 2022

A virtual logistics world at IMHX Sustainability Zone

Posted on by Keith McKinley

It’s just two weeks to go until the UK’s largest logistics event, IMHX 2022, opens its doors at the NEC, Birmingham.

New for this year’s event will be the Sustainability Zone, delivered by the SEC Group, which will feature the latest innovations across three core zones of Technology, Innovation & Infrastructure, and People. Each area will provide practical insight into the tools available to build and maintain a sustainable, profitable and agile business model.

The Sustainability Zone covers a broad range of topics, from Extended Reality, Autonomous Mobile Robots and Wearable Technology to Sustainable Construction and the Workforce of the Future, providing an overview of the innovation and educational opportunities that are increasingly available to the logistics sector.  Bringing a host of technology innovation to life, visitors to the stand can be hands-on with Augmented and Virtual Reality experiences, as well as educational insights.

Visitors can also take a fully immersive 3D Virtual Reality warehouse tour, look around Cranfield’s interactive theatre, and delve into a world of Augmented Reality by simply scanning the QR codes  on each topic around the stand.

IMHX event director, Rob Fisher, commented: “The Sustainability Zone is set to inspire the next generation of logistics professionals and entice them into a world of evolving digital innovation with exciting opportunities to bring their exceptional talent to the Warehouse & Workforce of the Future. We look forward to welcoming you to the stand.”

 

 

Union Industries increases stock levels

Posted on by David Priestman

Union Industries, the Leeds, UK-based manufacturer of high-speed industrial doors, has increased its stock levels even further to allow minimal lead times for production of its door range and replacement parts.

The driver behind this has been the 12% increase Union has seen in orders from companies looking to replace foreign-made doors.

A common problem with some manufacturers of fast rolling shutter doors is the lack of spare or replacement parts with many having particularly long lead times – one recent customer citing 21 weeks for spares to arrive into the UK from Germany. This problem has been increasing in recent years due to factors such as Brexit with some doors installed in the UK manufactured in Europe, it leads to both new and replacement parts being harder to source.

However, Union Industries prides itself on its low lead time and ensures there are sufficiently high stock levels to manufacture a minimum of 25 doors at any one time. Stock is replenished daily and spare parts for standard door servicing are always readily available for immediate dispatch.

Union says parts that require more bespoke manufacturing can be entered into production within a matter of days, meaning that disruption can be kept to an absolute minimum.

Union’s Operations Director, Tony Metcalfe, said: “We have seen an increase in orders to replace foreign import doors in the UK which this is mainly down to the long lead times for spares and repairs, along with more demand for our reliable and British manufactured doors.

“We maintain high stock levels to ensure we have a consistently efficient service line and can deliver replacement parts to our customers within 24 hours of the initial order in many cases.”

Alan Hirst, Sales Director, Union Industries, said: “Our business has always tailored itself to the needs of our customer base. We pride ourselves on listening to what our customers’ challenges are and helping them with the right solution, so this is a fantastic example of how Union Industries is yet again leading the way in the supply chain.

“We are proud to be a British manufacturer of robust and reliable industrial rapid roller doors that have the most minimal downtime due to the quality of the design and build as well as our ability to service and replace parts rapidly.”

 

GEODIS expands agreement with Locus Robotics

Posted on by David Priestman

Global transport and logistics provider GEODIS and Locus Robotics, a leader in autonomous mobile robots (AMRs) for fulfilment warehouses, have announced an expansion agreement to deploy a total of 1,000 LocusBots at GEODIS’ worldwide warehouse locations over the next 24 months. This represents one of the industry’s largest AMR deals to date.

“As we continue to navigate industry-wide challenges such as skyrocketing e-commerce demand and labour constraints, it is crucial we remain committed to implementing the most innovative and effective robotics automation solutions available into our warehouses to allow us to best serve our customers,” said Eric Douglas, Executive Vice President of Technology and Engineering at GEODIS in Americas. “Locus’ collaborative multi-bot approach has proven its effectiveness and reliability at each of our sites, giving us the ability to easily scale performance while providing a safe, smart working environment for our teammates. This new expansion agreement reinforces our clear and ongoing commitment to cutting-edge technology to meet our exploding customer volumes globally.”

GEODIS has currently deployed Locus AMRs at 14 sites around the world, serving a wide range of retail and consumer brands, including warehouses in the US and Europe. The agreement will expand that footprint significantly as new sites are deployed.

“Locus’ built-in flexibility, scalability and fast ROI are helping GEODIS to consistently meet and exceed their global customers’ expectations,” said Rick Faulk, CEO of Locus Robotics. “This strategic expansion enables GEODIS to meet the needs of today’s high-growth warehouses and we look forward to continuing to work together to drive operational efficiencies and growth.”

GEODIS and Locus Robotics first began partnering together in 2018 at an Indiana site, allowing the global third-party logistics company to implement Locus’ innovative technology into its operations to support its workforce with the complex picking process. Since then, the Locus Solution has provided improvements in productivity, flexibility and agility while enhancing the workplace environment for teammates by reducing tedious, repetitive tasks to increase retention across sites, ultimately allowing GEODIS to enhance its operations and best meet evolving customer needs.

With the explosion of e-commerce and the ongoing labour shortage, adding robotics automation has become a critical, strategic need to meet customer demands. LocusBots help GEODIS e-commerce warehouses efficiently manage order picking and inventory replenishment, significantly increasing throughput to speed delivery processes. LocusBots significantly reduce unproductive walking time, eliminate manoeuvring heavy manual carts through warehouses, lower the physical demands on employees, and improve workplace ergonomics and quality.

Michelin rolls out European MH tyre training

Posted on by David Priestman

Michelin has launched a dedicated training programme for tyre technicians responsible for keeping fleets of forklift trucks and other materials handling equipment on the move.

The Michelin Training and Information Centre (MTIC) in Stoke-on-Trent is running the new materials handling tyre fitting course, which also embraces management of solid wheels. Michelin says the course lays the foundation for training excellence internationally and is hoping to roll it out across Europe.

Formalised through the National Tyre Distributors Association (NTDA) Accreditation scheme and recognised by City & Guilds, the Licensed Commercial Tyre Technician Category 2 – Specialist & Multi-Wheel course, places a big emphasis on practical training, with nine assessments for each attendee to pass.

MTIC Training Instructor, Dave Womble, says: “We had previously only trained technicians to work on pneumatic materials handling tyres, but we needed to include the removal and fitting of solid elastic resilient tyres as well, including divided and multi-piece wheels that require a hydraulic press. This is a new area for us in terms of training, and we have risen to the challenge.”

The decision to launch the programme follows the complete integration of speciality tyre and wheel business Camso into the Michelin Group.

Womble adds: “We have developed a training syllabus which is significantly improving the expertise of Camso’s Solideal On-Site Service Division – the team responsible for keeping large fleets of materials handling equipment on the move – and has much wider appeal to the industry too.”

The three-day course focuses on a number of key areas: tyre construction and sidewall markings, types of materials handling tyre, wheel recognition and measurement, safe inflation procedures of pneumatic tyres, practical assessments of all tyre and wheel combinations, as well as hydraulic trailer press safety checks, and health & safety.

Michelin has built a specialist ‘press room’ within MTIC to support the new training, providing a bespoke practical learning environment for visiting technicians, including a mock forklift chassis. It has also invested in specialist tooling technology and the centre’s own tyre press.

MTIC is running the course for Camso technicians and offering separate courses for technicians from outside the Michelin Group.

Wayne Mapson, EU Service Development Manager for Camso, says: “The course really serves to differentiate us from the competition and allows us to demonstrate that we’ve taken our health and safety focus to a whole new level.

“On occasions in the past, the Solideal On-Site Service Division had been unable to operate at certain big blue-chip sites – but with our NTDA-recognised training, we can now prove we’re following the very highest industry standards.”

The new course replaces a previous Camso training programme which had been validated by the British Industrial Truck Association (BITA), but which was only available to the company’s own tyre technicians.

 

XPO receives BRCGS ‘AA’ accreditation for Arla facility

Posted on by Keith McKinley

XPO Logistics, a leading global provider of freight transportation services, has again received BRCGS ‘AA’ accreditation for satisfying rigorous safety and compliance standards at the Arla Foods Ltd dairy plant in Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire. Arla Foods, a centuries-old dairy cooperative, is the largest supplier of fresh milk and cream in the UK.

XPO earned its initial BRCGS accreditation for Aylesbury in 2021, after being awarded a contract by Arla Foods to store and deliver over 14 million litres of milk per week to retailers in South East England. The two companies then expanded their relationship to include a distribution centre in Hatfield, Hertfordshire, where XPO manages transport. XPO received BRCGS accreditation for Hatfield in 2021, and recently completed the 2022 audit.

Dan Myers, managing director, transport – UK and Ireland, XPO Logistics, said: “The Arla brands stand for food quality and safety, and their reputation is built upon that. Arla and XPO strive for the best standards recognised by the BRCGS ‘AA’ accreditation. We focus on this crucial goal as a joint team effort.”

BRCGS (Brand Reputation through Compliance) was founded in 1996 to harmonise safety standards across the supply chain. BRCGS global benchmarks for food safety, consumer product safety, packaging materials, storage and distribution, ethical trading and other standards help assure consumers that products are safe, legal and of high quality.

XPO provides technology-enabled transport solutions for customers across a range of sectors in Europe, including chilled and ambient food and beverages, retail, trade and industrial goods, and e-commerce, as well as world-class events, such as the Tour de France.

HAHN Automation celebrates 30th anniversary

Posted on by David Priestman

HAHN Automation is celebrating its 30th anniversary on the market by inviting partners, customers, suppliers and press representatives to join the Innovation Days in Rheinböllen on September 14 and 15.

Founded in 1992 by Thomas Hähn in his parents’ garage, the company developed from a small design office in the Hunsrück region to a global group of companies within just under 30 years. Only a few years after the company was founded, the first foreign location was established with the expansion into the USA. Today, HAHN Automation employs more than 1,000 people at 12 production sites in China, Germany, Great Britain, Croatia, Mexico, Austria, the Czech Republic and the USA.

In 2014, the RAG Foundation in the form of the RAG Stiftung Beteiligungsgesellschaft (RSBG SE) invested in HAHN Automation, which led to the formation of the HAHN Group three years later as a platform for the further development of the company network. The HAHN Group unites a network of specialised companies for industrial automation and robot solutions.

At its production and service locations, the group employs approximately 1,800 people in 14 countries worldwide.

Well-known customers in the automotive, consumer goods, electronics and healthcare industries benefit from over 30 years of expertise. This know-how in the field of automation technology ensures that resources are used efficiently and robots, as well as digital technologies, are implemented purposefully.

“We are very pleased with the development that HAHN Automation and later also HAHN Group have accomplished. Over the past 30 years, we have been able to implement countless customer projects, establish strong partnerships and, above all, make an important contribution as an employer, especially in the Hunsrück region, but also at all other company locations. I am looking forward to the coming years and am confident that we will continue to write the success story,” says Frank Konrad, CEO of HAHN Automation.

For Thomas Hähn, company founder and CEO of the parent company RSBG Automation and Robotics Technologies, one thing is certain: “HAHN Automation is not only a great success story in itself, but rather also the nucleus for many other exciting developments, company foundations and partnerships. Through the entry of the RSBG SE in 2014, we were able to put the plan to establish an international pioneer in industrial automation into action. In addition, HAHN Automation was also the origin of all developments towards HAHN Robotics, HAHN RobShare and most recently the United Robotics Group.”

CLICK HERE for further information about the Innovation Days.

New governance at Port Boulogne Calais 

Posted on by Keith McKinley

In accordance with the decision of the Board of Directors of the Société d’Exploitation des Ports du Détroit (SEPD), François Lavallee has been elected Chairman of the Board of Directors, while general management of Port Boulogne Calais has been entrusted to Benoît Rochet.

While on creation of the SEPD, in 2015, it was a Chairman and Chief Executive Officer that was elected as head of the company, the Board of Directors wanted to change its governance by separating the functions of Chairman of the Board of Directors on the one hand and Chief Executive Officer on the other.

And so, since 13th August 2022, Lavallee, President of CCI Littoral – Hauts-de-France, has chaired the Board of Directors of SEPD. Lavallee is also First Vice-President of CCI Hauts-de-France and Managing Director of the Evariste Group.

General management of the company is now provided by Rochet. A graduate of the École Polytechnique and Chief Engineer at the Corps des Ponts, des Eaux et des Forêts, Rochet was previously Deputy Director General of Port Boulogne Calais.

He actively contributed to the adaptation of the Ports du Détroit to Brexit, as well as the construction and commissioning of the new port of Calais.

 

Narrow Aisle invests in Scotland

Posted on by David Priestman

Narrow Aisle Ltd – the manufacturer of the iconic Flexi Truck articulated warehouse truck range – has extended its warranty, service and parts operation in Scotland.

Dedicated to meeting the requirements of Flexi Truck users north of the border, the new investment will see coverage extended to the whole country and will enable rapid response to call-outs across Scotland to ensure that Flexi Truck customers’ performance is optimised.

In addition, Narrow Aisle intralogistics specialists will operate in Scotland to provide warehouse storage design, fleet management and power source guidance. The warehouse design and storage system configuration advice offered to Flexi Truck users will ensure that maximum space utilisation and throughput efficiency benefits are derived from all of their trucks. It will also allow companies to begin to plan their operations around the latest cobotic e-commerce customer order picking technology and processes.

John Maguire, managing director of Narrow Aisle Ltd, commented: “The Scottish market is extremely important to us and Flexi Truck sales across the country continue to grow year-on-year. The territory brings its own challenges – not the least of which are some logistical difficulties in reaching certain customer sites in the wider region of the Highlands, so we feel it is absolutely essential to have a long-term presence within the market.

“The new Scottish investment will enable us to strengthen relationships with our clients and deliver the highest levels of support to Flexi Truck users throughout the country.”

Narrow Aisle Ltd has supplied more than 15,000 Flexi articulated forklift trucks to users throughout the world and has a global network of over 70 authorised distributors.

Swiss paper company orders Element Logic AutoStore system

Posted on by David Priestman

System integrator Element Logic has implemented another AutoStore system in Switzerland. The maximally flexible AutoStore concept has enabled a solution for the logistics centre in Niederuzwil in which storage and picking take place separately on two different building levels.

Increasing capacities, optimising processes, increasing efficiency – with these demands to strengthen its wholesale activities, the Swiss wholesaler Scheitlin-Papier AG decided to build a new modern logistics centre in Niederuzwil/St. Gallen. Scheitlin-Papier is a part of the international trading group DHYS Group and a member of the GVS Group Handelsgenossenschaft.

The new warehouse location is 20km from the company headquarters in Wittenbach. An AutoStore system will be installed for the storage of small parts. Scheitlin-Papier AG commissioned system integrator Element Logic with the design and project implementation of the automated storage and picking system. As the first official AutoStore integrator, the company has implemented more than 200 AutoStore solutions.

“In addition to the many advantages of the AutoStore concept, the proven expertise was a key factor in the awarding of the contract,” explains Claudia Scheitlin, co-owner of Scheitlin-Paper AG. The family business is a successful trading company and offers its customers solutions and products in the fields of professional cleaning, medical, hygiene, catering and packaging. The product range comprises more than 12,000 articles, half of which must always be available. In addition to standard articles, Scheitlin-Papier sells custom-made products as well as individually printed articles in order to be able to supply customers with “everything from a single source”.

For the new logistics centre in Niederuzwil, Element Logic built an AutoStore system for around 15,000 containers on an upper floor of just 400 sq meters. Up to 15 containers are stacked on top of each other in the aluminium grid, which is just over five meters high. Three small R5-series robots work on the surface of the grid and handle the storage, transfer and retrieval of the totes. For order picking, they transfer the totes with the desired articles to two workstations in the basement, so-called SwingPorts.

Two further ports for flexible expansion in the event of future throughput increases are already provided for in the system layout as frames. Another special feature of the system is its installation between two building walls. This eliminates the need for two side panels. The ports are on the building level below the AutoStore warehouse. This is also where the packing areas and shipping preparation are located, so that the material flow is efficiently integrated into the overall process sequence without internal detours. To ensure separate fire protection areas for the two building levels, the SwingPorts are equipped with horizontal fire doors.

“Both in terms of adaptation to local conditions and in terms of customer-specific equipment and future scalability in terms of storage capacity and performance, the AutoStore concept offers maximum flexibility,” sums up Joachim Kieninger, Director Strategic Business Development for the D-A-CH region at Element Logic. “This allows us to develop and implement the optimal solution for every industry and all requirements. The plant for Scheitlin-Papier AG will be one of our most interesting reference plants in the Swiss market.”

Go-live of the plant is scheduled for April 2023.

 

 

Nokia SaaS services receive GSMA accreditation

Posted on by David Priestman

Nokia has announced that its iSIM Secure Connect solution has been accredited by the GSMA, the telecom industry group and leading wireless industry representative body, after a rigorous process of demonstrating an ongoing and systematic approach to managing information security risks and protecting data.

GSMA’s Security Accreditation Scheme (SAS) confirms the quality and capabilities of security and privacy policies, procedures, and controls that play an important role in supporting additional certifications in compliance with other external standards, like the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) 27001, System and Organization Controls (SOC) 2, and Cloud Security Alliance. With the GSMA accreditation in hand, Nokia will now pursue those additional certifications for its other SaaS services later this year and into 2023.

GSMA’s SAS is typically required as the necessary security grade by CSPs globally, so reaching this significant milestone gives operators and enterprises a high degree of confidence of using Nokia iSIM Secure Connect in a SaaS delivery model.

iSIM, or integrated SIM, Secure Connect, through a SaaS delivery model, manages machine-to-machine and consumer device subscriptions for embedded SIM, or, eSIM- and iSIM-enabled devices. iSIM Secure Connect gives control to automate the entire eSIM/iSIM profile lifecycle management process; enables CSPs and enterprises to quickly onboard and manage connected devices at massive scale; and opens opportunities to monetise services linked to trusted digital identities.

Since November 2021, Nokia has introduced seven SaaS services, including iSIM Secure Connect, NetGuard Cybersecurity Dome, Nokia Home Device Management, and Nokia AVA NWDAF, which enhances network operations with AI/ML driven closed-loop automation.

Mark Bunn, Senior Vice President, Cloud and Network Services at Nokia, said: “Achieving the GSMA certification validates the strength and effectiveness of Nokia’s SaaS information security management system (ISMS) and how we are providing the highest security standards and flexibility that meet or exceed the needs and expectations of our customers in all of our SaaS services. Hitting this milestone underscores the progress we are making to greatly improve the time-to-value that CSPs and enterprises can realize by having on-demand access to our SaaS services.”

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