Subscribe

Day: 3 January 2023

Culina acquires IRF Transport

Posted on by David Priestman

Culina Group, a leading provider of shared-user FMCG logistics services, has announced an agreement to take over International Road Ferry (IRF) as from Tuesday 3rd January 2023. The terms of the agreement, including consideration, have not been disclosed.

International Road Ferry is a major player in the transport market with offices in Rotterdam, Grubbenvorst (Venlo), Felixstowe and Thetford and specialises in unaccompanied transport between Great Britain, the Netherlands, Germany and Switzerland both full loads and part loads.

The business has over 25 years of experience in the unaccompanied transport to and from these markets and their knowledge, local offices and short communication lines guarantee first class and reliable customer service.

Culina Group has significantly strengthened its position in the European Logistics Sector with this acquisition. International Road Ferry will benefit from Group ownership which will provide investment and job retention whilst bringing an entrepreneurial spirit.

“International Road Ferry and Culina Group are complementary businesses, both are strong organisations with well-earned reputations in the industry and hold similar values. This is a great fit which is going to be beneficial for both our staff and for our clients, whilst making Culina Group a key player in European transport”, said Thomas van Mourik, Culina Group CEO,

“It goes without saying that we are acquiring some excellent people, contracts and facilities. This move significantly expands our European network and will enable us to benefit from synergies and efficiencies that will improve our service offer to customers even further.”

Going forward it will be business as usual for International Road Ferry which will sit within Culina Group’s Stobart Intermodal operation headed up by Arthur Koutstaal as Managing Director.

Raff Hustinx, Stobart Europe Managing Director, will be assisting with finance and reporting.

“Culina Group recognises that it is investing in a highly successful business with its own great spirit. Our aim is to now support our growth trajectory with the added infrastructure and resources of the overall Culina Group. The combining of our two businesses will create major opportunities for significantly growing market share.” said Antoine Ligtvoet, CEO, International Road Ferry.

The primary aim for Culina Group is to ensure that all current and prospective customers continue to benefit from market-leading levels of service.

Working hand-in-hand with global leading brands and manufacturers plus a multitude of own-label producers and developing companies Culina Group’s strategic focus is on food & drink logistics within a shared-user environment, driven by volume and critical mass to deliver efficient and cost-effective solutions for clients of all sizes.

Culina Group is an established market-leading ambient and chilled food & drink 3PL specialist providing warehousing, distribution, contract packing, and services for bonded goods across the UK and Ireland. The Group includes well known businesses including – Culina Logistics, Great Bear, Stobart, Stobart Europe, iForce, The Pallet Network, Logistics People, Fowler Welch, CML, Morgan McLernon, IPS, MMiD, and Warrens.

Culina Group now has an overall turnover of more than £2.2 Billion, a combined workforce in excess of 22,000 employees at peak, over 20 million square feet of warehousing and a joint fleet of more than 5,000 vehicles.

Culina acquires IRF Transport

Posted on by David Priestman

Culina Group, a leading provider of shared-user FMCG logistics services, has announced an agreement to take over International Road Ferry (IRF) as from Tuesday 3rd January 2023. The terms of the agreement, including consideration, have not been disclosed.

International Road Ferry is a major player in the transport market with offices in Rotterdam, Grubbenvorst (Venlo), Felixstowe and Thetford and specialises in unaccompanied transport between Great Britain, the Netherlands, Germany and Switzerland both full loads and part loads.

The business has over 25 years of experience in the unaccompanied transport to and from these markets and their knowledge, local offices and short communication lines guarantee first class and reliable customer service.

Culina Group has significantly strengthened its position in the European Logistics Sector with this acquisition. International Road Ferry will benefit from Group ownership which will provide investment and job retention whilst bringing an entrepreneurial spirit.

“International Road Ferry and Culina Group are complementary businesses, both are strong organisations with well-earned reputations in the industry and hold similar values. This is a great fit which is going to be beneficial for both our staff and for our clients, whilst making Culina Group a key player in European transport”, said Thomas van Mourik, Culina Group CEO,

“It goes without saying that we are acquiring some excellent people, contracts and facilities. This move significantly expands our European network and will enable us to benefit from synergies and efficiencies that will improve our service offer to customers even further.”

Going forward it will be business as usual for International Road Ferry which will sit within Culina Group’s Stobart Intermodal operation headed up by Arthur Koutstaal as Managing Director.

Raff Hustinx, Stobart Europe Managing Director, will be assisting with finance and reporting.

“Culina Group recognises that it is investing in a highly successful business with its own great spirit. Our aim is to now support our growth trajectory with the added infrastructure and resources of the overall Culina Group. The combining of our two businesses will create major opportunities for significantly growing market share.” said Antoine Ligtvoet, CEO, International Road Ferry.

The primary aim for Culina Group is to ensure that all current and prospective customers continue to benefit from market-leading levels of service.

Working hand-in-hand with global leading brands and manufacturers plus a multitude of own-label producers and developing companies Culina Group’s strategic focus is on food & drink logistics within a shared-user environment, driven by volume and critical mass to deliver efficient and cost-effective solutions for clients of all sizes.

Culina Group is an established market-leading ambient and chilled food & drink 3PL specialist providing warehousing, distribution, contract packing, and services for bonded goods across the UK and Ireland. The Group includes well known businesses including – Culina Logistics, Great Bear, Stobart, Stobart Europe, iForce, The Pallet Network, Logistics People, Fowler Welch, CML, Morgan McLernon, IPS, MMiD, and Warrens.

Culina Group now has an overall turnover of more than £2.2 Billion, a combined workforce in excess of 22,000 employees at peak, over 20 million square feet of warehousing and a joint fleet of more than 5,000 vehicles.

Printers – and Nothing But

Posted on by David Priestman

We catch up with a global barcode printers leader, which has experienced strong growth in recent years.

Ecommerce and the drive to mobile have helped global printer leader Bixolon to some great year-on-year turnover numbers, says Frédéric d’Orsay, Channel Sales Director Europe. He adds that there is still much more to come.

Frédéric is an old friend of Logistics Business – he was a lively panellist in our online conferences staged during lockdown – so it was a pleasure to catch up with him once again to hear from the inside about the state of play in the sector.

He says Bixolon’s success is down to its core focus. “We’ve been making printers for 30 years and we keep doing just that. Some of our competitors get components, and make the choice to manufacture other things with those components. We stick to printers, and we’re renowned globally for that.”

Bixolon was founded in South Korea, initially as Samsung Mini Printers. The now independent Bixolon retains a good working relationship with one of the world’s largest chip manufacturers and accordingly now devotes a lot of printing expertise to the mobility sector.

“It’s about labelling on the go now – and mobility is what makes sense,” he explains. “Look at home food delivery, for instance. Accurate, fast labelling is required to ensure – for both customer and supplier – that the order is exactly as requested, including the customer’s own specifications. There is a well-known large casual dining chain in the UK that has improved its order accuracy and makes sure the right order goes to the right customer at speed and without mistakes. Don’t forget that the order might be going to a pick-up area, to the restaurant itself or to the customer’s home, so the need for clarity at all points is vital, because it can be very easy to get something wrong. The printer is a real help in these circumstances.”

Ecommerce also requires labelling innovation, whether via compliance regulation or in the increasing drive to differentiate via individual customer personalisation. “More boxes are being shipped than ever before,” he points out. “A clear label matters more than ever.”

With sustainability a concern for all customers, from consumers waiting in a takeaway restaurant to a large 3PL looking to reduce its waste footprint, Bixolon’s linerless solutions – essentially, the sticker is produced without backing paper – help both the environment and the customer, providing both traceability and tracking options, such as the casual dining example given above. The sticky receipt adheres well to the food packaging, with no extra waste produced for landfill. Bixolon’s SRP-S300 is a big seller in this area, he reports. “We don’t make handheld terminals,” he reminds me. “We make printers, we’re not making a choice between it and a PDA.”

A further advantage of the new linerless technology allied to Bixolon printing technology is that labels are no longer die-cut to a specific size. “Labels can be as long or as short as you wish, so you are not limited in terms of how much or how little information you need to include, while a label roll the same length as the traditional die-cut version gives you up to 40 per cent more labelling availability.”

This labelling freedom offers benefits in other scenarios. “Think of a forklift operator using a print roll – now he or she doesn’t have to go back to base or to a rubbish disposal location as frequently as before. That matters in a busy shift.”

Bixolon is on an exciting path. “Not everyone cares about making a thermal printer like we do,” smiles Frédéric d’Orsay.

Printers – and Nothing But

Posted on by David Priestman

We catch up with a global barcode printers leader, which has experienced strong growth in recent years.

Ecommerce and the drive to mobile have helped global printer leader Bixolon to some great year-on-year turnover numbers, says Frédéric d’Orsay, Channel Sales Director Europe. He adds that there is still much more to come.

Frédéric is an old friend of Logistics Business – he was a lively panellist in our online conferences staged during lockdown – so it was a pleasure to catch up with him once again to hear from the inside about the state of play in the sector.

He says Bixolon’s success is down to its core focus. “We’ve been making printers for 30 years and we keep doing just that. Some of our competitors get components, and make the choice to manufacture other things with those components. We stick to printers, and we’re renowned globally for that.”

Bixolon was founded in South Korea, initially as Samsung Mini Printers. The now independent Bixolon retains a good working relationship with one of the world’s largest chip manufacturers and accordingly now devotes a lot of printing expertise to the mobility sector.

“It’s about labelling on the go now – and mobility is what makes sense,” he explains. “Look at home food delivery, for instance. Accurate, fast labelling is required to ensure – for both customer and supplier – that the order is exactly as requested, including the customer’s own specifications. There is a well-known large casual dining chain in the UK that has improved its order accuracy and makes sure the right order goes to the right customer at speed and without mistakes. Don’t forget that the order might be going to a pick-up area, to the restaurant itself or to the customer’s home, so the need for clarity at all points is vital, because it can be very easy to get something wrong. The printer is a real help in these circumstances.”

Ecommerce also requires labelling innovation, whether via compliance regulation or in the increasing drive to differentiate via individual customer personalisation. “More boxes are being shipped than ever before,” he points out. “A clear label matters more than ever.”

With sustainability a concern for all customers, from consumers waiting in a takeaway restaurant to a large 3PL looking to reduce its waste footprint, Bixolon’s linerless solutions – essentially, the sticker is produced without backing paper – help both the environment and the customer, providing both traceability and tracking options, such as the casual dining example given above. The sticky receipt adheres well to the food packaging, with no extra waste produced for landfill. Bixolon’s SRP-S300 is a big seller in this area, he reports. “We don’t make handheld terminals,” he reminds me. “We make printers, we’re not making a choice between it and a PDA.”

A further advantage of the new linerless technology allied to Bixolon printing technology is that labels are no longer die-cut to a specific size. “Labels can be as long or as short as you wish, so you are not limited in terms of how much or how little information you need to include, while a label roll the same length as the traditional die-cut version gives you up to 40 per cent more labelling availability.”

This labelling freedom offers benefits in other scenarios. “Think of a forklift operator using a print roll – now he or she doesn’t have to go back to base or to a rubbish disposal location as frequently as before. That matters in a busy shift.”

Bixolon is on an exciting path. “Not everyone cares about making a thermal printer like we do,” smiles Frédéric d’Orsay.

Labels partnership success for in-moulds

Posted on by David Priestman

Leading barcode labels and security specialist, inotec, is celebrating the company’s long-term partnership with Georg Utz. This successful collaboration has resulted in the production of over 40 million in-mould labels for plastic totes, crates, pallets and dollies.

The significant investment between inotec and Georg Utz began in 2008 and has enabled the in-mould labelling process to become fully automated within the production of new totes and crates. This delivers substantial time and cost savings compared to applying adhesive labels after manufacturing. The Diobond labels are applied during the moulding process of polyethene, polystyrene, polypropylene and acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) products.

The barcode labels are moulded onto the totes and crates during production as a permanent and durable asset identification solution. Using inotec’s state of the art printing, full-colour logos, barcodes and even radio-frequency identification (RFID) enabled inlays can be injection moulded into the wall of a container.

Due to its unique and patented manufacturing process, inotec’s RFID chips can also be in-moulded directly to totes and crates with no interlayer to destroy the contact between the box plastic and the label. In tests, up to 300 boxes were read at one time within seconds.

Durable and contamination free

The durability of the in-mould technology not only makes the labels extremely hardwearing, but also resistant to high-pressure cleaning, chemicals, acids and solvents.

The bond between the in-mould label and the crate becomes permanent, offering a smooth edgeless surface. This eliminates the possibility of any contamination happening behind the label. Coupled with its durability and resistance to industrial cleaning, inotec’s in-mould label technology is ideal for the food and pharmaceutical industries along with other highly hygienic environments.

Without the need for adhesives, the in-mould labels are highly resistant to heat and UV light as well as being waterproof. David Stocker, sales director, inotec UK explains:
“Changing the labelling process from adhesive labels to in-mould labels has many benefits for companies like Georg Utz.

“Moving to in-mould labelling technology means labels can be inserted during the moulding process. This removes the extra step that the traditional method adhesive labels create, as they can only be applied after the moulding process. In addition to this, newly moulded totes need to be stored and cooled before they can have the adhesive labels applied. In-mould labelling eliminates this extra storage stage and the need for secondary handling. This not only saves time but also creates significant cost savings for companies like Georg Utz who are producing in mass volumes.”

General Manager, Russell Evans, at Georg Utz concludes:
“In-mould labelling is a major innovation in our industry. It allows us to offer much higher specification, reliable barcodes and the digital printing of logos with unlimited colours at a very high print resolution. The images are incredibly clear and robust.

“We are aware that to continue to grow we must constantly innovate in line with our customers’ needs and having partners like inotec is integral to our future development.”

Established in 1999, inotec UK is a wholly owned subsidiary of inotec GmbH. It is a provider of warehouse finishing solutions including durable barcode labels, in-mould labels, internal and external line marking, RFID solutions and warehouse signage.

inotec specialises in providing bespoke solutions for a variety of environments from ambient to cold stores. The company offers a complete service, working with clients throughout the process from design to installation to achieve solutions that work the first time and every time.

inotec GmbH is Europe’s premier specialist barcode and Auto ID label company with a wealth of experience in providing quality label and identification solutions. Using the world’s most consistent and accurate printing processes, the company guarantees secure and readable labels at all times. With its unique testing laboratory and expert technical knowledge, inotec GmbH has been introducing pioneering new products and long-lasting warehouse identification solutions for more than 30 years.

Labels partnership success for in-moulds

Posted on by David Priestman

Leading barcode labels and security specialist, inotec, is celebrating the company’s long-term partnership with Georg Utz. This successful collaboration has resulted in the production of over 40 million in-mould labels for plastic totes, crates, pallets and dollies.

The significant investment between inotec and Georg Utz began in 2008 and has enabled the in-mould labelling process to become fully automated within the production of new totes and crates. This delivers substantial time and cost savings compared to applying adhesive labels after manufacturing. The Diobond labels are applied during the moulding process of polyethene, polystyrene, polypropylene and acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) products.

The barcode labels are moulded onto the totes and crates during production as a permanent and durable asset identification solution. Using inotec’s state of the art printing, full-colour logos, barcodes and even radio-frequency identification (RFID) enabled inlays can be injection moulded into the wall of a container.

Due to its unique and patented manufacturing process, inotec’s RFID chips can also be in-moulded directly to totes and crates with no interlayer to destroy the contact between the box plastic and the label. In tests, up to 300 boxes were read at one time within seconds.

Durable and contamination free

The durability of the in-mould technology not only makes the labels extremely hardwearing, but also resistant to high-pressure cleaning, chemicals, acids and solvents.

The bond between the in-mould label and the crate becomes permanent, offering a smooth edgeless surface. This eliminates the possibility of any contamination happening behind the label. Coupled with its durability and resistance to industrial cleaning, inotec’s in-mould label technology is ideal for the food and pharmaceutical industries along with other highly hygienic environments.

Without the need for adhesives, the in-mould labels are highly resistant to heat and UV light as well as being waterproof. David Stocker, sales director, inotec UK explains:
“Changing the labelling process from adhesive labels to in-mould labels has many benefits for companies like Georg Utz.

“Moving to in-mould labelling technology means labels can be inserted during the moulding process. This removes the extra step that the traditional method adhesive labels create, as they can only be applied after the moulding process. In addition to this, newly moulded totes need to be stored and cooled before they can have the adhesive labels applied. In-mould labelling eliminates this extra storage stage and the need for secondary handling. This not only saves time but also creates significant cost savings for companies like Georg Utz who are producing in mass volumes.”

General Manager, Russell Evans, at Georg Utz concludes:
“In-mould labelling is a major innovation in our industry. It allows us to offer much higher specification, reliable barcodes and the digital printing of logos with unlimited colours at a very high print resolution. The images are incredibly clear and robust.

“We are aware that to continue to grow we must constantly innovate in line with our customers’ needs and having partners like inotec is integral to our future development.”

Established in 1999, inotec UK is a wholly owned subsidiary of inotec GmbH. It is a provider of warehouse finishing solutions including durable barcode labels, in-mould labels, internal and external line marking, RFID solutions and warehouse signage.

inotec specialises in providing bespoke solutions for a variety of environments from ambient to cold stores. The company offers a complete service, working with clients throughout the process from design to installation to achieve solutions that work the first time and every time.

inotec GmbH is Europe’s premier specialist barcode and Auto ID label company with a wealth of experience in providing quality label and identification solutions. Using the world’s most consistent and accurate printing processes, the company guarantees secure and readable labels at all times. With its unique testing laboratory and expert technical knowledge, inotec GmbH has been introducing pioneering new products and long-lasting warehouse identification solutions for more than 30 years.

Subscribe

Get notified about New Episodes of our Podcast, New Magazine Issues and stay updated with our Weekly Newsletter.