December 2023

AI to Learning Logistics Centre

Posted on 18 December, 2023 by Keith McKinley

Unitechnik Systems GmbH will be presenting UniWare-AI, the AI-based assistant for logistics systems, at LogiMAT 2024. The AI tool will support the system integrator’s customers in predicting order loads and bottlenecks in the material flow, for example. Visitors to the trade fair can find out more about the project, which was developed in collaboration with the Technical University of Cologne, at Stand H20 in Hall 1.

The new feature of the UniWare warehouse management system provides warehouse managers with an intelligent assistant. Based on data from the logistics software, the AI tool provides recommendations and insights. For example, it can predict how many order items will need to be processed over the next few days. Using data from the logistics system, the AI assistant can suggest the best way to place items in the warehouse or analyse the causes of breakdowns to make predictive maintenance recommendations. The more data the system receives over time, the more the AI model learns – the learning logistics centre becomes a reality.

Better AI model thanks to external data

The predictive quality of UniWare AI can be significantly improved by incorporating external data from other customer systems. For example, historical order data from the ERP system or data on seasonal characteristics or weather data from external sources can be integrated. Unitechnik’s experts create these data models individually for each user. Together with the customer, they optimise the use of UniWare-AI step by step. UniWare-AI is already being tested at DEHN SE to optimise personnel scheduling. Using the data from the AI model, the electrical engineering company can predict with a high degree of probability the workload for order picking over the next few days. The pilot project was developed in collaboration with the Faculty of Computer Science and Engineering at the Technical University of Cologne.

LogiMAT motto: Logistics in time

For Unitechnik, the motto of this year’s LogiMAT is “Logistics in rhythm: warehouse management system with AI power”. As the conductor of the (warehouse) orchestra, the UniWare warehouse management system coordinates the customer’s increasingly diverse system components. In addition to traditional warehouse and conveyor technology components, soloists (autonomous subsystems) such as AMR or AGV systems are increasingly becoming part of the orchestra. UniWare is the (artificial) brain of the logistics centre. It ensures the harmonious interaction of the players and, with its AI power, constant optimisation.

Joloda Named in Fast Growth Index

Posted on 18 December, 202329 July, 2025 by David Priestman

Joloda Hydraroll, a company that specialises in trailer loading and unloading solutions, has been recognised as the 32nd fastest-growing business in the North of England. This is part of the Fast Growth 50 index for 2023, which identifies the fifty fastest-growing companies across six nations and regions, including the North of England. This achievement underlines Joloda Hydraroll’s significant impact on the North of England’s economy and its capacity for growth and innovation.

The Fast Growth 50 is an annual index that identifies the top 50 fastest-growing companies in six nations and regions, including the North of England. This year’s index for the North of England has highlighted businesses from multiple sectors that together generated a turnover of £1 billion, at an average growth rate of 199 per cent, with the creation of over 4,789 jobs last year.

Role in the North of England’s Business Scene

Being part of the Fast Growth 50, Joloda Hydraroll has shown strong performance and made a positive contribution to the North of England’s business community. Professor Dylan Jones-Evans OBE, Founder Fast Growth 50, said: “The UK Fast Growth 50 Index demonstrates that a small number of fast growth firms, such as Joloda Hydraroll, make a substantial contribution to the UK’s economic landscape, providing real examples of how innovation, enterprise and sheer hard work can make a real difference in all sectors from construction to financial services to technology. Their incredible growth during difficult times shows that through generating wealth and jobs in their local communities, entrepreneurship is the cornerstone of regional and national prosperity. Most important of all, their success stories demonstrate the impact of ambition and adaptability, providing a blueprint for sustainable growth that will hopefully inspire others to follow a similar journey.”

This year’s Fast Growth 50 North of England list is in partnership with UBS, the world’s leading and truly global wealth manager.

Mark Goddard, Head of UK Regions at UBS Global Wealth Management, said: “Business owners and entrepreneurs are the engine of our economy, and UBS has a long history advising and connecting them on each stage of their wealth journey, helping them to unlock their potential. Led by entrepreneurial spirit and often solving some of the UK’s biggest issues, the level of talent and innovation uncovered through this year’s list shows that more needs to be done to support small businesses to strengthen local economies and give back to the local community. As the lead sponsor of this year’s Fast Growth 50, UBS is looking forward to following and supporting these businesses as they go from strength to strength.”

Wouter Satijn, Owner and Sales Director, Joloda Hydraroll, said: “It has been a challenging couple of years to navigate, but also an incredibly rewarding time for us at Joloda Hydraroll. We attribute our growth to a talented team who have consolidated our position as a global leader in loading and unloading solutions. We are quite unique in the industry in that we design and produce our products completely in-house, right here in the UK, instead of outsourcing certain elements of the process, which helped to minimise delays and disruptions to our supply chain. We have also launched several new products over the past few years that have contributed to hitting our growth targets, and opened new offices in Paris and Japan.”

Contribution to Growth and Job Creation

During 2020 to 2022, Joloda Hydraroll and its growing team of 250+ employees were instrumental in the Fast Growth 50’s collective turnover increase of £706 million. This highlights the company’s role in the North of England’s economic growth, particularly post-COVID-19.

Diverse Range of Businesses

The Fast Growth 50 features companies from various sectors, adding to the diversity of the North of England’s economy. Material handling equipment manufacturer, Joloda Hydraroll, is part of this varied business landscape. Looking forward, Joloda Hydraroll has several projects lined up for 2024, including new acquisitions to further strengthen its product portfolio for customers globally.

Joloda Named in Fast Growth Index

Posted on 18 December, 2023 by David Priestman

Role in the North of England’s Business Scene

This year’s Fast Growth 50 North of England list is in partnership with UBS, the world’s leading and truly global wealth manager.

Contribution to Growth and Job Creation

Diverse Range of Businesses

New 3PL Subsidiary in Vietnam

Posted on 18 December, 202331 July, 2025 by Keith McKinley

Logistics company Militzer & Münch is growing in Asia. M&M Militzer & Münch Vietnam Co. Ltd. starts operations today. The new country unit offers the full range of logistics services, with a special focus on air and sea transports.

The Militzer & Münch Group is pursuing a growth strategy in the Asia / Far East / Oceania region. Most recently, a new company was founded in New Zealand in 2022. After M&M China, M&M Malaysia, M&M Sri Lanka and M&M New Zealand, M&M Vietnam is now the fifth national subsidiary in the region. It is located in Ho Chi Minh City. The 9 million-strong metropolis on the South China Sea is both the economic center of the country and an important transport hub for Southeast Asia.

Significant development opportunities

Militzer & Münch focuses on promising markets in the region and considers the location to have great potential for further growth: “Within a few years, Vietnam has developed from one of the world’s poorest nations to a middle-income country,” says Andreas Löwenstein, Regional Managing Director Asia / Far East at Militzer & Münch. “We therefore see good opportunities for successful development while at the same time strengthening our network in the region with the new country unit.”

Militzer & Münch Vietnam will serve many different industries in import as well as in export. A large part of the transport volume will be generated by sea and air transportation. Peter Schüpbach, who previously held various management positions, is heading the new subsidiary.

The Militzer & Münch Group employs a staff of about 2,300 people at over 100 locations in 33 countries. Strategic partnerships in numerous other countries complete the dense network. Militzer & Münch offers worldwide air and sea freight services as well as road and rail transports and project logistics along the East-West axis in Eurasia and North Africa. The Group operates with a dense network of branch offices in Eastern Europe, the CIS, the Middle East and the Far East as well as in the Maghreb countries. The head office of the company that goes back to 1880 is in Sankt Gallen, Switzerland.

New 3PL Subsidiary in Vietnam

Posted on 18 December, 2023 by David Priestman

Significant development opportunities

Unparalleled Fulfilment Centre for Decathlon

Posted on 15 December, 2023 by David Priestman

Leading French sporting goods specialist Decathlon automated its intralogistics with FlashPick from TGW. The new Fulfilment Centre for Decathlon in Rouvignies (Northern France) is the high-performance backbone of Decathlon’s entire supply chain.

Fulfilment Centre for Decathlon

From there, the products are shipped to 25 regional storage centres. The intralogistics centre increases efficiency and flexibility and lays the foundation for a significant reduction in logistics costs thanks to the low Total Cost of Ownership (TCO).

Watch the new video here

TGW solves its customers’ supply chain challenges with highly automated, efficient and future-proof intralogistics systems. Every day, the vision of the autonomous fulfilment centre gives the company a renewed sense of motivation to give its best. In the core markets of Fashion & Apparel, Grocery and Industrial & Consumer Goods, TGW builds on strong partnerships that include everything from planning to implementation to lifetime services. In the 2022/2023 business year, TGW generated a total turnover of 955 million euros.

Decathlon appoints Geek+ as robotics partner

Unparalleled Fulfilment Centre for Decathlon

Posted on 15 December, 202325 July, 2025 by David Priestman

Fulfilment Centre for Decathlon

Watch the new video here

Decathlon appoints Geek+ as robotics partner

Rail Telematics Platform uses Intermodal Technology

Posted on 14 December, 202331 July, 2025 by David Priestman

Wabtec has announced its entrance into the rail telematics market via an agreement with Intermodal Telematics B.V. (“IMT”), a Dutch company, under which Wabtec will create a railcar telematics platform using IMT technology. Wabtec’s new platform will deliver real-time information to railcar and tank container owners and operators, allowing them to turn rail cargo into smart, connected assets.

Wabtec rail telematics will include sensors, gateways, wireless communications, and analytics. The technology will be offered for retrofit on existing fleets and also will make Wabtec’s current railcar components smarter by integrating solutions right from production.

The new offering will include a comprehensive suite of solutions that track real-time location and monitor key attributes such as handbrakes, hatches, doors, and loaded/unloaded status for a railcar, as well as cargo temperature and pressure for a tank container.

Rail Telematics

“The rail industry is on the verge of a new era where the use of real-time data about the status and condition of cargo will be transformative to the customer experience and supply chain efficiency,” said Nalin Jain, Group President of Digital Intelligence at Wabtec. “Telematics builds on Wabtec’s rich history serving the freight car markets with next-generation solutions. Our innovative solutions will improve shipment visibility, increase on-time performance, and expand asset utilization to make shipping freight by rail more competitive.”

“This collaboration marks a significant milestone for Intermodal Telematics, as we join forces with the industry powerhouse to deliver cutting-edge telematics solutions. By combining Wabtec’s extensive market expertise with our innovative technology, we will provide Wabtec’s customers with not just data, but with actionable intelligence in order to revolutionize the rail industry’s approach to monitoring, efficiency, and safety. This collaboration leads us into a future where predictive analytics and machine learning will redefine the dynamics of rail operations.“ said Dethmer Drenth, Managing Director and Founder of IMT.

Wabtec plans to begin offering this railcar telematics solution in the first quarter of 2024; the solution will be offered exclusively by Wabtec in North America and certain additional countries as set forth in the agreement.

Rail Telematics Platform uses Intermodal Technology

Posted on 14 December, 202329 July, 2025 by David Priestman

Rail Telematics

New Intermodal Terminal in Romania

Posted on 14 December, 202329 July, 2025 by David Priestman

SLS Bucharest Intermodal Terminal, the logistics and transport operator owned by FAN Courier, has inaugurated the first intermodal terminal in one of the most complex industrial parks in Romania.

The new investment is part of the company’s medium and long-term development strategy, announced in 2020, following its entry into the FAN Courier portfolio. The investment made by SLS Cargo in partnership with P3 has a value of 1.9 million Euros and gives the company the status of exclusive operator of this terminal. At the same time, the operational capacity of the company has increased significantly.

SLS Cargo has a total area of more than 55,000 m2 and is the second largest tenant of the P3 Industrial Logistic Parks on the A1 highway. SLS Bucharest Intermodal Terminal will reach an operational capacity of up to 750 containers per month. On a monthly basis, the terminal will be transited by 15 trains, with return routes to Constanța Port. SLS Cargo introduces the concept of ‘one window’, as it combines within its portfolio Road, Sea and Air transport services with a variety of warehousing, distributors, and customs consultancy services.

SLS Bucharest Intermodal Terminal has selected the Navis Cloud Terminal Operating System by Kaleris as its comprehensive solution to optimize operations and increase the visibility of cargo movements for carriers and clients of the terminal. The easy-to-use interface of this system will help the terminal with gate management, yard planning, tracking cargo, billing, and communicating real-time data to its carriers and other customers via Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) connections.

The Navis Cloud TOS is designed to handle various cargo types, making it highly adaptable to the terminal’s current and future needs. Powerful yet easily configurable, it provides a single, integrated view of all operations and information, helping the terminal make decisions that result in the best outcomes for its customers.

In this context, DSP – Data and System Planning, a technological Company specialized in Ports & Terminals Industry since 1986 and certified as the first Navis partner in 2007, will design the Business Process Management and act as Solution Integrator for SLS.

“When we needed a TOS for our new intermodal terminal, we knew we would get the best results with the Navis Cloud technology from Kaleris due to their extraordinary reputation and proven track record in the industry,” Mihai Stoica, CEO of SLS Cargo. “We are looking forward to implementing it at SLS Bucharest Intermodal Terminal to get a competitive edge and achieve our goal of becoming the main point in container transportation in the region.”

“We’ve been asked by SLS Cargo to design their digital platform solution to manage their operations and then to integrate the Navis Cloud TOS with their administrative and customs process,” said Marco Fehmer DSP CEO, “We will walk with SLS Cargo hand by hand through this digitalization journey putting at disposal all our experience, competence and innovation attitude to return the most possible value from the TOS.

Fulfilment Centre for Decathlon

Fulfilment Centre for Decathlon

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