The iconic TAETS venue in north Amsterdam will host the 9th edition of DELIVER Europe, the 4th at this site. The event has become well-established, with an American version launched last October in Las Vegas and an Asian event coming to Singapore next March.
Stephane Tomczak, Founder and CEO, told Logistics Business that this year the regular themes of ecommerce, retail and last mile will be extended to encompass visibility, sustainability and cost-effectiveness. “Shippers and retailers are looking for solutions and tools to assist with stock management, meet inflationary challenges and enable savings to be passed to consumers,” he says.
This year there will be 1500 delegates, including many new faces, brands and speakers. “We start with a blank page each year,” Tomczak explains, “and have an amazing programme of insightful sessions. Speaker slots are in high demand and not just given to our customers.” Highlights include keynotes on circularity, customer-centricity and on-demand delivery. Speakers are drawn from blue-chip companies like Tesco, Lego, Ricoh, Maersk and Decathlon.
Unique Format
Exhibitors and sponsors buy a set amount of pre-arranged meetings with delegate buyers, ranging from 20 to 200, which determines the cost, which includes a stand/booth. “1-on-1 meetings, that’s what they’re buying,” says Tomczak. “It differs from traditional expo settings in that our delegates meet strict criteria and agree to having 6 meetings over the 2 days, in addition to attending the conference.” In return the delegates get free accommodation, transfers and catering. It’s a win-win.
Deliver Europe
Why attend
With around 70% of exhibitors returning from last year, plus new ones like Ocado Intelligent Automation, the focus has been on refreshing the audience whilst maintaining its quality. The organizers target the whole of Europe in attracting delegates and so have a large pool of decision-makers to work with.
“We’re still onboarding and almost at full capacity,” says Tomczak. “It’s the best use of your time. In 2 days, under 1 roof, you can meet meaningful vendor exhibitors, hear announcements, learn from content provide by your peers which is heavy on best practice. There are hundreds of business leaders, you can expand your network and it’s always super-useful.”
DELIVER is eco-conceived, with carbon emission offsetting of the delegates’ travel, making it perhaps the only carbon-neutral show in the logistics sector. Profits are invested in green funds and tech. To learn more about Deliver Europe or to register, click here
Ocado are a familiar name in grocery ecommerce in the UK, but now aim to challenge major warehouse systems integrators internationally. CEO Mark Richardson spoke to David Priestman.
Ten communications per second between a warehouse robot and its operating software is impressive. Not only does that prevent collisions between the picking bots, it means that ‘appointments’ for each robot can be made for a specific tenth of a second. The routing software, ‘Dash’, communicates with every robot ten times per second in scheduled time slots. This is no ordinary automation system. Such expertise has been honed by 20 years’ operating Ocado’s 50,000 grocery line SKU storage and retrieval system in Britain.
“It’s a leading-edge ASRS, high-dense cube that can be scaled up as large as is necessary. The robots are designed to lift up to 35kg. Each storage bin can contain just over 30kg of product,” Richardson explains. Brands with complex, high-throughput operations in healthcare, retail apparel/footwear, consumer packaged goods, plus their third-party logistics operators can now access this automated fulfillment technology from Ocado Intelligent Automation (OIA). “It’s a global offer, pretty broad applications, especially in pharma,” Richardson adds.
OIA, a division of Ocado Group, formerly part-owned by the John Lewis Partnership, debuted its Ocado Storage and Retrieval System (OSRS) for the first time in North America at Manifest in February. OSRS simplifies and streamlines complex challenges facing modern supply chains using software, hardware, and processes proven in the demanding grocery industry.
“A non-grocery cube, on average, is not as big but it can be even larger, if required, for example in a general merchandise warehouse,” Richardson reveals. “We’re going for the larger systems. Non-grocery presents a breadth, rather than a throughput challenge. As the technology matures we can automate anything.” Food-retail demands fast, continuous picking, but non-food may have more and slower-moving items.
“We’re using our technology to create new products at our R&D centre in Welwyn Garden City,” Richardson says. Mention of the town of my birth and childhood, in Hertfordshire, peaks my interest further. “Automation tends to deliver better results, it’s more deterministic and very reliable. We can load our bins without humans. Inbound goods are delivered to the decant stations by pallet truck, for now,” he adds. “OSRS can buffer the outcome of the pick. Completed picks can be stored back in the grid for despatch later, therefore decoupling the processes of picking and dispatch. Prior to despatch, robots retrieve all the orders for a delivery route and bring them out of the grid. This allows the finished pick to live in the grid.”
OIA also incorporates technologies brought into the group with the acquisition of 6 River Systems and Kindred AI. These bring depth and flexibility to OIA’s products, offering a range of solutions. ‘Chuck’ is a robot order picker that does not necessitate a major investment. Kindred’s powered robot is deployed as a picking arm on top of the OSRS grid. It can be tele-operated remotely, so no engineer is required on site and Ocado Group has more than 1000 maintenance and support personnel around the world plus a 2500 strong development team in eight countries.
I asked Richardson the million-dollar question. How does OSRS compare with AutoStore, the Norwegian-invented system that has become the go-to for ASRS in the DC, sold by many system integrators? “We’re the most dense system, saving footprint,” he claims, “and OSRS is faster – more products can get through it. OSRS can be built taller than an AutoStore so can achieve a greater density in a given floor space. Because OSRS robots occupy just a single grid space, they create less congestion, so for busy grids total system throughput is higher. This all reflects our background in grocery, where volumes are typically very high compared to other industries.” The gauntlet has been laid down. What of further acquisitions? “We’re not specifically looking for new technology right now,” says Richardson, “but absolutely will do so in the future.”
Many hands make light work, and the saying holds true for big logistics contracts. David Priestman met with a digital freight forwarder making this happen across Europe.
David Nothacker is CEO and co-founder of Sennder, a Germany-headquartered company of 1000 employees and 11 European offices. The company’s forte is as a full truckload (FTL) third party logistics (3PL) broker for European road freight contracts. It acquired Uber’s European Freight Business in September 2020 in an all-stock transaction, with Uber acquiring a minority stake in Sennder as part of the deal. The acquisition began a strategic collaboration between the two companies to provide shippers with market-leading levels of service, efficiency and advances technologies across the USA, Canada and Europe.
“We handle the contracts and take the risk,” Nothacker informs me. “Clients come to us, we guarantee the price and break the transport work down from say a €200m agreement, like with have with the Italian Post, into small components with managed rates that many hauliers and transporters can operate between them.” By leveraging proprietary technology, Sennder is building an ecosystem.
Digital Freight Platform
“Uber Freight and Sennder are partners and mutual advisors, Nothacker explains. “We are continuously exploring opportunities for collaboration and synergies, particularly now that Uber Freight offers 4PL services in the European market that can be executed via our platform. We operate in different segments of the European market (4PL vs. 3PL), and on this basis we are able to advance our joint mission to fast forward road logistics.”
Sennder provides the compliance, delivery schedules and more on its digital freight exchange platform. This can either be for contract shipping or spot rates for ad-hoc, chartered transportation. The pitch is for companies needing to send freight to not have to choose between the dependability of an asset-based carrier (a traditional 3PL) or the agility of a digital TMS. Shippers access the connected carrier network enabling continental-wide shipping and forwarding to be divided-up by multiple local carriers.
Sennder has a large group of them on board, with 40,000 trucks connected to the platform transporting 50,000 loads a month. “While we are always open to new partners to increase our network density, our business focus is also on driving technology adoption with existing partners to maximize the benefits of our platform for carriers and shippers alike,” Nothacker states.
David Nothacker, sennder CEO
Similar networks have been put together in the palletised freight market, of course, and for less than truck loads. But Sennder claim originality in FTL and to be Europe’s largest digital freight forwarder. Scania invested in the company in 2017 and this has developed into the Swedish truck manufacturer being one of the largest shareholders as well as a strategic partner. “The transport industry is facing a revolutionary transformation through digitalization. With the knowledge and network of Scania, we will be able to accelerate our growth journey, with the ambition to offer the most customer focused and efficient service in the sector,” Nothacker tells me.
Investment in EVs
Scania is the electric vehicle (EV) partner for Sennder, with a joint-venture called JUNA. JUNA aims to advance large-scale e-truck adoption in Europe and to drive the transition towards a sustainable logistics industry, in line with the goals of the European Union’s ‘Green Deal’ to achieve climate neutrality by 2050. JUNA enables access to e-trucks, which are 2 to 3 times more expensive than diesel vehicles, and guarantees transport volumes by granting preferential access to spot and contract loads on Sennder’s digital platform. In doing so, JUNA reduces the risks of EV adoption for carriers, in particular the financial risks associated with high upfront costs and the uncertainty of the residual value.
70% of European hauliers have less than 10 trucks, but EVs are relatively expensive. “How do we persuade them to switch from diesel to electric?” asks Nothacker. His answer is via a pay-per-use model, per kilometre. “Truck owners don’t have to finance buying a lorry/truck. Our rate includes maintenance and insurance, though the EVs cannot be shared. If you don’t drive, you don’t pay.” Carriers benefit from driver apps, fleet management software, and individual reports and automated notifications, as well as from a higher utilization of their fleet, reducing costs and harmful emissions.
“With our shippers’ increasingly ambitious targets to reduce their Scope 3 emissions, we are seeing a constant increase in demand from our customers for green transportation,” Nothacker says. “In 2023, demand for green transports via our platform increased six-fold. This enables us to guarantee the use of EVs to both small and large fleet operators in our network. If set-up properly they’re no more expensive than diesel in terms of TCO, and they’re beneficial,” Nothacker continues.
“We get large EV contracts with the end-user shipper and sub-divide them among small haulage carriers – economies of scale.” Sennder compete, therefore, with 3PLs for contract volumes of at least €1 million Euro per annum. “The FTL business is slightly different, we work with larger shippers,” he concludes.
