Uncategorised Archives

Future of Fulfilment at Puma

Posted on 23 November, 2023 by David Priestman

Since November 2022, stichd, a subsidiary of the Puma Group, has been serving its global customers from its new and highly automated fulfilment centre in Tilburg, the Netherlands. This high-performing and extremely versatile omnichannel solution enables stichd to cut lead times and to offer customers an even higher service level. In close cooperation with TGW, a solution was developed and implemented that ensures a future-proof distribution process.

Unique service requires flexible and future-proof system

stichd specialises in the design, production and distribution of high-quality bodywear, legwear and swimwear. In addition, stichd also designs, develops and distributes licensed fanwear, in cooperation with Formula 1 top teams and with football club Manchester City among others. It is a service-oriented company that also offers its customers value added services (VAS), such as providing price stickers, a new barcode or the customer’s article number on the articles. This requires a flexible approach and a system that can handle many variables.

To lay the foundations for further growth and to improve process efficiency, it sought a partner for the automation of the distribution process. TGW proposed a solution where today’s capacity can be doubled within the current warehouse.

“It was immediately clear to us that FlashPick was the ideal solution for stichd. FlashPick is a smart order fulfilment system for goods-to-person picking that can serve every distribution channel (e-commerce, wholesale and retail). The single-order management approach is ideally suited for omnichannel operations and raises the bar in terms of speed and flexibility,” says Jan-Willem Klinkenberg, Head of Business Development TGW Northern Europe.

At stichd, FlashPick comprises a five-aisle shuttle warehouse with 20 levels, six ergonomic PickCenter One workstations as well as two order-pick robots Rovolution. “This means a quarter of the workstations are robotised,” states Klinkenberg. “For handling fashion, the Rovolution is an ideal application as it picks a wide range of item types, from rigid to soft packaging, such as t-shirts in a polybag for example. Moreover, the Rovolution is deployable 24/7.”

The Warehouse Control System is developed by TGW and provides control and monitoring of all processes. KingDrive transport systems guarantee energy-efficient transport throughout the warehouse. Cartons delivered at goods reception are transported to the pallet reserve warehouse that is used for replenishing FlashPick. Wholesale or retail orders are directly commissioned into shipping cartons. Customer orders can then be delivered to the VAS workstations where additional stickers or barcodes can be added if required.

The design of the logistics centre at stichd already provides the option for a possible doubling of the shuttle block and the connected picking. If stichd continues to grow as dynamically as predicted, the extension could be planned as early as 2025.

Close partnership continues in service contract
From the beginning of the project, there was close and open communication between the TGW and stichd teams. “It is very important for us that the project is also supported internally by the customer and that we get the necessary information. Only when we understand the customers’ requirements and needs, we can design a tailormade system that also generates a good return on investment,” confirms Klinkenberg. “Together with the stichd team, we have dissected the entire distribution process step by step and developed the best solution for each step.”

The close collaboration is continuing even after the go-live of the automated fulfilment centre. An in-house team of six TGW engineers provides preventive maintenance and repair of the system through a Lifetime Services contract for a period of five years.

Long-standing relationship with Puma Group

In 2021 TGW realised the new fulfilment centre of Puma in Geiselwind, Germany. The new omnichannel distribution centre serves all channels from one location and fulfils orders from throughout Europe. In the past, Puma used a decentralized distribution network with local and separate distribution Centres for B2B (retail/wholesale) and B2C (direct-to-consumer). High inventory levels and process costs combined with the fact that Puma could no longer offer its customers the service they expected, made the company decide to consolidate all services in one central fulfilment centre.

TGW deployed a FlashPick solution able to cover both retail/wholesale and e-commerce orders. The high degree of automation also makes it possible to react quickly to changes in the order structures and to do so with consistently high quality.

No Warehouse Left Behind

Posted on 23 November, 2023 by David Priestman

Re-brands are sensitive and critical operations and the warehouse automation sector is no exception. David Priestman attended the launch of Movu Robotics in Belgium, late September.
“Automate, in a easy way, the distribution centres of our customers. Democratise automation.” This is the mission statement espoused by Jos de Vuyst, CEO of stow Group, at the launch of Movu Robotics, formerly known as stow Robotics. With a large existing client base for its racking, storage, silo and rack clad products stow Group is well-positioned to sell and integrate robotics and automation technology. It can scale-up fast.

The company wants to help these facilities transition to automated operations, thereby not leaving any warehouse behind in the darkening warehouses of the future. “Plug and play, dense, low-energy usage systems with fast deployment,” is the offering, according to de Vuyst. Automation provides a productivity boost and is scalable, with no need for new warehouse infrastructure.

The rationale for a new brand name – Movu – is because the ‘stow’ name is perhaps too associated with rack and storage – traditional materials handling. Disconnecting from this and switching to a ‘catchy’ new brand fits the mission statement. Employing more than 300 employees by the end of this year across Europe and the US, Movu Robotics expects order intake of more than €300 million in 2023.

The Movu Robotics portfolio comprises automated storage, picking and transport for pallets, bins and items, offering an easy buying journey, competitive pricing, cost savings, quick delivery, high density storage and space optimisation. The portfolio allows end customers and integrators globally to benefit from a seamless and user-friendly warehouse automation ecosystem.

The portfolio includes:
• ‘Movu atlas’ – Pallet shuttle for multiple deep storage
• ‘Movu ifollow’ – slimline AMR for collaborative picking or transport of pallets, made near Paris. A unique selling point of ifollow is that it works in deep freeze areas of a warehouse.
• ‘Movu escala’ – Robotised 3D storage and fulfilment system without lifts
• ‘Movu eligo’ – Integrated picking robot arm
All Movu systems are controlled and managed via their own warehouse execution software (WES).

The impressive, iconic headquarters in Lokeren, situated between Antwerp and Ghent, combines modern offices with manufacturing operations for atlas and escala robots (500 per week) under a single roof. There is also an experience centre – one of the biggest in Europe – where the latest technologies are showcased live to customers and partners. One factor in choosing its location is the desire to partner with local Universities to recruit young engineers.

I asked de Vuyst to describe the journey taken by stow Group leading to the launch of Movu Robotics:
“Since 1987 stow Group has grown rapidly into a €1 billion global company that today ranks among the top two racking manufacturers in the world. Originally a family-owned company, then owned by Kardex for a decade, a management buyout in 2013 was backed by private equity funding. The racking business of stow stands out in the sector by having a production footprint spanning Europe with 10 racking factories and a network of 20 sales companies giving direct access to, and close contact with, the customer. Our racking solutions are customised around standard products, enabling us to have highly automated factories. This results in stow being a cost leader as well as fast growing and very profitable.

“stow Robotics was born the day we started writing Warehouse Control Software (WCS). We are now developing our own WES suite and control software on the machines, which we build ourselves. We will not develop our own WMS as it is too complex. We are evolving into a supplier that can provide an automated pallet warehouse, from a small scale operation up to large projects. The investment climate is softening a bit, big investment decisions are taking a bit longer, due to high interest rates.”

Will we see ‘Dark Warehouses’ (without workers)?

“I’m a big fan in principle. The ideal is racks and robotics, but you must go high. Labour is disruptive, people often hate working in warehouses. Forklift usage is falling, as will conveyor coverage and manual picking. We have the products to achieve a dark warehouse via four or five main technologies.”

How is Movu Robotics positioned in the market?

“We expect double-digit growth. The global material handling equipment market size is forecasted to reach $350 billion by 2030, driven by AS/RS systems and robotics. By our Movu Robotics positioning and portfolio we are very confident of becoming an essential player in this market. Movu Robotics will follow the same development path as stow Racking, so we will build a network of sales companies in the main territories allowing us both channels to the market: direct and through integrators – not just to new customers, like competitors do.

“Where many companies are built around one automation product, we have an integrated ecosystem of scalable, automated warehouse solutions for pallets and bins. That’s quite rare, and the portfolio will continue to grow. We will take a deep dive into some vertical markets and develop specific automation products for particular sectors. One trend is third party logistics operators beginning to automate. We’re strong in cold stores, pharmaceuticals and food logistics.

“We want to offer the possibility of automation to SMEs that have a few thousand pallet locations. While bigger projects are generally more complex, a straight forward pallet project of, for example, 80,000 pallet locations requiring 60 shuttles has a low complexity and fits our profile. If, however, that same warehouse had sorters, a mix of complex software and machines we don’t have in our portfolio, then we’d defer to a systems integrator.” Movu does not offer robots-as-a-service as the company offers a broad range or solution.

Supermarket of Materials Handling

How do the business units in stow Group benefit from each other?

“stow Racking and Movu Robotics together are a unique one-stop-shop with proven interfaces that combines best of racking and robotics. Sales is another of the most important synergies between stow Racking and Movu Robotics, with many leads for automation coming via the racking side, which has 10,000 customers across Europe and US. Many of these customers take the decision at some point to automate their operations. stow Racking has more than 200 sales people globally, which also bring leads for robotics and automation products.

“Movu Robotics benefits from having the strength of stow Group behind it, with all of its management experience and expertise. Another important factor is the backing of Blackstone, a private equity company with a vast experience in logistic real estate, who are very supportive. Also, stow Racking activity successfully generates cash, fuelling growth in Movu Robotics without the need for continual equity rounds.”

How does the company’s culture drive development?

“While stow Group has become a large organisation, with a well organised corporate structure, it still has the dynamics of an SME company. We have direct contact with our people through a relatively flat management structure, which gives an agility and dynamism that is popular with our customers. This allows us to attract talent to support our know-how in engineering, software and other departments. Joining Movu Robotics is more akin to working in a start-up than a corporate environment. While enjoying an agile environment, staff also gain the support of being in a solid company.”

Where do you see the stow Group and Movu Robotics in five years?

“stow Group will continue to grow the racking business, we will definitely not lose interest in the racking business. Racking is an essential and profitable part of the Group, so it is important that it continues to grow. Having established stow as a racking market leader in Europe, with approx. 30% market share, we started to build the US business over the past 18 months, where there is huge potential. We have created a sales office in Chicago and have just taken the decision to build our first racking plant in the US – the location is not yet fixed. With strong sales in this market, it no longer makes practical sense to ship containers of racking across the Atlantic. We’re not excluding the Asian market later on in the future, just not now.

“Of course, we will continue to grow Movu Robotics. While entering the market with systems that are easier, standardised, scalable, and flexible, in the next five years we will be tackling more complicated projects. I think in five years’ time, Movu Robotics’ activity will be equivalent to, or even exceed, that of stow Racking, creating two very strong legs for the stow Group.”

What about further acquisitions and new products?

“Coming from a manufacturing background, doing things ourselves is in our DNA. We will develop our own technologies as much as possible, only seeking partnerships when we don’t have the time to develop them ourselves. For example, it makes no sense to start developing vision technology on our own. In such cases we will partner with an appropriate supplier or licence it in. AMRs with forks or for bins and gripping technology are interesting. The sales side is different because we want to grow as fast as possible and whilst we are developing our own sales network are open to work together if we find a good partners for specific regions.”

Intelligent Sorting for Tunisian Post

Posted on 22 November, 2023 by David Priestman

In Africa, e-commerce revenues are expected to exceed $46 billion in 2025, up from $28 billion in 2021, and 500 million online shoppers in 2025, up from 350 million in 2022, according to the latest study by consulting firm TechCabal Insights. Launched in 2016 by the Universal Postal Union (UPU), the Ecom@Africa project aims to develop intra-African and international e-commerce through the postal network in each of the five major African regions. The objective is to facilitate and accelerate the e-commerce activities of artisans, microenterprises, and small and medium-sized enterprises in this geographical area, enabling them to access local and international markets.

There are many challenges to overcome for the signatory African countries, from implementing a virtual e-commerce platform to designing a parcel receiving and sending logistics platform, as well as establishing a local distribution network and harmonizing practices. Among the first countries to experiment with this initiative, Tunisia aims to become the e-commerce hub for the North African region, according to an ambitious IT and logistics project roadmap. In this context, the Tunisian Post, a member of the UPU since 1878, has selected ISITEC International’s intelligent incoming and outgoing parcel sorting solution to equip its international e-commerce logistics platform, Ecom@Africa, through a tender process. Located on the outskirts of Tunis-Carthage Airport, it will be operational in January 2024.

Automating, ensuring reliability, and accelerating parcel sorting

Facing the decline of traditional postal services, the Tunisian Post aspires to seize the opportunities offered by the unprecedented growth of e-commerce, positioning itself as a key player in the management and optimization of associated services and logistics flows. It is currently establishing a state-of-the-art international logistics platform, Ecom@Africa, to optimize the processing of incoming and outgoing e-commerce parcels, as part of the UPU’s regional pilot program for the development of trade exchanges in Africa. To handle a growing volume of parcels, driven by e-commerce growth, the Tunisian Post aims to implement an automated sorting solution in 2022 to enhance operational efficiency, reliability, and agility, while reducing labor costs and human error.

This new equipment must address various challenges: automating, ensuring reliability, and optimizing the parcel sorting process to reduce processing and, consequently, delivery times; easily handling peak periods such as year-end holidays and Ramadan; providing seamless parcel traceability at every stage, ensuring transparency and customer satisfaction; and guaranteeing flexibility in sorting parcels of all sizes and shapes.

Sami Inoubli, PMO of the Ecom@Africa program at the Tunisian Post, summarizes: “The installation of an automated parcel sorting machine aims primarily to improve efficiency, reduce costs, increase sorting accuracy, and better manage capacity to cope with the exponential growth in parcel volume associated with the rise of e-commerce.”

As Inoubli, PMO of the Ecom@Africa program, reveals: “In our tender, we focused on identifying the key competencies required to find a company capable of providing us with a truly tailor-made solution that can be easily integrated into our IT systems, technical expertise, and maintenance and support services.” Ten criteria were defined: the capability to design and manufacture customized solutions that meet specific parcel sorting requirements (postal IT, size, shape, and volume of parcels), engineering capacity ensuring equipment quality, reliability, and durability, deployment of advanced automation technologies (computer vision, barcodes), and control software, integration with the existing postal information system, responsive maintenance and support, employee training, compliance with applicable standards and regulations, references, and a track record.

As an expert in optimizing postal and logistics flows worldwide, the French company ISITEC International stood out and won the tender from the Tunisian Post in December 2021. Inoubli adds, “In the context of our public procurement tender, the choice of ISITEC International was based on the total cost of ownership (TCO) of their intelligent parcel sorting solution. It is important, in our view, to evaluate a solution based on its total cost of ownership over its entire lifespan, from purchase and operation costs to maintenance and upgrades.”

Moreover, numerous strengths of ISITEC International’s proposal confirmed the Tunisian Post’s choice: performance, customization and scalability of the equipment, easy integration with existing IT and logistics systems, availability of technical support and after-sales service. The collaboration started in January 2022.

Inoubli said, “Our project requires close communication and careful planning with ISITEC International’s team to ensure that our equipment meets our needs and operates optimally.” Among the highlights of the collaboration with ISITEC International are the functional analysis stage, where the teams from ISITEC International and the Tunisian Post worked together to design and customize the parcel sorting machine according to specific needs, technical adaptations imposed by the facility’s area, options for customized sorting, and integration with existing systems. The installation, commissioning, and real-world testing of the ISITEC International solution were completed in September 2023.

Once the Ecom@Africa Hub becomes operational in 2024, ISITEC International’s intelligent sorting solution is expected to provide the Tunisian Post with greater operational efficiency through swift and precise sorting, ensuring high-quality service. The automation of parcel sorting is also expected to reduce labor costs, minimize sorting errors, and consequently reduce costs related to returns and re-shipments. ISITEC International’s solution will also significantly contribute to rigorous traceability. The equipment allows for precise tracking of parcel locations at every stage of processing within the Ecom@Africa e-commerce logistics platform.

In the coming months, the Tunisian Post will undertake a key step in its Ecom@Africa roadmap, the design and implementation of an Integrated Logistics Centre, which will cover all logistics aspects of national e-commerce, including inventory management, order preparation, and returns management. Once again, storage, automated sorting, and order preparation systems will be necessary.

Inoubli concludes: “Based on the quality of the relationship established, from contract signing to provisional acceptance, and including functional analysis, we have a partnership with ISITEC International rather than a customer-supplier relationship. In this partnership, we aspire to work together to optimize parcel sorting efficiency and achieve our goals. This necessarily involves close communication, faultless technical support, and regular equipment updates by ISITEC International.” The collaboration between the Tunisian Post and ISITEC International will span seven years, with two years of warranty period and five years under the maintenance contract.

Intelligent Sorting for Tunisian Post

Posted on 22 November, 2023 by Keith McKinley

Automating, ensuring reliability, and accelerating parcel sorting

Fulfilment Capacity Doubled with Peoplevox WMS

Posted on 22 November, 2023 by David Priestman

Descartes Systems Group, a leader in uniting logistics-intensive businesses in commerce, announced that U.K.-based ecommerce brand AYBL, an online retailer of activewear, has transformed its warehouse and fulfilment capabilities by replacing paper-based picking and manual fulfilment practices with Descartes Peoplevox warehouse management system (WMS). Using the solution to improving picking efficiency and accuracy, AYBL has doubled its fulfilment capacity with existing staff and can seamlessly scale to fulfil over 70,000 orders a day during peak season.

“To become a leader in ecommerce within the U.K. you have to deliver on customer promises and build loyalty, which means you have to be able to rely on your warehouse and fulfilment capability: every order shipped on time, accurately, with visibility into the process, easy returns, all on demand and fast.,” said Paul Maynard, Head of Operations, AYBL. “With Descartes Peoplevox, we instantly improved picking accuracy and efficiency and we no longer needed to keep our warehouse layout in SKU order, which had previously prevented us from making the best use of available storage capacity. Additionally, the system scaled easily as we moved multiple times to larger warehouse facilities and, today, allows us to flex to 100+ people during peak periods and train new staff within hours, which beforehand would never have been possible.”

Part of Descartes’ ecommerce solution suite, Descartes Peoplevox WMS helps direct-to-consumer brands and ecommerce retailers drive significant efficiencies across order fulfilment processes to provide a remarkable customer experience. The solution helps ensure that retailers can ship on time, ship the right items, not oversell existing inventory, and have transparency into warehouse operations. Order information is automatically available to be executed via mobile-driven multi-order pick-and-pack strategies and then fed into Descartes and third-party parcel shipment systems. The solution is pre-integrated with major ecommerce platforms, such as Shopify Plus, Brightpearl by Sage, Netsuite and others, to accelerate implementation and time to value.

“We’re pleased to help AYBL scale its fulfilment operations to meet growing consumer demand for its products and maintain its customer commitment – even at the height of peak season,” said Johannes Panzer, Head of Industry Solutions for Ecommerce at Descartes. “Our ecommerce WMS Peoplevox is designed for ambitious ecommerce brands. It empowers them to grow efficiently and reduce fulfilment costs to achieve more profitable person-to-goods fulfilment operations.”

Robots Help Solve Japan’s Problem

Posted on 21 November, 2023 by David Priestman

Japan faces a labour shortage impact in 2024 as new overtime regulations for truck drivers come into force. This is being called the ‘2024 problem’ – its potential disruptions need technological help. The world´s number one robot manufacturing country is developing automation strategies that will not only target logistical issues but also a wide range of industry challenges the new working time legislation will cause.

“The government´s overtime cap is an important step to improve working conditions for employees,” says Takayuki Ito, Vice President of the International Federation of Robotics. “Industrial and service robots deliver great solutions to automate. Robots relieve workers of dirty, dull and dangerous work and help to close productivity gaps.”

Robots load and unload cargo

In Japan, the average annual working hours for a heavy truck driver were 2,568, which is 444 hours longer than the national average for all jobs – labour ministry data from 2022 reveal. Placing cargo in and out of trucks and warehouses is one of the most time- consuming tasks of truck drivers. Mobile robot solutions in transportation and logistics can help. To free up truck drivers from loading and unloading cargo saves them up to 25% of working time during a day´s shift. Robots also help reduce errors in order fulfilment by automating repetitive tasks such as picking and packing.

Robots speed up warehousing

Warehouse robots in use today range from compact autonomous mobile robots to large-scale automated storage and retrieval systems. Their use reduces the amount of time required to move goods and they can handle heavy loads and dangerous materials without putting human workers at risk.

Professional service robots are booming

The benefits of robots for transportation and logistics are documented by latest statistics: on a global scale, more professional service robots were built for the transportation of goods or cargo than for any other function. Sales grew by 44% with more than 86,000 units sold in 2022 worldwide, IFR reports.

Workplaces of the future

“Regulations of overtime work and the demographic change will require the adoption of automation technology in many branches of the Japanese economy,” says Takayuki Ito. “The challenges of the trucking industry are good examples to show how robotics and automation deliver adequate solutions for our workplaces of the future.”

The International Robot Exhibition (iREX) in Tokyo is highly regarded both in Japan and abroad as one of the largest robot exhibitions in the world:

Delivering WMS Advantages

Posted on 21 November, 202329 July, 2025 by David Priestman

Sainsbury’s wanted to select and install a new WMS, then self-manage it. Learn how the retail giant achieved that goal.

Changing core processes, technology or operations can be disruptive to supply chains but is often a necessary evil. J Sainsbury’s plc, the UK’s number two food supermarket chain with a 15% market share, owns the formerly catalogue-based general merchandise brand Argos, as well as Habitat homewares and the Tu clothing range. With 1400 stores and over 150,000 staff it has grown exponentially from its Victorian foundations.

Simon Frodsham, Sainsbury’s Head of Engineering, and Chris Gaunt, Head of Product, gave an enlightening use-case presentation of the project at Körber’s recent Elevate conference in Prague. Together they explained the rationale for change. Previously the group had several WMS products in use and ageing warehouses. The company wanted to have in-house capability for the new WMS, to have something that was easy to upgrade and that could handle any product anywhere in the supply chain, food or non-food. It had to be brand-agnostic, flexible and help improve the availability of in-store stock.

Selection Process

A broad selection of WMS vendors were invited to tender. Sainsbury’s demanded a new WMS to be functional, to align with other technology in use (e.g. ERP), be able to handle the vast volume of products, provide the best service and support, cloud-based and integrate with the existing supply chain ‘ecosystem’. The business relationship was key, Gaunt and Frodsham explained, as well as the total cost of ownership. Ultimately the company chose Körber’s ‘Warehouse Advantage’ (WA) product for Argos’ Local Fulfilment Centres and depots (LFC) in March 2021.

Sainsbury’s supply chain sees 13,000 deliveries made per week across 200 countrywide postcode locations. In addition, consumer shoppers are able to collect parcels or drop-off returns at supermarkets and Sainsbury’s Local stores. Having bought WA from Körber the retail giant decided to run it themselves. But this required hiring new employees and training large teams, which took time. The decision was taken to partner with a niche integrator, iWMS, for the first implementation.

The project was delivered on time, with new pick, label and sorting features. Processes that were improved included order status, integration to tracking, stock management and the real-time allocation of order fulfilment. Having used Körber’s (formerly Voiteq) voice-directed systems for 20 years it made sense to continue using the ‘One Voice’ platform as a core technology in all the LFCs. “It’s a really successful collaboration,” said Gaunt. “Warehouse Advantage is flexible. It was a complex integration and is an evolving operation. We are iterating ways of working with it.”
The Sainsbury’s team are now predominantly independently running the WMS, with some outside support. Next year will see new and existing LFC sites adopt WA as it rolls out across the logistical network, including at a national depot which is able to deliver nationwide within 5 hours. This national depot handles general merchandise (non-food) for any of the group’s retail outlets. “We wouldn’t have decided to do that if we weren’t satisfied,” Frodsham stated.

DHL Transitions Fuelling from Diesel to HVO

Posted on 20 November, 2023 by David Priestman

DHL Supply Chain has announced the acceleration of its UK road transport decarbonisation strategy. In addition to investments already made in deploying vehicles running on biogas and electric vehicles, hydrotreated vegetable oil (HVO) fuel is now actively being rolled out across the majority of its on-site fuelling stations throughout the UK, enabling DHL to assess operational processes and the performance of the fuel. With installation scheduled for completion by the end of the year, transitioning to HVO fuel will deliver 80-90% carbon savings compared to diesel; with an estimated total of 15,000 tonnes of CO2e savings being expected to be delivered.

Produced from biomass such as used cooking oils and waste from food manufacture, HVO is a drop-in fuel, meaning it can be used within existing vehicles without compromising operational performance; removing the need for new infrastructure or fleet.

Saul Resnick, CEO, DHL Supply Chain UK & Ireland said, “The installation of HVO fuel across our bunkered sites represents a critical moment in our multi-fuel decarbonisation strategy. HVO improves our service to customers by introducing a low-carbon renewable alternative fuel with minimal disruption. As an industry leader, we are rolling out HVO at scale and with impressive pace, to deliver immediate and substantial carbon savings while we continue to work towards viable zero-emission alternatives. We are extending an invitation to our customers to join us on this transformative journey, and actively collaborate with us in adopting these greener alternatives, we can provide them with a powerful tool to make their supply chains greener.”

More than six million litres of HVO fuel will be rolled out within DHL’s on-site fuelling stations this year, replacing diesel in 20 locations across the UK. In 2024, the business plans to install additional fuel bunkers across its network, increasing its use of HVO fuel to over 24 million litres, and with the effect of a full year, the carbon savings impact will be even greater.

The roll-out of HVO fuel in the UK brings to life DHL’s recently announced Green Transport Policy, a global standard on the most suitable green alternative per market. The Policy comes with an investment of around 200 million euros in alternative technologies and fuels to reduce close to 300,000 tons of CO2 emissions in the next three years in partnership with customers.

Brita Optimizing Supply Chain Process with Kinaxis

Posted on 20 November, 2023 by David Priestman

BRITA SE, a German water filtration company, has selected Kinaxis® Inc. (TSX: KXS), a leading supply chain management platform, to bring concurrent planning to its supply chain. Founded in 1966, BRITA SE invented the household water filter jug and now develops, produces, and distributes a wide range of water products for both private and commercial uses.

Recently, the company experienced significant growth, which added pressure to its demand planning and operations. With Kinaxis, BRITA SE will achieve end-to-end transparency into the entire supply chain and improved demand planning capabilities to adapt and respond to any demand changes, faster and with more accuracy.

“BRITA has continued to grow, both in our number of business segments as well as our geographical reach, so being able to understand how disruption in one area could affect the entirety of our supply chain immediately is invaluable,” said Oliver Schilling, Group Director Supply Chain Management at BRITA SE. “We’re committed to the highest standards of customer service and to our growing business, with the help of both Kinaxis and 4flow.”

With RapidResponse® BRITA SE will be able to run multiple scenarios simultaneously, giving its planners the flexibility to react to changes in demand and market volatility. Having these insights will allow BRITA to make the smartest decisions for its supply chain, faster.

“Supply chains, at their core, exist to serve humanity. BRITA provides people all around the world with filtration products providing their customers with filtered water, reducing the need for plastic water bottles,” said Claire Rychlewski, executive vice president of global field sales at Kinaxis. “We’re excited to help BRITA transform their supply chain and find resiliency, and to help them better serve humanity.”

For the implementation of RapidResponse, BRITA SE will work with 4flow, a global leader in supply chain optimization services and partner of Kinaxis to support the digitization of the supply chain.
“With our deep understanding of global supply chains and the associated IT infrastructures, we are able to support customers in partnership with Kinaxis, accelerate decision-making and break down silos,” said Dr. Marc Schleyer, Partner at 4flow and Head of Digital Practice. “We’re excited to help BRITA with a successful implementation and ensure a sustainable transformation of supply chain operations.”

Where AI Can Find its Place in SCM

Posted on 17 November, 2023 by David Priestman

Jag Lamba (pictured), CEO of Certa, writes about how AI can be beneficial to supply chain professionals and SCM (supply chain management).

While most of the coverage of the rise of artificial intelligence in the past year or so has been on generative models such as ChatGPT that can be used by the average person, the business world is no stranger to AI. It’s been used for years to streamline workflows, analyse data, and build predictive models that can steer organizations in the right direction.

But there’s no doubt that we’re in a moment where AI is growing in its applications and power faster than ever before — so we need to ask, can we use its latest iterations to make our jobs easier as supply chain managers? Given the supply chains that still bear scars from the rough going that started in 2020, anything that can reduce risk and improve managers’ ability to make smart strategic decisions is welcome. Let’s discuss a few ways that AI is showing up in the logistics toolbox.

AI lets you adapt to global market movements

In today’s unstable and rapidly changing economic and geopolitical landscape, supply chain managers are often saddled with the unenviable task of pivoting quickly as a result of some major event like a war or political turmoil. With how interconnected the world is, these disruptive events seem to be happening on a regular basis.

Fortunately, advances in AI make it possible for operations to sync with current market dynamics — with high levels of automation and minimal input from users. Something as simple as a business requirement document (BRD) inputted into an AI engine can spur the system to adapt workflows accordingly. Normally, these complex workflows would take a significant amount of time — especially when they change so rapidly — but AI has advanced in its language processing to the point where it can interpret documents like a BRD and use old workflows as a template to create new processes better suited to the moment.

AI can gather, parse, and visualize insightful data with simple queries

Thanks to the advancements in conversational AI, insights into the various data points gathered along the supply chain are a quick query away. Data visualizations can be generated with ease, and conversational AI lets you drill down into that data just by asking for certain filters or parameters to be applied. These systems also often provide a way to generate simple reports for sharing with stakeholders.

AI’s ability to predict market shifts by analysing historical data and patterns in the market alongside the context of what’s happening in the world right now can be a major competitive advantage. Supply chain managers equipped with access to these data insights can steer their organization’s efforts today into the right position for success tomorrow and beyond.

AI speeds up supplier compliance processes

When AI is plugged into historical data for partners and vendors, it can speed up the compliance process (and improve the odds of meeting regulatory standards) by making the information-gathering stage quick and easy. It can pull data from onboarding, email and chat conversations, and other sources to pre-fill in large portions of the forms required to meet various regulatory requirements. AI is responsive and dynamic by nature, so suppliers can work with the AI to fill in any missing information and verify what’s there. The onus for validation of such information falls to the supplier, so when AI is able to make that process quicker and easier for them, you’ll often see quicker turnarounds and fewer compliance oversights.

AI is a boon for sustainability initiatives

Sustainability is far more than a buzzword — in supply chain management circles, it’s a core tenet of operations. It’s responsible environmental stewardship, sure, but also a way to drive down costs and risks. AI can make it quick and easy for managers to get a birds’ eye view not only of their own company’s carbon footprint and sustainability initiatives, but also those of potential suppliers. This allows companies to make smarter decisions when it comes to choosing suppliers that will match their sustainability plans and not open them up to ESG-related risks.

AI isn’t done evolving — not even close. Though it’s been a useful tool for businesses for decades now, conversational AI and a focus on new implementations of the technology means we’re in an exciting time of innovation. Supply chain managers ignore AI at their own peril — smart and judicious use of the technology can help smooth out operations and give companies a competitive edge in the years to come.

Subscribe