container management Archives

Green, Intelligent, Returnable Packaging

Posted on 5 February, 202529 July, 2025 by David Priestman

ALSCO are a leading integrated returnable-package service provider in China, primarily focusing on serving automotive parts manufacturers and OEMs within the automotive industry.

The company’s comprehensive services consist of two main segments:

(i) Total Container Management, which includes pooling services where we manage the entire container operation process from design to recovery through our digitalization capabilities and extensive operational network, along with rental services and other value-added services;

(ii) container sales, providing a focused selection of containers to meet diverse customer needs.

According to Frost & Sullivan, in terms of revenue for 2023, ALSCO were the largest provider in both the whole pooling services industry and the automotive pooling services industry in China.
The company’s pooling services, which are at the heart of its ‘Total Container Management’, form the core of the business. Through this pooling service model, supported by an advanced digital
systems and platforms, ALSCO are committed to helping clients enhance their logistics efficiency, significantly reduce their packaging costs and achieve their green economic objectives as well
as ESG goals.

As of June 30, 2024, ALSCO managed an asset pool comprising over 1.2 million returnable containers and operated 944 circulation routes covering 97 cities, supported by 70 CMCs. Together, the asset pool and an extensive logistical network enabled the company to meet the evolving needs of its customers.

In addition, as of June 30, 2024, ALSCO has expanded its business overseas with two international circulation routes including Indonesia and South Korea, and international partners span across East Asia, Europe and North America. The company has also established subsidiaries in Hong Kong and Thailand to support this international expansion.

Value Propositions:

ALSCO distinguishes itself from competitors by offering a unique set of benefits that cater to the dynamic needs of returnable-package services, ensuring cost-effectiveness, efficiency and sustainability. These benefits include:
• Cost Reduction
• Efficiency Improvement
•Timely Service with Extensive Network
• Circular Economy Practices Aligned with ESG Goals

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Stack Management, Yard and Crane Optimizer Live at Terminal

Posted on 17 September, 202429 July, 2025 by David Priestman

INFORM has announced that it has successfully deployed its Syncrotess Optimization Plus solution at Norfolk Southern’s Austell terminal in Atlanta, Georgia enabling the terminal to have complete transparency of their stacked operations, as well as optimized yard storage and crane movement operations.

Will Deshazor, Norfolk Southern Group Vice President Intermodal Automotive Terminal Operations, commented, “INFORM’s Syncrotess Optimization Plus solution is helping revolutionize our operations at Norfolk Southern’s Austell and Rossville terminals, providing us with unparalleled visibility and efficiency in our stacked operations, yard storage, and crane movements. Our rollout in Austell marks another step forward in our commitment to delivering exceptional service to our customers while optimizing our terminal operations.”

Matthew Wittemeier, Director of Marketing and Sales at INFORM’s Terminal & Distribution Center Logistics Division said, “No doubt, it’s been a journey to get the Austell terminal up and running, but we’re excited to be in a position now to demonstrate our world class optimization solutions working in live operations!”

Dr. Eva Savelsberg, Senior Vice President at INFORM’s Terminal & Distribution Center Logistics Division commented, “I’m tremendously proud of INFORM’s team and their commitment to the Norfolk Southern project. It is great to have the second Norfolk Southern site go-live; it is a strong demonstration of our continued partnership with NS.”

INFORM’s add-on AI and optimization solution takes a modular approach to adding advanced intelligence to a terminal’s existing TOS. This path allows them to isolate the terminal’s specific challenges and provide a bespoke solution for their specific operational challenges. As an add-on optimization solution, Norfolk Southern has built the required optimization on top of their existing Terminal Operating System (TOS) OPTCS 2.0.

Stack Management

Austell is the second Norfolk Southern site running INFORM’s Syncrotess Optimization Plus solution. Norfolk Southern took the solution live at their Rossville terminal in 2023. Norfolk Southern is using INFORM’s Yard Optimizer (YO) to intelligently manage their stacked operations. The Yard Optimizer works in conjunction with the TOS to allocate storage locations for containers within the yard, to automatically determine the next operationally efficient move, and to better allocate handover locations for external trucks in order to minimize travel distance for the container in and out of the stack.

Matthew Wittemeier added, “The future of most North American intermodal terminals is stacked; being able to demonstrate to the industry that stacking can be done effectively without sacrificing customer delivery times and with that the customer experience was a primary goal of the project from its outset.”

Additionally, Norfolk Southern is utilizing INFORM’s Crane Optimizer (CO) to optimize the movements of overhead cranes to minimize empty travel and maximize productivity of the lift equipment. Austell is using Kuenz RTG Freerider cranes.

INFORM has a suite of six industry proven optimization modules designed to improve operational efficiency and reduce operational costs which ultimately allows for improved revenues. These modules include: Crane Optimizer (CO), Yard Optimizer (YO), Vehicle Optimizer (VO), Train Load Optimizer (TLO), Rail Scheduler (RS), and Machine Learning (ML) modules.

IoT Tracking Solution for Load Carriers

Posted on 9 November, 202331 July, 2025 by David Priestman

Container management plays an important role in the logistics of manufacturing companies. However, this aspect usually only comes into play when load carriers go missing, transport times increase, or new purchases have to be made at great expense. “Particularly in the case of expensive special load carriers, which are frequently used in the automotive industry, non-transparent delivery chains are an avoidable nuisance. There is huge savings potential, after all,” states Stefan Schenk, who is responsible for the off-road business sector at Robert Bosch GmbH. That is why Bosch developed ‘Track and Trace’. This smart complete solution ensures full transparency throughout the load carrier cycle – across different plants and national borders and with effective integration of various suppliers, logistics service providers, and empties locations.

Transparency across the entire load carrier cycle

Where are there (special) load carriers in the logistics cycle? Are they being used to optimum effect? How can their use be optimized? These are just some of the questions faced by logistics experts the world over. All too often, inventories of (special) load carriers across multiple sites are still performed manually – an elaborate and highly error-prone process. “Employees spend too much time looking for containers that have been recorded either incorrectly or not at all,” explains Schenk. “To maintain an uninterrupted supply to production, additional load carriers have to be purchased while others remain unused.”

Help is now at hand, however, in the form of the smart logistics solution Track and Trace from Bosch. The smart tracking solution provides complete transparency regarding the usage and whereabouts of individual load carriers across all processes. To enable real-time tracking, the containers are equipped with sensors. Gateways located at the main hubs within the plants and at the supplier sites collect the sensor data and enrich it with position data before transferring it to the application in the cloud. Thanks to the software’s web interface, the received data can be clearly displayed in the form of dashboards. This provides all user groups with permanent access to the position as well as transport, throughput, and standstill times of the loading units.

“We want Track and Trace to be simple and intuitive to use,” states Schenk. “Logistics is not about millimetre-accurate localization. Instead, the focus must be on cost-efficient implementation and scalability of the solution for later rollouts.” As well as classic asset tracking, Track and Trace also enables tracking of materials or goods. This allows movements to be tracked via our IoT devices in real-time, thereby ensuring the necessary availabilities. Data regarding product-related information – such as temperature, humidity, and shocks – can also be displayed with the tracking solution.

Value Propositions:

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Stack Management

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