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Tag: Geodis

New Rail Freight Connection between Poland and Spain

Posted on by David Priestman

Geodis, a leading intermodal operator, has expanded its rail freight services with another fixed schedule connection. As of June 11th, the freight train between Łódź and Barcelona was operable, representing the first direct rail connection between the two countries.

On the inaugural trip customers’ goods in 44 containers and/or swap bodies, each capable of carrying a payload of 26 tons set off from the freight terminal in Łódź, reaching Barcelona after just three days, from where ‘last mile‘ distribution will take place by road. Later on that day of arrival, the train returns to Poland with imported goods from Spain. Successive trains have also a capacity of 44 units, replacing the same amount of trucks that might otherwise be used.

The service is an example of GEODIS’ ability to go beyond a pure intermodal offering and provide a truly multimodal option, which combines road transport with rail seamlessly, enabling a secure flow of goods and more flexibility in managing peaks in demand.

Moving more goods safely with less energy consumed

Delivering goods on rail emits five times less CO2 than covering the same distance by road and is 12 times lower than the equivalent air transport. The rail link allows the delivery of as much as 1,000 tons of goods from various industries.

The rail route between Łódź and Barcelona, although longer than the road journey by almost 160 km, reduces CO2 emissions by up to -79%. Moreover, energy consumption is around 57% lower.

Dynamic development of rail transport services

In the first stage of the development of this project, the schedule provides for one train per week, leaving Łódź every Tuesday. In the other direction, the train will depart from Barcelona on Fridays.

“The launch of the new Łódź – Barcelona rail connection provides customers a large number of benefits, as it will enable punctual transportation of shipments, while considerably limiting CO2 emissions,” said Marc Vollet, Chief Operations Officer at GEODIS European Road Network. “GEODIS is one of the leading intermodal operators, and we are proud to continue in this vein by developing this road-rail solution in Europe, enabling our customers to benefit from even more solutions and optional routings. We have great ambitions for this new line, as we plan to increase the frequency to two trains per week in the near future.”

This new multimodal block-train is an addition to the existing GEODIS multimodal route network which operates nearly 120 trains a week throughout Europe.

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Rejuvenation of Lodz Logistics Hubs

 

Dematic Delivers AutoStore to Key Geodis Site

Posted on by David Priestman

GEODIS has recently commissioned an AutoStore system provided and installed by Dematic at a key site in France.

GEODIS, a leading global supplier of transport and logistics services and headquartered just outside Paris, entrusted Dematic with installing a stand-alone system for its customer, Nexter, which is now part of KNDS Group. This organisation is one of the leading European manufacturers of military land systems based in Germany and France. The solution has been installed in a fully automated warehouse in Moulins, France.

For this new automated facility, Dematic has supplied an AutoStore system with 12,500 bins, four R5 robots and two conveyor ports installed within the 22,000 square-metre (236,000 square feet) warehouse. Nexter, which designs and integrates land defence equipment systems, plans to use the warehouse for maintenance and operational services and can stock around 32,000 items on-site.

“The Dematic solution is proving to be extremely robust and has fully met our expectations in terms of efficiently utilising our floor space. It supports the ramp-up of Nexter activities within KNDS, aimed at maintaining land equipment in operational condition,” explains Thierry Schnepp, the director of business expertise capabilities at GEODIS.

“With the integration of automated and robotic equipment, we are fully supporting the growth strategy of GEODIS. We can also demonstrate our capacity to provide solutions adapted to the needs and constraints of modern logistics while establishing a third-party value chain based on customer experience and trust. It clearly opens the door for new collaboration,” notes Alain Bussod, the president at Dematic France.

The system operates on GEODIS’ own warehouse management software platform, Altesse.

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AutoStore Joins Dematic’s Supply Chain Optimisation Portfolio

 

Pathway for Reducing Vehicle Emissions

Posted on by David Priestman

Geodis has pledged to reduce its scope 1 and 2 greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 42% and reduce the carbon intensity of subcontracted transport (scope 3) by 30% by 2030 compared to 2022.

Confronted with the climate emergency, GEODIS is committed to a process of reducing its carbon emissions through the application of a science-based approach (the Science Based Targets initiative, or SBTi), in compliance with the goal of the Paris Agreement to limit global warming to 1.5° C. This commitment concerns both direct and indirect emissions.

GEODIS has set targets of 42% for the reduction of the GHG emissions generated by its fleets of vehicles and its buildings (scopes 1 and 2) and 30% for the carbon intensity of subcontracted transport (scope 3) by 2030, by comparison with the base year 2022. These targets have been submitted to the SBTi for approval.

Marie-Christine Lombard, Chief Executive Officer of GEODIS, said: “For many years, GEODIS has been working seriously alongside its customers and partners on measuring and reducing its impact on the climate. Our new goals will further speed up the process, and they establish GEODIS as one of the most committed companies. This new phase is fully in line with the Group’s ambition to make its lines of business more sustainable and to provide our customers with innovative, sustainable and ethical logistics offerings.”

To achieve these ambitious objectives, GEODIS has defined pathways for each Line of Business and geographic region, and has taken account of all the levers necessary for decarbonization.

With regard to its own fleet, GEODIS plans to continue the transition towards alternative vehicles and modes using carbon-free or bio-sourced energies and installing suitable infrastructures for refueling and charging. Collaborative innovation is key to these transformations. As far as last-mile deliveries are concerned, GEODIS has already set a target of providing low-carbon delivery services in 40 French cities by the end of 2024.

Alongside the transition of its own fleet, GEODIS is carrying out measures to reduce GHG emissions on all forms of transport involved in its operations. Its plan entails the use of sustainable marine fuel (SMF) and sustainable aviation fuel (SAF), giving support to customers seeking to optimize their flows and implement appropriate modal shifts, and permanent optimization of the efficiency of the resources employed (the latest generation planes, ships and vehicles; optimized loading and itineraries). This transformation depends on selecting subcontractors on the basis of their practices and commitments, and on supporting small road transport companies to help them carry out their own technological transition.

Reducing the carbon emissions of sites assumes a 40% improvement in overall energy efficiency as well as the availability of a minimum of 90% of low-carbon energy. Projects for new sites incorporate the most stringent environmental requirements.

Measures to achieve optimization, whether they concern routing, loading or the energy efficiency of vehicles or sites, make heavy use of increasingly sophisticated digital tools that are very much part of GEODIS’s ongoing innovation projects.

This transformation relies greatly on the commitment of GEODIS teams. A vast awareness campaign has given them a thorough understanding of climate issues, the principle being the more they understand, the better they will act. Meanwhile, the Group’s senior executives already have a climate criterion incorporated into the variable portion of their remuneration. In addition, environment-related criteria are taken into account in decision-making processes associated with acquisitions and investments.

Robotic Fulfilment Provider Doubles Picks in 11 Months

Posted on by David Priestman

Locus Robotics, a global leader in autonomous mobile robots (AMRs) for warehouse automation, has announced that its AMR solutions have now picked more than two billion units, reinforcing the company’s position as a premier robotic fulfilment provider for the warehouse and logistics industry. This new milestone comes just 11 months after reaching the industry-first landmark of 1 billion picks in 2022.

“Achieving the two billion picks milestone is an incredible accomplishment for our company and for our customers,” said Rick Faulk, CEO of Locus Robotics. “This event is a testament to the dedication and innovation of our incredible team and the dramatic productivity improvements we deliver to drive our customers’ growth and success.”

Reaching this milestone took just 358 days, with the last 100 million picks taking just 27 days – an average of 3.7 million picks per day. By comparison, it took more than six years to make the first billion picks, and 1,542 days to pick the first 100 million units. LocusBots have now traveled more than 37 million miles in customers’ warehouses, the equivalent of more than 1,370 times around the Earth or 77 round trips to the Moon.

“Achieving the remarkable milestone of two billion picks demonstrates how Locus’s intelligent automation solution can transform warehouse operations,” said Keith Price, CIO of Concordance Healthcare. “We look forward to continuing to work with the Locus team to leverage the power of advanced robotics and automation to drive even greater warehouse fulfillment optimisation in the years ahead.”

“Locus’s consistent innovation, user-centric approach, and genuine dedication to customer relationships puts them at the forefront of warehouse automation,” said Alan McDonald, vice president of continuous improvement at Geodis. “This milestone is a testament to its technological leadership and synergistic collaboration. We look forward to building on our work together and driving even greater efficiency improvements in the future.”

The AI and data science-driven LocusOne platform serves as an enterprise-level fleet manager, overseeing complex warehouse fulfilment workflows that support diverse use cases, clustering tasks to create optimal robot missions and reduce unproductive worker walking time. Locus’s unique multi-bot approach decouples workers from orders and tasks to dramatically improve worker productivity.

Proven at enterprise scale, labour-challenged 3PL, retail, health care, and manufacturing operators can seamlessly add robots to increase capacity or meet growth in any operation in just minutes to optimise productivity in their operations, reduce costs, and stay competitive in the rapidly evolving e-commerce landscape.

The LocusOne warehouse automation execution platform enables the smooth orchestration of multiple robotic form factors at enterprise-scale within a single coordinated platform. It provides real-time optimisation of tasks to be completed within the four walls and across multiple levels in warehousing and manufacturing environments. LocusOne optimises robotic task allocation, route planning, and resource use, while delivering real-time business insights into warehouse operations.

Locus Robotics is an enterprise-level, warehouse automation solution, incorporating powerful and intelligent, AI-driven autonomous mobile robots (AMRs) that operate collaboratively with human workers to dramatically improve product movement and productivity 2–3X. Supporting more than 120+ of the world’s top brands and deployed at 270+ sites around the world, Locus Robotics enables retailers, 3PLs and specialty warehouses to efficiently meet and exceed the increasingly complex and demanding requirements of today’s fulfilment environments.

Road Network from Singapore to China

Posted on by David Priestman

Equipped with industry-leading Internet of Things (IoT) security features and infrastructure, the Geodis Road Network is integrated with major air and sea ports and offers multimodal options to meet customer needs for agile and flexible supply chains.

Geodis, a global leader in the transport and logistics sector, is driving its growth in Asia with strategic investments in its capabilities and infrastructure in the region. The company has expanded its Road Network from Southeast Asia (SEA) to China – solidifying its position as a leader in providing secure day-definite, cost-efficient and environmentally-friendly solutions connecting Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam and China.

The Road Network features advanced IoT technology and equipment for transporting goods securely for the High Tech, Semiconductor, Automotive, Engineering, Retail, and Fast-Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) sectors. Investments have also been made to increase service frequency and to enhance its capabilities with dedicated customs brokerage and trade compliance teams at major border crossings to facilitate the seamless movement of goods. The Road Network integrates with major air and sea ports to offer customers a variety of multimodal options to meet the challenges of today’s fast-moving environment and their need for agile and flexible supply chains.

The Road Network to Shenzhen will officially launch on 23 August 2023 and will subsequently be extended to Hong Kong, and in the near future to Indonesia, connected by an inter-modal road-sea service.

In recent years, trade between ASEAN and China has grown rapidly, underscoring the significance of logistics in facilitating trade. Road freight has become one of the fastest-growing modes of transport in the ASEAN freight market with Thailand and Vietnam looking to invest further in infrastructure to support cross-border trade. The Road Network will enable GEODIS to access the expanding logistics sector in Asia Pacific, projected to reach US$4.5 trillion by 2029 with an anticipated growth of 5.24% from 2023 to 2029.

“ASEAN and China are two of the fastest growing economies in the world. As the region remains poised for growth, GEODIS sees the extension of our Road Network to China as an opportunity to enhance our multimodal solutions and connectivity across major air hubs and seaports to give customers greater flexibility and reliability. We have made significant investments to our security, infrastructure and capabilities to ensure a safe and efficient flow of goods for our customers. Ultimately, we want to provide them with a competitive advantage to grow their business,” said Onno Boots, Regional President and CEO of GEODIS Asia Pacific and Middle East.

Recognizing the need for high security, GEODIS has made significant investments into advanced IoT security equipment and processes to safeguard high-value shipments throughout the Road Network. With GPS-tracked, sensor-equipped containers, prime movers and trailers, the Road Network is monitored 24/7/365 by a professional command centre, providing real-time, end-to-end visibility of shipments actual locations. Customers can access automated updates of shipment milestones including border crossings via GEODIS’ freight management solution.

The Road Network will be equipped with industry-first truck safety and driver assistance features such as brake assist, stability control assist, hill hold assist and driver fatigue monitoring, to ensure utmost safety of people, vehicle and cargo.

GEODIS also targets heightened economic, operational and environmental performance through high-utilization double-deck container loading, and reduction in carbon emissions through their fleet of new prime mover trucks. Last year, GEODIS added to their fleet seven new Mercedes-Benz Actros prime movers, equipped with the latest in security and safety technologies.

The completion of the GEODIS Road Network from Singapore to China is part of the company’s continued investment to boost its capabilities and infrastructure to match their customers’ growth in the Asia Pacific region.

Automation Technology the Key in Ecommerce

Posted on by David Priestman

Geodis VP of Engineering, Antoine Pretin, says that technology is rapidly becoming a key success factor in ecommerce logistics. Speaking at the Deliver Europe conference in Amsterdam, Pretin said automation is better than manual handling because costs are controlled after installation, whereas labour costs can rise, as they are now, thereby impacting the running costs of the warehouse.

“Automation increase accuracy and quality,” he said. “In automated distribution centres you need a strong and stable team, but less training and management. Square metre optimisation is achieved by using the full height of the building.” Employee satisfaction can also be good, he argued, as automation and robots are considered to be both fun and safe.

“The length of a third party logistics operator’s contract must match the investment and payment for technology,” he advises, “or you can rent robots. Larger DC system integrations can take two years to complete as materials handling suppliers are very busy.”

Pretin says that shared user warehouse facilities are very challenging. His preference is for standardisation, i.e. all Geodis warehouses would be the same, with the same technology. “I prefer to have one AMR or AGV supplier, so they can be moved from site-to-site if required.” There are around 250 suppliers currently.

ROI

“It’s all about customer-orientated solutions,” he emphasised, “we start with an understanding of what the customer does, then design the facility and project accordingly. Offering flexibility is important in ecommerce, for example in being able to reduce the number of cartons.”

What about the return on investment of automation? “Automation prices are rising. ROI varies depending on the number of shifts operated. But when you can’t hire staff there’s no alternative to automation and AMRs. I expect costs to fall as we get to mass uptake.”

 

Geodis Opens New UK eLogistics Site

Posted on by David Priestman

GEODIS announces the opening of a new eLogistics platform in the UK. GEODIS eLogistics, which was launched in 2020, supports e-retailers in outsourcing their logistics operations. It offers a complete logistics solution for order preparation and personalisation, inventory optimisation, transport organisation and returns management.

In April 2023, a new GEODIS eLogistics platform opened up in Coventry, United Kingdom. This 7,000 m2 site is located in a strategic area allowing rapid distribution of products thanks to good transport links. It has the capacity to store more than 500,000 SKUs and to process up to 5,000 orders per day.

GEODIS’ eLogistics solution allows e-commerce companies of all sizes to efficiently outsource their logistics without the need for a large financial investment, thanks to shared multi-client warehouses and a more flexible contractual commitment. It integrates seamlessly with the leading CMSs, ERPs and marketplaces. As soon as a buyer places an order online, the eLogistics teams take over the preparation and shipping of the order and any returns. E-merchants can track the progress of their business and their orders in real time thanks to the Visibility Portal, a digital platform at their disposal.

GEODIS now operates a total of six eLogistics platforms, located in the United States, France and the United Kingdom, with space also available in Germany, the Netherlands and Italy. A total of 40,000 m2 of warehousing is dedicated to this offering.

Jean-Pierre Juteau, head of GEODIS eLogistics Europe, said: “The eLogistics offering is the latest innovation from GEODIS. The opening of this new eLogistics facility in the UK will allow new webshops, marketplaces and other kinds of e-commerce platforms to develop their businesses in a new geographical zone close to local markets.”

Watch this video to get a behind the scenes view of the eLogistics solution.

GEODIS is a leading global logistics provider acknowledged for its expertise across all aspects of the supply chain. As a growth partner to its clients, GEODIS specialises in five lines of business: Supply Chain Optimisation, Freight Forwarding, Contract Logistics, Distribution & Express and Road Transport. With a global network spanning nearly 170 countries and more than 49,000 employees, GEODIS is ranked world no. 7 in its sector. In 2022, GEODIS generated €13.7 billion in revenue.

New Cross-dock Facility for Conforama Poland

Posted on by David Priestman

A French home furnishings retailer is benefitting from a new facility for its cross-dock consolidation of supplies from Eastern Europe, operated by long-term logistics distribution partner GEODIS.

Conforama has partnered with GEODIS for both consolidation and distribution services to optimize and organize the delivery of its products manufactured and assembled at twenty sites in Poland, Romania, and Slovakia, before being distributed to its 167 retail outlets throughout France.

Operations that for Conforama have been carried out for the past eight years at the Wroclaw site have been transferred to a new location in Pietrzykowice in the southwestern region of Lower Silesia. The new 51,000 square meters (sqm) facility answers all Conforama’s needs. It also offers a possibility to extend the space by a further 17,000 sqm.

The site offers many advantages for Conforama, especially direct access to road networks for delivery to stores in France, and a modern construction with benefits in terms of energy savings and safe working conditions. Operationally, the facility has a greater storage capacity, more loading/unloading ramps and docks and the flexibility to better manage seasonal peaks in demand.

The Supply Chain Director of Conforama, François-Xavier Forestier is pleased with the move, “We are confident that the cross-docking operation in Poland will efficiently process products from multiple suppliers, consolidating them into loads for our individual outlets. The advantages of effective inventory management through GEODIS’ IT capabilities will also be beneficial to us.”

Cross-dock advantages

“We would like to thank our client Conforama for the trust he has placed in us, which has resulted in the signing of a new long-term contract,” says Olivier Royer GEODIS Road Transport CEO. “The implementation of this solution for Conforama has been possible thanks to the collaboration between the developer MountPark and GEODIS teams at Pietrzykowice whose work is proving once again our commitment and capacity to deliver the most appropriate solution in order to help our customers to grow their activities.”

GEODIS is a leading global logistics provider acknowledged for its expertise across all aspects of the supply chain. As a growth partner to its clients, GEODIS specializes in five lines of business: Supply Chain Optimization, Freight Forwarding, Contract Logistics, Distribution & Express, and Road Transport. With a global network spanning nearly 170 countries and more than 44,000 employees, GEODIS is ranked no. 7 in its sector across the world. In 2021, GEODIS generated €10.9 billion in revenue.

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