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Tag: logistics

Garbe develops logistics property in Bitterfeld-Wolfen

Posted on by David Priestman

Garbe Industrial Real Estate GmbH has started construction of an 82,000 sq m logistics centre in Bitterfeld-Wolfen (Saxony-Anhalt, Germany), 30km north of Leipzig. The property is being built by a joint venture comprising Garbe Industrial Real Estate, BREMER Projektentwicklung GmbH and the Quakernack Group. The building is scheduled to be completed next year. The investment volume amounts to around €72m.

The new building is being constructed on a 222,000 sq m site in the Central Germany Technology Park. The joint venture acquired the site, which is ready for development, from the city of Bitterfeld last year. The property will consist of two units. The larger one is already leased to a medium-sized German e-commerce company. The online retailer will use around 48,000 sq m for storing, picking and shipping its items. This part of the building is scheduled for completion in February 2023. As required, it can be expanded by 40,000 sq ft. A corresponding expansion option has been agreed.

Construction of the smaller unit is taking place without any fixed rental commitments. It is designed as a multi-user property, will have a total area of 34,000 sq m and is scheduled for completion in the second quarter of next year. The smaller unit will be equipped with 32 dock levellers and three ground-level gates. A total of 485 car and 49 truck parking spaces will be created on the outdoor area. Of these, 140 car and 23 truck parking spaces will be allocated to the smaller part of the building.

“The entire property will meet the highest energy requirements,” emphasises Jan Dietrich Hempel, Managing Director of Garbe Industrial Real Estate. The building will be constructed in accordance with the KfW’s (Kreditanstalt für Wiederaufbau/Credit Institute for Reconstruction) Efficiency House 40 standard. The property will therefore consume 60% less energy than that stipulated by the Building Energy Act. A photovoltaic system will be installed on the roof surface to generate renewable energy. The joint venture has commissioned BREMER Leipzig GmbH as general contractor to build the property.

Garbe develops

Hempel expects the building section, which is being constructed on a speculative basis, to be fully leased during the construction phase: “Bitterfeld-Wolfen is an up-and-coming location in the Leipzig-Halle logistics region that offers excellent growth prospects. The excellent cooperation with the city administration undoubtedly also contributes to this.”

In addition, the Garbe managing director underlines the transport connections. The technology park is located only a few hundred metres from the junction to the A9 motorway. It is one of the most important north-south axes connecting Bitterfeld-Wolfen with Leipzig, Nuremberg and Munich to the south and the greater Berlin area to the north. Leipzig-Halle Airport is about 30km away. So far, the technology park has mainly been home to companies from the materials development, automotive and solar cell industries.

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Germany’s Garbe Acquires 16 Cold Chain Logistics Centres

 

Cranfield expert-led seminar sessions at IMHX 2022 

Posted on by Keith McKinley

World-renowned specialist postgraduate university, Cranfield, has been named as the Academic Partner of the International Materials Handling Exhibition 2022 (IMHX). As IMHX 2022’s Academic Partner, Cranfield University will play a role in this year’s speaker programme which will run alongside the three-day exhibition of materials handling and intralogistics solutions, this Autumn (September 6-8, 2022) at the NEC, Birmingham, UK.

With two conferences at this year’s IMHX – The Logistics Conference 2022 and The Logistics Solutions Conference – sessions will be expert-led. They will feature a range of high-profile speakers chosen for their ability to provide valuable insights into achieving optimal performance within warehouse, fulfilment and distribution centre environments as well as across the wider supply chain.

The Logistics Conference 2022 will take the theme ‘Sustainability – People, Innovation & Infrastructure and Technology’, while in The Logistics Solutions Conference many of the advances in technology and product design that are driving efficiency gains throughout the logistics sector will be up for discussion.

IMHX 2022 Group Director Rob Fisher commented: “We are delighted to be partnering with such a respected organisation as Cranfield University. The presentations will deliver fresh insights into the ways supply chain strategies are shifting to meet the myriad challenges presented by changing consumer buying patterns, environmental issues and the ongoing workforce crisis.

“Along with Crown Lift Trucks and Intelligent Energy, Cranfield is also a sponsorship partner of the IMHX 2022 Sustainability Zone. This dynamic new feature will provide visitors to IMHX with insights into what is now a core competency for most businesses.”

Cranfield’s Professor Michael Bourlakis (pictured), Director of Research for Cranfield School of Management and the Director of the Centre of Logistics, Procurement and Supply Chain Management, commented: “Logistics and supply chain operations have been hit by a series of major impacts over recent years. There is also a pressing need to ensure sustainability in every sense. These factors mean that it has never been more important to embrace strategic change and improvements across the industry.”

The UK’s premier logistics solutions and intralogistics technology event, IMHX showcases developments in technology and the latest storage and materials handling solutions from some of the world’s most innovative and influential manufacturers and suppliers.

IMHX 2022 is co-owned by Informa and the UK Materials Handling Association (formerly BITA – the British Industrial Truck Association) and the event enjoys cross-industry support from the UK’s leading logistics industry associations and trade bodies, including Automated Material Handling Systems Association (AMHSA), the UK Materials Handling Association (UKMHA), and the UK Warehousing Association (UKWA).

End-to-end services deliver resilience in beleaguered market

Posted on by Keith McKinley

With supply chain disruption remaining a consistent problem for shippers around the world, GEODIS has introduced a fully integrated and customised logistics service designed to withstand the unpredictability of today’s global trade environment. Flexibility is key to achieving consistent reliability and GEODIS is pulling its various resources and experience together in its end-to-end services offering.

At its core, GEODIS End-to-End Services has simplicity – to move customers goods from origin to destination with control and complete visibility. Through real-time data intelligence comes the ability to monitor milestones, anticipate delays and manage exceptions at an early stage, maintaining proactive control throughout the shipment’s journey along the supply chain.

“Throughout the recent months when disruption resulting from pandemic lockdowns, variable spikes in demand, transport capacity shortages, congestion at ports and other hubs and geopolitical upheaval, GEODIS developed alternatives to ensure that the delivery of customers’ goods was maintained,” says Eric Martin-Neuville, Executive Vice President, Freight Forwarding. “This flexibility and innovative philosophy are now engrained in the service offered by GEODIS End-to-End Services. Devising contingencies, solving potential blockages caused by disruption and optimising our customer’s business logistically, are at the heart of GEODIS End-to-End Services.”

The service combines the existing functionality of Origin Services, Carrier Contract Management, Destination Services, Visibility, Customs Clearance Services, and the critical over-sight of the Control Tower. What is new is the co-ordination of these functions via a digital ecosystem connecting customers’ logistics data with real-time information on the status of shipments. This enables the mining of insights to reinforce and support flexible decision-making at critical junctures and guide their implementation by each GEODIS operational function. A team of dedicated experts analyses the data and provides recommendations to optimise the supply chain whatever the external disruptive circumstances.

Joseph Fordney is Senior Vice President of Global Business Development of GEODIS’ Freight Forwarding activity: “We serve as a strategic partner to our customers to turn their supply chains from a cost centre into a strategic asset,” he says. “GEODIS End-to-End Services will achieve this by creating resilience while striving to continuously optimise, helping our customers proactively overcome the challenges they are increasingly facing, and to grow their businesses.”

 

Hines sells “mission-critical” Royal Mail warehouse

Posted on by Keith McKinley

Global real estate firm Hines has announced the sale of the Royal Mail sorting warehouse in Edinburgh. The industrial building was acquired in 2019 by a fund sponsored by Hines and has been sold to ICG Real Estate for an undisclosed price.

The 215,745 sq ft mission-critical facility is located in Edinburgh’s Sighthill Industrial Estate adjacent to Hermiston Gait Retail Park. Approximately 700 staff are based at the facility with over 900,000 letters and 45,000 parcels handled there daily.

“Logistics remains a hugely important sector for Hines in the UK and Royal Mail’s sorting warehouse is a great example that we are not afraid to consider tactical sales while looking to redeploy capital into more accretive opportunities,” said Greg Cooper, Managing Director at Hines.

Chad Brown, Managing Director at ICG Real Estate commented: “We’re pleased to have acquired this well located and highly mission-critical asset. The investment underlines our ongoing belief in the logistics market’s robust occupational tailwinds with the firm eager to deploy further capital in the sector across Europe.”

ICG was advised by Knight Frank and Marchmont Investment Management.

 

Meachers shows the way for delivering digital logistics

Posted on by Keith McKinley

Meachers Global Logistics welcomed industrial researchers from Cambridge University to its Southampton headquarters for a workshop, in conjunction with UKWA, to find out how best to deliver digital logistics on a shoestring.

UKWA has been working in partnership with the University of Cambridge to investigate opportunities for small and medium businesses (SMEs) to apply digitalisation to their supply chains without the challenges of huge investment cost or complex installation.

Meachers Global Logistics Commercial Director and UKWA Board Director Gary Whittle, and a team of colleagues hosted the event with Industrial Associate Elizabeth Salter, Doctoral Researcher Jaime Macias and Research Associate Anandarup Mukherjee, all from the University of Cambridge.

It included a tour of the operations at their Nursling site, giving an overview of how containers are both loaded and unloaded, and insight into how Meachers carries out these processes. Whittle said: “Meachers is delighted to be working in collaboration with UKWA and the University of Cambridge in developing the research team’s Digital Logistics on a Shoestring project.

“By giving them an insight into the processes we use in global logistics and providing guidance on how SMEs can modernise their processes through digitalisation, we hope this will lead to greater improvements in accuracy and efficiency for the logistics industry.

“We look forward to working together on this innovative programme in the future and welcome potential opportunities to develop the project further in support of small and medium sized firms nationally and internationally.”

Elizabeth Salter said: “Our workshop at Meachers was extremely informative in giving the research team a first-hand account of how a successful logistics company operates.

“SMEs often see digitalisation as inaccessible due to cost and perceived complexity, so UKWA is supporting us in developing and testing digital solutions using low cost off-the-shelf technologies and open source software to solve real industry problems.

“Our project will identify low cost and easily adoptable solutions – providing new tools to drive efficiency, improve accuracy and compete effectively.”

Digital Logistics on a Shoestring is affiliated to the Digital Manufacturing on a Shoestring project, which is led by the Institute of Manufacturing (part of the University of Cambridge’s Engineering Department), initially funded through an Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council grant, and delivered with the support of key partner, the University of Nottingham.

IMAGE: Meachers’ Commercial Director Gary Whittle (right) leads the Digital Logistics on a Shoestring workshop with researchers from the University of Cambridge

 

Virtual showroom offers warehouse solutions

Posted on by Keith McKinley

Businesses seeking to increase efficiency and safety in their warehouses and distribution centres by creating a more visual and informative workplace are invited to visit Brady’s Virtual Showroom. The 24/7 digital facility offers a number of solutions and tools to help organise your workplace in a more efficient and safer way.

Brady’s Virtual Showroom features identification solutions for rack labelling, inspection management, forklift access controls, lean 5S labelling, lockout procedure writing, floor marking, hazard communications, pipe marking, arc flash assessments, and spill control.

Brady describes it as “a new digital experience in exploring identification and safety solutions for warehouse and logistics”.

Prologis UK strengthens commitment to West Midlands

Posted on by David Priestman

Work on four new speculatively built units is underway at two major West Midlands logistics parks as Prologis, a leading developer of industrial property in the UK, expands its portfolio at Prologis Park Hams Hall and Prologis Park Ryton, near Coventry.

At Prologis Park Hams Hall, three buildings are currently under construction with steelwork and cladding currently being put in place. The three units – DC2 (259,510 sq ft), DC3 (131,780 sq ft), and DC4 (85,685 sq ft) – are set for completion in summer 2022. At Prologis Park Ryton, work is underway on a 330,770 sq ft unit, also due to be completed in summer 2022.

With seven of its 22 logistics parks located in the West Midlands, these new developments further strengthen Prologis’ commitment to delivering logistics property in strategic locations for UK supply chains. Prologis Parks Ryton and Hams Hall are important locations in the Midlands, especially for the automotive industry and are already home to companies such as Jaguar Land Rover, LEVC and DHL. Both sites have quick access to the national motorway network, with Prologis Park Hams Hall also featuring an on-site intermodal rail freight terminal, which links to three seaports and the channel tunnel.

Alongside playing their part in improving the flow of goods around the country, the four new units will also deliver social value through job creation and strengthening the local economy. Sustainability has been factored into the build process from the outset too, with all units being net zero in construction, and will be targeted BREEAM-rated ‘excellent’, and EPC A rated.

Tom Price, capital deployment and leasing director at Prologis UK, said: “These four new units will provide vital extra capacity for the West Midlands logistics and warehousing market. We know that our customers and the wider business community recognise the value of the region to their supply chain operations, and we’re pleased to be providing facilities to help meet that demand. It’s exciting to see the new units take shape and we’re looking forward to their completion later this year.”

Miniclipper founder passes away

Posted on by David Priestman

Miniclipper Logistics’ founder Mick Masters has passed away at the age of 83 in the UK company’s 51st year. His death follows a long battle with Alzheimer’s.

Masters founded the business in 1971 by responding to a newspaper advert in the Leighton Buzzard Observer for someone to develop their own parcel delivery service doing daily runs between Bedfordshire and London.

He bought a VW van and Miniclipper was born. The business and fleet grew steadily during the 1970s and 80s built on a foundation of strong customer service led by Mick supported by his wife Janet, who managed the administration as well as driving one of the company’s vans.

The business has remained in the area ever since and now has 450,000 sq ft of storage and over 38,000 pallet spaces across five sites in Leighton Buzzard, Houghton Regis, and Dunstable.

Mick’s son, Peter, took over as MD in 1995, and his daughter-in-law Jayne was appointed as sales director with Mick officially retiring in 2005. They are pictured either side of him. Mick was proud to see Miniclipper reach its 50th birthday in 2021 still as a family business just as the third generation of Masters joined the team.

In 2020/21 Miniclipper celebrated a record turnover through the provision of a range of transport, storage, and warehousing solutions for the medical, construction, print, retail, and food sectors. The business now has 40 trucks and 30 trailers, employs 140 people and is a shareholder member of the Palletline network.

Logistics Business passes its condolences on their loss to Mick’s family, colleagues and friends.

Seasonality returning to troubled timber sector

Posted on by David Priestman

There are early signs of wood availability returning to established seasonal patterns, according to the Timber Packaging & Pallet Confederation (TIMCON) – although significant challenges in the market remain.

The independent AFRY index reported the price of home-grown pallet timber decreased by a further 0.1% in February 2022. Historically, prices traditionally come down during Q1, before rising again as demand for fencing timber grows towards the summer – due to the series of powerful storms in February this market has already started to see demand increasing.

However, supply chain difficulties continue to impact on the sector, including strong demand for timber from competing markets; higher raw material costs; widespread shortages of staff; rising energy costs; fuel costs – not helped by the cessation of the use of red diesel throughout the sector; availability of nails; and ongoing severe availability and price issues in the shipping industry.

The developing conflict in Ukraine has created further instability, as detailed in a recent release from the European Federation of Wooden Pallet & Packaging Manufacturers (FEFPEB).

TIMCON President John Dye said: “After the past two turbulent years, the signs of more seasonal trade flows and predictability in the market are welcome. However, we are aware that the trading climate remains difficult, with ongoing pressures affecting the supply of timber.

“The tragic events in Ukraine have added a further challenge, with closed sawmills and generally disrupted trading with this source country impacting on usual wood supplies into Europe. Meanwhile, economic sanctions will have a significant effect on Russia and Belarus.

“TIMCON is monitoring this complicated and evolving situation and will continue to keep its members informed about the latest developments affecting timber pallet and packaging businesses.”

Global challenges and developments are among the topics that will be discussed in the forthcoming TIMCON general meeting, which is scheduled to take place in Manchester at the end of March.

Organisations confirmed to present latest timber sector developments at the event include COILLTE and CONFOR. The agenda will also cover the industry’s role as a leader in sustainable practices, as supply chains increase their emphasis on recovery and reuse of pallets.

“During the pandemic, TIMCON has demonstrated to its membership how vital it is for our sector’s businesses to be part of a strong industry association, which keeps them informed and equipped, and represents them on the national, and international, stage,” said Dye. “The excellent programme we have lined up for our general meeting is yet another part of our ongoing essential service to the sector. We are really looking forward to hosting it and discussing with members how we can support them further in the months and years to come.”

TIMCON retained close to 100% of its membership during the pandemic and it expects further members to join, particularly from the packaging segment of the industry.

Major UK logistics hub approved

Posted on by Keith McKinley

Warrington Borough Council has approved developer Langtree’s planning application – subject to non-intervention by the Secretary of State – to develop a major new logistics hub in south Warrington, UK that will create more than 4,000 new jobs.

The £180m development, called Six56 Warrington, will provide approximately 3.1m sq ft of new warehousing and distribution space.  Its approval now unlocks £7.1m a year in new rates income for investment in local services by Warrington Council.

The development is on land bounded by junction 20 of the M6 and junction 9 of the M56 motorways. The application for the scheme followed a series of well-attended public consultation events which helped shape its final design.

The scheme will focus on providing space for logistics businesses, explained John Downes, Langtree’s group chief executive.  “It’s where the greatest demand lies and the jobs are much more diverse and better paid than people perhaps realise,” he said.

“The average salary in the sector is around £29,000 and in a scheme of this type there will be a wide variety of roles available, from entry-level up to senior technical and managerial roles. This development is about ensuring that Warrington remains a competitive and relevant economy as the world of work evolves.”

And, says Downes, it is Langtree’s ambition to ‘go one step further’, ensuring jobs in the local supply chain, too.

“The impact of our investment will be multiplied if we can engage local suppliers in the construction and operation of the scheme and we are committed to ensuring as many contracts as possible go to local firms,” added Downes.

New employment sites are needed to maintain Warrington’s position as one of the UK’s most successful local economies and continue its track record of attracting new employers and jobs to the area, the local council believes.

The scheme will now be referred to the Secretary of State to determine whether he intends to “call it in” for his own assessment.  Following approval there would be an intensive period of work involved before the construction of units could begin, including reserved matters applications, significant highway and transport improvements and public realm improvements in and around the site.

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