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Tag: logistics

Locus Robotics attracts $117m funding

Posted on by David Priestman

Locus Robotics, a leader in autonomous mobile robots (AMR) for fulfilment and distribution warehouses, has attracted more than $117m (£97.6m) in Series F funding, led by Goldman Sachs Asset Management and G2 Venture Partners. As part of the financing, Mark Midle, Managing Director, Goldman Sachs, and Zach Barasz, Partner, G2 Venture Partners, will join the Locus Board of Directors, bringing their unique industry perspectives and insights to further guide Locus’s next stage of growth and global expansion.

“Locus has established itself as an innovative, high-quality market leader for flexible automation in the massive warehouse fulfilment and distribution market,” said Midle at the announcement of the funding. “Our investment reflects our view that Locus has the product offering and the operational excellence required to meet and exceed the market challenges posed by today’s dynamic economic environment.”

“This new round of funding marks an important inflection point for Locus Robotics as we look toward our next stage of growth, and we strategically chose to bring in investors with a wealth of experience in both public and private markets to advise us as we continue our journey,” said Rick Faulk, CEO of Locus Robotics. “As the rapid digital transformation of the supply chain continues, warehouses increasingly seek flexible, intelligent robotics automation to improve productivity and grow their operations, despite ongoing labour shortages and exploding order volumes.”

Funding partner “thrilled”

The Locus warehouse execution platform disrupts large-scale warehouse fulfilment and distribution with an industry-leading, intelligent, and dynamically scalable robotics-driven solution. Locus delivers 2-3x productivity by seamlessly coordinating both human labour and AMRs to dramatically improve order fulfilment efficiency and workplace ergonomics, while lowering operational costs.

“Locus is clearly a winner in the flexible warehouse robotics space, and the consistency with which the Locus team has executed is extraordinary,” said Barasz. “We are thrilled to be investors in Locus Robotics, and to partner with the leading warehouse execution company in making global supply chains faster, more cost-effective, and more resilient and sustainable.”

With more than 230 sites under contract around the world – some having as many as 500 LocusBots per site – the Locus solution efficiently and seamlessly orchestrates the operation and management of multiple robot form factors, and provides forward-looking, real-time business intelligence, critical for optimising productivity, proactively managing labour, and managing costs.

“By 2026, 75% of large enterprises in product-centric businesses will have adopted some form of intralogistics robots in their warehouse operations,” said Dwight Klappich, Analyst, Gartner. “The lower price of entry and faster time to value of robotics opens the market to more companies that can justify automation … as companies adopt robotics, most organisations will expand and scale their use of robotics within the enterprise, leading to fleet growth.”

“As order volumes continue to increase and labour shortages persist worldwide, robotics automation is now a must-have for warehouse operators,” said Ash Sharma, Managing Director, Interact Analysis. “Locus is uniquely positioned as a leader in digital transformation in this enormous global market as warehouse operators increasingly focus on scalability, fast ROI, and ease of deployment.”

Flexible and scaleable solutions

Locus partners with the world’s leading warehouse operators to create a powerful synergy that speeds deployment and delivers powerful, actionable business intelligence to optimise warehouse productivity, cost management, and labour management.

“Our five-year partnership with Locus has enabled DHL to deliver more resilient, flexible, and scalable supply chain solutions to our customers to support faster delivery, improve operational efficiency, and reduce employee workloads,” said Sally Miller, CIO of DHL Supply Chain North America. “In that time, Locus’s ability to integrate groundbreaking technologies into our operations seamlessly and in a targeted way has been a tremendous success for our customers’ supply chains.”

In September 2022, Locus reached a major milestone with its industry-first 1 billionth pick. It took Locus 1,542 days to pick its first 100 million units and just 40 days for the last 100 million picks. Locus robots now average more than three million picks per day around the world.

Locus counts more than 90 customers worldwide, including CEVA Logistics, DHL, Material Bank, Boots UK, GEODIS, Ryder, Verst Logistics, Radial, and others, who are consistently doubling and tripling their fulfilment productivity, with near-100% accuracy, using the Locus solution.

Also participating in the Series F round were Stack Capital Group, Next47, Stafford Capital Partners, HESTA, Newton Investment Management North America, Gray’s Creek Capital, Silicon Valley Bank, Hercules Capital, Inc., BOND, and Scale Venture Partners.

LHoF presents new humanitarian award

Posted on by David Priestman

Starting in 2023, the Logistics Hall of Fame will present a new international award: the Lynn C. Fritz Medal for Excellence in Humanitarian Logistics. The medal will annually recognise humanitarian organisations and their partners for outstanding logistics projects. The Hall of Fame organisation made the announcement at its traditional gala reception with around 200 guests from politics, business and academia on 29th November in Berlin.

The initiator and sponsor of the medal is the Fritz Institute in San Francisco (USA). The award is named after Lynn C. Fritz (pictured), the founder and CEO of the institute. The 80-year-old US businessman transferred industrial logistics strategies to humanitarian organisations in the 1990s. He was inducted into the Logistics Hall of Fame in 2021 as the “advocate of logistics for humanitarian organisations”.

“The award is intended to motivate humanitarian organisations to permanently improve their supply chains and to highlight the key role of professional supply chain management in the success of aid projects,” the businessman said in announcing the award.

With the medal, the Logistics Hall of Fame and the sponsor also want to emphasise and the impact of superior logistics performance within the sector and encourage innovative approaches to strengthen disaster response.

International jury for humanitarian award

Who wins the award is decided by an international jury made up of representatives from business, science, politics, associations and the media. The jury is chaired by Thilo Jörgl, Managing Partner of the Logistics Hall of Fame organisation. An Expert Council of recognised specialists in the field of humanitarian logistics decides which of the submitted applications will be presented to the jury members for selection. Key evaluation criteria include efficiency, innovation, sustainability and exemplary character for the field of humanitarian logistics.

The start of the online application process at www.logisticshalloffame.net is March 2023. Each aid organisation can apply with its own project. Joint projects involving several organisations and their partners are also eligible. The completed logistics project must not be older than three years.

The Logistics Hall of Fame, which is under the patronage of German Transport Minister Dr. Volker Wissing, will present a total of three awards in Berlin at the end of 2023: In addition to the traditional induction of the new member into the Hall of Fame, the organisation will present the Lynn C. Fritz Medal and the TRATON Logistics Leader of the Year Award to current pacesetters in logistics.

The pallet pioneers

Eleven boards, nine wooden blocks, 78 nails – and a logistics milestone is complete. The Euro pallet once cut the loading time of freight cars or trucks by up to 90%. It set the standard for logistics centres. It can be repaired with low material and energy costs and is fully recyclable at the end of its life cycle.

The invention of the pallet assumes a similar significance for logistics specialists as the container. Who invented it and its predecessors is not easy to answer, because the history of the pallet’s development is long. As far back as ancient Egypt, people used skids to transport heavy goods. The US Army used pallets as early as the First World War. Or the Clark Equipment Company, which, when it built the first forklift in the U.S. in 1917, used simple skids as load carriers.

However, Carl Clark did not file a patent application for this early pallet until 1939. In 1924, Howard T. Hallowell filed a patent application for a “lift truck platform.” Throughout the 1930s, new variations of the pallet continued to appear on the American market, and patents for various pallets also exist in Europe.

First patent

The first transport pallet dates from 7th November, 1939, when George Raymond Sr and his associate William House were granted a patent for a hydraulic lift truck and the accompanying wooden transport pallet. It paved the way for the Euro pallet and global pallet pooling systems.

As early as 1922, Raymond acquired a foundry called Lyon Iron Works in New York State and formed it into The Raymond Corporation, now a subsidiary of Toyota Industries. There, with his inventive spirit coupled with a desire to understand and solve customers’ challenges, Raymond laid the foundation for a company that would later shape an entire industry. His transport pallet was designed so that the forks of the lift truck could travel under the pallet from two sides.

Before Steve Raymond, the founder’s grandson, retired, he was actively involved with The Raymond Corporation in various capacities, including past president of the Raymond Solutions and Support Center. He is proud of his grandfather’s invention: “Everything in logistics starts with the pallet,” he says.

Numerous pallet inventions were not patented until the late 1940s, such as Robert Braun’s four-way pallet, patented in 1945, and a one-way pallet by US supply officer Norman Cahners, who received the patent in 1949.

DIN certification

In 2004, the Euro pallet also received DIN EN 13698-1. This states that it is a rigid horizontal platform of low height “capable of being handled by forklift trucks, pallet trucks or other suitable equipment and serving as a base for grouping goods and loads for stacking, storage and handling or transport”.

Mother of the Euro pallet is the UIC: The birth of the Euro pallet was largely related to the idea of standardisation. In the 1950s, railroad companies began to transport more and more goods on pallets and the pallet spread rapidly. However, the lack of standards led to real chaos in cross-border transport. To counteract this, in 1961 the Union Internationale des Chemins de fer (UIC) worked out the contract for a standardised, exchangeable pallet within the framework of a working group with changing players, which was subsequently signed by the European railroad companies.

From then on, they undertook to comply with the standard (UIC-standard 435-2 ff.), to manufacture and to repair Euro pallets. In addition, they agreed to the monitoring and the guarantee of a trouble-free exchange in an EPP (European Pallet Pool). The success of the Euro pallet with the dimensions 800mm x 1200mm x 144mm was resounding: there is hardly any storage or transport system today which is not adapted to the dimensions of the Euro pallet.

Open exchange pool

The open exchange pool for Euro pallets works like this: A loaded pallet is exchanged for an identical empty Euro pallet at the destination. The regulations for the production and repair of Euro pallets are extensive in this respect, right down to the position of the individual nails. The exchange of Euro pallets is not automatic, nor is it common practice in all countries.

In the mid-1970s, the Gütegemeinschaft Paletten, now the National Committee of EPAL, took over part of the distribution and quality assurance of the Euro pallet. Together, the UIC and the European Pallet Association (EPAL) e.V., founded in 1991, promoted the dissemination and quality assurance of the Euro pallet in the following years.

In 2013, UIC and EPAL separated. Since then, both organisations have been competitors in the open Euro pallet exchange pool with different trademarks: UIC/EUR on the corner blocks of UIC Euro pallets and EPAL/EPAL on the blocks of EPAL Euro pallets. EPAL, with its 14 National Committees (members of the umbrella organisation) and three representatives, is active in more than 30 countries worldwide.

Just a few years after the invention of the Euro pallet, another player in the pallet business appeared in Australia. Oliver Richter (1920 – 2014) was the Trade Manager for Manufacturing and Materials Handling in the logistics company Brambles. At the time, the company was still predominantly active in the materials handling sector in Sydney with its CHEP (Commonwealth Handling Equipment Pool) brand. Richter recognised the potential of a pallet pooling system and successfully expanded the closed CHEP rental pool internationally.

Sharing pallets among multiple participants

Under CHEP’s “sharing and reusing” model, reusable pallets, crates and containers were made available for sharing among multiple participants throughout the supply chain. Through Richter’s drive and vision, CHEP also advanced pallet size standardisation and the resulting impact on packaging standardisation. He had a pallet control system developed that improved the efficient movement of goods and ensured more effective reuse of pallets and a reduction in pallet loss. Overall, these initiatives resulted in tangible productivity gains throughout the supply chain as goods moved directly from manufacturer or producer to retailer.

Prior to the EPAL, CHEP and UIC pooling and reuse schemes, companies spent significant amounts of money replacing pallets that were not returned or were of inferior quality. The circular economy of the Euro pallet contributed to an immense improvement in sustainability in logistics long before the issue of sustainability was on the public agenda.

But the end of the pallet’s story is far from written. It has created a standard for logistics. It gave rise to standard packaging, box sizes and clear heights in warehouses, truck trailer sizes or forklift dimensions. That the pallet will continue to be a driving force in the future is beyond question, but like any other load carrier, it must rise to the challenges of the times.

Pallets for tomorrow’s logistics

In addition to the sustainability factor, the pallet today is first and foremost part of the digital evolution in logistics. Research and science, pallet manufacturers and customers are working on innovative ways to make pallets an even more reliable and intelligent means of transporting and presenting goods.

Logistics is all about pallets. Making them smart means making logistics smart. The pallet of the future will no longer just sustainably transport goods but will provide important information. It will record environmental parameters and communicate with modern media. The pallet will remain a central building block in a digital logistics universe with globally networked supply chains.

GoRamp secures CEE award

Posted on by Keith McKinley

Logistics technology start-up GoRamp has been selected as the best solution for the management of logistics and supply chain in Central and Eastern Europe.

CEE Logistics & Supply Chain Management Excellence Awards organised under the auspices of Translog Connect has selected a transportation process optimisation tool developed by the Lithuanian start-up GoRamp as the best logistics Service Provider of the year. The award is annually conferred upon an innovative service that proves its effectiveness in the optimisation of customer supply chain, ensuring saving of costs and resources as well as sustainable business development.

“This award is an important recognition for us and the entire logistic technology developers’ community in the Baltics,” said Jevgenij Polonis, CEO and co-founder of GoRamp. “Our contribution to the development of supply chain innovation in Central and Eastern Europe is taken into account and appreciated. That is a strong step forward towards the GoRamp vision to digitise the logistics processes of manufacturing and trading companies, which are currently based on unadvanced and inefficient manual work and outdated methods.”

GoRamp subscription model

GoRamp has developed a tool based on a monthly subscription for logistics units of manufacturing and trading companies. The companies may choose the solutions based on their supply chain processes and challenges. The modules include planning of warehouse arrivals, management of carrier contracts, automated inspection of invoices, and integration of the different systems. According to the feedback received from customers from 19 countries, the system allows for saving up to 70% of operational work, cut waiting time by 20%, avoid downtime and fit the agreed budget.

For the awards, GoRamp presented a success story of Schoeller Allibert, one of the largest global plastic recycling companies, that operates in 50 countries. Installation of the GoRamp system resulted in warehouse effectiveness. Schoeller Allibert managed to increase the efficiency of warehouse operations by more than a third, reduce the queues of trucks by 90%, and cut the waiting time of drivers by 40%.

Translog Connect is an annual international congress of the supply chain industry aimed at discussing the progress of transport, logistics and supply chain management in Central and Eastern Europe. The summit attracts over 400 participants from more than 17 countries.

www.goramp.eu

Supply chain challenges in the luxury goods market

Posted on by Keith McKinley

Following the pandemic-related slump in 2020, the luxury goods industry has regained its former strength. The global market for personal luxury goods, which includes luxury fashion, decorative luxury items such as jewellery, watches and writing instruments, and beauty items, reached a value of €310bn this year and all indications are for further growth. According to current estimates, the market will grow to €480bn by 2030.

Increasing customer demand and current global uncertainties have made supply chain management a strategic core function, which poses major challenges for luxury brands. This is one of the conclusions from the recent study “Personal luxury: Supply Chain challenges & how to prepare for the future”, developed by Arvato Supply Chain Solutions in cooperation with the international strategy consultancy Roland Berger.

“The market for personal luxury goods offers significant opportunities for growth,” explains Julia Boers, President of Consumer Products at Arvato Supply Chain Solutions. “We commissioned Roland Berger to conduct a study to learn more about current and future developments and obtain detailed information about the market in which we already serve clients.”

The strategy consulting experts analysed the European and American luxury markets intensively. “Important industry experts from different areas were also interviewed, individually speaking to current market developments and their effects on supply chain management,” says Dr. Richard Federowski, Partner Consumer Goods and Retail at Roland Berger.

Four key trends were identified that will have massive impacts on the market for personal luxury goods until 2030. One of them is the emergence of a younger buyer group who holds higher expectations from luxury brands – they not only expect a unique and consistent customer experience through all touchpoints, but also react very sensitively to issues surrounding sustainability. There is also a revelation that selling standardised products worldwide will no longer suffice; local product collections will be expected. This will lead to greater complexity in products.

In addition to stationary trade, omnichannel commerce – the combination of online and offline channels – has become an important growth engine for luxury brands. Buyers demand seamless interactions between the channels coupled with the ability to contact the brand directly online. With the move to increased online sales, expectations for short delivery times and highly flexible shipping options are also increasing.

The fourth emerging factor is new market uncertainties which luxury brands must navigate. Geopolitical and pandemic crises have already led to instabilities in the business environment, and these have had a strong impact on sales processes in various regions or have put a strain on existing logistical processes.

Turning challenges into opportunities

“These complex and multidimensional developments pose major challenges for luxury brands and retailers,” explains Abbas Tolouee, who worked on the study as a senior consultant at Arvato Supply Chain Solutions. “We have identified four critical points that companies must turn into factors of success in order to remain competitive in the long term.”

Luxury brands and retailers face the challenge of offering a luxurious customer experience embodying the brand’s DNA across increasing numbers of sales channels – from initial customer contact, through order placement and including after-sales service. They must have control over all customer touchpoints within the supply chain, which is only possible when there is end-to-end integration of all IT systems and corresponding interfaces. Particularly an online shop must have real-time product availability, provide order status information, and offer several shipping options.

Additionally, speed and punctuality in last mile delivery are essential. The second challenge is inventory management across different regions and channels. To accomplish this, luxury brands and retailers must synchronise all data in real time and invest in intelligent inventory optimisation technologies and forecasting tools to anticipate demand, plan supply and detect fraud.

To get a handle on rising operating costs, luxury goods manufacturers should increase their operational efficiencies through automation and digitalisation. Warehouse services solutions should include a cloud-based IT infrastructure with fully integrated and automated supply chain processes that ensure high operational efficiency. This also ensures that errors and product losses are minimised, and inventory control is optimised. Transparency surrounding the CO2 footprint is also extremely important, especially for the younger target group. It is not enough to know the origin of the product and to measure its impact on the environment. Companies must monitor sustainability throughout the entire supply chain and define a company-wide framework to meet the expectations of their customers.

“This is where partnerships with experienced logistics service providers such as Arvato Supply Chain Solutions offer an advantage,” explains Tolouee. “We not only support our clients in developing holistic sustainability concepts for transport, packaging and storage optimisation, but we also offer a number of practical solutions which we have already developed to assist our clients in mastering these challenges.” Those solutions also form part of the study, and selected examples are reviewed in depth.

CLICK HERE to read the complete study: “Personal luxury: Supply Chain challenges & how to prepare for the future”.

Inventory crisis: stock held by UK firms doubles

Posted on by Keith McKinley

New industry data reveals that manufacturers are holding double the amount of stock compared to pre-pandemic levels as the world’s supply chain woes take on a new form. Unleashed’s Manufacturers Health Check report used data from its inventory management software to track how SMEs in the UK have fared in 2022. The report shows businesses forced to stockpile huge quantities of goods as they navigate delays and shortages, against a background of rising inflation.

The analysis of more than 4,500 SMEs paints a picture of manufacturer health by examining four main data points: the value of stock on hand, Gross Margin Return on Inventory (GMROI), fulfilment days, and the price paid for goods purchased.

Overall,  stock on hand levels for manufacturers in the UK jumped by 99.7%, from an average of £365,736 in Q3 2019 to £730,681 in Q3 2022, while GMROI dropped from 2 to 0.9 in the same period, and fulfilment times fell from 20 days to around two weeks.

Tough inventory situation

Meanwhile manufacturers are paying 10.24% more for their goods now compared to the start of 2022.

“What started as a supply chain crisis appears to have evolved into an inventory crisis at the individual business level,” says Gareth Berry, CEO of Unleashed. “Yes we’ve seen shipping times and prices ease, but that’s at the expense of firms who are forced to hold far more stock just to stay operational.

“It’s a tough situation for manufacturers that will present real cash flow pressures. Managing those stock levels down in the coming months will be a delicate task.”

Crazy lead times

Noah Warren, CEO of UK bicycle manufacturer Temple Cycles, says the impact on his business has been considerable: “One of the biggest problems we’ve had is lead times going exponentially crazy. So we’ve had to move away from a just in time stock model to just in case. The only way we could be in stock is to invest more money in it. But you can’t do that indefinitely.”

Digging deeper, it’s clear that there is variation across industries, with some industries faring better (and worse) for each data point featured in the research.

The highest percentage change in the average value of stock on hand between Q3 2019 and Q3 this year was the plastics and rubber sector – which saw an average increase of 180%. This was followed by energy and chemicals (up 174%), and the sports and entertainment sector which recorded an average increase of 123%.

In fact, all industries featured in this research were holding an increased value of stock this year compared to 2019, with the exception of manufacturers in the building and construction sector.

Decline in GMROI

When looking at GMROI, it’s clear that firms are feeling the impact of holding more stock, with the majority of firms seeing a drop in overall profitability when looking at this metric specifically.

Apart from the food sector, which lifted GMROI 93.69%, all sectors in the UK saw a decline in overall GMROI with clothing firms (down 81.8%), plastic and rubber products (down 81%) and energy and chemicals (down 62%) seeing the biggest declines.

Six of the nine industries featured in this research have been successful in cutting lead times over the past three years, with energy and chemicals (down 74.1%), automotive (down 65.6%) and food (down 48.6%).

But there are still sectors struggling to pull fulfilment times back to pre-pandemic levels, most notably the plastic and rubber products sector where the average fulfilment days are up more than double – to 29.3 days (up 266.8%).

Supply and demand instability

Daniel Myers, Director at Plastock, a material solution provider to retail and display markets, adds: “We have witnessed first-hand the significant supply and demand instability of materials, going from peaks of very stable supply to huge surges in demand and this is having a significant impact on costs.

“Price increases as much as 45% presented us with fairly significant issues, and then with the cost of those materials increasing week by week people started panic buying any available stock. So it makes it really difficult to manage stock – it’s unprecedented.”

CLICK HERE to read the full research.

www.unleashedsoftware.com

Garbe plans logistics property in Lüneburg

Posted on by David Priestman

Garbe Industrial Real Estate is continuing to expand its portfolio of logistics centres in the Hamburg metropolitan region. To this end, the Hamburg-based project developer has purchased a plot of land in Lüneburg that is around 33,000 sq m in size and ready for construction. A logistics property with a total area of approx. 20,000 sq m is to be built on this site. Construction is scheduled to begin in June 2023. Garbe Industrial Real Estate will invest €33m in the project.

“Lüneburg is one of the most dynamic business locations in the Hamburg metropolitan region. The city has innovative companies, qualified professionals and good infrastructure. Therefore, it was only a matter of time for us to become involved in this attractive environment,” emphasises Adrian Zellner, Member of the Executive Board of Garbe Industrial Real Estate. The Hamburg-based project developer acquired the property from Sallier Bauträger GmbH & Co. KG, with whom it has a long-term partnership and who is also responsible for marketing the logistics space.

The property is located in the Lüneburg-Ost industrial park, only a few hundred metres from the harbour of Lüneburg and the Elbe Lateral Canal. The A 39 motorway can be reached within ten minutes via the main roads 216, 209 and 4 without any local transit. The A 39 connects Lüneburg with the Maschener Kreuz interchange and from there with Hamburg via the A 1 and A 7. “The central location and the connection to both the highway network and the public transport system played a major role in opting for this location,” says Zellner. The nearest bus stop is at about 400 metres from the plot.

A logistics property with a height of 12.2m (lower edge of truss) and a total hall area of about 17,500 sq m is planned. One of the units will be sized about 7,000 sq m, the other approx. 10,500 sq m. In addition, there will be around 440 sq m each for offices and social rooms. A further total of approx. 1,600 sq m is planned for storage mezzanines. The new building will be equipped with 17 dock levellers and two ground-level sectional doors. Parking spaces for 60 cars and four trucks are to be created on the outdoor area.

The property is planned according to current ecological standards. For example, a powerful photovoltaic system is to be installed on the roof to generate renewable energy. Heat pumps will be used instead of fossil fuels. Another measure is the installation of energy-efficient LED lighting. For the new building, Garbe Industrial Real Estate is aiming for certification in accordance with the Gold Standard of the German Sustainable Building Council.

“Having already successfully implemented several projects in the northern and eastern surrounding area of Hamburg in recent years, we are now pleased to realise another new building in the southern surrounding area,” says Zellner. “The demand for modern logistics space in the metropolitan region has been at a constantly high level for years. That is why we have decided to realise the property with a view to the future and without a firm tenant commitment. Based on the positive initial talks with potential users, we assume that the property will be let during the construction phase.” The new building is scheduled for completion in the second quarter of 2024.

In the Hamburg metropolitan region, Garbe Industrial Real Estate is currently involved at four other locations, for example in Kaltenkirchen (Segeberg district). A logistics property with a total area of 25,500 sq m is under construction there for the Picnic online supermarket. In Stapelfeld (Stormarn district), a 22,300 sq m logistics centre for the online furniture retailer Sobuy Commercial is scheduled to be ready for occupancy by the end of the year.

 

The urgent response business

Posted on by Keith McKinley

With over 1,100 projects in 150 locations in over 40 countries and 10,000 staff, service company Ecolog International’s imprint is now writ large in the world of urgent response logistics as it celebrates its 20th anniversary. It is well-established across Middle East and the African continent, with support to the Mining, Oil and Gas sectors all prominent. Government projects include a global contract with the UK MoD to supply overseas deployable food. It played a prominent role in shaping the European testing and vaccine rollout during the Covid pandemic. This impressive haul was all founded by a German entrepreneur Nazif Destani, private equity portfolio owner, now including ambitious expansions into sustainability and environmental projects. The mission? ‘Care for People, Planet, Future.’ That’s ambition.

CEO Andy Vargoczky, an Australian national, who has been in post since the beginning of the year, has spent over 30 years in logistics, working with airlines in freight and for 3PLs, and to date has lived in 13 countries – but that’s a story for another day.

“Well, it certainly prepares you for a rapidly changing environment,” he laughs. For speed and agility – to the power of 100 – are Ecolog’s watchwords.

“We are project-based, with a very agile mindset,” he explains. “We need to be super-fearless, because we have partnerships and support systems in various geographies, as part of our 24/7 ability to respond very quickly. Our whole ecosystem and DNA are built on this urgent response capability.”

Such a mindset, working in remote, unhospitable and sometimes downright dangerous locations, requires special people, he goes on. “Our workforce, which hails from 56 countries, has multiple layers. There is our permanent workforce but also non-permanent colleagues whom we know well we can call upon, then agencies around the world who can also supply us with manpower. It means we can scale up from a few people to a few thousand in a week if we have to. Not many organisations can come up with timeframes like that, and it means we don’t have many competitors because it’s not easy. The challenge itself drives the right behaviours, the right mentalities.”

He says there is a subtle difference in Ecolog’s approach to those of a ‘typical’ logistics operator. “Logistics companies measure their performances in transactions, numbers of containers they move or shipments they make; it’s all about scale. That’s not our model. We’re project-based and it’s all about speed-to-market to make sure our client base is supported adequately. We’re in the support business. We enable our clients to focus on their operations by taking care of their daily needs, that’s our core, going to remote or challenging areas and knowing how to mobilise for them.”

He is a huge admirer of the logistics mentality. “Logistics is in our DNA. Let’s not forget, it took the pandemic for the world to realise that logisticians are exceptional problem solvers.”

Ecolog took a proactive role early in the pandemic. “We work in SOS activities and we used that mindset,” he recalls. “We approached governments ourselves with solutions, starting with Luxembourg, then Belgium and Netherlands, some work for the NHS in the UK and our largest footprint is in Germany with over 500 testing and vaccine locations, many in collaboration with one of the world’s largest supermarket chain companies.”

Over the years, Ecolog has become one of the leading names in food logistics providers, especially in supporting humanitarian and governmental organizations. The company has been delivering food to the UN peacekeeping missions in Africa as of 2015, supplying food and catering for the oversees programmes of the UK Ministry of Defence for the last five years, and is now delivering over 120 trucks of food to Ukraine weekly, while operating a massive warehouse on the Polish-Ukrainian border.

Future plans cohere strongly around the themes and challenges created by climate change. Water purification and desalination projects are on the increase, as are plans to create renewable energy infrastructures.

The three biggest risks in logistics

Posted on by Keith McKinley

A survey series by the Logistics Hall of Fame in cooperation with the logistics insurance broker Schunk Group looks at the current risks facing the logistics industry and how companies are preparing against them.

Logistics is a volatile business worldwide. More than ever, current trends and global political developments are creating new challenges and putting pressure on supply chains. But which risks are decisive and demand a rethink for the future? The first survey as part of a new survey series, which the Logistics Hall of Fame has initiated together with the Schunk Group, shows a clear result: The ongoing shortage of skilled workers, cybercrime and supply chain disruptions are currently causing the most problems for the logistics industry in the DACH region.

According to the respondents, the biggest risks currently confronting the logistics industry worldwide are the shortage of skilled workers (71.8%), followed by cybercrime (64.1%) and, in third place, supply chain disruptions (48.7%).

The picture is similar when it comes to the specific risks to the individual company. Here, the shortage of skilled workers also occupies first place in the individual risk ranking (62.5%). However, supply chain interruptions (47.5%) rank ahead of cybercrime (45%).

Political risks (43.6%) and climate change (18%) followed as general dangers, as did political risks (37.5%) when asked about their own companies. In contrast, business interruptions, the outbreak of a pandemic, market changes and loss of reputation played a lesser role.

“Topical issues such as supply chain problems and a shortage of skilled workers dominate the logistics risk ranking, but logistics executives have also realised that data-driven business models in logistics offer more and more gateways for cyber criminals to infiltrate logistics chains, reroute flows of goods or paralyse operations,” says Thomas Wicke, Managing Director of the Schunk Group.

“However, the fact that cyber attacks can become a problem for companies of all sizes is often forgotten or ignored. Even for small companies, damage in the millions can quickly occur. That’s why it’s important to be well protected against the effects of the risks.”

To fight the risks, the executives surveyed specified a number of ongoing measures, including early employee retention activities, comprehensive training programmes, work on top employer branding, and the formation of task forces to motivate in-house staff and recruit external forces, among others.

“Existing measures can be supported by suitable solutions that pay off in retaining employees and increasing employer attractiveness,” says Wicke, describing the possible approach. To protect against cybercrime, companies said they consciously invest in IT security, regularly hack themselves to detect security vulnerabilities, purchase monitoring systems, and secure processes and install regular backups.

The survey, which involves an executive C-level panel of selected managing directors, board members and entrepreneurs from the Logistics Hall of Fame network and the Schunk Group, will be conducted quarterly in the future on changing topics.

Interested parties can be added to the distribution list by sending an e-mail to stefanie.nonnenmann@impact.mp. The survey shows the current mood in the logistics industry and is not representative of the industry as a whole.

Background: The Logistics Hall of Fame was founded in 2003 and honours leading figures who have made outstanding efforts to promote the further development of logistics and supply chain management. This eternal pantheon is also designed to remind future generations of the achievements of these individuals in the service of logistics. The aim of the Logistics Hall of Fame is to act as a worldwide platform to publicise the performance capability of logistics and its importance for society. The Logistics Hall of Fame also presents the TRATON Logistics Leader of the Year Award to current pacesetters in logistics. It is sponsored by TRATON SE.

In addition, the Logistics Hall of Fame recognises innovative logistics projects by humanitarian organisations with the Lynn C. Fritz Medal for Excellence in Humanitarian Logistics. The donor is the Fritz Institute. The Logistics Hall of Fame is a non-profit initiative supported by the world of politics, associations, the logistics industry and logistics science. The patron is Dr. Volker Wissing, German Federal Minister for Digital and Transport.

Overcoming Peak Challenges in Skechers’ Chinese DC

Posted on by David Priestman

Logistics Business has been granted exclusive access to Skechers’ Chinese DC fulfilment centre, 100km outside of Shanghai, where Libiao Robotics has deployed a comprehensive automated solution to enable the FMCG retailer overcome a considerable spike in orders around the annual ‘Singles Day’ online shopping frenzy.

Eric Chow, Senior MHE Manager at Skechers’ Shu-Jo eCommerce fulfilment centre talks with Logistics Business editor Peter MacLeod about the challenges and solutions of scaling up, whilst Ronan Shen, overseas sales director of Libiao Robotics takes us for an entertaining and informative walk through the DC, highlighting some of the automation his company has brought to the facility.

Skechers’ Chinese DC

Furthermore, Shen describes his company’s ambitions to service global markets, in particular Europe.

CLICK HERE to watch this exclusive Logistics Business webinar.

In Spring 2024 LiBiao’s range of autonomous sortation robots will be on display at two important European trade fairs. Logistics professionals can discover the many ways that LiBiao technology can benefit their business by visiting the company’s stand at LogiMAT (Stuttgart, Germany, March 19-21st).

LiBiao is a global pioneer of intelligent sorting robots, and one of the world’s leading suppliers of flexible intelligent sorting solutions, creating the world’s first portable, modular and automated unit sorting system. The company integrates logistics automation, research and development, production and sales of intelligent equipment.

Since its establishment, LiBiao has always specialized in the development and innovation of logistics automation technology, emphasizing original intelligent technology, independent system bottom layer and application development. All of its products are independently researched and developed, and the company has accumulated over 100 exclusive invention patents. With the sorting robot series as the core, and the automatic control system, automatic scanning and weighing system, intelligent charging system as supporting components, LiBiao has gradually built up a rich product ecosystem for intelligent logistics applications.

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Case Study: It’s a Shoe-in at Skechers EDC

 

 

BotsAndUs rebrands as Dexory

Posted on by David Priestman

The cutting-edge intelligence and robotics company previously known as BotsAndUs will from hereon be known as Dexory. The new name, taken from the words ‘dexterity’ and ‘echolocation’ – a nod to the company’s vision of enhancing human ability with the help of robotics – and its new visual identity supports its expansion and strategic vision as it moves from start-up to scale-up. Dexory is the provider of real-time data insights using autonomous robots that measure, track and find goods across warehouses without manual intervention.

“The natural evolution to Dexory is a new and thrilling chapter of our company,” says Andrei Danescu, CEO, Dexory. “As we focus on data-led insight technology for the logistics and supply chain industry, we believe the timing was right for this transition. This allows us to capture the essence of who we are as a business and as a team. This is an exciting stage in our journey. We have grown steadily, seeing a staff increase of over 50% in 6 months, and our plan is to double that number again in 2023.”

The company raised $13m in seed funding in June, led by Lakestar, along with Maersk Growth, Kinded Capital and Capnamic, taking its total funding to $20m, and spurring rapid growth aligning with an increasing market demand. According to a recent study by the United Kingdom Warehousing Association (UKWA), the well documented paradigm shift towards omni-channel retailing is placing demands on the warehousing sector that have not been seen in the past.

“Efficient warehousing has never been more important in global supply chains. Over 80% of warehouses worldwide have no automation whatsoever and rely entirely on manual methods. With the warehousing industry predicted to grow over 50% by 2025, streamlined functionality and processes that enable optimised operations is the need of the hour,” Danescu adds.

 

Artificial Intelligence Key

 

Dexory is paving the way for AI and robotics to completely transform the world of logistics, automating data collection and building digital twin technology that unlocks insights across all levels of warehouse operations. Dexory is the only platform that delivers real-time information for the receiving, storing, and dispatch stages, allowing companies unprecedented access to their operations from anywhere and at any time.

“We deliver an end-to-end solution to our clients. Right from building bespoke hardware, i.e. the robots, to creating the software to gather and make the data they’re collecting accessible and useful,” Danescu explains. “Our robots-as-a-service model makes automation more widely accessible as companies don’t have to pay large up-front sums.”

In its new form, Dexory continues its work with important partners such as Menzies Aviation, Maersk, Huboo and several other logistics and warehousing organisations in the UK and across Europe.

Rory Fidler, Vice President Cargo Technology, Menzies Aviation, comments: “In February this year, Menzies introduced the autonomous robot Mimi, which was developed with BotsAndUs now Dexory. It was important for us to use the technology to add real-time value to the operation. It is safe to say Mimi is delivering this, as on a daily basis we are achieving high accuracy levels across bond checking in a fraction of the time it has historically taken to do it manually. The team at Dexory have been fantastic to work with and we have a number of exciting projects in the pipeline with them.”

The funds raised earlier this year have been used to expand Dexory’s pioneering solutions globally, building up strong partnerships with industry leaders to accelerate growth and product development, and grow its team.

 

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