IN BRIEF: New Services & Solutions-June 2019

Products

• The new TD 4 Desktop Thermal Printer Series from mobile and desktop printer maker Brother Mobile Solutions prints barcode labels, tags, or receipts for supply chain applications in warehouses, manufacturing plants, and retail environments. To increase speed for small-to-midsize businesses and warehouses, the printer integrates with warehouse management systems and uses thermal imaging technology.
• Reusable packaging maker ORBIS Corporation added the FP183 tote to its FliPak product line. Intended to replace corrugated shipping boxes, the FP183 is a reusable handheld tote that can be used in picking, work-in-process, storage, and distribution. Its lid features molded teeth that snap securely into place, keeping lids closed on conveyors.
• Companies looking to reduce energy costs at the loading dock can benefit from Rite-Hite’s PitMaster V Dock Face Sealing System. The product seals open gaps on the dock face and pit floor in vertical leveler applications, saving energy, improving pit cleanliness, and helping reduce infiltration of weather and contaminants.
• Nordic Cold Chain Solutions, a provider of temperature-controlled cold chain packaging solutions, introduced the Nordic Ice Drain Safe, a drain-friendly gel pack refrigerant. Developed for temperature-controlled packaging customers who receive routine shipments but do not have an efficient way to reuse or dispose of gel packs, the new products are completely reusable or disposable.
• Automated solutions provider Piab’s ergonomic lifters handle e-commerce parcels of varying sizes. Vaculex lifters can be fitted to lightweight telescopic conveyors. The ergonomic lifters also offer flexible solutions in low-ceiling-height and narrow areas with limited working space.

Transportation

• OOCL is set to launch two services to provide shippers with competitive services from Asia to South America and the Caribbean. Beginning in June 2019, the new offerings—Transpacific Latin Atlantic 2 and Transpacific Latin Caribbean 1—offer direct calls to ports such as Santos and Navegantes in Brazil; Manzanillo, Mexico; Cartagena, Colombia; Kingston, Jamaica; and Caucedo, Dominican Republic.
• Atran Airlines, the Russian air express carrier within Volga-Dnepr Group, introduced a new route between Hangzhou, China, an emerging technology hub, and Riga, Latvia. The flight, which is operated every Thursday by a Boeing 737-800BCF, provides approximately 25 tons of cargo capacity.
• Samskip Russia launched airfreight services connecting Moscow and St. Petersburg to global destinations, providing one point of contact for time-sensitive shipments door to door. As well as managing pre/on-carriage, tracking and tracing, and insurance, Samskip coordinates customs clearance through licensed partners.
• Virgin Atlantic Cargo is relaunching flights between London Heathrow and Mumbai, India. The service is set to start in October 2019 and will complement the airline’s route between London and Delhi. The new flights will depart and arrive Heathrow in the morning to align with connecting passenger and cargo flows to and from the United States.
• Supply chain solutions provider Panalpina launched a high-speed rail LCL service direct from Shanghai, China, to Düsseldorf, Germany. With weekly guaranteed departure, this route is the third line in Panalpina’s rail cargo portfolio, joining Shanghai-Warsaw, which started in 2016, and Shenzhen-Warsaw, which launched in 2017.

Services

• LTL transportation services provider Dayton Freight Lines relocated its Milwaukee service center to a new facility with an additional 61 doors, for a total of 131 doors. This allows the company to offer faster and more consistent LTL transportation service.
• Supply chain solutions provider J.B. Hunt Transport Services started a trailer pool and drop-and­-hook service, J.B. Hunt 360box, to improve the efficiency of freight operations for shippers and carriers. Launching in summer 2019, 360box will introduce a pool of 500 additional 53-­foot trailers that businesses can reserve for drop trailer purposes, with plans to increase the available units as demand grows.
• Automotive shippers can now get help with the nuances of transporting automobiles and auto parts. Logistics provider Dachser USA launched an automotive competence center in Atlanta, which provides dedicated customer service teams that are trained to address the complex logistics associated with the automotive market.
• DHL Express relocated its Tulsa, Oklahoma, service center operation to a new 23,730-square-foot location within the city’s industrial area. Intended to accommodate further anticipated international trade growth and enhance local service, the new facility is nearly double the size of the previous location.
• Lufthansa Cargo unveiled heyworld, a new transport offering for e-commerce shippers. heyworld offers a modular service portfolio, which includes fast transport times, simple customs clearance, end-to-end shipment tracking, and pricing at package level.
• Pharmaceutical shippers can now leverage shipping line CMA CGM Group’s new Reefer Pharma division. Ensuring compliance with both the international quality standard and the European Commission recommendations, the service includes a dedicated team that provides 24/7 monitoring from CMA CGM’s head office in Marseilles, as well as aboard its ships and from its operational centers in Singapore and Miami.
• 3PL Kenco Logistics plans to open a dedicated physical warehouse space, an expansion of its Supply Chain Innovation Lab. The 10,000-square-foot space will serve as a test facility for potential supply chain management solutions and technological advances.
• Designed for work positioning, assembly, repair, and inspection applications in warehouses and manufacturing facilities, CLT Series Compact Scissor Lifts from Presto ECOA Lifts employ a double scissor mechanism that allows for a collapsed height of 8.5 inches while providing raised heights of up to 56.5 inches. Lifting control is via a hand pendant or foot switch.
• Supply chain solutions provider Averitt Express opened an international distribution center to help support the growing amount of cargo moving through the Port of Savannah. Located less than 15 miles from the port, the new location features 44 dock doors and more than 80,000 square feet of enclosed warehousing and distribution space.

Technology

• Shippers now have dynamic, end-to-end visibility into their shipments with a new solution from Hub Group. Leveraging its GPS-equipped container fleet, railroad data, and a combination of artificial intelligence and machine learning technology to provide accuracy, Hub Group can constantly analyze the transit of freight, considering more than 10 million data points to provide continuous, real-time arrival updates.
• Mid-market retailers can now better compete against mega-retailers with iTradeOrder, a new platform from iTradeNetwork, a provider of on-demand supply chain management and intelligence solutions for the food and beverage industry. The platform lets them access iTrade’s network of more than 5,000 trading partners to quickly discover new vendors and products. iTradeOrder’s planning, order management, accounting, and logistics modules streamline back-office processes as well as reduce store-level shrink and keep shelves stocked with the freshest products available.
• Shippers that use Kuebix TMS can now get additional truckload capacity through Emerge’s carrier marketplace with a new partnership between the TMS provider and the marketplace developer. When a shipper is in need of additional truckload capacity or looking for more rate options, they can post their shipment to Community Load Match and begin receiving spot quotes.
• Now processing 30% of all LTL bills in North America, the freight billing specialists at DDC FPO launched a new online tool at bit.ly/BOL_calculator that gives carriers and 3PLs a quantitative view into their operations. Especially helpful amid today’s market volatility, the free and easy-to-use calculator breaks down back-office expenses into price-per-BOL.
• Auto-ID and labeling solutions provider SATO launched SATO App Storage, a cloud-based data management service that helps retailers, restaurant chains, and supermarkets maintain accuracy in their labeling operations. The system automates updates of apps and printer settings when replacing printers and streamlines management of seasonal label data for holidays and price markdowns.
• Companies can minimize supply chain quality risk with new enhancements to Elemica’s supply chain quality management solution, Elemica Quality. Now able to support ship-to-control techniques, the solution from Elemica, a digital supply network for process manufacturing industries, uses data inputs to derive control limits for specific properties of a product, letting suppliers quickly identify out-of-range products before shipment.
• Fr8Hub launched the latest version of its cloud-based digital platform for cross-border shipping, which includes enhanced tracking and visibility for shipments coming in and out of Mexico. Fr8Hub’s digital freight marketplace matches cross-border shippers throughout Mexico and the domestic United States with available carriers and drivers for their loads.
• Shippers now have visibility and control of global transportation rates for all modes with a new cloud-based global rate and contract management solution from Trax. The Rate Manager solution, a new product within Trax’s transportation spend management platform, lets both shippers and carriers actively load, update, and manage transportation contracts and associated rates to improve productivity, decrease risk, and increase contract compliance.
• 4flow’s integrated software for supply chain and transportation planning, 4flow vista, is now available for integration in all transportation management systems (TMS). In addition to its new configuration as an add-on, 4flow vista is still available as a stand-alone solution or integrated TMS.