NOTED: The Supply Chain In Brief
Sealed Deals
CEVA Logistics signed a five-year, omnichannel logistics contract with Sephora in Brazil to provide logistics services for stores and e-commerce fulfillment. In addition, CEVA will provide climate-controlled infrastructure to meet Sephora”’s product requirements.
Gummy candy brand HARIBO tapped ODW Logistics to help streamline distribution capabilities and scale operations. ODW now provides warehousing and logistics services for HARIBO’s first North American manufacturing facility in Pleasant Prairie, Wisconsin.
Modular Assembly Innovations, which provides manufacturing assembly solutions and other services to automakers such as Honda, partnered with Coltrane Logistics a preferred provider of transportation services, to increase efficiency and ensure on-time delivery to tier-one global automotive suppliers.
GEODIS was appointed the Official Freight Carrier of the Rugby World Cup 2023 in France. In its agreement with the France 2023 Organizing Committee, GEODIS committed to providing bespoke logistics services with the target of having the lowest possible environmental impact.
Eyewear retailer Zenni chose Oracle’s NetSuite software solution to automate manual processes—including budgeting and reporting—across countries and subsidiaries, supporting global expansion and increasing supply chain efficiency.
Good Works
Long Island, New York, hunger-relief organization Island Harvest Food Bank is the latest beneficiary of the community outreach support program run by Transervice Logistics, a provider of customized fleet maintenance and transportation solutions. Transervice recently donated 11 boxes of food and supplies to support the food bank’s network of community-based nonprofit organizations.
To help Taiwan, which was hard hit by the pandemic, global transportation specialist Dimerco delivered 165 pallets of COVID test kits via commercial air freight from Hong Kong. Dimerco consolidated the cargo into a single flight.
Green Seeds
Penske Truck Leasing added Orange EV electric terminal trucks across the United States. The vehicles are designed for trailer-handling operations in truck yards, warehousing and distribution centers, and container terminals, and can operate up to 24 hours on a single charge.
The City of Helsingborg, home to Sweden’s fifth-largest port, is launching the Helsingborg Declaration, a pact meant to be the logistics sector’s equivalent to the Paris Agreement. Its mission is to make logistics climate-neutral by 2030.
Recognition
Fresh Freight, a full-service food transportation provider, picked Dole Fresh Fruit as the winner of its annual Shipper of Choice Award. The award recognizes partners that consistently operate at an efficient level to combat driver detention, provide accessible facilities, and display supply chain leadership.
M & A
CSX Corp. completed its acquisition of Pan Am Railways, a move that expands CSX’s reach into the Northeast region of the United States.
E-commerce platform Shopify agreed on a $2.1-billion price tag to acquire e-commerce fulfillment startup Deliverr. The acquisition, the largest in its history, enables Shopify to create an end-to-end logistics platform for merchants.
Fox Logistics acquired Boxton, an AI-enhanced freight automation platform, marking its expansion into air and ocean freight services.
Logistics provider TA Services, a division of PS Logistics, acquired C2 Freight Resources, a brokerage specializing in dry-van, flatbed, temperature-controlled, expedited, and less-than-truckload services.
Descartes Systems Group purchased XPS Technologies, a provider of e-commerce multi-carrier parcel shipping solutions.
Shovel Ready
RealTruck, an online truck parts and accessories retailer, added a new distribution center to serve West Coast customers. The 230,000-square-foot warehouse, which opened in April 2022, is twice the size of RealTruck facilities in Springfield, Missouri, and Jasper, Indiana. Designed for energy efficiency, the facility utilizes motion- and ambient-light-sensitive LED lighting, along with electric fork trucks.
DHL Global Forwarding broke ground on construction of a new, 53,000-square-foot facility at the Brisbane Airport in Australia. The company is investing $12 million over 10 years in the new facility, which will increase its international cold chain services in Brisbane, helping to meet the fast-growing demand for perishables.
Up the Chain
SEKO Logistics named Kai Lincoln its first-ever global VP of sustainability. Lincoln will oversee SEKO’s goal to have all of its facilities and activities—including road linehaul and parcel final mile—reach carbon-neutral status by 2050. Lincoln joined SEKO in January 2014 as managing director of the company”’s omnichannel logistics.
Sheetal Shah was appointed senior vice president of supply chain and manufacturing at plant-based food company Upside Foods. Shah, a veteran of the plant-based industry, will lead Upside’s commercialization efforts. He previously served as senior vice president of product and operations at Impossible Foods.
Auto giant Stellantis, parent company of Chrysler, named Marlo Vitous senior vice president of purchasing and supply chain for North America. Vitous, who has been with the company since 1998, was most recently vice president of supply chain management.
Verusen, a supply chain intelligence platform provider, expanded its leadership team by appointing Ross Sonnabend as senior vice president, head of product. Sonnabend will report directly to Verusen’s CEO and lead the Verusen product team on design and innovation, strategy, and overall product vision. He comes to Verusen from RF Code, where he was senior vice president, product, strategy, and marketing.
Ingredion, a multinational ingredient provider, named Javier Echevarría vice president and chief procurement officer. Echevarría will manage all aspects of the company’s global procurement organization, including supply chain operations and strategic sourcing.
Recognition
The National Tank Truck Carriers recognized Highway Transport driver Thomas Frain as the 2021-2022 Professional Tank Truck Driver of the Year Grand Champion. Frain, who has logged 2 million-plus accident-free miles, has racked up more than 30 years of professional driving experience and has served as a tank truck driver for Highway Transport, a bulk chemical transportation provider, for seven years.
Montgomery Logistics named Roehl Transport as its 2021 Carrier of the Year. Roehl delivered 1,087 claim-free loads and totaled nearly 700,000 safe miles for the logistics firm in 2021. Criteria for the award include safety, on-time pick-up and delivery, shipment volume, communication, and customer service.
LTL carrier ABF Freight won the 2021 Excellence in Cargo Claims and Loss Prevention Award – LTL Division from the American Trucking Associations. ABF is the first nine-time winner of the award, and was recognized for outstanding performance and commitment to customers.
Averitt Express was honored by Chevron Lubricants with the group’s 2021 Highest Visibility Award at the Chevron Carrier Summit in Houston. The award recognizes Averitt as the company’s leading provider of tracking and tracing services, improving accuracy and communication.
Frost & Sullivan selected inVia Robotics, a provider of e-commerce fulfillment automation systems, to receive its 2022 Technology Innovation Goods-to-Person Robotics Award. inVia’s robotics-as-a-service (RaaS) model and workflow removes interdependencies between robots and people and subsequently boosts productivity.
Up the Chain
McDonald’s named Marion Gross as executive vice president, global chief supply chain officer, effective September 1, 2022. Her career at the multinational fast food chain spans 29 years; Gross is currently chief supply chain officer of North America—responsible for executing the strategic direction of the McDonald’s supply chain across the United States and Canada.
Sealed Deals
WineDirect, a wine industry fulfillment solution, selected VARGO, a provider of materials handling systems integration, warehouse execution software, and equipment solutions, to expand its fulfillment center and increase efficiencies. VARGO’s updates doubled the processing capacity of WineDirect’s fulfillment center, allowing for shorter order cycle times.
Levi Strauss selected TGW to supply an automated fulfillment solution for its omnichannel operations as the denim brand consolidates its European fulfillment in one facility. TGW’s automated goods-to-person order fulfillment system, FlashPick, handles fluctuating order structures. The software plans, monitors, and optimizes fulfillment processes.
M & A
Made4net acquired Zethcon, a WMS software company with a cloud-based platform designed for the 3PL market.
Mark-It Express Logistics bought Clean Car Connexion, a family-owned transportation company specializing in intermodal and overweight container loads.
Echo Global Logistics purchased Roadtex Transportation Company, bringing advanced temperature-controlled transportation solutions to its operations.