NOTED: The Supply Chain in Brief-2021


Sealed Deals

  • Third-party logistics provider FM Logistic was awarded a contract from Pepperfry, a furniture and home products marketplace in India, to provide omnichannel logistics services in the country’s western region. FM Logistic will handle warehousing operations at Pepperfry’s Bhiwandi warehouse.
  • To help The Ocean Cleanup map harmful plastic, Maersk will deploy scientific sensor technology aboard its fleet that maps plastic floating in the world’s oceans to enhance visibility of the problem. Maersk will also provide shipping, airfreight, special transport, customs clearance, and warehouse management services for the nonprofit.
  • Current Health selected SEKO Logistics to handle worldwide fulfillment and shipping for its wearable medical devices, which help diagnose, monitor, and treat patients. The recyclable kits are returned to SEKO for decontamination and shipment, and SEKO’s inventory management system provides a traceable history of each device’s life span.
  • North American supply chain management provider Transportation Insight is partnering with Feetures, a performance sock brand, to provide value stream mapping and supply chain consulting. Transportation Insight analyzed Feetures’ fulfillment and transportation processes, sourcing, and small parcel auditing to help cut packaging costs.

Milestone

  • Technology solutions provider Avnet celebrates its 100th anniversary in 2021. Since its origin on Radio Row—the Manhattan warehouse district known for its post-World War I electronics shops—to its current position as a global distributor, Avnet has remained resilient in an evolving technology landscape.

Green Seeds

  • Working with Trees for the Future, a nonprofit that trains farmers to regenerate their land, ATA Freight helped plant 100,000 trees in Senegal to sequester 5,786 metric tons of carbon during the next 20 years as part of the Kaffrine 7 Forest Garden Project.
  • Swiss design firm Yasava plans to offset its carbon footprint by sourcing materials used for aircraft interiors, such as leather and wool, from eco-conscious producers. It will also use recycled aluminum instead of newly mined metal, which will reduce its environmental impact immediately by 80%.
  • Internet Fusion Group, an e-commerce retailer, created a sustainable packaging process that is more than 99% plastic-free. It invested in two Quadient CVP-500 automated packaging machines and switched to corrugated fanfold material, which is recycled and fully recyclable, from Ribble Packaging.

Shovel Ready

  • Majestic Realty plans to build a $1 billion distribution and manufacturing space in Laredo, Texas, to meet the demand for facilities near the U.S.-Mexico border.
  • Walmart is building an $800 million site in Lancaster, Texas, to support e-commerce growth. The project includes a 1.2-million-square-foot fulfillment center and a 700,000-square-foot cold storage facility.

M&A

  • Canadian trucking and logistics company TFI International agreed to acquire North American less-than-truckload company UPS Freight.
  • East Coast Warehouse & Distribution, a temperature-controlled logistics provider for the food and beverage industry, acquired transportation and warehousing provider Temp-Distribution.
  • Condition-monitoring solutions provider SpotSee acquired TMC Hallcrest and LCR Hallcrest, two global providers of temperature-monitoring products and indicators.
  • Digital supply chain network Elemica acquired ProcessWeaver, a multicarrier parcel transportation management solutions provider.
  • Third-party logistics provider Terra Worldwide Logistics acquired international and domestic freight solutions provider Connect Global Logistics.
  • Supply chain management company Magnate Worldwide acquired non-asset freight forwarding services provider Hybrid International Forwarding.
  • Connecticut-based XPO Logistics, a provider of global freight transportation and logistics services, acquired the majority of Kuehne + Nagel’s contract logistics operations in the U.K. and Ireland.

Up the Chain

  • DeeDee Cox was promoted to vice president of human resources at Old Dominion Freight Line. A 13-year veteran with the company, Cox leads the regional human resources teams and oversees talent acquisition.
  • David Hatch was named senior director of business development at Saddle Creek Logistics Services. Hatch brings more than two decades of warehousing and systems experience, and recently led the team that implemented warehousing and order management solutions.

Good Works

  • cargo-partner teamed up with local organizations and donated 12 containers to assist people who were left homeless after an earthquake hit central Croatia. Each container is equipped with basic furniture and facilities, including four beds as well as a kitchen, heater, and bathroom.
  • Through a $500,000 grant from Darden Restaurants and support from its partners Penske Truck Leasing and Lineage Logistics, five Feeding America food bans will each receive a 26-foot refrigerated box truck to increase access to food in areas with high levels of food insecurity.
  • RLS Logistics, a third-party logistics provider specializing in temperature-controlled logistics, donated 365,291 plates of food to charities in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Utah through its Pallets 4 Plates program.
  • Transportation and logistics services provider Schneider donated a refrigerated trailer to Feeding America Eastern Wisconsin. The 53-foot trailer will be used to transport fresh produce and other perishables

Recognition

  • Reddaway received Johnson Controls’ 2020 Regional Freight Carrier of the Year award for its on-time performance, ease of doing business, damage claim ratio, EDI compliance, and invoice accuracy.
  • The Maryland Department of Transportation Maryland Port Administration received the American Association of Port Authorities’ Award of Excellence for Environmental Mitigation for a project that removes excess nutrient pollution in Baltimore Harbor.