The Supply Chain in Brief

Shovel Ready

• Work is underway on a multipurpose cargo berth project at Florida’s Port Canaveral that will provide the infrastructure and capabilities to handle a wider range of heavy and oversized cargo, including commercial spacecraft components. Scheduled for completion in mid-2019, North Cargo Berth 8 on the port’s north side is designed and engineered as a multimodal/intermodal berth that will provide flexible capacity and capability to accommodate more diverse commerce at the port.

m&a

• • To establish a foothold in Cape Town (pictured) and Johannesburg, South Africa, freight forwarding and logistics company Panalpina acquired a majority stake in airfreight perishables specialist Skyservices. The move enables Panalpina to offer end-to-end solutions for perishables from South Africa to Europe, the Middle East, Far East, and the United States.
  • To expand its protective packaging solutions and design capabilities, Sealed Air Corporation acquired AFP, a fabricator of foam, corrugated, molded pulp, and wood packaging solutions. AFP specializes in custom-engineered protective packaging for retail, e-commerce, and direct shipping applications. Acquiring the company allows Sealed Air to better position its fabricated foam products.

• Shipping group CMA CGM reached a deal with Container Finance Ltd Oy to acquire container shipping and logistics business Containerships, as well as Container Finance’s holdings in Multi-Link Terminals Ltd and CD Holding Oy. Containerships specializes in the intra-European market and will strengthen CMA CGM’s intra-European offerings.
• BluJay Solutions, a provider of supply chain software and services, bought Grosvenor International Systems, a provider of customs and compliance solutions to the UK and European markets. With this acquisition, BluJay extends its integrated customs solutions.
• Pilot Freight Services, a provider of transportation and logistics services, acquired Manna Freight Systems, a final-mile logistics provider based in the Minneapolis/St. Paul metro area, to enhance final-mile service for furniture and appliance delivery. Pilot will leverage Manna’s network and expertise in final-mile delivery in the heavy and hard-to-handle category.

MILESTONES

• August 2018 marks Crane Worldwide Logistics’ 10 years of business operations. The logistics firm, launched by Jim Crane in Houston during the 2008 global financial crisis, has grown to be a solutions provider with more than 1,800 employees, with 120 locations in 26 countries.

recognition

• The Texas Motor Transport Association, a statewide trucking organization, recognized Dupré Logistics for its outstanding achievement in highway safety, for the Local over 10 Million Mile class, awarded in cooperation with the American Trucking Associations.
• Glenn Combs was selected by Ruan as its 2017 Driver of the Year from a pool of more than 4,400 professional drivers, based on length of service, safety performance, and exceptional customer service. Combs, who operates out of Phoenix, Arizona, and serves Ruan customer Holsum Bakery, has been with Ruan since 1996, logging more than 3.6 million miles during his 36 years as a professional truck driver.

GREEN SEEDS

• Levi Strauss & Co. set aggressive targets for reducing carbon emissions across its owned-and-operated facilities and global supply chain by 2025. This includes using 100-percent renewable electricity in company-owned facilities. By 2025, the apparel company aims to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 40 percent in its supply chain.

UP THE CHAIN

• Target Corp. named Gemma Kubat senior vice president, supply chain engineering and activation. Kubat leads the design, activation, and ongoing management of assets that support Target’s global supply chain and logistics network. She reports to Target’s executive vice president and chief supply chain officer.
• Lowe’s appointed former Walmart Inc. executive Donald E. Frieson executive vice president of supply chain. Frieson, an executive with more than 30 years of operations and supply chain experience, including 19 years at Walmart, is responsible for Lowe’s distribution centers, logistics, global sourcing, transportation and delivery services.

Sealed Deals

• Weis Markets, a food retailer operating 205 stores in Pennsylvania, Maryland, Delaware, New Jersey, and New York, turned to logistics technology provider Kuebix to improve supply chain visibility and control of its process flow, financials, and cost of goods. The retailer uses technology solution SupplierMAX to improve supplier behavior and increase warehouse efficiency.
• Service provider Daher took on warehousing responsibilities for approximately 28,000 handling tools used by Rolls-Royce to manufacture jet engines across its UK production network. Daher stocks the support tooling in a 100,000-square-foot warehouse at Doncaster, England, as well as dispatches tools to manufacturing sites.
• Specialty tools maker and distribution company Wizard Distribution is using the cloud-based Descartes ShipRush™ solution to streamline the fulfillment of e-commerce orders. Descartes ShipRush consolidates and executes orders for Wizard by integrating with the company’s online storefronts in the United States and more than 25 international distributors.