Noted: The Supply Chain in Brief-May 2018

In Memoriam

D. Allen Lund, founder of truck brokerage firm Allen Lund Company, passed away on April 7, 2018. He was 77. In 1976, with $1,000 in his bank account, Lund founded the Allen Lund Company, now headquartered in La Cañada, California. Over the past 42 years, he saw the company grow to offices in 34 cities and 470 employees brokering 365,000 truckloads annually.

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Ryder System, a provider of fleet management, dedicated transportation, and supply chain solutions, bolstered its omnichannel fulfillment capabilities by purchasing MXD Group, an e-commerce fulfillment provider. Ryder acquired 109 MXD e-commerce fulfillment facilities across the United States and Canada, as well as proprietary order management and visibility technology.

ORBIS Corporation, a reusable packaging provider and part of Menasha Corporation, acquired Response Packaging, which designs and manufactures reusable custom dunnage and fabricated steel rack solutions. The acquisition includes Response Packaging’s design, testing, and manufacturing facilities in Piedmont and Greenville, South Carolina; Auburn Hills, Michigan; and León, Mexico.

UNEX Manufacturing, a maker of order picking solutions, purchased SpeedCell Storage Systems, which manufactures SpeedCell dynamic high-density storage solutions. SpeedCell’s products complement UNEX’s Span-Track Carton Flow and Flow Cell (pictured) product lines, bringing a high-density storage medium to the pick, putaway, or assembly line.

Sealed Deals

Protein processing company Perdue Foods selected FourKites, a supply chain visibility and predictive analytics platform, to provide real-time temperature and location tracking of shipments across its supply chain. Perdue Foods leverages FourKites’ proprietary network of telematics device partnerships to capture the real-time temperature of refrigerated containers across North America, using FourKites Temperature. If a load temperature lands outside a pre-defined range, FourKites automatically triggers an alert to team members, who can take action before freshness is jeopardized.

Seiko UK, a subsidiary of Seiko Watch Corporation of Tokyo, Japan, partnered with Yusen Logistics to support its UK operation. Yusen Logistics now manages all inbound, storage, picking, and value-added activities from its Maidenhead site, where Seiko UK has been based since 1985. Working together, the companies have reengineered Seiko UK’s supply chain, including implementing a new warehouse management system, which processes retail and e-commerce deliveries.

Shovel Ready

Dermody Properties, a logistics real estate developer and manager, broke ground on a new industrial park in Woodinville, Washington, east of Seattle. Known as LogistiCenter at Woodinville, the park will consist of two buildings totaling 409,500 square feet. LogistiCenter at Woodinville will feature a total of 92 dock doors, eight grade-level doors, and a 32-foot clear height. Construction is expected to be complete in the fourth quarter of 2018. The facility’s location and truck maneuverability will complement distribution operations.

Green Seeds

Anheuser-Busch ordered 800 hydrogen-electric powered semi-trucks from Nikola Motor Company, a pioneer in hydrogen-electric renewable technology. The brewer will integrate the zero-emission trucks, designed to travel between 500 and 1,200 miles and be refilled within 20 minutes, into its dedicated fleet beginning in 2020. Once fully implemented, the carbon reductions gained from these 800 trucks will reduce Anheuser-Busch’s carbon emissions from logistics by more than 18 percent.

CHEP’s 40- x 24-inch pooled (shared and reused) half pallets have achieved carbon neutral status. CarbonNeutral certification is based on the CarbonNeutral Protocol, a sustainability program. Further enhancing the solution’s sustainability, CHEP, a Brambles company, calculates the carbon footprint of the platform, and then purchases carbon offset credits from offset retailer Natural Capital Partners. The credits benefit the Mississippi Alluvial Valley Reforestation Project, an effort supporting a key North American ecosystem.

Recognition

Supply chain solutions provider NFI received Lowe’s’ 2017 Transportation Partnership Award and was named its North Dedicated Carrier of the Year. Providing dedicated fleet solutions to the home improvement and appliance retailer, NFI was recognized for its dedication, commitment, and support.

Werner Enterprises, a transportation and logistics provider, received the Partner of the Year Award for 2017 from Dollar General. The retailer selected the carrier based on utilization, highest on-time service rates, and the best partnership.

Retail chain Sam’s Club gave logistics partner LEGACY Supply Chain Services its 2017 Third Party Provider of the Year Award for excellent service within its warehousing and transportation network. LEGACY was recognized for best-in-network productivity, reducing operating cost per unit, and operating four facilities ranked in the top six of the chain’s overall network operating index.

Shannon Vaillancourt, president and founder of logistics software provider RateLinx, was invited into the Forbes Technology Council, a hand-selected and exclusive community for world-class chief information officers, chief technology officers, and other technology executives.

Sealed Deals

Sports nutrition bar maker Active Nutrition International GmbH launched e-commerce channels in Germany and Austria using SaaS solutions provider Descartes Systems Group’s’ pixi* warehouse management system (WMS) to support order fulfillment for its PowerBar and Dymatize sports nutrition brands. Using the Descartes pixi* WMS, Active Nutrition International automates online order fulfillment across an integrated multichannel warehouse.