Noted: The Supply Chain in Brief-Apr 2020

Green Seeds

  • The Port of Indiana-Burns Harbor and South Shore Clean Cities reduced diesel emissions throughout the port and started several sustainable projects, such as constructing a trucker lounge and paved truck-marshalling yard.
  • H&M is sharing its sustainable supply chain expertise—in everything from product development and sourcing to production and logistics—with smaller brands. The fast-fashion retailer aims to be carbon-neutral by 2030.

Shovel Ready

  • BMW Group broke ground on a fully automated automobile manufacturing plant in San Luis Potosi, Mexico. The central car body storage facility is equipped with three stacker cranes that can store and retrieve 180 cars per hour.

  • Amazon plans to build two operations facilities in Virginia, including a multistory robotics fulfillment center in Suffolk and a 650,000-square-foot processing center in Chesapeake.

M&A

  • 3Gtms, a transportation management software provider, acquired Pacejet, a provider of enterprise cloud-based, multicarrier shipping software.
  • Enterprise software solutions provider Aptean acquired U.K.-based Paragon Software Systems, a transportation management software solution.
  • BluJay Solutions acquired Expedient Software, a provider of customs and forwarding software in Australia and New Zealand.
  • C.H. Robinson acquired Prime Distribution Services from Roadrunner Transportation Systems.
    Software-as-a-Service solutions provider Descartes Systems Group acquired warehouse management solutions provider Peoplevox.
  • German materials handling equipment manufacturer KION Group acquired Digital Applications International Limited, a U.K.-based software company.
  • Trimble Transportation acquired transportation management system provider Kuebix.

Up the Chain

  • Target Corporation hired Heath Holtz as senior vice president of field operations, overseeing the retailer’s supply chain and logistics field network. Holtz comes to Target from Nissan Motor Corporation, where he most recently served as senior vice president of manufacturing, supply chain management, and purchasing in North America.

Sealed Deals

  • ASICS selected robotics company Magazino for its mobile-picking technology. The sports retailer will use the robots at its distribution center in Germany to automate the picking process in its shoe warehouse.
    Odyssey Logistics & Technology signed a multiyear managed logistics service agreement with global petrochemical products manufacturer Trecora Resources.
  • Boeing, through its subsidiary Tapestry Solutions, secured a five-year U.S. Air Force contract to modernize its Global Decision Support System, the platform that supports Air Mobility Command missions.
  • Wurth IT, the IT service provider for wholesaler Wurth Group, selected NiceLabel, a developer of label design software and label management systems, to create a standardized supplier labeling process via the NiceLabel Label Management System, a web-based printing solution.

Good Works

  • Partnering with the Good Shepherd food bank in Maine, L.L. Bean is using its shipping hub to pack food for pantries across the state. The retailer’s workers sort and package food in boxes that Good Shepherd ships to food pantries in all 16 counties.
  • Quick Cargo, based in Germany, supported several humanitarian aid shipments to China. Hainan Airlines transported the equipment between Berlin and Beijing with logistics support from Quick Cargo in both countries.
    Transplace donated $150,000 plus its advanced logistics technology and services to Feeding America, and helped plan a new food bank hub that will serve as a distribution center in Northern California.
  • RLS Logistics, a temperature-controlled logistics provider, created the Pallets 4 Plates program. Every pallet moved through its employees’ work triggers a charitable donation, which totaled 305,500 plates of food supplied to charities in 2019.

Recognition

  • The LTL Carrier Customer Value/Loyalty Benchmarking Survey ranked Averitt as the No. 1 interregional less-than-truckload carrier and the No. 3 carrier nationwide. Shippers rated carriers based on performance, pricing, and customer service.
  • Sam’s Club recognized Saddle Creek Logistics Services as its Logistics Partner of the Year for having two distribution centers in the top nine Operations Index rankings and achieving operational and financial benchmarks.
  • Ascent Global Logistics’ Ascent On-Demand expedited solutions team received Yanfeng Automotive Interiors’ Supplier Excellence —Customer Satisfaction Award, honoring its commitment to excellence.
  • CN was recognized as one of Canada’s Best Diversity Employers and one of Canada’s Top 100 Employers for 2020.
  • Kenco Logistics was named the Top Woman-Owned Supplier by General Mills. The logistics company is certified by the Women’s Business Enterprise National Council for its commitment to diversity.
  • Logistics Plus founder and chief executive officer Jim Berlin was recognized with a CEO Great Place to Work For All Leadership Award for his industry-leading commitment to corporate responsibility.
  • Southeastern Freight Lines was recognized as the 2019 LTL Carrier of the Year by the Hillman Group, a hardware solutions provider, for its exceptional transportation services to distribution centers and customers throughout North America.