NOTED | The Supply Chain in Brief

SHOVEL READY

  • Online home goods and furniture retailer Overstock.com is set to open a 517,000-square-foot distribution center in Kansas City, Kansas. The new warehouse allows Overstock to offer two-day ground shipping to nearly every customer in the contiguous United States. The retailer intends to expand the distribution center’s operations to include returns processing.

Sealed Deals

  • Pet food and treats maker American Nutrition chose Janam Technologies’ XG3-ER gun-shaped, rugged mobile computers to improve operations across three facilities. The company selected Janam’s devices to improve supply chain visibility, increase employee productivity, and run its WMS.
  • The U.S. Army chose Boeing subsidiary Tapestry Solutions to provide in-transit visibility for ground transportation logistics in the U.S. Central Command’s area of operations. Using a centralized database that links cargo movements with vehicles equipped with GPS-based transponders, Tapestry’s global distribution management system tracks and manages civilian contractors moving Army equipment and supplies throughout Kuwait, the Trans-Arabian Network, and Iraq.

  • Glanbia Performance Nutrition, a sports nutrition products maker, entered a five-year agreement with contract logistics provider DHL Supply Chain for warehousing, a warehouse management system, and e-commerce support at Glanbia’s 452,000-square-foot facility in North Aurora, Illinois. The facility serves Glanbia Performance Nutrition’s customers all over the world.

m&a

  • Supply chain solutions provider AIT Worldwide Logistics acquired WorldFresh Express, a freight forwarder specializing in perishable food products. The acquisition expands AIT’s cold chain capabilities by adding operational knowledge as well as a 13,800-square-foot temperature-controlled facility in Los Angeles. The West Coast facility has distinct zones to hold frozen, refrigerated, and fresh foods.
  • Supply chain software provider E2open acquired transportation management systems provider Cloud Logistics. The deal lets E2open offer shippers a unified supply chain platform, providing visibility, collaboration, planning, and execution.
  • Universal Logistics Holdings, an asset-light provider of customized transportation and logistics solutions, acquired Specialized Rail Service (SRS), in a deal that lets Universal further expand into the western United States. With facilities in Clearfield, Utah and Las Vegas, SRS offers intermodal drayage services, as well as transloading, crossdocking, warehousing and distribution, and intermodal facility management.
  • Logistics solutions provider Odyssey Logistics & Technology acquired 3PL AFF Global Logistics. The acquisition lets Odyssey offer an end-to-end supply chain solution, supporting its strategy of operating an asset-light logistics business with the scale to support shippers and carriers worldwide.

UP THE CHAIN

  • DeRoy Bryant joined Inteva Products, a Tier One automotive supplier of engineered components and systems, as vice president of global supply chain management. Bryant brings more than 25 years of experience in procurement, supply chain management, and supplier diversity program development.

Good works

  • Volga-Dnepr Airlines organized a delivery of critical aid relief cargo to help victims of Typhoon Mangkhut in Guam. Within 8.5 hours of the customer’s confirmation, Volga-Dnepr Airlines positioned one of its An-124-100 freighters at the airport of departure to load a shipment of 64 tons of food supplies and bottled water. The expedited loading process was completed in three hours.

GREEN SEEDS

  • Materials handling company Crown Equipment achieved zero landfill status for its Troy, Ohio, manufacturing facility—its sixth location earning this designation. As a result of employees recycling and reusing waste when possible at the location, Crown expects to divert more than 6,000 pounds of the facility’s waste from landfills each year.
  • Averitt Express received the 2018 Tennessee Sustainable Transportation Award from the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation, in partnership with the Tennessee Department of Transportation. The award recognizes the carrier for increasing the fuel economy of its fleet; Averitt’s recent improvements include auxiliary power units, three-minute idle shutdown technology, and aerodynamic side skirts.

recognition

  • Southeastern Freight Lines, a provider of regional LTL transportation services, recognized Malcom Bryant for driving 50 years with no accidents. He received the award during the company’s annual Safety and Service Awards celebration. Bryant is the first Southeastern driver to reach this safety milestone.
  • LTL transportation services provider Dayton Freight Lines earned the 2017 Carrier of the Year Award from transportation logistics company J.B. Hunt for the third time. Dayton Freight was recognized for on-time pickup and delivery performance, customer service, EDI compliance, and responsiveness.
  • American Logistics Aid Network (ALAN) recognized The Shippers Group with its Outstanding Contribution Award for donating space and labor that helped non-profits provide comfort to families returning home to Dallas and Atlanta after Hurricane Harvey and clean up Caribbean communities after Hurricane Irma and HurricanMaria. ALAN also recognized Estes Express Lines, The Home Depot, MIT’s Humanitarian Supply Chain Lab, and LIFT Non-Profit Logistics for their humanitarian achievements.