Earlier this month, Chicago-based FourKites, a provider of real-time tracking and visibility solutions across transportation modes and digital platforms, and Boston-based supply chain visibility services provider Tive announced that they have partnered up in an effort to provide an integrated platform for mutual customers that combines various types of in-transit data—beyond shipment visibility—that will give customers a more complete end-customer experience. The types of in-transit data that comprise the platform include: location, market-leading ETAs, and temperature and light exposure, shipper load location and condition, according to FourKites and Tive. What’s more, citing strained supply chains, coupled with increases of consumer…
A report recently issued by Chicago-based FourKites, a provider of real-time tracking and visibility solutions across transportation modes and digital platforms, examined how yard management can present a “massive and costly blind spot” for shippers and their supply chain partners. The report, entitled “The State of Yard Management: Industry Report 2021,” was based on feedback from 375 respondents in various sectors, including consumer packaged goods (CPG), food & beverage, retail and manufacturing, with a focus on how shippers in various sectors and approach specific pain points, among other topics. The report observed that 92% of its respondents maintain that a…
A report issued late last year by San Francisco-based real estate investment trust company Prologis examined some challenges the logistics real estate sector has been up against, in the form of a shortage of skilled labor and well-located logistics space. The report, entitled “Automation and Logistics Real Estate #2: How Automation Can Help Navigate Urgent Supply Chain Challenges,” is the second in a series issued by Prologis. The first report, “Automation and Logistics Real Estate #1: The State of Automation in Supply Chains,” was issued last November. In addition to the shortage of skilled labor and well-located logistics space, the…
Los Angeles-based Port Logistics Group (PLG), an omnichannel logistics services provider, recently announced it has teamed up with Wilmington, Mass.-based Locus Robotics, a provider of autonomous mobile robots for warehouses for a major initiative at PLG’s facility in Chino, Calif., in which PLG will deploy more than 150 autonomous mobile robots, or LocusBots, for its fulfillment processes. The companies said that this collaboration will augment warehouse productivity, order pick accuracy, and workplace ergonomics and safety. And they added that PLG and Whiplash, PLG’s end-to-end e-commerce platform are well-positioned to meet the ongoing surge in e-commerce demand, which has been a…
Logistics Management Group News Editor Jeff Berman recently spoke with Rick MacDonald, DHL Supply Chain, President, Retail Sector, North America, about varous topics, including the COVID-19 pandemic, final mile logistics, and Peak Season, among others. MacDonald was appointed to his current role in May and has been in the supply chain sector for more than 30 years. MacDonald joined DHL Supply Chain in 2006 and, for the last decade prior to May, served as VP, Retail, DHL Supply Chain North America. Logistics Management (LM): How would you characterize the last six months, or so, going back to the onset of…
A collaboration, in the form of a United States service logistics agreement, was announced today between DHL Supply Chain, a subsidiary of global logistics services provider DHL, and Siemens Healthineers, a medical technology company, and subsidiary of Siemens AG. DHL officials said that this collaboration will have a sharp emphasis on digital and robotics technology usage, in order for the Siemens Healthineers supply chain, specifically its U.S.-based Customer Service Material Logistics Unit, to provide continuous quality and cost improvements, which, in turn, are expected to result in strong delivery performance and customer satisfaction levels. A major component of this collaboration…
A collaboration among a trio of name-brand companies—global contract logistics services provider DHL Supply Chain, technology giant Microsoft, and Blue Yonder (formerly JDA), a provider of AI-driven and end-to-end supply chain management services—announced today they have rolled out what they called a “plug and play” robotics platform. The companies said that this platform significantly reduces integration time and programming efforts, in order to on-board new automation devices into warehouse facilities, which, in turn, provides shippers with more flexibility in selecting robotics systems geared towards their specific business needs, while leveraging Microsoft Azure IoT and cloud platform services. This platform was…
It is fair to say that the COVID-19 pandemic has had a jarring impact on retail supply chains in myriad ways, in terms of how retailers had to respond and react to a new way of handling their supply chain operations. That was made clear in the findings of a recent study published by Blue Yonder (formerly JDA), a provider of AI-driven and end-to-end supply chain management services, and WMG, an academic department at the University of Warwick, England that provides research, education and knowledge transfer in engineering, manufacturing and technology. Data and feedback in the study, which was administered…
Atlanta-based global transportation and logistics bellwether UPS said this week its UPS Supply Chain Solutions group has rolled out a new Warehouse Execution System (WES) offering, entitled Smart Warehouse Technology, with a focus on augmenting distribution center efficiency. Company officials said that this new WES, which was developed by UPS and Softeon, a provider of supply chain technology services, is geared towards enabling faster intake and fulfillment for customers, notably those with fluctuating order patterns, are able to get products on time. And they added that this new WES enables UPS to define specific customer requirements so that the highest…
DHL Supply Chain, a contract logistics services provider and subsidiary of Deutsche Post DHL Group, recently announced it has expanded its partnership with Locus Robotics, a provider of autonomous mobile robots (AMR) for fulfillment warehouses. The key component of this expanded partnership, according to DHL, is ten new, nationwide deployments of the Locus AMR solution, through and Expanded Multi-Site Services Agreement. Today, DHL Supply Chain has roughly 100 bots deployed in two locations, according to Jim Gehr, President, Retail, at DHL Supply Chain North America. Gehr added that with this announcement, DHL is targeting that number to be roughly 1,000…
Waltham, Mass.-based 6 River Systems (6RS), a provider of collaborative warehouse solutions and subsidiary of multi-channel commerce platform Shopify, said today that it has rolled out various enhancements to Chuck, its collaborative mobile robot. 6RS officials explained that the company’s solution is able to manage the entire fulfillment workflow, ranging from putaway to picking, sorting, and packing. And they added that the new improvements to its order allocation algorithm and organizations to batch, zone, and other picking methodologies focus on cutting down on associate walking in the warehouse, coupled with new modular and larger multi-level workspaces, help to make Chuck…
A strategic partnership between Locus Robotics, a Wilmington, Mass.-based provider of autonomous mobile robots for warehouses, and HighJump, a Minneapolis-based global Provider of supply chain management software solutions and subsidiary of Körber Logistics Systems, was announced yesterday. The companies said they will collaborate to facilitate the development of integration tools allowing for faster, seamless implementations to improve productivity and efficiency for shared retail and 3PL customers, as well as establish HighJump as a licensed retailer of Locus’s autonomous, multi-robot solution for warehouse fulfillment, too. HighJump and Körber Logistics Systems Vice President Robotics John Santagate explained that there were various drivers…
