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NOTED: The Supply Chain In Brief-May 2021

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Good Works

  • Yogurt maker Yoplait donated a 53-foot refrigerated trailer to Feeding America West Michigan to help address insufficient infrastructure at the food bank’s Cadillac branch. The new truck, which can hold 45,000 pounds of food, allows the food bank to safely deliver cold food products to those in need across the Northwest region of its 40-county service area.
  • Target donated $1 million to nonprofits providing free transportation to vaccine sites through Lyft’s Universal Vaccine Access campaign. The retailer also donated $500,000 to support UNICEF’s efforts in working with manufacturers on the transportation, logistics, and storage of vaccines in low-income countries.


Shovel Ready

  • Amazon plans to open a 635,000-square-foot distribution facility at the Cascade Industrial Center in Washington state. The five-story building will have a 212,000-square-foot mezzanine and another 494,000 square feet of space on the other floors. The building will house 51 loading docks and a footprint equal to 10 football fields.
  • Saddle Creek Logistics Services is opening a 544,320-square-foot e-commerce fulfillment center in Walton, Kentucky. The facility is equipped with high ceilings, 110 dock doors, and storage for retail and manufacturing distribution. The center also offers value-added services, returns management, and parcel shipping programs.

M&A

  • Pilot Freight Services, a transportation and logistics services provider, acquired DSI Logistics, a California-based provider of last-mile delivery for hard-to-handle goods.
  • Supply chain tracking technology provider FourKites acquired transportation management provider Haven.
  • Magnate Worldwide acquired ASAP Expediting & Logistics, which specializes in time-sensitive shipments.
  • Seaboard Transportation Group, a transporter of bulk petroleum and chemical products, acquired freight trucking company Armour Transportation Systems.
  • Freight marketplace Truckstop.com acquired Registry Monitoring Insurance Services, an automated onboarding and monitoring services provider for the transportation industry.
  • Accenture acquired REPL Group, a U.K.-based technology consultancy specializing in solutions for supply chain, workforce management, store operations, and retail customer experiences.

Recognition

  • The Women In Trucking Association honored Emma Leonard, supply chain management executive vice president at Visible, with the 2021 Top Woman To Watch award for fostering growth, helping customers, and mentoring other women leaders. The award recognizes her leadership and what she has achieved while overseeing transportation and procurement.
  • Global logistics company C.H. Robinson’s transportation management system, Freightview, has been recognized as the FedEx 2021 Compatible Solution of the Year. The platform was selected for its innovative approach to freight automation and parcel connectivity for small- and mid-sized businesses and e-commerce customers.
  • Peak-Ryzex received the Supply Chain Solutions Partner of the Year award from Ivanti-Wavelink for exceptional performance as a key partner in 2020. The award is based on total revenue for the year, product sales growth, and similar metrics. This is the fifth year in a row Peak-Ryzex has been recognized with the award.

Sealed Deals

  • Argentina-based organic beverage company CBSe selected Dachser Argentina to manage export logistics for its yerba mate shipments to the Mexican market as global demand for the herbal tea increases. Dachser’s global network helps ensure efficient, reliable transport for this high-demand product, and allows CBSé to focus on growing its business globally.
  • DHL and Formula 1 extended their global partnership. DHL remains the official logistics partner of Formula 1 and will continue to ship race cars, fuel and oil, equipment for the racing teams, and transmission technology around the world.
  • Northern Refrigerated Transportation integrated the SmartDrive video-based safety program from Omnitracs, an SaaS-based fleet management solutions provider, to its in-cab technology suite. The program enables visibility into each driver’s scores, coaches them, and provides results quickly.

Green Seeds

  • Nissan Motor plans to use cobalt-free electric vehicle batteries by the mid-2020s, as the rare metal falls into short supply. The automaker aims to reduce the cost of its electric vehicles without affecting the range of the cars on a single charge. By using cobalt-free batteries, Nissan expects to reduce cobalt’s composition ratio to about 10% for its Aria electric vehicle, which will be introduced later in 2021.
  • UPS agreed to purchase 10 electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft from Beta Technologies, and will test them in its express delivery network. When an eVTOL aircraft battery’s first life cycle ends, it can be reused for the company’s 10,000 electric vehicles.
  • Home furnishings retailer IKEA and clothing retailer H&M partnered on a large-scale study to address textile recycling obstacles and help retailers shift to a circular economy. Both companies pledge to use only recycled, renewable, or other sustainably sourced materials by 2030.

Up the Chain

  • Logistics real estate firm Duke Realty promoted Susan Bergdoll to senior vice president of leasing and development and leader of its Chicago, Minneapolis, and Indianapolis markets. Bergdoll joined the company in 1997 and advanced to many roles, most recently as vice president of leasing and development.
  • Tony Zuazo has been promoted to executive vice president of global supply chain at discount retailer Dollar General. Zuazo joined the company in 2010 as senior director of inventory and planning systems and has held positions of increasing authority, most recently serving as senior vice president of inventory and transportation.

Milestone

  • Hub Group celebrated its 50th anniversary by ringing the Nasdaq Stock Exchange opening bell. The transportation and logistics company was founded in 1971, and has expanded its capabilities since then to provide end-to-end solutions for customers across various industries, including retail, healthcare, consumer packaged goods, and automotive.