IN BRIEF: New Services and Solutions

Technology

• Pio (Product In/Out), a plug-and-play version of AutoStore’s cube storage technology tailored for small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs), is now available in North America. Based on a pay-per-pick service model, Pio allows SMBs, such as retailers of apparel, sporting goods, crafts, and cosmetics, to deploy robotic automation for storage and distribution for a relatively low investment. Retailers pay a fee per item picked; robots, ports, and software are owned and maintained by Pio.
• Front AGV solutions cover a range of processes, from machine tending, assembly and labeling, to picking, packing, and palletizing. Front AGV, an integrator and designer of automated guided vehicles (AGVs), partnered with Kollmorgen Automation, which provides a customizable software and hardware solution for vehicle routing and navigation, to boost its AGV solutions.
• The drone-powered inventory monitoring solution from Gather AI creates a digital representation of the warehouse to elevate inventory accuracy. Warehouse managers are able to take inventory and view the results from a dashboard, identify and fix inventory inaccuracies, and trace the history of a pallet or location.

Products

• EcoSonic ESD Self-Seal Bubble Bags provide corrosion protection for metal components. Corrosion inhibitors form a protective molecular layer on packaged metals, making this packaging product suitable for electronic parts and electric vehicle components.
• ORBIS added the 40×48 Odyssey Low Profile pallet to its reusable plastic pallet line. Designed to provide repeatable performance with automated equipment, it has a low-profile 5.6-inch height and can carry 2,800-pound-plus loads.
• The PullBuddy Automatic Guided Vehicle from ResGreen Group International can transport loads up to 450 pounds up and down inclines of 5 degrees or less. The vehicle is designed to clear ramp entry, exit, and cresting.
• Designed to produce fluffy paper pads for void filling in large and medium-sized boxes, Storopack’s new PAPERplus Dragonfly machine can reduce the amount of paper used in packaging. Adjustable to three different speeds, the machine produces between 160 to 200 feet of extra-wide crimped paper pads per minute.

Services

• Logistics Plus opened a 1.1 million-square-foot warehouse in the greater Phoenix area. The new warehouse, located at the NEC Loop 303 and Bethany Home Road intersection in Glendale, Arizona, offers freeway access, 395 trailer stalls, and 40-foot ceilings.
• Performance Team is supporting cold chains in the U.S. Gulf with its new cold storage facility in Houston, Texas. Within a one-day drive, customers can reach the markets of San Antonio, Dallas, Laredo, McAllen, New Orleans, and Mobile. The facility introduces a 90-foot refrigerated loading dock section for trucks to streamline loading and unloading of refrigerated cargoes.
• Hellmann Worldwide Logistics now offers specialized logistics services for the consumer goods, technology, and industrial sectors. The consumer goods service provides global transportation solutions, sets up online stores, and lends support at the point of sale; the industrial and technology solutions offer supply and returns management.
• CEVA Logistics opened a multi-client warehouse in Bogota, Colombia, to serve its technology, industrial, and automotive clients. The new facility consolidates the operations of three former sites in Colombia and adds space for new customers.

Transportation

• DHL Express launched a direct flight to the Dominican Republic from the United States. Operated by Swift Air, the flight runs 5 times per week between Américas International Airport and the DHL Hub at the Miami International Airport.
• Sterling Transportation now offers an LTL and FL service out of Miami into Texas. Leveraging its service into Florida from Dallas and Houston, the provider enhanced the return lane.
• PITT OHIO added 32 next-day lanes to and from New York state. Shippers gain one-day transit times from 9 of PITT OHIO’s terminals to and from Albany, Buffalo, and Utica to Mid-Atlantic terminals. Five PITT OHIO terminals in the Mid-Atlantic are now next-day to and from Watertown, New York.
• ZIM Shipping Lines doubled its service from Asia to Maryland, increasing its E-commerce Baltimore Express frequency from every two weeks to weekly.
• GEODIS expanded its GEODIS MyParcel product, its direct-to-customer cross-border delivery offering, with a new air zone skip service from the United States to Canada. U.S. retail shippers now have a faster method to ship into Canada, as the new service consolidates shipments via air transport with final delivery to the end consumer, bypassing multiple touchpoints.