NOTED: Supply Chain Highlights

Good Works

• Flood victims in KwaZulu-Natal, a coastal South African province, received a donation of more than 400 pairs of shoes from Bolloré Logistics USA. Bolloré partnered with Boots for Africa and sponsored the donation’s transportation and logistics requirements.

Up the Chain

• Long-term Target executive Gretchen McCarthy was named the retailer’s executive vice president and chief supply chain and logistics officer. McCarthy has held a wide range of leadership roles across the company, in supply chain transformation, merchandise planning, and buying.
• Tamera Fenske was appointed Kimberly-Clark’s chief supply chain officer with global responsibilities for procurement, manufacturing, logistics, transportation, safety, and sustainability. Most recently, Fenske served as senior vice president of manufacturing and supply chain for 3M Company.
• Metro Supply Chain tapped Chris Fenton as president and CEO. Previously, Fenton served as managing director and executive team member at Wincanton Plc, a UK supply chain solutions company.

Sealed Deals

• Global athletic brand Puma deployed Manhattan Associates’ WMS at its largest distribution center in China, an approximately 753,000-square-foot facility in Taicang, Jiangsu Province.
• WEG, which manufactures around 19 million electrical motors annually, selected Logility’s Digital Supply Chain Platform to support its global supply network management. WEG chose Logility’s demand planning tool to support inventory replenishment in its U.S. distribution business.
• Valvoline selected OMP’s Unison Planning to drive business transformation. OMP will assist Valvoline with tools to streamline decision-making cycles, increase supply chain visibility, and predict demand more precisely.
• Confluent Medical Technologies, which designs, develops, and manufactures medical devices, now uses the Kinaxis RapidResponse platform to improve planning accuracy and inventory management.
• Parts Town, a global distributor of OEM parts for the foodservice industry, debuted a pilot program with Uber Technologies to provide two-hour, last-mile delivery service to Chicago-area foodservice operators and service technicians.
• Global construction engineering company Aegion selected Ivalua’s cloud-based spend management solution to help digitally transform its procurement and supply chain operations.
• WINIT, a Chinese cross-border warehouse operator, partnered with robotic systems manufacturer HAI Robotics to deploy around 100 robots to help pick and sort at WINIT’s approximately 322,000-square-foot warehouse near Birmingham, England.

M&A

• To strengthen its presence in Mexico and expand temperature-controlled storage and transportation infrastructure, DHL Supply Chain acquired pharmaceutical and healthcare logistics specialist NTA-New Transport Applications.
• Transportation and logistics firm GEODIS acquired Need It Now Delivers to increase its U.S. contract logistics and last-mile delivery capabilities.
• Asset-based pallet management services provider PLA acquired TaylorMade Pallets & Logistics, a family-owned provider of new, recycled, remanufactured, and custom-sized pallets.
• Heartland Express announced a $525-million deal to acquire from TFI International its Contract Freighters non-dedicated U.S. dry van and temperature-controlled truckload business and CFI Logistica operations in Mexico.
• RoadOne IntermodaLogistics is growing its national footprint with two acquisitions: Wilmac Enterprises, a domestic intermodal and drayage company in Fort Worth, Texas, and R&A Trucking Company based in Oakland, California.
• Charlotte-based third-party logistics brokerage HTL Freight acquired Illinois-based 3PL ATTS Logistics to expand its less-than-truckload offering.

Recognition

• CFI won the 2021 Best in Cargo Security Award, large motor carrier category, from CargoNet Group. CargoNet cited CFI for overall exemplary performance, lauding its security and fraud prevention program that uses machine learning algorithms and predictive analytics to identify and anticipate cargo theft threats.
• Schneider was recognized by Forbes as a Best Employer for Women in 2022. Determined by an independent survey from a sample of 50,000 U.S. employees—30,000 of whom are women—the honor validates Schneider’s commitment to workforce diversity. Women make up 10% of Schneider’s drivers and 41% of leadership roles across the organization.

Green Seeds

• Renault Trucks opened a used parts factory in Vénissieux, France, where the company will dismantle trucks and reuse parts. To reduce its natural resource usage and the environmental impact of its fleet, the company is transitioning to a circular-economy approach.
• Lufthansa Cargo now uses a new, thinner type of film consisting of 10% recycled plastic. The company also set a goal to increase the recycled content of its plastic film to 30% by 2025.
• As part of its commitment to tackling climate change, Cathay Pacific extended its Fly Greener program to air cargo services. A carbon-offset program powered by an integrated carbon emissions calculator, Fly Greener enables shippers to purchase carbon offsets via their air waybill number.
• To accelerate its energy transition and achieve net-zero carbon by 2050, CMA CGM Group launched a $1.5-billion Special Fund for Energies. The fund helps support industrial production of new fuels and low-emission mobility solutions to be used across the group’s maritime, land and air freight, port, and logistics services units.