Noted: The Supply Chain In Brief-Dec 2021

Good Works

  • Participating in the Pink October global breast cancer initiative, Bollore Transport & Logistics provided free screenings to employees in Côte d’Ivoire, Guinea, and Italy at partner health centers or in their workplace. The company is also working with Florida Mobile Mammography to offer 3D mammograms to employees.
  • Ruan and Bobcat accepted an Outstanding Disability Employer Award from the Minnesota Organization for Habilitation and Rehabilitation for partnering with Rise, a nonprofit that supports people with disabilities. Rise provides two groups of people to work six hours per day at a facility where Ruan houses and distributes thousands of Bobcat parts and products.
  • Old Dominion Freight Line is partnering with the United Service Organizations (USO) to support active service members and their families, and provide resources that help service members prepare to transition out of the military. As part of the partnership, Old Dominion will make an annual contribution to the USO.


Shovel Ready

  • Walmart plans to open a 1.5 million-square-foot automated fulfillment center in 2023 and a 730,000-square-foot grocery distribution center in 2024 near Dallas-Fort Worth to support its growing supply chain network.
  • GE Appliances will invest $450 million at its Appliance Park headquarters and manufacturing site in 2023 to upgrade the facilities, expand capacity, and launch new products.

Green Seeds

  • Blue Bottle Coffee aims to achieve carbon neutrality by 2024 for its products and packaging, from sourcing to end-of-life emissions. The company reduced emissions in its coffee sourcing, electricity, dairy, and waste, and is scaling regenerative agriculture.
  • Dachser will only purchase electricity generated from renewable resources, and will ramp up its in-house renewable energy generation. The freight company will also install photovoltaic systems on its European logistics facilities and office buildings.
  • Duke Realty targets carbon neutrality for its operations by 2025 as well as carbon neutrality in line with the Paris Climate Accords by 2040. The company continues to build only energy-efficient facilities.

M&A

  • Global supply chain solutions provider AIT Worldwide Logistics agreed to acquire New York-based Select Express & Logistics, a final-mile delivery and assembly services provider for oversized goods.
  • Rockwell Automation acquired AVATA, a services provider for supply chain management, enterprise resource planning, and enterprise performance management solutions.
  • PS Logistics subsidiary P&S Transportation acquired all transportation assets of JLT Services.
  • Uber Freight acquired transportation management software company Transplace.
  • Denmark-based A.P. Moller-Maersk will acquire freight forwarder Senator International along with two Boeing aircraft.

Recognition

  • Geek+, a global autonomous mobile robot company, received the Supply Chain Excellence Innovation Award 2021 for its robotic sorting solution. The award recognizes companies that excel in their global supply chain operations.
  • Penske Logistics received the North America Supplier Award from aluminum rolling and recycling company Novelis. Penske is an essential component of Novelis’ closed-loop aluminum supply chain serving automakers. The award recognizes Penske’s outstanding performance in overall logistics while receiving the best score from Novelis’ key carriers throughout North America in 2020.

Sealed Deals

  • Port Manatee is collaborating with Del Monte Fresh Produce to keep the company’s fruit imports coming into the seaport through at least 2026, with options through 2036. Coral Gables, the Florida-based Del Monte unit, will lease Port Manatee’s warehouse facilities through at least August 2026.
  • Metapack, an e-commerce delivery technology, was selected to run global shipping and returns services for coffee company Nespresso to enhance its consumer experience. Metapack provides Nespresso with a global standardized suite of products as it streamlines delivery and returns operations. It also removes the complexities around carrier integrations and management.

Up the Chain

  • Global philanthropy company Good360 named Susan Brownell as the newest addition to its board of directors. Brownell is an experienced supply chain executive, with a 34-year federal career in the Department of the Navy and the U.S. Postal Service, where she oversaw billions of dollars of inventory. She will help utilize more than 100,000 diverse nonprofit partners and socially responsible companies.
  • Seattle-based outdoor retailer REI Co-op hired Cameron Janes as its new senior vice president and first-ever chief commercial officer to help create a seamless physical and digital experience. Janes previously served more than 14 years at Amazon, most recently as a vice president working on the company’s physical retail stores.

Milestones

  • Georgia-Pacific, a manufacturer and distributor of consumer packaged goods, is the first company to perform autonomous yard operations in a production environment. Autonomous yard operations provider Outrider completed 1,000 autonomous, zero-emission trailer moves at Georgia-Pacific’s Chicago distribution center.
  • On-demand transportation management system and freight audit solution provider Fortigo Collaborative Logistics celebrates its 20th anniversary. Founded by George Kontoravdis in 2001, the company provides on-demand decision-making opportunities for optimal supply chain execution on behalf of large, multinational enterprises operating with unique logistics requirements.