Industry Announcements

• ODW Logistics, Inc. has hired Carl W. Neverman as regional vice president, client solutions. In his new role, Neverman will identify and craft solutions for new business opportunities in ODW's growing and emerging markets throughout the U.S. while maintaining existing relationships. Neverman comes to ODW with over thirty years of transportation and warehousing experience. Prior to joining ODW he held senior management positions at Yusen Logistics, Inc. and Weber Logistics. He also holds leadership positions as the board president for WERC in Southern California and is on the board of advisors for Associated Warehouses, Inc. "His commitment to customer satisfaction is an integral part of our leadership team", said John Ness, president, ODW. (February 4, 2012) | permalink
• RWI Transportation has hired Kevin Kauppi as midwest regional sales manager. Based in Chicago, Kauppi will focus on new opportunities throughout Illinois, Indiana, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa, and Missouri for temperature-controlled truckload and tonnage growth. (February 2, 2012) | permalink
• Tognum America has installed a TGW automated material handling system in the company's new MTU Parts Logistics Center for North America, located near Detroit. The new facility services all North American operations, fulfilling customer orders of diesel products, components and spare parts.
  
  The system includes five aisles of TGW mini-load cranes with load handling devices to store 22,500 totes of parts and a conveyor system to feed the mini-load. The ultra-quiet conveyor system transfers trays to five ergonomic picking workstations for picking, kitting and replenishment of orders and products. (February 2, 2012) | permalink
• The Rescar Companies, which provide repair, maintenance, cleaning, and interior/exterior coating services to owners, lessors and users of rail tank/freight cars throughout North America, has opened a new railcar cleaning system in Channelview, Tx. The new cleaning system is designed to process eight railcars simultaneously. (January 31, 2012) | permalink
• Toyota Material Handling North America announced the retirement of its President and CEO James J. Malvaso, effective April 1, 2012. TMHNA concurrently announced the planned appointment of Brett Wood as its president and CEO. Wood will assume the responsibilities of Malvaso effective April 1, 2012. He also will continue to serve on the boards of TMHU and TIEM. Wood presently serves as executive vice president of TMHNA and chairman of TMHU. (January 31, 2012) | permalink
• Daifuku America Corp., a provider of material handling solutions, has named Ryan Petrie as systems sales engineer for Daifuku America's factory and distribution automation team. Petrie will be responsible for expanding the company's automated storage & retrieval system (AS/RS) and conveyor business in North America. (January 30, 2012) | permalink
• Penske Truck Leasing and Penske Logistics plan to hire approximately 3,500 associates within their North American operations throughout 2012.
  
  Penske'shiring outlook stems from the increasing demand for its services as the transportation sector continues to recover.
  
  Planned hiring is in line with 2011 hiring, which exceeded internal expectations by 74 percent over 2010 due to industry demand. (January 30, 2012) | permalink
• Memorials and graphics manufacturer Matthews International Corp. has launched a new division, Matthews Supply Chain Automation Solutions. The new division will be comprised of two long-standing business units, Matthews Marking Products and Holjeron, along with two recently acquired companies, Innovative Picking Technologies, Inc. (IPTI) and Lightning Pick Technologies. (January 30, 2012) | permalink
• Sealed Air Corp. will partner with Ecovative Design LLC to accelerate the production, sales and distribution of Ecovative's EcoCradle Mushroom Packaging, a new technology for environmentally responsible packaging materials made from agricultural byproducts and mycelium, or "mushroom roots". Founded in 2007 and incubated at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Ecovative adapts living systems to create novel biomaterials and products. (January 27, 2012) | permalink
• Jervis B. Webb Company, a subsidiary of Daifuku Webb Holding Company and provider of innovative material handling solutions, has named two new vice presidents of project management, Bill Kline for airport baggage handling and Tom Pawlowicz for factory/distribution automation. Previously, both were executive directors of project management. (January 27, 2012) | permalink
• Independent marine terminal operator Ports America has relocated its group office from Iselin to Jersey City, New Jersey.
  Ports America provides terminal management and a full suite of stevedoring and related services. Its current business includes more than 80 terminals in 42 ports in North America, handling containers, roll on/roll off cargo, general cargo and cruise line passengers. (January 27, 2012) | permalink
• Heavy-lift freight forwarding network Project Professionals Group (PPG) has appointed Inchcape Shipping Services as the new Project Support Member for Qatar, Bahrain, Dubai and Abu Dhabi.
  
  PPG also named Mercomar SA as its project forwarder member representing Uruguay and Paraguay. Mercomar is a sister company of Robinson Project and Logistic, PPG's new member for Argentina. (January 26, 2012) | permalink
• Blue Giant Equipment Corp. has opened of a new dock equipment and parts stocking location near Los Angeles, CA. The 22,000 square foot facility is located at 12930 Sunnyside Plaza in Santa Fe Springs.
  
  "Increased demand in the western U.S. made us decide to open a location that would give customers quicker and easier access to our dock products," says Jeff Miller, Blue Giant's vice president of sales and marketing. (January 26, 2012) | permalink
• The Cronos Group has become the first customer worldwide for ZESTIATM, the new low-power, high-performance container refrigeration machine from Daikin Reefer. The global container leasing company took delivery of 500 ZESTIA units during November in Qingdao, China, for installation on a batch of new 40ft hi-cube refrigerated containers destined for Japanese shipping line MOL. The units were produced at Daikin's manufacturing plant in Suzhou, China. (January 26, 2012) | permalink
• Paylode Cargo Protection Systems, a manufacturer of 100-percent recycled, reusable dunnage for truck, rail and intermodal cargo, announces the addition of Brad Sir as business development manager.
  
  In his new role, Sir's primary responsibility will be expanding the Paylode business portfolio in the U.S. mountain and western regions by introducing potential customers to Paylode's sustainable damage protection products.
  
  In addition to securing new business, Sir will service existing accounts, assisting with test shipments, load and return loop logistics and strategies to maximize return on investment. He will also work closely with his colleagues nationally to develop additional solutions for Paylode customers across the U.S. (January 26, 2012) | permalink
• Ivan S. Lutwin has returned to Barcoding, Inc., as sales manager. Previously an enterprise account manager at Barcoding, Lutwin returned to the company after a two-and-a-half year hiatus when he served as a senior account executive at RMS Omega. As Barcoding's sales manager, Lutwin will lead the solution integrator's national sales activities. Lutwin holds a bachelor's degree in political science from York College of Pennsylvania. (January 25, 2012) | permalink
• Chris Castaldi, manager of business development at W&H Systems, a material handling systems integrator, was awarded a plaque by the Material Handling Society of New Jersey, honoring a presentation he gave to its members on "The Power of Warehouse Control Systems" following a tour of Aeropostale on January 19th, 2012.
  
  The presentation outlined:
  
  1. The role of a Warehouse Management System (WMS)
  2. Warehouse Control Systems (WCS)
  3. What is a WCS
  4. The role of the WCS
  5. An example of a WCS and its purpose
  6. The relationship between the WMS and the WCS
  7. How do you know if you need a WCS? (January 25, 2012) | permalink
• Barcoding, Inc., has hired Julie Bombaci as inside sales account manager. Bombaci comes to Barcoding with over seven years of experience managing sales in the retail and business sectors. Prior to joining Barcoding's sales team, Bombaci worked at J.C. Enterprises as a project manager. Previously, she spent five years at Motorola/EMb/Symbol Technologies - a Barcoding partner - where she served as an inside sales account manager before her promotion to global projects manager. As a Barcoding inside sales account manager, Bombaci will work cooperatively with the outside sales and account management teams to grow existing accounts and create new opportunities. (January 25, 2012) | permalink
• Intelligrated, a North American-owned automated material handling solutions provider, has appointed Howard Hammer to the position of sales manager, Intelligrated Southern Operations based in Alpharetta, Ga.
  
  Hammer, who brings 30 years of material handling experience to the Intelligrated sales force, is responsible for growing distribution and fulfillment business in the region.
  
  Reporting directly to Chris Barber, vice president, Intelligrated Southern Operations, Hammer will manage customer accounts directly as well as support the training and strategic direction of the Southern Operations sales force. (January 24, 2012) | permalink
• Descartes Systems Group, a provider of logistics technology, has acquired GeoMicro, Inc., a California-based provider of advanced geographic information systems (GIS) and commercial turn-by-turn navigation.
  
  "Geographic location is fundamental to logistics and a key element of many business decisions," said Edward Ryan, Chief Commercial Officer at Descartes. "By adding GeoMicro's technology and services to our Logistics Technology Platform, our customers can access the advanced geographical information processing that is critical to efficient logistics operations." (January 23, 2012) | permalink

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