- Pilot cleared for takeoff. DHL and IBM are collaborating on a pilot RFID project. Under the program, RFID readers will be staged at strategic points along the DHL transport chain to collect data on packages moving through the system. The companies expect the pilot will result in improved shipment visibility and eliminate inbound and outbound scanning requirements by 90 percent. IBM is the project manager and integration partner on the initiative.
Big Blue also has another deal in the works. IBM has signed a long-term contract to provide indirect procurement services for Solectron Corp., which offers electronics manufacturing and integrated supply chain service. IBM will manage more than $1.2 billion per year of indirect spending on various services in 17 countries. - All the news that's fit to handle. The Denver Newspaper Agency, publisher of The Rocky Mountain News and The Denver Post, has selected HK Systems to provide material handling equipment for its facility expansion. The project includes a two-aisle automated storage and retrieval system and HK's Material Tracking and Control System.
- Swisslog is it! Coca-Cola Amatil, Coca-Cola's largest bottler in the Asia Pacific, has awarded Swisslog a contract to design and oversee construction of a fully automated distribution center to be located next to one of its bottling plants in Auckland, New Zealand. The DC, slated to open toward the end of next year, will replace five outside warehouses. Coca-Cola Amatil is headquartered in Sydney, Australia.
- Spreading out the tent. Cabela's, a hunting, fishing and outdoor equipment retailer, has awarded Bastian Material Handling a contract to provide a put-to-light system and sortation equipment for its distribution center in Wheeling, W.V. The $3.6 million project is part of an expansion that will add 576,000 square feet to the facility. Bastian also installed the material handling systems when the DC first opened two years ago.
- Supplying the daily chocolate fix. Nestle Chile, a subsidiary of the food and beverage titan Nestle, has awarded a distribution and transportation management contract to Ryder System Inc. Under the multi-year agreement, Ryder will manage two multi-customer distribution centers with a combined 400,000 square feet, and manage outbound transportation of 60 to 80 vehicle loads per day to 600 of Nestle's customers throughout Chile.
- Colors running. Tronox LLC has contracted with Schneider Logistics to provide integrated transportation and freight management services for its manufacturing sites in the United States. Tronox LLC is a part of Tronox Inc., which is one of the world's largest producers of titanium dioxide pigment.
- Taking off. The Boeing Co. has chosen New Breed Logistics to provide logistics support for the manufacture of Boeing's newest aircraft, the 787 Dreamliner. Under the contract, New Breed, based in High Point, N.C., will receive, store, provide inventory control, kit, package, distribute and transport parts, tools and supplies within Boeing's Everett, Wash., facility, where the new jets will be assembled.
- After much contemplation ... One of Japan's largest supermarket chains, Zen Nippon Shokuhin, has selected Retalix solutions to manage its supply chain. Included in the deal are StoreLine POS and store operations applications, the StoreLine hosting system and the Retalix Loyalty system. Zen Nippon Shokuhin operates 1,000 stores across Japan.
- Raising the Standard. Standard Transportation, a thirdparty logistics and warehousing service provider, has chosen Provia's FourSite and ViaView supply chain execution solutions to help manage its warehouse operations. Standard Transportation operates four warehouses in Joplin, Mo., totaling about 500,000 square feet.
- Stop-gap measures. J&J Snack Foods has installed Castell's Salvo dock system at its Pennsauken, N.J., warehouse. The Salvo system locks out a trailer at the dock and then interlocks it with the dock door to ensure that the trailer cannot leave unless the door is closed and the dock attendant is safely inside the building.
- Go West. Regional carriers New Penn Motor Express and USF Reddaway have teamed up to provide a new westbound transcontinental service. The collaboration links New Penn's Northeast operations (headquartered in Lebanon, Pa.) with Oregon-based USF Reddaway's operations in the Pacific Northwest and Rocky Mountains. The two companies have been providing a similar eastbound service since last October. Both companies are subsidiaries of YRC Regional Transportation.
- Wally world. Sortation equipment manufacturer GBI is the exclusive U.S. and South American distributor of the Wally Cross Belt Sorter. The sorter handles items weighing up to 100 pounds at speeds of up to 500 feet per minute.
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