- At home and away. Sandvik Sorting Systems has announced that it has signed three new deals. First, the company will be installing its Accord Singulator at the Home Shopping Network's distribution center in Piney Flats, Tenn. The singulator can handle up to 100 cartons a minute, lining them up in single file to make handling easier.
Sandvik will also supply a new sliding shoe sorter to Williams Sonoma's distribution center in Olive Branch, Miss., outside Memphis. The Trisort SD sorter will be used to sort oversized carpets and rugs, items usually deemed non-conveyable. The sorter will be 244 feet long with 17 mono-lateral diverts. It will operate at a speed of 350 feet per minute and will sort a minimum of 60 cartons per minute.
Under terms of the third deal, Sandvik will install additional Twinsort units next month at Seattle-Tacoma Airport in Washington state. The units are part of an expansion and upgrade of the airport's baggage handling and explosive detection systems. - Think of it as a huge pantry. Gordon Food Services, North America's largest family-owned food distribution company, has chosen viastore systems to provide an automated inbound material handling system for its new DC in Shepherdsville, Ky. The order includes nine viapal storage/ retrieval machines that will handle foods in three separate storage areas within the facility. viastore is also providing inbound unit-load pallet transportation at the facility using shuttle cars provided through its partnership with Gebhardt Conveyor Co.
- Forward thinking. Foreway, a third-party logistics (3PL) provider, says it will use integrated supply chain solutions from RedPrairie to help it optimize its transportation operations and fleet programs. The RedPrairie suite is expected to form the backbone of Foreway's transportation operations and freight management to regional distribution centers and customers. It will also assist with Foreway's transition from a manual environment into an automated one.
- Room for growth. Shoe company Footstar has entered into an eight-year agreement with FMI International, an integrated logistics provider to the footwear, apparel and retail industries. FMI will perform transload, warehousing and distribution services for Footstar. As part of the deal, FMI will assume control of Footstar's Mira Loma, Calif., DC, which can handle 30 million cases annually.
- Forward ho. Atlanta-based freight forwarder PEI Logistics has selected Trans-Soft Inc. to integrate the company's airfreight forwarding system. Through Trans-Soft's operating programs, PEI's customers will be able to track shipments online. Trans-Soft is based in Scottsdale, Ariz.
- Continental flair. ProLogis, a global provider of distribution services and facilities, has signed two agreements for clients in Europe. NYK Logistics, an international third-party logistics (3PL) provider, has hired ProLogis to construct a 355,804-square-foot facility in Romentino, Italy. ProLogis also provides eight other facilities to NYK elsewhere in Europe and the United States. In another alliance, ID Logistics is leasing a 391,142-square-foot ProLogis distribution center near Paris, France. ID Logistics, a French 3PL, already leases six other ProLogis facilities throughout France.
- Should we call it International Paperless? E-Sync, a leading supply chain consulting, facilities engineering and systems integration firm, is teaming up with GlobeRanger, a provider of RFID, mobility and sensor-based software products, to deploy an RFID solution for International Paper's Customer Solutions Center. E-Sync developed workflows that incorporate RFID into receiving, picking with intelligent forklift, picking to a high-speed conveyor, and shipping. The design uses GlobeRanger's iMotion Edgewhere platform.
- A dynamic move. Witron Integrated Systems has installed its Dynamic Picking System (DPS) at grocery chain Kroger's Southeastern distribution center. Though Witron has a number of Dynamic Picking Systems operating successfully in Europe, this is the first implementation of the technology in the United States. The DPS is a "goods to person" picking system that uses mini-load automatic storage and retrieval technology to bring products directly to workers for picking.
- Riding along on a carousel. Intek Integration Technologies will be replacing the existing legacy software that controls the carousel system at Norco in Boise, Idaho. Norco is a national welding, safety and homecare medical supplies provider. The software will also provide visibility into the system and reporting functionality.
- No holes in this plan. Voxware has deployed its VoiceLogistics solution at Dunkin' Donuts' Mid-Atlantic DC in New Jersey, a facility that serves 1,400 stores in eight states. The new system has raised accuracy to 99.9 percent and has allowed the facility to eliminate order-checking stations. The voice-directed system has also made it easier to train new workers.
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