Skip to content
Search AI Powered
Human content, AI powered search.

Latest Stories

newsworthy

UPS acquires Italian healthcare logistics firm

Move represents parcel giant's latest expansion into key vertical segment.

Mark Solomon
By Mark SolomonDec 01, 2011
Mark Solomon
Mark Solomon joined DC VELOCITY as senior editor in August 2008, and was promoted to his current position on January 1, 2015. He has spent more than 30 years in the transportation, logistics and supply chain management fields as a journalist and public relations professional. From 1989 to 1994, he worked in Washington as a reporter for the Journal of Commerce, covering the aviation and trucking industries, the Department of Transportation, Congress and the U.S. Supreme Court. Prior to that, he worked for Traffic World for seven years in a similar role. From 1994 to 2008, Mr. Solomon ran Media-Based Solutions, a public relations firm based in Atlanta. He graduated in 1978 with a B.A. in journalism from The American University in Washington, D.C.
See Full Bio

UPS Inc., continuing its expansion into the healthcare logistics segment, said today it has purchased Pieffe Group, an Italy-based pharmaceutical logistics company, for an undisclosed sum.

Family-owned Pieffe has been in business for 35 years and serves the pharmaceutical, biotech, and medical device industries. The purchase represents a departure from UPS's past practice of building healthcare logistics capabilities mostly through organic growth and expansion.

Pieffe operates two healthcare distribution locations, one in Rome and the other in Milan, which total 753,000 square feet of space and include 12 cold storage areas. With the two facilities, UPS now has a network of 32 healthcare facilities worldwide, with a total of 4 million square feet of space.

UPS laid the groundwork for its push into healthcare logistics in 2000, when it acquired logistics firm Livingston Healthcare Services. Since then, it has mostly focused on building or expanding facilities in key markets. One exception was in 2009, when it acquired two U.S. facilities from pharmaceutical giant Merck & Co. when Merck turned over most of its U.S. distribution operations to UPS.

During 2011, UPS opened dedicated healthcare facilities in Singapore, the Netherlands, Canada, Brazil, and Louisville, Ky., home of its global air hub.

ArticleTransportation
january 2012pieffe groupups
ArticleTransportation
january 2012pieffe groupups

The Latest

Advanced operator assist technology in action
DCV-TV 4: Viewer Contributed

Advanced operator assist technology in action

ships and containers at port of savannah
Article

54 container ships now wait in waters off East and Gulf coast ports

More Stories

dexory robot counting warehouse inventory

Dexory raises $80 million for inventory-counting robots

The British logistics robot vendor Dexory this week said it has raised $80 million in venture funding to support an expansion of its artificial intelligence (AI) powered features, grow its global team, and accelerate the deployment of its autonomous robots.

A “significant focus” continues to be on expanding across the U.S. market, where Dexory is live with customers in seven states and last month opened a U.S. headquarters in Nashville. The Series B will also enhance development and production facilities at its UK headquarters, the firm said.

Keep ReadingShow less

Featured

NOAA weather map of hurricane helene
Article

Florida braces for impact of Hurricane Helene

Survey: In-store shopping sentiment up 21%
Featured

Survey: In-store shopping sentiment up 21%

Three steps toward safer loading docks
Article

Three steps toward safer loading docks

Dock strike: Shippers seek ways to minimize the damage
Article

Dock strike: Shippers seek ways to minimize the damage

container cranes and trucks at DB Schenker yard

Deutsche Bahn says sale of DB Schenker will cut debt, improve rail

German rail giant Deutsche Bahn AG yesterday said it will cut its debt and boost its focus on improving rail infrastructure thanks to its formal approval of the deal to sell its logistics subsidiary DB Schenker to the Danish transport and logistics group DSV for a total price of $16.3 billion.

Originally announced in September, the move will allow Deutsche Bahn to “fully focus on restructuring the rail infrastructure in Germany and providing climate-friendly passenger and freight transport operations in Germany and Europe,” Werner Gatzer, Chairman of the DB Supervisory Board, said in a release.

Keep ReadingShow less
containers stacked in a yard

Reinke moves from TIA to IANA in top office

Transportation industry veteran Anne Reinke will become president & CEO of trade group the Intermodal Association of North America (IANA) at the end of the year, stepping into the position from her previous post leading third party logistics (3PL) trade group the Transportation Intermediaries Association (TIA), both organizations said today.

Reinke will take her new job upon the retirement of Joni Casey at the end of the year. Casey had announced in July that she would step down after 27 years at the helm of IANA.

Keep ReadingShow less
Wreaths Across America seeks carriers for December mission
Wreaths Across America

Wreaths Across America seeks carriers for December mission

National nonprofit Wreaths Across America (WAA) kicked off its 2024 season this week with a call for volunteers. The group, which honors U.S. military veterans through a range of civic outreach programs, is seeking trucking companies and professional drivers to help deliver wreaths to cemeteries across the country for its annual wreath-laying ceremony, December 14.

“Wreaths Across America relies on the transportation industry to move the mission. The Honor Fleet, composed of dedicated carriers, professional drivers, and other transportation partners, guarantees the delivery of millions of sponsored veterans’ wreaths to their destination each year,” Courtney George, WAA’s director of trucking and industry relations, said in a statement Tuesday. “Transportation partners benefit from driver retention and recruitment, employee engagement, positive brand exposure, and the opportunity to give back to their community’s veterans and military families.”

Keep ReadingShow less
Krish Nathan of SDI Element Logic

Krish Nathan of SDI Element Logic

In Person interview: Krish Nathan of SDI Element Logic

Krish Nathan is the Americas CEO for SDI Element Logic, a provider of turnkey automation solutions and sortation systems. Nathan joined SDI Industries in 2000 and honed his project management and engineering expertise in developing and delivering complex material handling solutions. In 2014, he was appointed CEO, and in 2022, he led the search for a strategic partner that could expand SDI’s capabilities. This culminated in the acquisition of SDI by Element Logic, with SDI becoming the Americas branch of the company.

A native of the U.K., Nathan received his bachelor’s degree in manufacturing engineering from Coventry University and has studied executive leadership at Cranfield University.

Keep ReadingShow less
Copyright ©2024.