We use cookies to provide you with a better experience. By continuing to browse the site you are agreeing to our use of cookies in accordance with our Cookie Policy.
  • ::COVID-19 COVERAGE::
  • INDUSTRY PRESS ROOM
  • ABOUT
  • CONTACT
  • MEDIA FILE
  • Create Account
  • Sign In
  • Sign Out
  • My Account
Free Newsletters
  • MAGAZINE
    • Current Issue
    • Archives
    • Digital Edition
    • Subscribe
    • Newsletters
    • Mobile Apps
  • TRANSPORTATION
  • MATERIAL HANDLING
  • TECHNOLOGY
  • LIFT TRUCKS
  • PODCAST ETC.
    • Podcast
    • Blogs
      • Analytics & Big Data
      • Best Practices
      • Dispatches
      • Empowering Your Performance Edge
      • Logistics Problem Solving
      • One-Off Sound Off
      • Public Sector Logistics
      • Two Sides of the Logistics Coin
      • Submit your blog post
    • Events
    • White Papers
    • Industry Press Room
      • Upload Your News
    • New Products
      • Upload Your Product News
    • Conference Guides
    • Conference Reports
    • Newsletters
    • Mobile Apps
  • DCV-TV
    • DCV-TV 1: News
    • DCV-TV 2: Case Studies
    • DCV-TV 3: Webcasts
    • DCV-TV 4: Viewer Contributed
    • DCV-TV 5: Solution Profiles
    • MODEX 2020
    • Upload Your Video
  • MAGAZINE
    • Current Issue
    • Archives
    • Digital Edition
    • Subscribe
    • Newsletters
    • Mobile Apps
  • TRANSPORTATION
  • MATERIAL HANDLING
  • TECHNOLOGY
  • LIFT TRUCKS
  • PODCAST ETC.
    • Podcast
    • Blogs
      • Analytics & Big Data
      • Best Practices
      • Dispatches
      • Empowering Your Performance Edge
      • Logistics Problem Solving
      • One-Off Sound Off
      • Public Sector Logistics
      • Two Sides of the Logistics Coin
      • Submit your blog post
    • Events
    • White Papers
    • Industry Press Room
      • Upload Your News
    • New Products
      • Upload Your Product News
    • Conference Guides
    • Conference Reports
    • Newsletters
    • Mobile Apps
  • DCV-TV
    • DCV-TV 1: News
    • DCV-TV 2: Case Studies
    • DCV-TV 3: Webcasts
    • DCV-TV 4: Viewer Contributed
    • DCV-TV 5: Solution Profiles
    • MODEX 2020
    • Upload Your Video
Home » Swisslog extends single brand over Forte, PAS
newsworthy

Swisslog extends single brand over Forte, PAS

November 30, 2016
Ben Ames
No Comments

Warehouse automation equipment vendor Swisslog will bring its Forte Industries and Power Automation Systems (PAS) divisions under the corporate umbrella in 2017 as the company makes a renewed push for market share in the retail e-commerce and beverage distribution areas, the firm said Tuesday.

Swisslog will unite the three companies under one banner known as Swisslog Warehouse and Distribution Solutions (WDS). The move will allow Swisslog to pursue market share in some of the fastest-growing segments of the economy, the company said.

The move comes 17 months after Swisslog acquired Mason, Ohio-based system integrator Forte in 2015, a move that enabled the Swiss firm to expand its presence in e-commerce fulfillment and in the midrange material handling segment of the U.S. market. At the time, Swisslog continued to hold Forte as a standalone unit, operating under its own name and remaining in its Ohio headquarters.

In April 2016, Swisslog added PAS, a Salida, Calif.-based warehouse automation solutions provider with a specialty in pallet-shuttle automated storage and retrieval systems (AS/RS). Over the past year, the Switzerland-based Swisslog has worked to forge a single technology platform from the two acquisitions by creating a North American regional technology hub.

"There's a little more to it than changing the signs on the buildings. We're in the early stages of focusing our company in the Americas on some strategic verticals," Tom Rentschler, head of marketing for Swisslog, said in explaining the move during a phone interview.

"One is the e-commerce retail market, where Forte has some strengths in retail fulfillment, and Swisslog has goods-to-person technologies that are extremely well-suited to that market. And another is the beverage-distribution market, which is also a growing business for us," Rentschler said.

The merger creates a single portfolio comprising Swisslog's own advanced automation systems such as AS/RS; Forte's mid-market focus on conveyor and sortation systems and pick modules; PAS' pallet shuttle products; and advanced automation from Swisslog's parent company, the German robotics firm Kuka Systems GmbH, Rentschler said.

By aligning a broad range of products, the company will be better able to reach new customers in the exploding sector of online retail, he said. "Swisslog's heritage is in handling pallets and cases, but piece picking, or each picking, is a very different operation that is critical to the e-commerce and retail segments," said Rentschler.

Swisslog WDS Americas will continue to be run from its main office in Newport News, Va., with a Midwest office at the former Forte headquarters in Ohio and a West Coast office at the former PAS facility in California. Swisslog's Mason office will continue to be led by A.K. Schultz, vice president of Swisslog WDS Americas.

Material Handling Storage AS/RS/Shuttles
KEYWORDS Forte Power Automation Systems (PAS) Swisslog
  • Related Articles

    Swisslog creates regional software-integration hub for North American market

    Swisslog acquires Forte Industries in bid to meet e-commerce demand

    Swisslog leverages machine learning for single-item picking

Benames
Ben Ames has spent 20 years as a journalist since starting out as a daily newspaper reporter in Pennsylvania in 1995. From 1999 forward, he has focused on business and technology reporting for a number of trade journals, beginning when he joined Design News and Modern Materials Handling magazines. Ames is author of the trail guide "Hiking Massachusetts" and is a graduate of the Columbia School of Journalism.

Recent Articles by Ben Ames

Reimagining the TMS for the age of e-commerce

XPO says strong fourth quarter results show company has turned a corner from pandemic impacts

German trucking fleet Hegelmann launches U.S. division

You must login or register in order to post a comment.

Report Abusive Comment

Most Popular Articles

  • Walmart launches plan to build micro-DCs inside dozens of retail stores

  • Relaxed regulations for drone parcel delivery to take effect in March

  • Gartner survey signals increased investment in resilience over the next two years

  • Increasing Urgency for Vaccine Supplies Drives Launch of New Vaccine Manufacturing Resources on Thomasnet.com

  • What Level of Automation is Right for Your Warehouse?

Now Playing on DCV-TV

7d82a38f f300 4f37 aac7 93ec8a60c08a

Heads Up: Your CEO Could be Calling!

DCV-TV 4: Viewer Contributed
The challenge on the table is how to make the best of a tumultuous transportation market. Watch this video to hear some tips to consider. Check out last week's 2MW: https://blog.tranzact.com/2-minute-warning/note-to-ceos-dont-blame-the-logistics-department OTR with Peter Tirschewell, from the Journal of Commerce...

FEATURED WHITE PAPERS

  • Time to rethink your lift truck power

  • Warehouse Management System Project Toolkit

  • Solving Talent Management Challenges Now and In the Future

  • Shaping Up Last Mile Delivery to Surpass Customer Expectations

View More

Subscribe to DC Velocity Magazine

GET YOUR FREE SUBSCRIPTION
  • SUBSCRIBE
  • NEWSLETTERS
  • ADVERTISING
  • CUSTOMER CARE
  • CONTACT
  • ABOUT
  • STAFF
  • PRIVACY POLICY

Copyright ©2021. All Rights ReservedDesign, CMS, Hosting & Web Development :: ePublishing