As it prepared to open a new DC, third-party fulfillment specialist DMG needed a sortation system that could reliably process up to 100 shoeboxes per minute. It found what it needed in Interroll's horizontal cross-belt sorter.
Diane Rand is Associate Editor and has several years of magazine editing and production experience. She previously worked as a production editor for Logistics Management and Supply Chain Management Review. She joined the editorial staff in 2015. She is responsible for managing digital, editorial, and production projects for DC Velocity and its sister magazine, Supply Chain Quarterly.
With its new Cranbury, N.J., distribution facility set to open, third-party logistics service provider Distribution Management Group Inc. (DMG) was looking for a fast and flexible material handling system. At the new site, the company would be responsible for sorting, packing, and shipping products for its clients in the footwear industry, and it needed equipment that could reliably process 100 shoeboxes per minute. With the clock ticking, DMG turned to one of its long-time suppliers, Baltimore, Maryland-based systems integrator Conveyor Handling Co. (CHC), for help finding the right system.
CHC was a logical choice for the job. It has been designing solutions for manufacturing companies, e-commerce and retail distributors, and others since its inception in 1975. Despite this deep expertise, it faced an interesting challenge with the DMG project: finding a sortation system that could handle the client's high product volumes.
Technically it was possible, just not in the way DMG had imagined, the company realized.
"[DMG] originally wanted us to design a distribution center modeled after its existing facilities," explained Rich Rittermann, vice president of operations at CHC, in a release. "In this instance, an employee would push a cart up and down each aisle, picking shoes as they went; when the cart was full, they'd move it to a central sorting area, where other workers would start pulling boxes off the different carts and packing them until each order was filled. There was nothing wrong with their process, except that I knew it would be too labor-intensive and eventually become unmanageable at the volumes they were anticipating. They needed an automatic sortation system, and it was my job to convince them of that."
Rittermann had previous experience with automated sortation systems, but the combination of high product volumes and the need to sort color, size, and style combinations by the hundreds led him to consult with Interroll, a material handling solutions provider that happened to be working on a shoe distribution center in Mexico. After careful consideration, the companies agreed that Interroll's horizontal cross-belt sorter would be the right fit for DMG's distribution center.
FAST AND ACCURATE
Interroll's sorter uses a pneumatically actuated plate and drive wheel mechanism instead of a motor on each carrier to transfer goods to the appropriate chute. The company says this reduces electricity costs and simplifies maintenance.
Unlike traditional crossbelt sorters, Interroll's solution uses a pneumatically actuated plate and drive wheel mechanism—rather than a motor on each carrier—to transfer goods to the appropriate chute. According to the company, this reduces electricity costs and simplifies maintenance to increase reliability. It also makes the sorter versatile; the gentle motion means it can be used with delicate products like eggs and yogurt, and still be powerful enough to move heavy sacks of grain or animal feed, Interroll says.
The system is both smart and accurate, with automatic recirculation of "no reads" and overflow products—a particularly important feature in e-tail, where system demands are unpredictable. The horizontal crossbelt sorter is also "smart" about floor space, according to the manufacturer. The unit features a modular design that's both compact and easy to reconfigure based on changing needs, Interroll says. In this particular application, CHC double-stacked the conveyor, maximizing the system's throughput without increasing its footprint.
As for the results, CHC's leaders say they consider the project a success. "I was very pleased with the cooperation between Interroll, DMG, and the CHC installation team and project managers," Rittermann said in the statement. "It was a big step forward for our customer. It's using [the new sorter] every day and is shipping out 15,000 to 30,000 pairs of shoes each day, with capacity for much more."
The number of container ships waiting outside U.S. East and Gulf Coast ports has swelled from just three vessels on Sunday to 54 on Thursday as a dockworker strike has swiftly halted bustling container traffic at some of the nation’s business facilities, according to analysis by Everstream Analytics.
As of Thursday morning, the two ports with the biggest traffic jams are Savannah (15 ships) and New York (14), followed by single-digit numbers at Mobile, Charleston, Houston, Philadelphia, Norfolk, Baltimore, and Miami, Everstream said.
The impact of that clogged flow of goods will depend on how long the strike lasts, analysts with Moody’s said. The firm’s Moody’s Analytics division estimates the strike will cause a daily hit to the U.S. economy of at least $500 million in the coming days. But that impact will jump to $2 billion per day if the strike persists for several weeks.
The immediate cost of the strike can be seen in rising surcharges and rerouting delays, which can be absorbed by most enterprise-scale companies but hit small and medium-sized businesses particularly hard, a report from Container xChange says.
“The timing of this strike is especially challenging as we are in our traditional peak season. While many pulled forward shipments earlier this year to mitigate risks, stockpiled inventories will only cushion businesses for so long. If the strike continues for an extended period, we could see significant strain on container availability and shipping schedules,” Christian Roeloffs, cofounder and CEO of Container xChange, said in a release.
“For small and medium-sized container traders, this could result in skyrocketing logistics costs and delays, making it harder to secure containers. The longer the disruption lasts, the more difficult it will be for these businesses to keep pace with market demands,” Roeloffs said.
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.
The “series B” funding round was led by DTCP, with participation from Latitude Ventures, Wave-X and Bootstrap Europe, along with existing investors Atomico, Lakestar, Capnamic, and several angels from the logistics industry. With the close of the round, Dexory has now raised $120 million over the past three years.
Dexory says its product, DexoryView, provides real-time visibility across warehouses of any size through its autonomous mobile robots and AI. The rolling bots use sensor and image data and continuous data collection to perform rapid warehouse scans and create digital twins of warehouse spaces, allowing for optimized performance and future scenario simulations.
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.
For its purchase price, DSV gains an organization with around 72,700 employees at over 1,850 locations. The new owner says it plans to investment around one billion euros in coming years to promote additional growth in German operations. Together, DSV and Schenker will have a combined workforce of approximately 147,000 employees in more than 90 countries, earning pro forma revenue of approximately $43.3 billion (based on 2023 numbers), DSV said.
After removing that unit, Deutsche Bahn retains its core business called the “Systemverbund Bahn,” which includes passenger transport activities in Germany, rail freight activities, operational service units, and railroad infrastructure companies. The DB Group, headquartered in Berlin, employs around 340,000 people.
“We have set clear goals to structurally modernize Deutsche Bahn in the areas of infrastructure, operations and profitability and focus on the core business. The proceeds from the sale will significantly reduce DB’s debt and thus make an important contribution to the financial stability of the DB Group. At the same time, DB Schenker will gain a strong strategic owner in DSV,” Deutsche Bahn CEO Richard Lutz said in a release.
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.
Meanwhile, TIA today announced that insider Christopher Burroughs would fill Reinke’s shoes as president & CEO. Burroughs has been with TIA for 13 years, most recently as its vice president of Government Affairs for the past six years, during which time he oversaw all legislative and regulatory efforts before Congress and the federal agencies.
Before her four years leading TIA, Reinke spent two years as Deputy Assistant Secretary with the U.S. Department of Transportation and 16 years with CSX Corporation.
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.”
WAA delivers wreaths to more than 4,500 locations nationwide, and as of this week had added more than 20 loads to be delivered this season. The wreaths are donated by sponsors from across the country, delivered by truckers, and laid at the graves of veterans by WAA volunteers.
Wreaths Across America
Transportation companies interested in joining the Honor Fleet can visit the WAA website to find an open lane or contact the WAA transportation team at trucking@wreathsacrossamerica.org for more information.