Transport and logistics giant UPS Inc. has teamed with Resilinc, a provider of artificial intelligence (AI)-based supply chain mapping and disruption monitoring services, to create a hospital-to-hospital exchange that serves thousands of healthcare organizations and could ease shortages of medical products and supplies during the coronavirus crisis.
Known as “The Exchange at Resilinc,” the cloud-based platform will launch in mid-April and be offered at no cost for hospitals and healthcare organizations. The system will allow hospitals to interact with vetted peer organizations to locate and then borrow or exchange items listed on the platform. UPS Healthcare, a provider of commercial and clinical logistics solutions, will contribute by locating and delivering critical medical items and equipment.
UPS enables hospitals using Resilinc’s exchange platform to leverage their existing logistics and transportation infrastructure and commercial agreements to trade and ship items conveniently. UPS also recently joined efforts with the White House Coronavirus Taskforce, state health agencies, and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to provide supply chain services for the agency's distribution of personal protective equipment (PPE) and necessary materials throughout the U.S., including respirators, N95 masks, and gloves for healthcare workers across the country.
And in other examples of the logistics industry dedicating its assets to the coronavirus fight:
iTradeNetwork, a provider of supply chain software for the food and beverage industry, has launched a platform to respond to the critical need to connect global food supply with demand by addressing the food supply chain trading gap created by the Covid-19 crisis. Launched April 7 and offered for free to any company in the food and beverage supply chain, the “iTradeMarketplace”is a service for buyers, suppliers, packaging companies, and industry associations to gain visibility into where food supplies exist and where demand gaps lie. The platform facilitates new trading partnerships, since the coronavirus pandemic has rendered many traditional trading relationships temporarily obsolete, impacted the global food supply chain, the company said.
Autonomous material handling technology vendor Vecna Robotics is working with a team of companies to develop and bring to market an automated manual resuscitator for use in emergency overflow during the Covid-19 crisis. Vecna Robotics, along with its sibling divisions Vecna Healthcare and the nonprofit arm VecnaCares, have teamed with the Toyota Research Institute and the Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL) at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Together, the group will produce a device called “Ventiv,” an automated manual resuscitator compressor, and provide it to hospitals for a sliding scale price of $0-to-$250. The unit is meant to ease the shortage of traditional ventilators being caused by the high number of patients currently being treated for impaired lung function brought on by Covid-19.
Odyssey Logistics & Technology Corp. has developed a platform for its North America Managed Logistics Services (MLS) customers to bring them real-time freight visibility as shipments move through and around areas affected by Covid-19. The technology gives customers a risk assessment tool for freight impacted by embargoed transportation hotspots, and measures the impact it will have on their supply chains. Odyssey customers get immediate access to visual dashboards highlighting freight movement and destination drop-offs, so they can optimize their operations and minimize delivery disruptions.
Shipt, the delivery service owned by Target Corp., is supplying its contract shoppers—who fulfill online grocery orders for e-commerce customers—with gloves and masks to wear through pickup at their local Target stores during the coronavirus pandemic. Although those items are in high demand, the firm is expediting the supply of individual safety kits to equip its most active shoppers and those in high-risk areas, Shipt CEO Kelly Caruso said in a blog post.
Supply chain planning (SCP) leaders working on transformation efforts are focused on two major high-impact technology trends, including composite AI and supply chain data governance, according to a study from Gartner, Inc.
"SCP leaders are in the process of developing transformation roadmaps that will prioritize delivering on advanced decision intelligence and automated decision making," Eva Dawkins, Director Analyst in Gartner’s Supply Chain practice, said in a release. "Composite AI, which is the combined application of different AI techniques to improve learning efficiency, will drive the optimization and automation of many planning activities at scale, while supply chain data governance is the foundational key for digital transformation.”
Their pursuit of those roadmaps is often complicated by frequent disruptions and the rapid pace of technological innovation. But Gartner says those leaders can accelerate the realized value of technology investments by facilitating a shift from IT-led to business-led digital leadership, with SCP leaders taking ownership of multidisciplinary teams to advance business operations, channels and products.
“A sound data governance strategy supports advanced technologies, such as composite AI, while also facilitating collaboration throughout the supply chain technology ecosystem,” said Dawkins. “Without attention to data governance, SCP leaders will likely struggle to achieve their expected ROI on key technology investments.”
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.
As the hours tick down toward a “seemingly imminent” strike by East Coast and Gulf Coast dockworkers, experts are warning that the impacts of that move would mushroom well-beyond the actual strike locations, causing prevalent shipping delays, container ship congestion, port congestion on West coast ports, and stranded freight.
However, a strike now seems “nearly unavoidable,” as no bargaining sessions are scheduled prior to the September 30 contract expiration between the International Longshoremen’s Association (ILA) and the U.S. Maritime Alliance (USMX) in their negotiations over wages and automation, according to the transportation law firm Scopelitis, Garvin, Light, Hanson & Feary.
The facilities affected would include some 45,000 port workers at 36 locations, including high-volume U.S. ports from Boston, New York / New Jersey, and Norfolk, to Savannah and Charleston, and down to New Orleans and Houston. With such widespread geography, a strike would likely lead to congestion from diverted traffic, as well as knock-on effects include the potential risk of increased freight rates and costly charges such as demurrage, detention, per diem, and dwell time fees on containers that may be slowed due to the congestion, according to an analysis by another transportation and logistics sector law firm, Benesch.
The weight of those combined blows means that many companies are already planning ways to minimize damage and recover quickly from the event. According to Scopelitis’ advice, mitigation measures could include: preparing for congestion on West coast ports, taking advantage of intermodal ground transportation where possible, looking for alternatives including air transport when necessary for urgent delivery, delaying shipping from East and Gulf coast ports until after the strike, and budgeting for increased freight and container fees.
Additional advice on softening the blow of a potential coastwide strike came from John Donigian, senior director of supply chain strategy at Moody’s. In a statement, he named six supply chain strategies for companies to consider: expedite certain shipments, reallocate existing inventory strategically, lock in alternative capacity with trucking and rail providers , communicate transparently with stakeholders to set realistic expectations for delivery timelines, shift sourcing to regional suppliers if possible, and utilize drop shipping to maintain sales.