Under GM’s contract with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Ceva Logistics is responsible for delivering hundreds of parts which will be used in the making of the Ventec Life Systems V+Pro critical care ventilator at General Motors’ Kokomo, Indiana factory.
The two firms have worked together on other projects for more than a decade, and under the new deal, Ceva will act as the exclusive logistics provider on the inbound part of this project, providing supplier management, order management, transportation and customs brokerage management, and event monitoring for all the components required in manufacturing ventilators.
“Every ventilator we build can help save lives, and GM’s global supply base and manufacturing teams, the UAW, and the Kokomo community are working with passion and unwavering commitment to get the job done,” Gerald Johnson, GM executive vice president, Global Manufacturing, said in a release. “People have moved mountains to help increase production of Ventec’s critical care ventilator. I have never seen anything like it in my career.”
And in other examples of the logistics industry dedicating its assets to the coronavirus fight:
Ground transportation solution provider Circle Logistics is shipping loads of Covid-19 medical supplies and food stocks for the U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and providing the agency with real-time visibility of critical medical supply and grocery shipments through a partnership with Descartes MacroPoint. In support of that effort, Circle Logistics has shifted its entire transportation network to help manage the 700% increase in volume from customers moving critical medical supplies, like personal protective equipment (PPE), respirators, and cots, as well as grocery shipments for major brands. “The COVID-19 crisis is completely different from the normal disaster that we deal with as a country,” Andrew Smith, Circle Logistics’ vice president of sales and operations, said in a release. “When there’s a hurricane, forest fire or other natural disaster, supplies are going to the specific affected areas. With COVID-19, supplies are coming from and subsequently shipping—everywhere.”
Marseille, France-based supply chain industry data provider Traxens has slashed the price of its smart container program to help global firms manage the challenges presented by the Covid-19 pandemic. The company now offers a price of $35 per smart dry container trip–down from its standard $90 rate—in a move aimed at bolstering the supply chain industry. Traxens smart container solutions provide real-time visibility into global shipments, giving customers data insights about when, where, and why disruptions or delays occur. That information is crucial for navigating today’s volatile markets, where Covid-19 disruptions have taken supply chain uncertainty to a whole new level, the firm said. “At a time of crisis, Traxens has a societal commitment to all stakeholders and end-customers, that’s why we have dramatically cut the cost of our IoT solutions. Traxens smart container services will enable supply chain stakeholders to collaborate effectively, with round the clock visibility into container information as the world strives to resume full operational capacity,” Jacques Delort, managing director at Traxens, said in a release. “When this pandemic has passed, our hope is that we will all be better placed and more resilient, ready to support renewed demand with agility and efficiency.”
New Hampshire-based fleet management company Merchants Fleet has landed $50 million in financial backing from Bain Capital Credit to continue the company’s growth in providing variable fleet options with a single point of contact and combining fleet teams with a high-touch technology platform. The platform aids the 60% of the firm’s clients that have been deemed “essential industries” during the fight against Covid-19. “In response to the needs of essential businesses, we have realigned our marketing, sales and operations teams to support the home delivery surge as we focus on getting our clients the vehicles required to ensure people across the country receive the goods and services they need,” Merchants Fleet CEO Brendan P. Keegan said in a release. “It has never been more critical for these businesses to continue operations with minimal disruption and to have safe and clean vehicles at their disposal.”
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.
Serious inland flooding and widespread power outages are likely to sweep across Florida and other Southeast states in coming days with the arrival of Hurricane Helene, which is now predicted to make landfall Thursday evening along Florida’s northwest coast as a major hurricane, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).
While the most catastrophic landfall impact is expected in the sparsely-population Big Bend area of Florida, it’s not only sea-front cities that are at risk. Since Helene is an “unusually large storm,” its flooding, rainfall, and high winds won’t be limited only to the Gulf Coast, but are expected to travel hundreds of miles inland, the weather service said. Heavy rainfall is expected to begin in the region even before the storm comes ashore, and the wet conditions will continue to move northward into the southern Appalachians region through Friday, dumping storm total rainfall amounts of up to 18 inches. Specifically, the major flood risk includes the urban areas around Tallahassee, metro Atlanta, and western North Carolina.
In addition to its human toll, the storm could exert serious business impacts, according to the supply chain mapping and monitoring firm Resilinc. Those will be largely triggered by significant flooding, which could halt oil operations, force mandatory evacuations, restrict ports, and disrupt air traffic.
While the storm’s track is currently forecast to miss the critical ports of Miami and New Orleans, it could still hurt operations throughout the Southeast agricultural belt, which produces products like soybeans, cotton, peanuts, corn, and tobacco, according to Everstream Analytics.
That widespread footprint could also hinder supply chain and logistics flows along stretches of interstate highways I-10 and I-75 and on regional rail lines operated by Norfolk Southern and CSX. And Hurricane Helene could also likely impact business operations by unleashing power outages, deep flooding, and wind damage in northern Florida portions of Georgia, Everstream Analytics said.
Before the storm had even touched Florida soil, recovery efforts were already being launched by humanitarian aid group the American Logistics Aid Network (ALAN). In a statement on Wednesday, the group said it is urging residents in the storm's path across the Southeast to heed evacuation notices and safety advisories, and reminding members of the logistics community that their post-storm help could be needed soon. The group will continue to update its Disaster Micro-Site with Hurricane Helene resources and with requests for donated logistics assistance, most of which will start arriving within 24 to 72 hours after the storm’s initial landfall, ALAN said.