ADS Spearheads Post-Pandemic Innovation Initiatives to Drive New Outcomes
Leading Provider of Technology and Engineering Solutions Partners with UK-based Bytronic Vision Automation Lands New Project to Harness Pandemic Technology Lessons
Washington, DC - June 15, 2021 –Acquired Data Solutions (ADS), a leading-edge technology and engineering solutions provider, announces its new partnership with Bytronic Vision Automation, born from collaboration across the pond and an innovative approach to leveraging the technology lessons learned throughout the COVID-19 pandemic to drive new outcomes.
ADS' collaboration with Bytronic bolsters its expansion into North America following approval of a new project with a worldwide beverage packaging line supplier. ADS' technology leadership in the U.S., combined with Bytronic's expertise as the U.K.'s leading integrator of machine vision and automation, creates a robust approach to use the technological knowledge gained during the pandemic in new and different ways. The project will be undertaken as part of ADS' ReEmagineering division, a consortium of highly successful engineering executives focused on improving business and engineering performance in global businesses.
ADS is working with Bytronic to streamline production and improve the quality of beverage packaging to enhance shipping integrity and outcomes. Throughout the pandemic, the beverage industry has continued to see sustained increases in demand that necessitates improved packaging processes to keep up with bringing the supply to the market. Tools such as body temperature elevation measurement and metrics that gained widespread use to screen for COVID-19 are now being used in combination with HotSpot, a fully integrated, contactless quality control system designed to test the integrity of the hot glue used in cardboard and paperboard packaging, to achieve the required outcomes and results.
● A FLIR thermal imaging camera is used to ‘see’ heat from the glue allows the HotSpot system to check the temperature and application of the seal itself, and then use optical
● cameras to ensure flaps are folded correctly.
● This new automation capability enables packaging providers to maximize time on the production line and ensure each item produced is structurally sound to prevent stock losses and damage.
● The HotSpot helps manufacturers increase their green footprint by allowing them to move away from plastics.
“This cross-Atlantic partnership with Bytronic demonstrates the significant value in connecting technology and business outcomes in new ways in the post-pandemic era,” ADS’ CEO, Steve Seiden said. “The lessons we have learned over the past year, and the technologies and tools we have created to mitigate COVID-19 risk and spread are now being applied to address new challenges in the commercial sector and beyond. We are achieving goals we couldn’t have imagined before.”
"We're pleased to be collaborating with ADS to expand our HotSpot solution to North America," Dr. John Dunlop, Founder of Bytronic Vision Automation said. "Post-COVID, we're seeing a trend for thermal inspection technology being used in different ways - including production lines and packaging. Thermal inspection is not only for monitoring body temperature, it's now becoming vital for production processes and supply chains. It's allowing facilities to monitor things the human eye can't see to guarantee the reliability, increase efficiency and prevent costly stock losses."
About Acquired Data Solutions
Acquired Data Solutions has over 20 years’ experience providing Engineering & Technology Solutions in Test, Automation, Integration, and Cybersecurity for the engineering life cycle to government agencies and the commercial sector. To learn more visit www.acquiredata.com.
About Bytronic Vision Automation
Bytronic is the UK’s preferred system integrator for FLIR thermal imaging cameras and in 2013 became the UK’s first Gold Partner Systems Integrator (PSI) for Cognex, followed by Platinum PSI a year later. For more information visit www.bytronic.com.
About ReEmagineering
ReEmagineering is an international consortium of highly regarded engineering executives that have been helping commercial and government customers such as Amazon, Northrop Grumman, US Department of Defense, and Coca Cola to improve their business and engineering performance. For more information visit https://www.reemagineering.com/.
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.