David Maloney has been a journalist for more than 35 years and is currently the group editorial director for DC Velocity and Supply Chain Quarterly magazines. In this role, he is responsible for the editorial content of both brands of Agile Business Media. Dave joined DC Velocity in April of 2004. Prior to that, he was a senior editor for Modern Materials Handling magazine. Dave also has extensive experience as a broadcast journalist. Before writing for supply chain publications, he was a journalist, television producer and director in Pittsburgh. Dave combines a background of reporting on logistics with his video production experience to bring new opportunities to DC Velocity readers, including web videos highlighting top distribution and logistics facilities, webcasts and other cross-media projects. He continues to live and work in the Pittsburgh area.
Mark Duncan, Marketing Manager of Material Handling Industry OEM North America Operations, Schneider Electric
Evan Kaiser, Industry Director of Warehousing and Logistics, Rockwell Automation
Divya Prakash, Director of Business Consulting, Industry 4.0, SICK Inc.
Sebastian Titze, Manager of Digital Transformation, Beumer Group
The complexity of today’s distribution centers is increasing rapidly due to new technologies and higher demands from consumers. Conveyors and sortation systems within those facilities can help provide users with a competitive advantage by leveraging technologies to improve throughput, accuracy, and efficiency.
DC Velocity Group Editorial Director David Maloney recently gathered five experts who are all members of MHI’s Conveyor and Sortation Solutions Group (CSS)—an industry body that promotes the effective use of conveyor and sortation systems in manufacturing and distribution operations—for a deeper dive into the benefits of these new technologies. What follows are excerpts from their discussion.
Q: What has changed in recent years that allows companies to leverage big data more effectively than in the past?
Sebastian Titze – Beumer: For quite some years, we have been able to collect a lot of data, but what has changed is the infrastructure to stream large amounts of data to structure them in real time—or near real time—and in that way, make them usable for companies. We are not just collecting data, but have also made the leap to actually generating insights that allow companies to analyze their operations and make decisions based on what they know, not what they think or assume.
Q: What types of issues do we see with conveyors and sortation systems that could benefit from better data analytics and predictive analysis?
Mark Duncan – Schneider Electric: Any type of conveyor and sortation equipment maintenance begins with the motor. If the motor is not functioning properly, nothing else is going to work. In addition to that, we see misalignment with the belt, belt slippage, tension control. Sometimes, the rollers would seize up or you would have blockages or jams due to package interference or motor failure due to bearings, windings, or rotors.
Q: The idea of Industry 4.0 is promising, but real-world examples of successes have been limited. Why are companies struggling to achieve the results that are promised by Industry 4.0 solutions?
Evan Kaiser – Rockwell Automation: A lot of times, customers are trying to take on the world with data instead of being more specific and focused on a particular problem where the information can be utilized to drive a particular result. They do more than what they should out of the gate and then end up frustrated because there is so much complexity in what they’re trying to implement that it doesn’t get the result they’re driving toward. The biggest successes I have seen are companies that have focused on a particular point in the operation that could really benefit from analytics and then scale up from there.
Q: What data from conveyors and sortation systems should be monitored and analyzed?
Dan Barrera – Carter Intralogistics: That depends on what the ultimate goal is. We initially can say speed, current, torque, position, temperature, faults, and whether the system is on or off. All of these variables allow us to make decisions and understand more of what production looks like. It also allows us to understand where the bottlenecks are. However, a lot of these variables are going to depend on the business model you are developing that will be part of your digital transformation. In some cases, it comes down to just keeping the system up and running, and minimizing the disruption.
Q: How do you see digital transformation being carried out within DCs?
Divya Prakash – SICK: Digital transformation has to be a business driver. The distribution center really is going through hyper-acceleration, with e-commerce forcing companies to change their fulfillment strategies and find a perfect omnichannel model. Getting the raw data is not an issue because every sensor is getting smarter, but getting the raw data and applying analytics to it is what digital transformation is all about. There are a lot of disruptive technologies coming into the whole DC area, so it is not just investing in conveyors. There is automation, drones, 5G, robotics, autonomous vehicles, AMRs, AgVs. I mean, there is a lot of stuff coming in that’s transforming the whole distribution center.
Q: What are some of the risks of data analytics?
Sebastian Titze – Beumer: I think many companies perceive the risk to be fairly high, although if you think about it, data analytics really just accesses data from the machine and the sensors, so there is really a very low risk to the machine’s operation. Of course, there is always the risk of data security. But if you consider how many companies nowadays store their emails in the cloud and so on, that risk [from machine data] is not much higher than other business risks. I don’t want to downplay that risk; however, the potential of data analytics and the opportunities it brings greatly outweigh those risks.
Q: What are the real consequences when conveyor and sortation systems go down?
Mark Duncan – Schneider Electric: I have seen statistics indicating that 46% of unplanned downtime is due to hardware failure and malfunction. We heard recently that 80% of companies have experienced some type of downtime over the past three years, and 70% of those are unaware that their assets need maintenance or an upgrade. The material handling equipment in the average distribution center or warehouse is 15.6 years old. That sets up a legitimate business case to put in some analytics to prevent downtime. We have seen customers show us that [the cost of] downtime can average up to $160,000 an hour if it is unplanned, so the impact of downtime is significant, especially in e-commerce and other facilities that run 24/7.
Q: Can you define the term “digital twin” and explain what value and benefits this technology can unlock?
Evan Kaiser – Rockwell Automation: A digital twin is a virtual rendering of the real world. It is a new way of engineering because you can move into this virtual world and test things and experiment with different scenarios. You can manipulate a design very easily without needing any physical investments in material. The digital twin can enable error reductions, improve your time to market, and reduce commission time for complex systems. A digital twin scales very well and can be applied to a specific machine or across the entire operation.
Q: What are some of the benefits of interfacing your conveyors and sorters with other technologies?
Dan Barrera – Carter Intralogistics: This is what management is going to be looking for, right? When we talk about digital transformation, utilization, and cloud computing, they are all thinking about return on their investment. The goal is to increase productivity based on data. This will lead to improved quality, increased uptime, and decreased cost. From this, we can also create value or benefits not only on the production side but also on the engineering side of the system, all the way down to the after-sale support.
Q: What disruptive technology do you see impacting DC operations in the future?
Divya Prakash – SICK: Down on the distribution floor, decisions have to be made much faster as conveyors are moving at higher speeds, but there is often a lag between the cloud and the shop floor. Modern-day sensors have microchips and a lot more computing power. The sensors are not just sensing but also thinking. You will see smart sensors eliminating some of the latency and bringing some of the computing power down to the edge. You’ll see these sensors directly doing analytics and some kinds of computing, providing you with alerts or even predictive analyses.
Editor’s note:MHI’s Conveyor and Sortation Systems (CSS) industry group is an independent authority for end-users and suppliers on market trends, technology developments, and applications. The group consists of over 30 leading companies in the conveyor and sortation systems market with experience from thousands of projects. For more information on the group’s work and a list of CSS members, visit www.mhi.org/css.
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.