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The Maritime Association of the Port of NY and NJ Announces 2024 Intl Maritime Hall of Fame Honorees
Award presentation slated for May 15th in New York City
The Maritime Association of the Port of New York and New Jersey (MAPONY/NJ) announces the 30th International Maritime Hall of Fame (IMHOF) award dinner will be held on May 15th at The Lighthouse, Pier 61 at Chelsea Piers in New York City. One of the industry’s most prestigious honors, the IMHOF Lookout Award is presented to visionaries who are shaping the future of maritime.
MAPONY/NJ Executive Director Stephen Lyman announces this year’s IMHOF inductees represent a cross-section of maritime trailblazers who have demonstrated leadership, vision and a commitment to advancing the maritime industry throughout their careers:
Randy Booker, Chairman, Terminal Investment Corporation (TICO)
Joseph S. Gregorio, Chief Executive Officer and Chairman, Pacific Crane Maintenance Company, LLC (PCMC)
Rolf Habben Jansen, Chief Executive Officer, Hapag-Lloyd
Mary Jo Muoio, Director of Customs and Trade, Amazon
John C. Wobensmith, Chief Executive Officer, Genco Shipping & Trading Limited
“Only a select few are bestowed with this prestigious honor, a recognition reserved exclusively for those exceptional individuals who have left an indelible mark on our industry. Their professionalism, dedication, and relentless efforts have propelled every facet of the maritime industry sector forward, shaping its future and transforming it into what it is today—and what it will be tomorrow,” said Stephen Lyman, Executive Director at MAPONY/NJ. “The five honorees have undoubtedly earned their esteemed position within the industry and their induction into the 2024 International Maritime Hall of Fame.”
Randy Booker is the Chairman of Terminal Investment Corporation (TICO), a company founded by the Booker family in 1946. Initially a bus transportation company, TICO has since evolved under Mr. Booker's leadership. In the 1970s, he introduced a new model for leasing terminal tractors known as the TICO neutral pool turnkey equipment service model. TICO now manufactures specialized tractors for container movement and expanded into the retail market in 2008, making TICO a leading provider of specialized tractors.
Joseph S. Gregorio is the Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of PCMC and a 45-year veteran of the maritime industry. PCMC was founded in 1990 to provide quality intermodal equipment maintenance and repair services to the 10 largest shipping lines in the world. Mr. Gregorio has grown PCMC to the largest employer of ILWU mechanics on the West Coast. PCMC's subsidiary, PTSC, has also emerged as a prominent stevedore business, playing a crucial role in alleviating port congestion during the pandemic.
Rolf Habben Jansen has been serving as the Chief Executive Officer of Hapag-Lloyd since April 2014. Prior to this role, he served as Chief Executive Officer of Damco from 2009 to 2014. Earlier in his career, he was with DHL, where he held multiple managerial roles, including the Head of Global Customer Solutions. Mr. Habben Jansen started his professional journey in the field of logistics and shipping at Royal Nedlloyd and then transitioned to the Swiss logistics company, Danzas.
Mary Jo Muoio has been serving as the Director of Customs and Trade at Amazon since March 2022. In this position, she leads development and deployment of Amazon-offered customs brokerage and strategic trade services. Prior to joining Amazon, she held the position of Senior Vice President of Trade Services at Geodis USA from 2006-2022. Before that, she served as the Senior Vice President of Barthco International, Inc. for 25 years. Ms. Muoio is also a licensed customs broker, passing the exam with the highest score in the nation.
John C. Wobensmith has been Chief Executive Officer of Genco Shipping & Trading Limited since March 2017, and President since December 2014. With over 25 years of experience in shipping and capital markets, he previously served as Genco’s Chief Financial Officer from 2005 to 2014. Additionally, he served as both President and CFO of Baltic Trading from 2010 to 2015, until its merger with Genco. Mr. Wobensmith spent the early part of his career in banking, including serving as Senior Vice President at American Marine Advisors, Inc., an investment bank focused on the shipping industry.
Tickets for the dinner are $675 each and tables of ten are $6,750. The dinner will include a pre- and post-event cocktail reception to congratulate the inductees and network with fellow industry leaders. Brand visibility opportunities are available through a variety of sponsorship and advertising options. To learn more, please visit www.nymaritime.org or contact IMHOF@nymaritime.org or 732-817-0400.
Roboteon, provider of a powerful software platform for warehouse robot enablement, announces breakthrough simulation capabilities in its platform for robotics and other warehouse automation. The new tool help companies make better decisions across multiple time horizons, from initial automation planning through real time execution on the floor.
Interest in Autonomous Mobile Robots (AMRs) and other robotics is high, but there remains much uncertainty about use cases, the number of AMRs and humans needed across different time horizons, expected operational improvements, and cost savings from the robotics investment.
Companies also lack tools to optimally balance and release work to the DC floor based on demand and available human and robotic resources.
The good news: Roboteon’s Warehouse Robotics Fulfillment platform addresses all these challenges and more in a way unique in the market , adding a new dimension to the Roboteon platform’s powerful capabilities to integrate, manage, orchestrate, and optimize robot-enabled warehouse processes.
Key features and capabilities of the new simulation tool include:
The ability to assess the number of robots and humans that will be needed for a potential robotics initiative.
After the initial deployment, the ability to test different operating plans, such as what is required for peak season success.
“Digital twin” functionality that enables real-time optimization of resource assignment and order release.
Native support for multi-client environments, as required by many 3PLs.
Ability to run simulation using actual past order history or generate synthetic demand based on profiling order patterns without the need to gather all that data.
Highly flexible configuration parameters for running the simulation, including the facility layout, speed of the robots, speed of human workers, time to complete picks and other work, use of other automation such as goods to person systems, and more.
More than two dozen metrics generated by the simulation, including cost per pick, lines or unit per hour, robot and human dwell times, and many more.
Extensive use of machine learning to improve the optimization results over time.
The combination of Roboteon’s simulation capabilities, ease of use, and robot vendor agnostic orchestration provides a breakthrough in the warehouse robotics sector.
Companies would typically work with Roboteon early in a robotics initiative to understand automation options, ROI, costs, as part of the solution design. Once robots have been deployed, the simulator supports short to mid-term planning for placement of robots and humans on the DC floor.
Benefits of Roboteon’s simulation tool include:
Support for testing and building the business case for automation
Improved visibility over flexible time-horizons
Enhanced decision-making based on real-time data
More consistent ability to meet service-level commitments and client scorecards
Higher productivity and throughput
“With the release of this simulation tool as part of our Robotics Fulfillment Platform , Roboteon has further enhanced our sector-leading capabilities for successful robotic enablement in the short and long term” said Dan Gilmore, chief marketing officer.
About Roboteon
Roboteon Inc.™ is a unique market innovator whose vision is to enable rapid deployment and efficient operation of robotics in distribution. Our software platform enables interoperability across robotic technologies and vendors. It also optimizes order planning, picking and other process execution while automatically considering dynamic conditions such as robot and human resource capacities on the floor. Combined with deep domain expertise, our technology speeds time-to-value and supports agile change. You can learn more at www.roboteon.com.
Media Contact Dan Gilmore Roboteon dgilmore@roboteon.com
Pittsburgh, PA – November 19, 2024 – Today inventory intelligence solution Gather AI announces its expansion into freezer and cold storage warehouse environments, an industry-first for inventory monitoring automation.
According to Grand View Research, the U.S. cold storage market size was valued at $40 billion in 2023 and is expected to reach $97 billion by 2030. This can be attributed to technological advancements in packaging, processing, and storage of temperature-sensitive items.
In tandem, the rise of e-commerce has accelerated delivery timelines, and warehouse inventory accuracy is more crucial than ever. Traditionally, staff across food and beverage, pharma and healthcare, health and beauty, and chemicals and technology have had to physically cycle count in harsh freezer environments, but now with Gather AI’s industry-first freezer and cold storage capability, drones do the counting, and employees can comfortably view the results from a dashboard away from the cold.
Gather AI computer vision technology enables drones to fly autonomously through warehouses with no GPS, WiFi, or infrastructure changes needed. The machine learning algorithm analyzes inventory pictures and reads and interprets far beyond the barcode including lot codes, text, expiration dates, case counts, and occupancy information. Warehouse operators can compare their real-time physical inventory with the warehouse management system (WMS) data. Gather AI’s solution scans 10X faster than traditional means in the freezer environment - up to 900 pallets per hour - and improves inventory accuracy by up to 70%. See more here.
Key benefits of this expansion into freezer and cold storage warehouses:
Reduce the time staff spends in challenging conditions
Ensure FIFO compliance to guarantee inventory freshness
Monitor inventory age and expiration dates to reduce waste
Prevent shrink and reduce mispicks, fulfillment delays, and partial shipments
Realize the full benefits of traceability and digital twin visualization
“Our automated solutions are designed to enhance both employee experience and operational efficiency, helping businesses achieve greater productivity in their facilities,” said Gather AI CEO & Co-Founder, Sankalp Arora, Ph.D. “Our commitment to building flexible, scalable technology has led to this industry-first: automated inventory monitoring in cold storage and freezer environments. With this technical challenge solved, we’re excited to support businesses in meeting heightened inventory counting and accuracy standards, while enabling employees to spend less time on manual tasks in these demanding conditions.”
Langham Logistics CEO, Cathy Langham says “We use business intelligence solutions like Gather AI to give our life sciences customers total inventory visibility, control, and compliance. After engaging Gather AI in 2022, we went from a 97% accuracy rate to over 99% accuracy. With the expansion into cold storage and freezer locations, we expect the same accuracy gains and up to 10X faster cycle counts. This will improve results for our clients and ultimately get product into the hands of people who need it most - quickly, accurately, and in peak condition.” Hear more about Langham Logistics’s experience with Gather AI here.
To learn more about the Gather AI solution, please visit www.gather.ai, and meet their team at industry conferences including Manifest, HumanX, ProMat, and others.
About Gather AI: Pittsburgh-based Gather AI is a market leader in supply chain AI to decrease the cost of inventory, improve productivity, and boost revenue. Gather AI was founded in 2017 by Carnegie Mellon University alumni Sankalp Arora, Ph.D., Daniel Maturana, Ph.D., and Geetesh Dubey. The Gather AI solution is currently deployed in warehouses across third-party logistics, retail distribution, manufacturing, food & beverage, and air cargo at companies including GEODIS, Langham Logistics, NFI Industries, Barrett Distribution, Army & Air Force Exchange Service (AAFES), and more. Gather AI was named a 2024 CB Insights AI 100 company and received several other awards from trade media outlets in the past year. Gather AI is backed by Bain Capital Ventures, Tribeca Venture Partners, Xplorer Capital, Dundee Venture Capital, Expa, Bling Capital, and XRC Ventures. To learn more about Gather AI, visit www.gather.ai and on YouTube and LinkedIn.
Dublin, Ohio (November 19, 2024) — VARGO®, a leading provider of material-handling systems integration, warehouse execution software and equipment solutions, has announced several new vendor partnerships and customer advancements that are helping them to create efficiencies and empower fulfillment.
VARGO® and Tompkins Robotics have signed a mutual partnership, designating VARGO® as an authorized integrator of the technology. “Tompkins is an obvious choice in partner for us,” said Bart Cera, CEO. “Their robotics solutions are conducive to a weightless, continuous flow as well as being modular and quickly deployable. Their solutions have the ability to shrink or grow with the size of our customer’s operation which will allow us to utilize it often and in many different merchandise categories.”
Long standing customer, Micro Center recently upgraded the 20-year-old system at their Hilliard, Ohio facility. Initially installed in 2004, this system had an exceptionally long usable life for a line shaft conveyor. It is estimated that during 2020, more than $4B worth of goods were sorted and shipped using this system. VARGO® made recommendations for modernizing the aging technology and investing in the next phase to mitigate the associated maintenance cost that is often seen with sunsetting systems.
Ultimately, Micro Center opted to modernize the conveyor in phases by removing the existing line shaft conveyor and replacing it with the lower maintenance and operational cost option of an MDR conveyor, an upgraded saw tooth merge and a new narrow belt sorter to increase accuracy and throughput. VARGO® was able to add a temporary workaround and allow for remote monitoring to minimize operational impact during the equipment upgrades. Implementation was a success with an earlier than expected completion date due to additional efforts from the installation teams.
VARGO® also recently announced a pivotal partnership with URBX, making VARGO® an authorized integrator of their cutting-edge robotic solutions. “With the explosion of new fulfillment technologies and automation in our industry, we are able to deliver compelling returns for our customers when applying the URBX technologies correctly,” said Bart Cera, president and CEO of VARGO®. The partnership anticipates a prosperous future by combining URBX’s cube storage solutions for speed across SKUs with VARGO®’s expertise in waveless and omnichannel order fulfillment.
Additionally, VARGO® has expanded their partnership with TGW Systems with the installation of their goods-to-person technology to Gap Inc.’s Columbus facility coming in Q1 of 2025. The Columbus Gap Inc. facility is already home to a TGW automatic storage system, allowing for optimal utilization of volume while also ensuring easy maintenance and durability. “We are honored to have been a trusted partner forGap Inc. and their growth strategy. This recent addition to our partnership with TGW Systems is allowing us to bring Gap Inc. the benefits of a highly ergonomic and user-friendly design, allowing for minimal error rates and maximum efficiency,” said Cera.
The VARGO® team looks forward to finishing out a very successful 2024, full of many client expansions and updates, new and expanded vendor partnerships and internal team growth.
About VARGO®
VARGO® is a proven integrator to enable what's possible and empower automation and people. VARGO® provides the newest and smartest technologies with the intelligent design of its Continuous Order Fulfillment Engine (COFE®) - the first intelligent Warehouse Execution System (WES) - to develop game-changing fulfillment solutions across all work resources - machines, people and processes. VARGO® is a team of mechanical and software engineers with over five decades of experience, VARGO® has helped manufacturers, distributors, leading retailers, e-commerce providers, and 3PLs improve their fulfillment and material handling systems, increase processing capacities, and reduce order cycle times.
Learn more about VARGO® and their innovative solutions at www.vargosolutions.com.
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Seegrid RS1 AMR utilizing ROS 2 to perform manipulation task in industrial facility.
November 19, 2024 - Seegrid Corporation, a leading manufacturer of autonomous mobile robot (AMR) solutions for palletized material handling in the US, today announced its membership in the Open Source Robotics Alliance (OSRA), an initiative of the Open Source Robotics Foundation (OSRF). Through this partnership, Seegrid will contribute its industry-leading expertise through its active involvement in the open-source robotics community. The company joins a vibrant network of innovators, collectively driving open-source development for the betterment of the global robotics landscape.
As part of the OSRA, Seegrid will actively support initiatives that foster collaboration and shared knowledge across the robotics field. The company aims to participate in key OSRF activities, including the renowned ROSCon event, as well as on-line communities such as GitHub and ROS Discourse.
“Joining OSRA is an opportunity for us to more fully participate in the open-source robotics community, to share our insights and learn from a community that thrives on collaboration and innovation,” said Tom Panzarella, Chief Technology Officer of Seegrid. “By contributing to the open-source robotics ecosystem, we hope to help push the community forward, enhancing the capabilities of autonomous systems across industries. Together with other OSRA members, we believe we can further harden and improve the accessibility of advanced technology for all.”
This partnership reflects Seegrid’s commitment to promoting open development that benefits the entire community, not just individual organizations. With the company's extensive experience in AMRs, Seegrid hopes to play an active role in advancing the collaborative development efforts that make open-source platforms like ROS 2 vital contributors to technological progress.
Vanessa Yamzon Orsi, CEO of the Open Source Robotics Foundation, commented, “We are excited to welcome Seegrid to the OSRA. Their expertise in AMRs brings significant value to our shared mission of advancing open-source robotics technology. Seegrid’s contributions will help enhance the collective development efforts that our members bring to the table, further advancing open innovation across the industry.”
By joining OSRA, Seegrid also aims to inspire a new generation of autonomous engineers, enabling knowledge-sharing across sectors and fueling the continued growth of open-source projects. This partnership will empower organizations of all sizes to benefit from collaborative progress in the field, contributing to a future where autonomous robotics technology is more accessible, sustainable, and adaptable.
About the Open Source Robotics Alliance
The Open Source Robotics Alliance (OSRA) is an initiative of the Open Source Robotics Foundation (OSRF). It is a global community committed to advancing open-source robotics technologies. By fostering collaboration between innovators, OSRF is helping to accelerate the development of cutting-edge solutions that benefit industry and society alike. Its flagship open-source robotics software, ROS, is the world's most widely adopted robotics framework suite.
About Seegrid
Seegrid, a leading-edge technology company of autonomous mobile robot (AMR) solutions for material handling solutions, combines AMR technology, enterprise software, and best-in-class services for complete, connected automated workflows. With over 15 million autonomous production miles driven to date, Seegrid AMRs are reliable, flexible, and proven. The world’s largest manufacturing, warehousing, and logistics companies rely on Seegrid. We are partnered with over 50 global brands where 2,000+ AMRs are deployed within 200+ customer sites. From our dependable Tow Tractor to our industry-leading Lift Truck solutions, let us work with you to embrace the future of autonomous material handling.
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Rich Egan, Averitt's vice president of international solutions
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. – Averitt has appointed Rich Egan as the company’s new vice president of international solutions. Egan, who brings over 40 years of experience in the transportation industry and has specialized in international logistics since 1990, will assume the position held by the retiring Charlie McGee.
Since joining Averitt in 2019 as director of international solutions, Egan has played a pivotal role in shaping the company’s global logistics strategy. His expertise and commitment to service excellence have contributed significantly to Averitt’s growth in this sector. In his new role, Egan will lead the international solutions team and drive strategic initiatives to enhance Averitt's global logistics offerings.
“We’re excited to welcome Rich into this role,” said Kent Williams, executive vice president of sales and marketing at Averitt. “His extensive background in international logistics and proven leadership are invaluable as we continue expanding our global services to meet the evolving needs of our customers.” For more information about Averitt’s international services, visit Averitt.com/International.
About Averitt
Serving shippers for over 50 years, Averitt is a leading provider of freight transportation and supply chain management solutions with an international reach of over 100 countries. Averitt's “Power of One” service structure provides shippers access to LTL, Truckload, Dedicated, Distribution & Fulfillment, and Integrated services that cover every link in the supply chain. Averitt’s team has been awarded the highest honors in the industry in the past year, including three Quest for Quality Awards, numerous customer awards, and a top ranking in MASTIO & Company’s shipper survey. Averitt's 8,500+ associates are dedicated to delivering the most reliable services within the industry and promoting a company culture centered around people, communities, sustainability, and giving back. For more information, call 1-800-AVERITT (283-7488) or visit Averitt.com.