Inside Logistics April 2020

APRIL 2020

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ARE COBOTS READY TO LEND A HAND IN THE DC?

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C A N A DA’ S S U P P LY C H A I N M AG A Z I N E A PR I L 20 20 • V O L UM E 6 5 • NU M B ER 0 2

CONTENTS In every issue:

5

Taking Stock

7

Supply Chain Scan

Editor’s analysis

News and numbers from around the world

35

Learning Curve

Q&A with Richard Lande

37 Leading Edge

26

Lessons from a four-legged family member

38

Safety First

Loading dock protocols

The cobot conundrum Are they ready to lend a hand?

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SUPPLY CHAIN SCAN

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Automated yard vehicles | Real estate records | Movers + Shakers | Co-warehousing | Coronavirus legal concerns | Brexit woes

See page 17

Cover photo: Right Hand Robotics

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Warehouse safety

Highlights from the WSPS warehouse safety conference

«

«

SUPPLY CHAIN LEADERSHIP ROUNDTABLE

30

MODEX 2020 Take a tour of the show floor with the Inside Logistics team

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The new NAFTA

How the USMCA trade deal will be different from its predecessor 3

TA K I N G S T O C K

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The upside of down AS I SIT DOWN to write this message Ontario premier Doug Ford is

announcing the province is in a state of emergency.

It’s hard not to be overwhelmed at the speed with which the coronavirus pandemic has taken over our world. Just last week the Inside Logistics team was at MODEX 2020, albeit under a cloud of concern about COVID-19.

The mood was optimistic and plenty of show-goers walked the floor, checking out the majority of booths that had not been cancelled.

Fast-forward to March 17th and that little, light grey wisp in the sky has morphed into an apocalyptic funnel cloud. Social and business activity is being curtailed; basic supplies are in short supply; rumours and misinformation swirl in the maelstrom of social media and other news sources.

Social distancing is the new normal and businesses are trying to make it work. E-commerce companies like Amazon are trying to hire hundreds of thousands of new workers to keep up with the sudden new demand.

And at the same time distribution centre operations managers are trying to find ways to keep their employees apart, while still filling orders. One Ontario-based company has placed portapotties in its DC yard so that every worker has their own private toilet.

The business consequences of the shutdown of normal life will be enormous. This is an unprecedented crisis. Nobody knows how bad it will get or how long the effects will last, but based on the stock markets’ reaction, it will hurt. Surveys and reports are already clocking the effects on businesses and trade, and it is bad. People will lose jobs, small businesses will fail, and there will be widespread pain.

There’s no immediate upside to all this, but taking the long view there are a few takeaways I hope will come to pass. First is resilience. Learning the mental toughness to see what needs to be done and the resolve to make the tough decisions like staying at home, or temporarily shutting your business’s doors is good practice. It will serve you well in the future.

Second, the economy will come back. After the darkness comes the light, and if you keep an eye on the long game, there’s bound to be a surge in demand for products and services as people emerge from hiding.

Third, e-commerce businesses, which rely on the services of distribution centres, are booming through this crisis. Assuming they can get product, and staff, they might be the bright spot in all this.

My best to each and every one of my readers as we weather this awful storm. Please stay safe and feel free to share your experiences with us.

CHECK OUT OUR MODEX 2020 COVERAGE ON PAGE 30.

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21ST-CENTURY YARD MANAGEMENT Pilot projects test fully automated logistics yard AUTOMATED VEHICLES may be

coming to a yard near you.

Outrider, a U.S.-based start-up, has begun pilot operations of its autonomous yard management system at five distribution centres.

“Logistics yards offer a confined, private-property environment and a set of discrete, repetitive tasks that make the ideal use case for autonomous technology,” says Andrew Smith, founder and CEO of Outrider. “But today’s yards are also complex, often chaotic settings, with lots of work that’s performed manually. This is why an overarching systems approach –

REAL ESTATE RECORDS Canada’s boom

9 PANDEMIC TIPS

“If autonomous vehicles would work anywhere, they should be able to work in the yard.”

– Greg Braun, C3 Solutions

with an autonomous truck at its centre – is key to automating every major operation in the yard.”

Outrider automates the repetitive, manual aspects of yard operations, including moving trailers around the yard, moving trailers to and from loading docks, hitching and unhitching trailers, connecting and disconnecting trailer brake lines, and monitoring trailer locations.

Its three-part system includes management software, autonomous zero-emission yard trucks with visionbased robotics, and site infrastructure. According to the company, the Outrider system is designed to integrate with existing supply chain software, and yard management systems used by large enterprises.

Outrider also says its research is “helping define the next-generation standard for Level 4 Autonomy System Design”.

Greg Braun, senior VP of sales and marketing for Montreal-based C3 Solutions, which makes yard management and dock scheduling software, thinks the idea makes sense. “From our perspective the yard is the ideal starting point for the adoption of autonomous vehicle technology,” he told Inside Logistics. “If autonomous vehicles would work anywhere they

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should be able to work in the yard.”

Outrider is demonstrating its solution through pilot programs with Georgia-Pacific and four Fortune 200 companies in designated sections of their distribution yards.

“We’re constantly looking for ways to transform our company and the way we get work done, especially making work safer and more efficient and productive,” says Annant Patel, vice-president of automation transformation at Georgia-Pacific. “Yard operations has been one of our opportunities, and Outrider has been a great partner to help us automate our pilot site.”

According to Smith, the goal of the pilot projects is to demonstrate the use case in the test area of the yard, then expand to fully automate the entire yards.

Target users are Fortune 500 logistics-dependent companies in industries such as consumer packaged goods, package delivery, manufacturing, and retail.

“Modern distribution yards won’t be just autonomous, they’ll be electric,” Smith says. “Electric yard trucks are easier to operate and maintain than their diesel counterparts, and they lend themselves to better computer control. Our mission is to work with customers and suppliers to rapidly retire the more than 50,000 diesel-polluting yard trucks currently operating at logistics hubs throughout the U.S.” Based in Golden, Colorado, Outrider has more than 75 employees including 50 engineers solely focused on distribution yard automation.

10 PRINTED PARTS Keeping the railways running with a very short supply chain

11 MOVERS + SHAKERS Appointments and moves in the supply chain sector

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SU PPLY C H A I N S C A N

2020 looks to be record year for industrial real estate CANADA’S COMMERCIAL real estate market is entering 2020 with strong momentum, setting the stage for what could be an unprecedented $50-billion year in investment volume, the highest on record, according to CBRE’s “2020 Canadian Real Estate Market Outlook Report”.

“A relentless bull market, macroeconomic tailwinds and supportive immigration policies have allowed Canada’s commercial real estate market to gather serious velocity heading into the new decade,” said CBRE Canada vice-chairman Paul Morassutti. “There are challenges ahead, including rising rents, limited office and industrial space, new technologies and the all-important issue of climate change. But ingenuity across our industry has demonstrated that creative solutions and skillful management of these issues can ensure the real estate market’s ongoing success.”

While 2019 fell shy of a fourth consecutive record for commercial real estate investment volume, CBRE predicts 2020 could be Canada’s best year ever. Nearly 70 percent of downtown office space under construction nationally is already pre-leased and over 50 percent of the industrial space under construction spoken for.

According to the “Canada Investment

This building in the Vancouver area is the first multi-story DC to be built in Canada.

Outlook, Year-end 2019” report by Jones Lang LaSalle (JLL) industrial vacancy has fallen to its lowest point on record nationally as well as in Toronto, Vancouver, Montreal and Ottawa. Net rents are up by over seven percent nationally.

The move to e-commerce fulfillment, which requires up to three times as much warehouse space as traditional retail, has led to record demand for space. Transportation and warehousing are increasingly driving the industrial market, rather than manufacturing which has seen setbacks stemming from volatility in export markets.

JLL notes that the space shortage in Canada’s largest markets is forcing developers to look at different types of solutions. In Vancouver, for example, Oxford Properties has announced plans to build the country’s first multi-storey warehouse. In Mississauga, Greyson Construction is building an 80-foot high

New co-warehousing concept unveiled in Atlanta A NEW 27,000-SQUARE-FOOT co-working and co-warehousing facility has opened for business in Atlanta. Saltbox was built for small businesses and e-commerce operators who need warehousing space with loading docks, on a small scale.

With a month-to-month lease program, users gain access to work space as well as the warehouse facility which includes pallet jacks, cargo vans, 24/7 security, and on-demand labour for tasks such as loading and unloading, kitting and assembly, and inventory

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control. There is daily pickup on site by USPS, UPS, and FedEx. The company also offers order fulfillment services.

According to Tyler Scriven, Saltbox’s co-founder and CEO, the concept addresses a number of issues for entrepreneurs. “Concrete class businesses are forced to spend enormous effort on hacking together a space that works,” he said in a blog. “After searching across the metro area for an appropriate space (there aren’t many below 10,000 square feet with loading docks), these entrepre-

warehouse that takes up one fourth of the footprint of a typical structure.

CBRE, for its part, notes efficiencies are being found in built form, with clear heights increasing to maximize cubic space: 40-foot clear heights will be the new norm for speculative developments, while build-to-suit construction has made once-unthinkable 90-foot clear heights possible.

Likewise, CBRE says the lack of largebay options is forcing tenants to contemplate not being able to house all their operations in a single distribution centre in a major market, and companies are pivoting to bookend cities with smaller mid-sized locations. Mid-sized domestic players and private capital are expected to jump at the chance to acquire higher-yielding assets in the year ahead in places like Ottawa, Waterloo Region, Hamilton, the B.C. Interior and the province of Quebec.

neurs then have to set up fans and space heaters, wireless Internet, a security system, commercial freight pickups, and waste disposal.”

The Saltbox facility consists of partitioned areas – much like self-storage units – housed within a traditional warehouse. Units the size of a single-car garage start at US$870 a month, while a three-car-garage sized unit is $2,190.

“Saltbox allows us to work, store and ship from a reasonably priced space suitable for our growing business with all the amenities and benefits of large stocked warehouse,” said Jody Stansell and Bryan Scarborough of e-commerce outfit Cinch Skirt.

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SU PPLY C H A I N S C A N

| By Cynthia Rigsby, partner and intellectual property lawyer, Foley & Lardner

Legal tips for dealing with COVID-19 Check these tips to deal with the contractual consequences of the pandemic

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seeking to invoke the force majeure provisions in its contract usually must show that there are no alternative means for performing under the contract, as increased costs alone will not be sufficient to prevail on a claim of force majeure.

Review merger and acquisition (M&A) areements Companies party to definitive M&A agreements should review any “Material Adverse Change” (MAC) clauses, and representations and warranties, to assess the potential impacts of the coronavirus on their transaction. For attorneys drafting and reviewing definitive M&A agreements now, care should be taken in crafting or reviewing appropriate MAC clauses, representations and warranties and other provisions to take the potential impacts of coronavirus into account. On the buy side, enhanced focus on supply contract due diligence is recommended.

Review reporting requirements Public companies should review and make accurate required disclosures, in the event that business operations are impacted such that a reporting requirement is triggered. All companies party to credit agreements and other financing arrangements should review existing MAC clauses, and potential impacts on the borrower’s financial covenant compliance, in order to determine whether proactive conversations with lenders may be warranted.

Employment concerns The challenges for any business facing coronavirus or any other disease outbreak involve a multitude of conflicting legal obligations. Under the occupational health and safety laws employers have a general duty and obligation to provide a safe and healthy work environment, even when the work occurs outside the employer’s physical premises. Furthermore, employers must not place their employees in situations that are likely to cause serious physical harm or death.

Conversely, overreacting by implementing broad-based bans and making business decisions about employees that are not based on statistical realities could get an employer sued under laws that prohibit discrimination based upon disability (perceived or real) and national origin discrimination, among others.

INSIDE Logistics A PR I L 2020

photo: nito100, iStockimages.com

Review purchase and supply contracts to determine what “force majeure” rights and requirements may apply Force majeure refers to a legal doctrine under which a party may be relieved from liability for non-performance if circumstances beyond the party’s control prevent the party from fulfilling its obligations under a contract. Force majeure provisions can vary greatly depending on how they were drafted by the parties, but they usually cover several categories of events that could impact suppliers and customers across the supply chain.

While most force majeure provisions are unlikely to list disease, epidemics, or quarantine specifically, many include general provisions covering such things as natural disasters, “acts of God,” acts of government, or “other circumstances beyond the parties’ control.” The coronavirus outbreak presents a somewhat unique situation in that it includes both a naturally occurring component (the virus itself) and a government action component (including the quarantines and other measures put in place in response to the outbreak).

Parties should carefully review the force majeure provisions in their contracts to determine whether they apply. Any party

SU PPLY C H A I N S C A N

UK may suffer from non-tariff trade measures NON-TARIFF MEASURES (NTMs) could cause major fractures in post-exit trade relations between the United Kingdom (UK) and the European Union (EU), knocking up to US$32 billion, or 14 percent, off UK exports to the EU, according to a new UNCTAD study.

NTMs are policy measures other than ordinary customs tariffs that can potentially have an economic effect on international trade in goods, changing quantities traded, or prices, or both.

They include regulatory measures protecting health, safety and the environment – such as packaging requirements and limits on the use of pesticides ensure food safety; restrictions on toxins in toys protect our children; mandatory voltage standards for household plugs enable regional mobility; and emission

standards for cars limit climate change – as well as traditional trade policy measures such as quotas and non-automatic licensing.

Potential losses under a “no-deal” Brexit from tariffs that may be imposed by the respective parties are estimated at between $11.4 billion and $16 billion or five to seven percent of current exports.

The new study, Brexit beyond tariffs: The role of non-tariff measures and the impact on developing countries, says NTMs would double those losses.

The study also projects that even if a “standard” free trade agreement were to be signed by the parties, the UK’s exports could still drop by nine percent.

The losses would deal a major blow to the UK’s economy, as the EU market accounts for 46 percent of the UK’s

exports. Mounting trade costs due to non-tariff measures and potentially rising tariffs would more than double the adverse economic effects of Brexit for the UK, the EU and developing countries, the study notes.

“EU membership has its advantages to deal with non-tariff measures that even the most comprehensive agreement cannot replicate,” said UNCTAD’s director of international trade, Pamela Coke-Hamilton.

The UK left the EU in January. The two parties aim to determine their future trade relations during a transition period that lasts until the end of this year.

While a “hard” exit scenario would result in the study’s projections, the economic effects of a “soft” exit in which the status quo is largely maintained pending negotiation of a future trade relationship would depend on the details of that relationship.

COVID-19 pandemic taking its toll on business A NEW SURVEY suggests that by mid-

March half of Canada’s small businesses had already seen a drop in sales due to the economic effects of COVID-19.

The survey conducted by the Canadian Federation of Independent Business also says four in 10 of those affected businesses are also reporting a drop of more than 25 percent.

The results were based on an online survey which included 8,730 responses from small business across the country between March 13 and March 16.

The CFIB survey found the sectors most negatively affected were hospitality, arts and recreation, retail and personal services.

It says 43 percent have reduced hours for staff and 20 percent have started temporary layoffs. Thirty-eight percent say they have experienced supply chain issues.

CFIB president Dan Kelly says the early economic impacts of the coronavirus on Canada small and medium-sized busi-

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nesses has been massive.

“Even more alarming is our finding that a full quarter of small firms would not be able to survive for more than a month with a drop in business income of more than 50 percent,’’ Kelly said in a statement.

On the international front, the effects on trade have also been dramatic.

According to analysis released by Tradeshift, global business-to-business transactions dropped by 62 percent in the week of March 8, 2020.

Cross-border transactions between businesses have fallen by 58 percent week on week, while domestic transactions have dropped 66 percent during the same period.

The findings mirror the pattern observed in China during the height of the outbreak across the region. Tradeshift’s data analytics team found cross border and domestic trade activity in China fell by 56 percent in the week commencing February 16th.

“Every conversation I’m having with businesses right now centres on cash flow,” said Christian Lanng, Tradeshift CEO. “Companies are looking at how they can keep cash on their books to see them through the current period.

But they’re also acutely aware that suppliers are facing the same liquidity challenges.

If cash dries up across the supply chain, we could see a lot of smaller businesses start to fold. It’s a balancing act.

Get it wrong and the whole house of cards could come down.”

The Canadian government has responded to the crisis with a package for health and economic relief that included making EI easier to get and providing a $10 billion credit facility for businesses impacted. And many businesses were shutting their doors either due to government emergency measures rules or of their own accord. Retail operations have been the most severely affected to date.

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SU PPLY C H A I N S C A N

Long train, short supply chain Additive manufacturing keeps trains running ONE BROKEN PART worth a couple hundred

dollars can be enough to keep a train from running. And for one American commuter rail service, that out-of-service train costs about US$26,000 each day. Since the service life of trains is about 35 to 45 years, spare parts can be hard to find.

However, an innovative service now makes it possible to create spares on site using additive manufacturing. Within a day or two, new spares can be made regardless of the uniqueness of the part or the age of the train car, bypassing a lengthy supply chain and dramatically cutting costly downtime.

3D printer maker Stratasys offers this Rail Industry Solution, which uses proprietary resins with its Fortus 3D printers for production. The spare parts produced on demand meet government certification requirements for smoke, fire, and toxicity.

Angel Trains, Bombardier Transportation, Chiltern Railways, DB ESG, and Siemens Mobility are all currently using the system.

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Part of Deutsche Bahn, DB ESG, based in Derby, U.K., helps train operators and rolling stock owners keep trains in service by reverse engineering obsolete components.

“Additive manufacturing allows us to efficiently produce parts for the passenger environment that are indistinguishable from the existing parts,” said Martin Stevens, mechanical engineering manager at DB ESG. “The Stratasys range of EN45545-2-compliant materials enables us to reverse-engineer parts, such as interior grab handles, with freeform curves that traditionally could only be made with casting or injection molding, without the need for expensive tooling, and with a corresponding reduction in delivery times. The software allows us to precisely define the printing parameters, then lock down the print file to ensure consistent parts production across multiple printing bureaus.”

Siemens Mobility uses the system to produce parts for the German and UK rail industries, and recently invested in new technology to support the expansion of its rail maintenance operations in Russia. A contract to build 13 additional high-speed Velaro trains for Russian train company, RZD, includes an agreement to maintain and service the trains for the next 30 years.

Dedicated to servicing the existing 16 and additional 13 planned trains, Siemens Mobility Russia is working to a more than 99 percent fleet availability record.

“These availability figures would be physically impossible to achieve through external part sourcing and traditional manufacturing techniques alone, but Stratasys gives us the capability to cost-effectively produce the parts in-house, partially eliminating the need for warehousing or tools for a selected range of items,” said Alexey Fedoseev, head of customer services, Siemens Mobility Russia. “We have already seen the success of the Siemens Mobility ‘Easy Sparovation Part’ business in Germany, where this technology has provided us time-per-part savings of up to 95 percent compared to traditional manufacturing methods.”

By storing all part data online, Siemens Mobility can access and replace older or newer train parts ad-hoc to meet stringent time limits.

INSIDE Logistics APR I L 2020

SU PPLY C H A I N S C A N

MOVERS + SHAKERS Ben Gadbois global president, COO and board director and Bill Hess, executive vice-president, global operations and CIO have left Spin Master. Paul Blom has been appointed interim executive vice-president, global operations and technology. Blom will lead the company’s operations and IT teams across Asia, Canada, the United States, Europe and Mexico. He is a veteran executive with global expansion experience who has held senior roles in all areas of operations at IBM, SMTC, CFM and Celestica.

Robert Isabella has been appointed to the new role of chief supply chain officer for British Columbia-based Silver Hills Bakery. A 16-year veteran of Weston Foods, Isabella was most recently vice-president of manufacturing, Canada, with responsibility for 11 manufacturing facilities across the country. At Silver Hills he will lead all operational aspects including production, procurement, warehouse, logistics, sanitation, and maintenance. He will report to Stan Smith, co-founder and president.

Sylvie Vachon has decided to retire in 2020 after 30 years of service, including 11 years as president and CEO of the Montreal Port Authority (MPA). “I believe the time is right for someone else to take the helm and chart the next course in the long history of the Port, whose future is more than promising,” Vachon said. “On behalf of the members of the MPA board of directors, I would like to salute the great leadership of Sylvie Vachon,” added Marie-Claude Boisvert, chair of the MPA board of directors. Until a successor is named, Vachon will continue to helm all port activities and projects. The MPA board has already begun the selection process.

Raj Subramaniam, FedEx Corp.’s president and COO, has been elected to the board of directors. Subramaniam oversees the FedEx portfolio of operating companies. He is also a member of the company’s executive committee and serves as co-president and co-CEO of FedEx Services. Previously Subramaniam led FedEx Express and from 2003 to 2006 was president of FedEx Express in Canada.

Morneau Global, the logistics and international division of Groupe Morneau, has appointed Louie Palermo as logistics and business development manager. He will be based in Montréal. He has more than 14 years of experience, most recently as director of business development with MJS AmeriTrans Logistics Inc. Before that he was manager, national accounts with FLS Transportation Services and also worked for HG Transport.

Delmar International Inc. has named Laura Corrales as its first sustainability officer. The new role’s mandate is to develop, implement and promote sustainability programs for operations in North America. Corrales was most recently an account executive and sustainability consultant with UPS. She earned a Masters in Sustainability from Harvard University and a degree in Industrial Engineering from Javeriana University in Bogota, Colombia. Based in the Montreal head office, she will report to the CEO.

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H E A LT H & SA F E T Y

| By Jacob Black

STAYING SAFE AT WORK

WSPS CONFERENCE HIGHLIGHTS SAFETY FOR 3PLS AND PREVENTING FALLS

Speakers at the 2020 Warehouse Safety Conference hosted by Workplace Safety and Prevention Services in February included safety experts from across the industry and within the provincial government as well as other industry insiders. Key themes were health and safety regulation and legislation, hazard assessment, and integrating technology in warehouse facilities. Our correspondent attended to bring you the highlights.

Workplace falls increasing Canadians lost 8,761 working days in 2018, thanks to 67 disabling injuries related to falls.

David Reid is the safety leader at Gap Inc.’s global supply chain and product operations, and he says that fall injuries are growing in number. “If we look at the last six years as a whole, we can see that falls within our industry haven’t changed, and in actual fact, it’s gotten worse year-on-year,” he said in a presentation at the WSPS conference.

According to stats from the Workplace Safety and Insurance Board in Rate Group 560 – the WSIB’s catch-all group for warehousing facilities – falls represent 12.7 percent of all reported incidents. They are the third-biggest contributor to losttime injury in the workplace.

“It might not be that all the falls are from dramatic heights, but keep in mind that even a simple fall from four feet can result in a critical injury or a fatality”, Reid said. Often, the fall injury is the result of workers failing to understand the risks.

Reid recommends applying the RACE principles: Recognize, Assess, Control, and Evaluate to help your team remain

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safe when working at height.

Recognition is the first step in identifying potential risks. “It could be formal, like your joint health and safety committee that’s going to meet on a monthly basis, or it could be part of your inspection program that you’ve established with your leadership team,” Reid noted. “In our environment we have both.”

“As a supervisor I should be walking my space every day to understand what

hazards are there. That means using your senses. What do you see, what do you hear, what do you smell?”

Assessment processes can include regular inspections, but also standardized worksheets and matrices designed to help quickly and accurately identify risk profiles, as well as fact-finding missions.

“What observations are people seeing?

Interviewing people that were involved in incidents or accidents is going to help you understand if there are any holes in your safety program,” he said.

Control of those risks is not always a perfect science. “Keep in mind there are various degrees of control,” Reid cautioned. The gold standard is the elimination of any risk or hazard in the workplace,

FALLS RECORDED IN WSIB RG 560 FOR 2018 Fall from loading dock 5.9 % Fall from non-moving vehicle

11.8 %

23.5%

Falls from stairs or steps

Jump from structure 11.8 % 17.6% Falls to lower level Jump from nonmoving vehicle

11.8 % 17.6 % Falls from a ladder

INSIDE Logistics APR I L 2020

Maintaining safety in the 3PL environment Third-party logistics providers are faced with rapidly growing workforces, seasonal and temporary working populations, and an influx of new technologies. Maintaining a high level of safety in this changing environment requires a considered, consistent and systemic approach, according to the director of environmental health and safety at SCI Logistics, Buffy Taylor.

SCI has nearly doubled in size in the last five years and now has over 50 facilities across the country. Like all warehouses and logistics companies, it experiences peaks and troughs of labour demand, and that means turnover, as well as temporary employment.

SCI worked with WSPS to standardize safety protocols and training offered to all SCI workers, temporary and permanent. Taylor’s team also developed a document for temporary workers.

“The temporary worker health and safety handbook was a big undertaking for the company,” she explained. “We decided that we needed a more robust program for our agency employees. We also wanted them to understand what the safety hazards they might encounter when they come on to an SCI property.”

Taylor turned to e-learning to help develop in-house material handling equipment (MHE) trainers. “We identified people with the right skills and abilities to be a trainer as well as forklift competency and we put all our trainers through the program,” Taylor explained.

That training is supported by regular special

MHE observers who assess workers at three and six month intervals. “If we do see unsafe behaviours or the standard hasn’t been met, they’ll actually go back for retraining,” she said.

The company has structured its staffing and warehouse layout to accommodate the risk posed by new automated infrastructure. “We have specialized training for employees who are working with automated equipment, says Taylor. “If a worker isn’t authorized to work with that equipment they can’t go into that area of the facility.”

Health and safety teams have a core standard to adhere to, but how that is achieved varies from site to site and requires cooperation from field experts. At some sites, external traffic is managed differently. Shared yards and older infrastructure means different dock locking and wheel chocking procedures, for example.

There are considerations inside the warehouses too. “There have been times when we have had to redo our pedestrian pathways and barriers for new clients and new products coming in,” Taylor said. “Regardless of the footprint, machine traffic and pedestrian traffic has to be separated. We rely on experts to help us identify the MHE pathways and the best way to do it” SCI has staging lanes and clearly defined workflows for in- and outbound product. “Our operations team is really good at making sure all our products are stored correctly and safely, and racked, wrapped, and stacked properly, Taylor said. “Our storage teams do daily inspections and managers do inspections bi-weekly.”

but sometimes control is about mitigating risks and minimizing the likely occurrence or severity of any incidences.

“If you think about an order picker selector, for example, your administrative control might be to say, ‘never, ever, step outside the confines of your truck’ – and then you might think that you therefore don’t need fall protection equipment, right? But we all know that’s not true because we all know that anything over three metres you need protection legislatively. Also, what are the chances someone will never step off their platform to step on a pallet to grab an item? I’d say slim to none,” Reid said.

“PPE is our last line of defence,” says Reid.

“And in a working-at-heights context that’s our ABCs, our anchor, bodywear and connecting device that has to be in place to protect those workers.”

Evaluation is the review of the effectiveness of any controls put in place to make sure they achieved the goal set out, and it’s a constantly evolving process. “You need to review your hazard assessments, your risk matrices, and look to see if you’ve created any new hazards because of changes you implemented,” Reid noted.

“We want to make sure that at the end of the day we’re sending our workers home intact.

Maybe they’re a little more tired, but they get back to their families.”

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The Top 10 Hazards in Warehouses WSPS Senior Health and Safety Consultant, Norm Kramer highlighted the top 10 workplace hazards.

Contact with objects and equipment make up 26 percent of lost-time injuries, falls 13 percent, and collisions between vehicles and personnel nine percent. Most of these incidents are preventable, and are often caused by the same set of hazards.

Top 10 Hazards are: Pedestrian/ Vehicle Interactions Racking/Storage Lifting devices Ladder use Manual material handling Slips and falls Working from heights Conveyors and other equipment Loading dock Broken pallets

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PEOPLE POWER HOW WILL AUTOMATION, THE ONCOMING WAVE OF RETIREMENTS AND NEED FOR WORKFORCE DIVERSITY SHAPE FUTURE HUMAN RESOURCE STRATEGIES? SUPPLY CHAIN LEADERS SHARE THEIR INSIGHTS.

ROUNDTABLE PARTICIPANTS: Clockwise from top left k Ross Reimer, president, Reimer Associates k Pina Melchionna, president & CEO, CITT k Anna Petrova, director supply chain Canada, Conagra Brands k Neil McKenna, vice president transportation projects, Canadian Tire k Elias Demangos, president, Fortigo Freight k Tracy Clayson, director of client development, In Transit/CPC Logistics Canada k Perry Lo, managing director, Canaan Transport Group

MODERATOR: k Lou Smyrlis, managing director, Newcom Trucking & Supply Chain Group

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McKENNA: Since the beginning

I would like us to consider how automation will play into human resources strategy. Three-quarters of North American companies surveyed plan to invest in robotics over the next ten years. What impact do you anticipate this will have on supply chain jobs?

MELCHIONNA: We talk about technological disruption but I like to call it technological enablement, because the wave of technology that is coming is going to allow businesses to do things better and more efficiently than we have in the past. It is going to have an impact on jobs. I think what we’re going to see, and we’ve already started to see it, is that lower-skilled jobs are going to start disappearing. But there’s going to be growth in management jobs, software development jobs and consulting service jobs.

You’re going to see employers looking

of time, technology has made things easier, safer, more eco“There will come a day nomical. Supply chain technolwhere the terms diversity ogy is no different. Take a look at the recent developments in and inclusion will be irrelevant because those supply chain with the 60-foot and trailers where conditions will just exist” containers you’re moving more cargo – Tracy Clayson per man hour, longer combination vehicles where you’re moving two loads with one person. You’ve got GPS tracking now, equipment metrics, idle management, ELDs, cleaner fuels, more efficient engines, driverless trucks and forklifts, etc. These are all examples of the ever-changing technology world. And people are quick to adapt to changes. Everybody has a cell phone today. Eight-year old kids are walking around with their own cell phone. There is fear of automation coming in and disrupting but I don’t think it’s as much disruption as it’s just change and people migrating to things that are for people who are more technolog- easier. That’s usually what technology ically savvy or at least have an aptitude does; it makes things easier. to embrace technology. I think you’re also going to see a greater emphasis on PETROVA: In terms of how technology leadership skills and analytical skills, will affect jobs, let’s look at the frozen definitely. And I think the supply chain foods category as an example. This industry is actually going to be positioned industry has been growing very rapfor growth; the research bears this out. idly for a whole host of reasons. The So I think overall, although technology convenience of frozen foods is appealwill definitely have an impact, it’s a posi- ing to increasingly busy consumers, it’s tive good news story for our industry. healthy, it’s flavorful, etc. But we haven’t unfortunately seen a correspondREIMER: I think it bodes well for ing level of growth in our logistics indusincreased compensation for more inter- try when it comes to frozen warehouse esting work, more engaging work. The capacity. It’s very expensive to build tasks that can be automated will be and and to operate a frozen warehouse netthose generally will be the lower pay- work and there are struggles with finding tasks. So I think there’s all kinds of ing labor. We can’t find enough labor opportunity for people to be involved to operate a dry warehouse so imagine in highly technical automation, ware- how much harder it is to operate a frohouse automation, even AI (artificial zen warehouse. So we are experiencing a shortage of frozen warehouse capacintelligence).

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INSIDE Logistics APR I L 2020

ity right now. However, people looking to build more frozen warehouse facilities are considering automated facilities. So automation will be a solution that will help us solve labor issues in the warehousing sector. With regard to the other supply chain roles and functions, we are already looking beyond accuracy skills in performing tasks. We are hiring people for their technical competencies, for their judgement and for being pretty much leaders in decision making with the area designated to them. That all came with the digital revolution and the move to big data, which changed expectations for entry level roles in supply chain. Expectations are higher now.

Can automation really be a costeffective answer to the shortages in some supply jobs?

CLAYSON: I’ve done customer site visits. One in particular was an operation which had automated with robotics the pick and pack tasks. The customer explained it was a huge capital investment but where would you find 200 pickers today? You’re just not. So for them it was a step in the right direction.

mated. Route planning has become highly automated. We’ve built our own TMS and it’s capable of taking various factors that in the old days a dispatcher had to have stored in his brain and automated them. So when it comes to decision making, say when a customer asks for two more trucks, it works through a whole bunch of criteria, and decides which drivers should be getting that load. Because we are a final-mile operation, data for us is huge. We’re capturing so much of it. We can share that data with our customers to help them run their business better. In the old days that data would take weeks upon weeks to compile because you would need someone to enter all that information before we could bring it to the customer. Do I think autonomous vehicles are going to take the driver piece out of the puzzle?

No. I think in certain applications, autonomous vehicles or platooning can work on longer hauls outside of urban centres, say between Montreal and Toronto into drop yards outside of each city, and you can gain some efficiencies. But for the core final-mile delivery we are a long ways away from having an autonomous vehicle making those deliveries.

McKENNA: Any technology that replaces what humans do allows those humans to be freed up to learn and be engaged elsewhere. Think about distribution centre workers. I saw an application recently that involves a vest-like apparatus that fits over a picker’s body and allows the picker to lift something like 60% more weight with less wear and tear on his body. That type of automation just smells of productivity improvements.

Keeping in mind that we expect all this automation to happen, what will be the skills necessary for supply chain jobs 10 years from now?

CLAYSON: Successful companies are expanding the definition of talent they’re looking for. So rather than hiring strictly for a specific skillset or subject matter expertise, there is an openness to looking for leadership skills, generally because you can then train for the subject matter expertise. It certainly has changed my hiring practices. I now hire for ability to learn, adaptability, openness to coaching and feedback rather than ticking the boxes on skill sets. It’s more important to continued on page 20

LO: Think of being technology enabled as having a toolkit. To give you an example, a one-man trucking company right now can simply download a proof of delivery app and not have to worry about how to provide “Often I’m seeing when PoDs to customers anymore.

I present four candidates You can just have the app on and two are women and your phone, it can accept a two are men, that it’s the signature. That’s enabling. woman that’s chosen That one-man truck operation doesn’t have to pay somebody for the role.” to send PoDs out to custom– Ross Reimer ers. We’ve developed an app for container drivers in the Vancouver area. The key behind it is the data analytics. We can now use that information to better dispatch our drivers and make sure that we optimize our routes.

DEMANGOS: A lot of the tasks that used to be done manually are now automated. In our own business a big piece of accounts receivables has been autoinsidelogistics.ca

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find the right attitude; the rest will come with good training.

REIMER: No matter where all this goes, leadership skills will still be absolutely the most important thing in supply chain. People want to be led effectively.

As they say, you don’t quit your job, you quit your boss. I see that every day; people come to us because they’re unhappy with their boss. Skills training around providing leaders with the ability to lead their teams is the absolute most important thing. Secondarily, sure, we need to be really aware of what skill sets will be required as the world moves at an even more rapid pace.

the ones committed to investing in themselves through lifelong learning.

I would like to turn our attention now to a human resource challenge that is a more immediate concern. Research shows that trucking employees are older than the national average for Canadian workers. One of our recent surveys found that 42% plan to retire within 5 years. That’s a staggering amount of retirements. It’s not as acute on the supply chain side of things but there we are seeing supply chain managers retiring as early as age 55. As an industry have we adequately prepared to absorb these losses from the labor pool? Is a more diverse workforce a critical part of the answer?

PETROVA:

I agree on leadership and I would add the ability to learn because with all this transformation the industry is going through, the ability to learn new skills and expand your area of knowledge is extremely important. I would also say collaborative skills are extremely important because supply chain is a collaborative function. Our success depends on how efficiently we tie in these different business partners that we have in the industry. So those skills are extremely important. And ofcourse technical expertise because clearly we need people who understand technology.

McKENNA: At least from a Canadian Tire point of view, I don’t see that as a huge issue. Retiring at 55 is one thing but good managers plan for their succession. They plan to have two or three people ready, and if they don’t, they failed in their job.

So if I have a manager who’s leaving and there’s nobody to backfill him or her, I got a question: why is he/she my manager to begin with?

the risks that poses. The industry is not sexy enough currently to attract the younger generation. We have to get better about telling our success stories and I think we have to start younger. No child today grows up to say I want to be a logistician someday. It’s not even a word many of them know. So clearly education and awareness, maybe at the high school level, needs to start happening. Perhaps with social media campaigns so that we can better tell our stories. Certainly some of the technological advancements happening can attract that younger generation.

REIMER: I think we’re doing really well in attracting a more diverse workforce. As I walk through client offices and freight docks and see the collection of drivers, I think we’re doing really well, particularly Toronto. Maybe I woke up on the right side of bed today but I’m hopeful because I’m seeing lots of diversity and I’ve seen that diversity not just in the driver ranks, but pushing nicely up through into management and ownership of companies.

It’s quite representative of the multi-cultural country we have.

PETROVA:

MELCHIONNA:

I don’t think we’re alone, right? Every industry in Canada is struggling with the aging demographic and

Diversity is a big term. About 10 years ago I had a team of 20 supply chain people and I asked them how many languages do you speak? That team of 20

MELCHIONNA: CITT did a competency assessment three years ago. In addition to subject matter expertise, we found exactly what we’re talking about here today.

“In the end you want Relationship management, to hire the best and the conflict resolution, collaborabrightest and intelligence tion – the things that we call has no gender or soft skills are really not soft skin tone” skills, they’re important leadership skills. It changed our – Neil McKenna offerings to our members.

We still teach the subject matter courses on transportation, logistics, warehousing but we launched an entire leadership series. With all the lower-skill jobs that will be replaced, we will also need to retrain and upskill employees. So we will need to look at fundamentals in technology, fundamentals in blockchain, etc. The people who will be most able to adapt to the changes ahead are 20

INSIDE Logistics APR I L 2020

people spoke 18 languages. So we are very diverse. The question is, are we diverse at all the “Certainly some levels within supply chain? The of the technological answer is no, we aren’t. There is a lot of work still to be done. advancements happening The other question I would can attract that younger ask is what do we do about generation” the new Canadians? I was a – Pina Melchionna new Canadian myself in 2001.

I came here from Denmark.

As part of the hiring process, every organization is looking for Canadian experience. And there’s a reason for that because clearly if you’re dealing with customers and you’re dealing with transport companies and 3PLs, you do need to know the market. But there are roles where Canadian experience is not that important. So if you used to work for a large multinational company as a demand planner or a supply chain planner in India or Hong Kong or the United Arab Emirates, and language is not an issue, chances are you could of momentum that way. They’re very start immediately. For some supply chain entrepreneurial as well so instead of tellpositions, it’s very archaic thinking that ing them we’ll hire you as an employee, you should only hire somebody who has we say why don’t we help you finance a Canadian on the job description. truck and you’ll be your own boss. That tweaks a lot of interest.

CLAYSON: I think the younger folks are very attuned to things such as sustain- McKENNA: Engagement is critically ability and diversity. They really want to important but so is accommodation, feel like they’re a contributor and that especially with the South Asian commutheir actions and their participation has nity. Companies have to adapt to the a bigger contribution than just moving needs of their employees. At Canadian product from A to B. I think that’s the Tire we have put prayer huts in our game changer where we can really lever- trailer yards, and prayer rooms in our age what we do and make the industry buildings. If you’re accommodating the attractive to the new entrants, whether special needs of a particular community, they’re already in Canada or they’re that gets around that community and it attracts that community and it keeps that coming in from other places. community.

LO: You have to be able to be open to new immigrants; we are an immigrant In trying to create diverse workforces, country. You walk into any other country how do we guard against bias in the in the world, into any other office, you have a homogenous office. Everybody in hiring process?

Japan is Japanese pretty much, but you come into any office in Canada, we’re PETROVA: I was interviewing a fantastic like the UN. In Vancouver, for exam- lady for a logistics role. She came from ple, there’s a very large Sikh popula- Mexico and she had a couple of years tion. They knew each other through the of working in Canada, but she hid from Temple. So if you are a good employee to her resume that she had worked for one, he’s going to refer you to his cousin Mexican Customs for five years. When and to his brother. And we’ve seen a lot she told me that during the interview, I

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said, wow, I could just hire you with that experience because clearly you understand logistics and you understand risk management and you have the global understanding of logistics. She hid her Mexican Customs experience because her recruiter had advised her against putting that on the resume.

There needs to be more training at senior levels on diversity and inclusion training. I’ve gone through it. It’s eye opening. I would’ve considered myself a person free from any kind of ethnic bias.

And the eye-opening part is that we all have bias. Being aware of the bias is the strongest thing that you can do.

REIMER: To that point I have a couple of clients who have dramatically opened up their eyes to that because I was able to get some resumes in front of them from people who are highly educated from other countries and literally working at maybe a third of their capacity. They quickly moved through the ranks. So it’s been fun to watch that happen. One of the pieces of advice I was given early on as a recruiter to deal with bias was that when you’re in an interview with somebody and you find yourself really liking them right away, go hard. Ask the hard continued on page 22

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“There are personality and cultural fit tests that we perform very early on to make sure that individual fits”

we’re not going to get the talent we need to meet the talent gap. So companies that have very strong diversity and inclusion, and that goes beyond gender, are the ones I think will get above the curve and be able to get the best talent in the industry.

– Elias Demangos

questions. And the flip side, is if you really don’t like someone right away, go easy, give them a chance, just develop some rapport. Ten minutes in, maybe in both situations, you end up in the same place. It is important to remember when you hear an accent that we all have one.

the candidate. So we do try to give it a really good 360 view. There’s never been anyone who has been hired off of just one person’s interview.

What works in terms of attracting more women to trucking and supply chain?

CLAYSON:

You have an open mind about what you’re looking for and that is somebody who possesses the talent and the aptitude and the agility. If you look at our roster of employees, there’s very few Smiths and Browns and Joneses.

We are a global company in many ways.

But even within that cultural space, we would also love to have Indian female drivers, for example. I think all communities need to start looking at their biases. Bias could come from many places. It’s not about blaming, it’s about how we all evolve culturally.

DEMANGOS: Our hiring is a multi-step process. There are personality and cultural fit tests that we perform very early on to make sure that individual fits. We do panel interviews so you get different people from different parts of the business. We even have people who would be reporting into that person interview 22

MELCHIONNA: Certainly gender diversity and pay equity are important issues companies have to be addressing. One of the things that I’m certainly seeing within our membership base is gender diversity at the lower and mid level management positions. But we’re suffering from what I think a lot of industries suffer from, which is the pyramid effect. Female talent is not getting up to the C-suite level. And the research that I’ve seen is that companies that have executive boards and management teams with gender diversity are more profitable than companies that do not. From the pay equity perspective, it’s very important obviously to address that issue. Because it’s the right thing to do, but also because there’s a compelling business case. If pay equity issues are not addressed and women are feeling unmotivated at work, unappreciated at work, which leads to retention and turnover,

CLAYSON: I watched my mother in the 70s hire truck drivers and place them in the industry. She was fearless. She opened her own doors. She never batted an eye over the fact that she didn’t happen to be male; she had to feed her family. It was a great advantage to see that that was also possible for me as a female entrepreneur. There are already more women than men at university getting a post-secondary education. So with that you would think there would be more women entering into supply chain. So is there a lack of talent or is there a lack of ability to access talent? I’ve been a supplier to Canadian Tire for 20 years and I have seen them promote women to senior roles. It’s great to go to meetings and sit down with them and they know the business. They know fleets, they know freight, they know expectations, they know deliverables. So there have been trail blazers. There will come a day when the terms diversity and inclusion will be irrelevant because those conditions will just exist.

REIMER: I’m actually very hopeful about attracting more women into supply chain. My lens is a pretty narrow lens with the clients we’re working with but I can tell you that for middle and senior level management positions 15 years ago there would have been quiet but clear instructions to me to make sure it’s a man. Such words are almost never said anymore. Often it’s the reverse. Often I’m seeing when I present four candidates and two are women and two are men, that it’s the woman that’s chosen for the role. Competent, strong, intelligent supply chain people. I’d say this has really been changing in the last five years. Now, there’s a shortage of great talent, period. But it’s a new world I INSIDE Logistics APR I L 2020

think, at least with some of the clients that we’re working with, so I’m hopeful.

“You have to be able to be

McKENNA:

With large retailers open to new immigrants; such as Canadian Tire, I think if we are an immigrant you walk the halls of their supply country.” chain offices, you’ll see the diver– Perry Lo sity reflected in their whole supply chain. In the end you want to hire the best and the brightest and intelligence has no gender or skin tone. So I think it’s changing, but I think you’ll see it in the larger companies first, more so than in the medium size to small.

DEMANGOS: From the truck driver perspective, since we are in the final mile business, I think it’s easier to attract females. The traditional long-haul driver is gone for days. In our business they go home every night. In fact, I would argue, they are more customer service people than they are drivers. And so we’re starting to spin the messaging around saying, look, it’s not a traditional driving job.

Yes, there’s some driving involved, but you’re driving in the city. You’re dropping off in some cases boxes to a customer. With some of our accounts you’re actually physically interacting with the

freight. You might be restocking a shelf.

We’re actively trying to assist women in growing with us but I agree at the senior level, whether it’s with us or others, it’s a challenge. Safety and compliance is now being led by a female in our organization. But there isn’t enough of that. Part of it is the industry itself does not attract

a lot of females. We need to change that.

And I think when you start putting technology into it, it starts to open up the lens a lot.

LO: I agree with everything said but getting a more diverse trucking community is going to take time. We’ve taken some steps I think to try to encourage more females into the truck cab. They want us to be flexible. One thing we found that has been really successful is flexibility with issues like truck maintenance. We make it a regular part of the schedule so they don’t have to worry about it “When you hire talent at all. Little things like that I think will go a long way into you want to make sure you create a very favorable slowly increasing the number environment for the talent of women in the business.

to flourish and develop” – Anna Petrova

PETROVA:

I feel very passionate about the subject. It does feel very lonely sometimes when you look at the heads of CPG supply chains in Canada.

I think there are reasons why we’re in this situation. If we look at the ‘80s and ‘90s, the key profile for a supply chain practitioner was an engineer by trade or an IT specialist, which are traditionally continued on page 24

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male dominated backgrounds in education. The other factor is that once people get into supply chain, they tend to stay in supply chain for decades. Unlike sales and marketing where you can see some cross pollination of careers, supply chain practitioners are typically very true to their field. And I think that has created some blocking situations but I agree there are a lot of women who have been entering supply chain over the past

10 years. It will take time for everybody to develop the comparable level of seniority when it comes to skills, and especially leadership skills. What we can do is first of all recognize we’re lacking in gender diversity. There is training we can offer to women. We can offer women temporary assignments to demonstrate what they’re good at. There are all kinds of individual development plans that we can put in place to foster that culture

of diversity because it is very important.

The reason I joined ConAgra is because we have a very diverse board of directors.

We have a lot of strong, powerful women here who I personally found very inspirational. And I myself sit on the diversity and inclusion advisory council for ConAgra. If I see that as a part of the organization, this is a company I want to work for.

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Reimer Associates concentrates exclusively on supply chain recruitment. As drivers of success for numerous transportation and supply chain companies, our team has learned firsthand what skills, experience and personality it takes to fill critical positions. We operate confidentially and effectively from inside the industry.

Our network of qualified candidates grows every day. We expand this resource through constant research and headhunting within the industry, using social media, industry associations, personal one-on-one networking, advertising, and numerous referrals that come our way. Because of our extensive and up-to-date supply chain database, in addition to our laser-like targeting, we develop high quality short listed candidates within tight timelines. Our interviewing and reference-checking skills are well honed and highly professional.

Our reputation for taking our work seriously and delivering outstanding value to our clients is well known within the supply chain industry. We pride ourselves on having developed long-term relationships with the industry’s most wellrespected companies.

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CITT is a non-profit organization created by industry in 1958 to provide formal education and advance the professionalism of transportation and distribution. Today, CITT is industry’s most experienced, valued and respected source of complete, career-long learning and career-path development open for everyone who buys, sells or manages the flow of goods and product, or is impacted by supply chain logistics. CITT provides: • Professional certification in logistics (the CCLP® designation) • Online and classroom-based courses in logistics and business management • Industry’s top-rated annual Canada Logistics Conference • SCL Webinar Series and other live and online learning opportunities • Professional SCL Talent Pool • Networking and business development events for professionals, employers and students in supply chain programs

INSIDE Logistics APR I L 2020

WA R E H O U S E T E C H N O L O G Y

| By Jacob Stoller

THE COBOT CONUNDRUM

O

f all the jobs best assigned to robots, the disablement of improvised explosive devices (IEDs) belongs high on the list. It is also one of the toughest tasks to automate.

The difficulty is that no two of these devices are alike â&#x20AC;&#x201C; the robot has to recognize the bomb, analyze its structure,

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develop a strategy for handling it, and then activate a robotic hand capable of sensing, gripping and manipulating virtually any IED successfully.

The challenge has inspired some of the most creative minds in the robotics field to participate in competitions sponsored by the US Militaryâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Defense Advanced

Research Projects Agency (DARPA), where competing robots execute a series of tasks that mimic the roadside bomb scenario.

One result was the contest-winning gripper technology developed by a Harvard robotics team and now manufactured by Bostonbased RightHand Robotics (RHR) for piece-picking applications in warehouses INSIDE Logistics APR I L 2020

Image: Right Hand Robotics

Automation promises to solve the challenges of e-commerce fulfillment and the labour shortage. Cobots are a promising and rapidly developing technology, but are they ready to lend a hand?

“Collaborative robots are incremental.

The collaborative nature lets us automate pieces.

We’re seeing that in every industry – the operator side-by-side with the collaborative robot.

It’s truly the most efficient solution.”

– Joe Campbell, Universal Robots

Can you handle it?

Cobots are increasingly being asked to pick eaches in a distribution centre setting.

and distribution centres.

“They [the RHR founders] wanted to design robotic grippers that were better at dealing with the randomness of things like improvised explosives,” says Vince Martinelli, head of product and marketing at RHR. “It could really handle a wide range of items with one gripper type.”

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Versatility is key in today’s warehouses and distribution centres where it’s becoming increasingly probable that the device will be handling an item for the first time.

“That’s less critical in some manufacturing factory environments, where there’s more structure,” says Martinelli, “but a supply chain warehouse is a less structured environment – items are loose in a bin, there are a million different products, and packaging changes all the time.”

As e-commerce continues to grow at 15 percent to 20 percent a year, more and more distribution centre employees are spending their days grabbing single items rather than picking up pallets or carton loads with a forklift.

The new paradigm has become a double-edged sword for supply chain operations. On one hand, one-of-a-kind picking that is typical of e-commerce is a very inefficient use of labour, and that’s especially problematic in today’s tight labour market. On the other, the endless variety of items to be picked makes automation difficult.

The problem is work that is routine for a human picker can be difficult for a robot. “Very simple things can actually be very tricky,” says Animesh Garg, an

assistant professor of computer science at University of Toronto who specializes in machine learning algorithms for perception and control in robotics.

Garg uses the example of asking a robot to retrieve a can of pop from the refrigerator. If it’s not immediately visible, the robot has to move items around to determine if the can is there or not – a task that is very difficult to program.

“We can barely do ‘see it and get it,’” says Garg. “Anything beyond that requires long-term reasoning and planning, which gets very hard very quickly.”

“To pick items out of a tote where orientations are all different, that requires seeing,” says Martinelli. “It requires making decisions about which things are objects.

Where does one start and one end? How should I position the gripper? How do I get the arm there without banging into something? How can I know for sure that I have it? And so on. That requires a lot more computing horsepower.”

RHR has developed a robotic vision and machine learning-based control system, and has released a picking solution called RightPick2, which works in conjunction with RHR’s robotic gripper and a UR5e collaborative robot from Universal Robots. The combination set a world piece-picking record at Modex 2018.

“What we’re enabling companies to do is solve the high-mix, low-volume paradigm,” says Joe Campbell, senior manager, strategic marketing and application development at Universal Robots. “That’s been extremely difficult for traditional automation.”

Innovations from manufacturing Much of the automation technology in warehouses and distribution centres has been introduced in hand-me-down fashion from manufacturing, and results have been mixed.

“Robots have traditionally done very well in structured environments; performing tasks that are uniform and repeatable,” continued on page 28

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Image: Universal Robots

WA R E H O U S E T E C H N O L O G Y

This cobot system at DCL’s facility can accomplish in two hours what it would take five humans to do in an entire day.

says Carl Vause, CEO of Boston-based Soft Robotics, another robotics company that is making forays into the intralogistics space. “E-commerce distribution and modern order fulfillment centres are quite the opposite. Reliable handling of products with sometimes unlimited variation is a significant challenge which requires a full-stack solution including a robot, vision system, and end-of-arm-tool that work together in concert to perform the dull task of picking a wide variety of items for fulfillment.”

Manufacturing, however, is also adjusting to the transition to a low-volume high-mix environment, and that is spurring the development of technology better suited to the challenges facing intralogistics. One example is better vision systems.

“Vision as a tool has become more prolific and easier to use, and we’ve gone from 2D to 3D vision, and being able to identify a unique product profile,” says Brian Dillman, vice-president of national

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sales at Belcamp, Maryland-based Automated Motion Robotic Solutions.

“For the robot people, the holy grail has been 3D bin picking. You can have a tote full of product that is non-homogeneous and tell the robot to pick up the rubber duck, pick up the shampoo, or pick up the razors. And by pattern matching and by identifying the product by its intrinsic appearance, the robot can then go find the six-pack of razors in the box.”

Care to dance?

Another response to the smaller batch trend is the introduction of collaborative robots or cobots, which represent a significant departure from the classic highspeed, large-format industrial robots that have defined the field for the past fifty years.

“I think the industrial robot people were originally a little reluctant and a little dismissive of the cobot,” says Martinelli, “but now, they’ve proven that they can work

well enough in the right application so that the industrial vendors either have a cobot offering or advanced safety mechanisms to slow the robot down so people can approach safely. That’s a big change from caging the robots off.”

“The question is, ‘how do we put automation technology in the hands of more people?’” says Dillman. “The advent of collaborative robots is twofold. They take up less space and are lightweight. They run on 110V single phase. And there’s an ease of use and an ease of programming aspect that is promoted by collaborative robots in conjunction with the idea that a robot that can work in close proximity safely with a human allows you to automate in different ways.”

There are, however, significant limitations. Because these devices are small and light, they have a limited reach, and the payload is relatively small – the Fanuc CR35i, one of the larger cobots, can only handle 35kg. Furthermore, cobots are INSIDE Logistics APR I L 2020

slow – ANSI safety specs limit the rate of motion of the robotic arm to one metre per second, and even less for heavier loads.

Another constraint is that robotic arms are still relatively expensive, and when they are frequently moving throughout a facility, they aren’t being utilized much of the time. “As the robot is driving down the aisle, any time the arm isn’t reaching to pick something is kind of wasted,” says Martinelli. “So low utilization is a problem.”

“Universal Robots provided a solution that fit our needs,” says Brian Tu, chief revenue officer at DCL. “It’s modular, so we could scale slowly and understand what we need. Number two, it was flexible in the way it was programmed so we can build and integrate into our systems very easily. And number three, it could work

The omnichannel challenge

Getting a hand up A decade ago, many believed we were on the verge of the fully automated facility.

Today’s reality is that we’re not there yet – what’s typical, Martinelli explains, is a series of automation zones with human workers filling in the gaps.

“At every junction between the automation zones, you’ve got people standing there moving an item from this machine’s domain over to that machine’s domain,” says Martinelli. “One of the images that comes into my head is the switchboard operator from days gone by. There were times when communications networks weren’t completely automated.”

The emerging mindset is to join these islands of automation one step at a time.

“Companies are learning to take this incremental approach,” says Campbell.

“The e-commerce work that I did seven or eight or nine years ago, we were trying to solve the whole problem. Today, the whole automation community is coming to a different understanding.”

Cobots are ideally suited for this staged approach. “One of the things we stress is that collaborative robots are incremental,” says Campbell. “The collaborative nature lets us automate pieces. We’re seeing that in every industry – the operator side-byside with the collaborative robot. That is truly the most efficient solution.”

The approach is being applied in a recent implementation by Silicon Valleybased fulfillment provider DCL Logistics.

The solution involved the deployment of Universal Robots UR10 cobots that are suspended from ceiling-mounted tracks and travel and handle materials in areas frequented by humans.

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alongside our current workforce, and that was really important to us: making sure that the robots would augment what we’re currently doing.”

The system is able to pick, place on the line, verify, and pack orders for shipment with no human intervention. The result is that the system can accomplish in two hours what would take a team of five an entire day. As well, the system is able to run autonomously around the clock.

The cobot in the DCL facility demonstrates how it will stop if a person gets too close.

“People get ideas and are star-struck.

But you really have to look at it in the cold light of day and ask, ‘really, does this make sense?’ It’s a whole lot cheaper to optimize your process before you automate it.”

– John McKenna, McKenna Logistics Centres

One of the conundrums that adopters will have to face is whether or not to combine e-commerce and traditional business in a single operation. Few organizations have the volume to support a dedicated e-commerce facility, yet hosting the two modes in a single facility can be extremely disruptive in that e-commerce business commands a disproportionate share of the work force.

Furthermore, while robot prices are plummeting, the technology is just breaking ground in logistics, and it will be some time before business cases emerge for the rank and file of logistics facilities.

“There aren’t a lot of companies in Canada that have the volume and the range of products to justify that technology,” says John McKenna, president of Mississauga-based 3PL McKenna Logistics Centres. “Eighty percent of distribution centres in Toronto area are probably twenty employees or less.”

Rather than search for technology solutions to tackle the labour shortage, companies might be well advised to take a hard look at their processes and identify how technology could help improve them.

“People get ideas and are star-stuck,” says McKenna. “But you really have to look at it in the cold light of day, and ask, really does this make sense?”

McKenna also notes that technology isn’t the only way to improve productivity – personnel who stay with an operation for two years or more, a study showed, gain tacit knowledge that allows them to improve their productivity significantly.

“It’s a whole lot cheaper to optimize your process before you automate it,” McKenna says.

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MODEX 2020

| by Emily Atkins

CALM BEFORE THE MODEX 2020 in Atlanta, Georgia, was upbeat and well attended in spite of being held as the threat of COVID-19’s approach loomed large. Many major exhibitors pulled out of the show just days or hours ahead of its start on March 9th, but that did not stop attendees from walking the floor and talking to the exhibitors who were there.

Here are some of the highlights.

k

STORM

k Hiring skilled workers is supply chain’s

biggest challenge MHI annual report finds digital technology skill gap The transition to digital supply chain operations may be hampered by a shortage of workers with the hi-tech skills needed to make them work.

While 80 percent of respondents in the 2020 MHI Annual Industry Report believe digital supply chains will be the predominant model within just five years, the report concludes that firms are struggling to hire skilled workers to run them and extract actionable insights out of the mountains of data that digital supply chains are generating.

This year’s report is the seventh in a series of MHI developed in collaboration with Deloitte. Embracing the Digital Mindset: Connecting Data, Talent and Technology in Digital Supply Chains” also suggests investments in supply chain innovation continue to be strong. Half of those surveyed are planning new technology investments over US$1 million over the next two years, while 25 percent plan to spend more than $5 million and five percent plan large investments of more than $50 million.

Got talent?

The greatest supply chain challenge this year continues to be the shortage of qualified workers. The three most critical skillsets over the next five years are predicted to be project management/leadership, with 41 percent of respondents suggesting this is their greatest need; strategic/ problem-solving skills and critical thinking (40 percent); and supply chain management (32 percent).

“Analytical skills and critical thinking are now table stakes for companies – what is truly in demand is the combination of these skills with the

k Getting a charge out of new technology Lead-acid batteries have been around for 100 years, and they’re not going away, said Harold Vanasse, Enersys’s senior director of motive power marketing for the Americas during a show floor media briefing. However, demand for lower maintenance and faster charging, thanks to the fast pace of DC operations, has meant a surge in interest in lithium-ion batteries.

“New technologies are the future,” Vanasse said. “We are integrating batteries into systems, adding intelligence and removing the annoyances.” The shift is to batteries that don’t Enersys’s Harold Vanass Vanasse e demonstrates the comp company’s any’s functional induction charger.

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INSIDE Logistics APR I L 2020

“Analytical skills and critical thinking are now table stakes for companies – what is truly in demand is the combination of these skills with the needed breadth and depth of supply chain knowledge.”

– Randy Bradley, Haslam College of Business

needed breadth and depth of supply chain knowledge,” said Randy Bradley, assistant professor of information systems and supply chain management at Haslam College of Business, The University of Tennessee.

As the digital technologies used in supply chains are constantly evolving, so are the skillsets required to support them. Firms are now competing with e-commerce leaders and tech start-ups for talent, the report notes, which means there is a greater emphasis on retaining and retraining existing employees.

While competing to attract this talent, firms need to also look at reskilling current employees and older workers re-entering the workforce. The report notes that 30 percent of respondents said that they are retraining their current workforce to meet these new skillsets. The pool of workers age 65 to 74 is expected to grow by more than 5.1 million from 2014 to 2024, more than any other age group.

Additionally, the report predicts a big jump in women in the supply chain workforce in the coming years as the industry trends more toward inclusion and diversity. This year’s survey found that while only 20 percent of the supply chain workforce over 55 is female, but that number jumps to 56 percent for workers age 18 to 34.

The survey also found that this younger, more diverse workforce value different things from their employer than older workers. The survey found that workers under 34 value corporate responsibility, sustainability, compensation and diversity much more than workers over 55.

The findings in this report are based on survey responses from over 1,000 manufacturing and supply chain industry leaders from a wide range of industries.

Seventy-eight of respondents hold executive-level positions such as CEO, vicepresident, general manager, department head or engineering management.

Participating companies range in size from small to large, with 48 percent reporting annual sales in excess of $50 million, and 17% reporting $1 billion or more.

need watering, like Enersys’s exclusive thin-plate pure lead (TPPL) technology or lithium-ion.

Which one is right for an operation will depend how much companies want to spend, Vanasse said. “Lithium-ion is the most expensive, but each type is best suited to different applications.”

At the moment Li-ion represents about five percent of the batteries sold, fuel cells represent one to two percent, while TPPL makes up 10 percent – and Enersys is the only company that sells them. Conventional lead-acid make up the rest.

Charging batteries faster is a perpetual goal for companies

Max Vidricaire (left) and Jean Sebastian Genest.

k Stromcore hitting milestones Canada’s lithium ion powerhouse battery maker Stromcore was at MODEX and chief business officer Max Vidricaire and strategic accounts manager Jean Sebastian Genest sat down for a quick chat to share their recent successes.

The company has been around for two years and will achieve $10 million in sales this year, Vidricaire says. It is achieving success by becoming the niche supplier for cold storage operations, and is also making inroads into the pulp and paper industry.

“Two years ago people were clueless about lithium ion”, Genest says, and now Stromcore is the largest of three Canadian players in the manufacturing game.” It’s a big milestone,” Vidricaire noted.

that make them. “Our engineers get kid-at-Christmas excited about wireless induction charging,” Vanasse laughed as he demonstrated Enersys’s brand new induction unit. He said the company is experimenting with the best way to combine induction with opportunity charging, possibly be creating hot spots in aisles that get lots of MHE traffic. As the vehicles drive over the induction points they gain a charge. That way, Vanasse said, equipment might not even need to be parked when workers go on break, which is the standard opportunity charging model in DCs now. continued on page 32

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MODEX 2020

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continued from page 31

k ELS expands

manufacturing to meet demand If you want to find the booth for Elmira, Ontario-based ELS at a material handling show, all you have to do is look for the crowds. It’s become annual tradition for the company to showcase its De-Stuffit machine, which attracts a gaggle of fascinated show goers and apparently eager buyers wherever it goes.

This year was no different in spite of the light attendance on the first day of MODEX 2020. Richard Kat, the company’s engineering manager, explained that the company has recently needed to expand its manufacturing facilities to keep up with demand. “Sales are so good that we had to add another facility,” he said. “Our second facility, which is 16,000 square feet, is dedicated to welding only now.”

The newest facility is a 25,000-square-foot assembly plant. The latest innovation is an in-house paint line, which means products won’t have to be sent out. The company is now producing two machines a week, largely for the U.S. market.

Berkeley professor and AI expert Pe Perter rter Abbell.

k Knapp scores another record year Knapp shared a business update, claiming yet another in a series of record years will be posted at the company’s March year-end. CEO Josef Mentzer chalked up the success to growth in U.S. sales.

To accommodate the growth the intralogistics integrator is building a new headquarters in Kennesaw, Georgia, that will house 500 administrative and research and development staff within the next five years.

Heimo Robosch, the company’s executive vice-president, credited what he called Knapp’s “intelligent” solutions for the market uptake. Mentzer added, “our differentiator is we are not collecting technologies, we are creating them based on the business needs of our clients.”

The creation process involves partnering with innovative companies such

as Covariant, a robotics developer led by Berkley professor Peter Abbell. Covariant’s robot has been designed to pick individual items at the same pace as human pickers, which is a challenge thanks to the variety in real-world situations. Bell said the objective is to take warehouse automation from replicating human legs, i.e. conveyors, goods to person robots, to creating hands that can pick like a person.

The company also released its redPILOT Computerized Maintenance Management System (CMMS) to the North American market. Using technologies like IoT and artificial intelligence, it allows companies to manage spare parts inventory to ensure parts are in place when needed. KNAPP is rolling out the system to its grocery micro-fulfillment partner Takeoff Technologies.

k Waypoint and Numina team up

ELS’ss Richard Kat. ELS’

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Numina Group and Waypoint Robotics have teamed up to create an autonomous batch automated order picking solution. Numina’s software integrates with Waypoint Robotics’ Vector autonomous mobile robot (AMR). The Numina automation uses pick-by-voice commands to direct operator zone movement and picking tasks while coordinating the AMR batch cart movement throughout the DC. The solution coordinates the Waypoint AMR and order picking to eliminate wasted operator walk time and

fatigue caused by manually pushing carts with up to 600 pounds of products throughout the DC. Pick carts automatically move to each shelf or rack location. At pick completion the AMR transports the finished carts to packing workstations. Vector, combined with the RDS Batch Bot solution provides higher order fulfillment efficiency, reducing labour costs by 40 percent or more compared to a manual cart picking process, the companies said at a show floor press briefing.

INSIDE Logistics APR I L 2020

k Toyota announces

research grants Funding goes to studies on wireless charging and material handling for SMEs Toyota Material Handling North America (TMHNA) has selected two universities’ research proposals to each receive US$100,000 through the TMHNA University Research Program.

Professor Khurram Afridi from Cornell University will receive a grant for his project, Dynamic Capacitive Wireless Charging System for Autonomous MH Vehicles.

Professor Jorge Dorribo Camba of Purdue University also receives $100,000 for his project, Material Handling for Industry 4.0 in Small and Medium Enterprises.

The sponsored research program was created to drive the next generation of technology for the supply chain, logistics and material handling industries. The program encourages university professors and researchers to apply their knowledge of engineering and technical fields, drawing synergies and collaboration between collegiate research and TMHNA. The University Research Program, now in its fourth year, attracted a record 44 research proposals from 30 leading universities across the country. “Our University Research Program is reflective of Toyota’s mission to solve challenges creatively,” said Brett Wood, TMHNA president and CEO. “In partnering with leading universities, we seek to foster industry-led innovation by combining our resources and guidance with the fresh and new ideas coming out of academia.

Together in the spirit of collaboration, we hope to build a better, safer, more efficient future for the material handling industry.” insidelogistics.ca

k A new standard for rack guarding The Protective Guarding Manufacturers Association (ProGMA), part of MHI, has published an American National Standard to address performance and testing of steel mesh containment panels used in pallet rack and vertical storage systems.

The standard, designated as ANSI MH31.1-2019, is intended to create a standardized methodology to evaluate the strength and durability of steel mesh containment panels used in material handling applications. It was drafted

by ProGMA’s Wire Partition Engineering committee with support from the broader ProGMA membership.

According to Ray Niemeyer, ProGMA’s vice-chair and director of business development at SpaceGuard Products, who introduced the standard at a MODEX press conference, the standard was six years in development and is a “living document that will be added to and improved upon, although it now provides a safe, secure product.”

Vertically mounted steel mesh con-

tainment panels are often used in pallet rack and vertical storage system applications to contain and reduce the potential for falling items, protecting personnel, product and property. ProGMA members identified the need to educate people who use pallet rack, shelving and other types of high destiny storage handling equipment such as ASRS systems, on the importance of integrating a quality steel mesh containment panel system.

A specific concern that the standard helps to address is the deflection in the panels that can occur when they are struck by an object. The deflection can protrude into a flue or an aisle where maintaining proper clearance dimensions are important. This information can be used in a risk assessment when incorporating safety considerations into the design of the facility.

The six companies in the group are currently testing their own products against the standard and are all within a month or two of validation, Niemeyer said.

k Fulfillment for small spaces

Steve Hornyak of Fabric.

Five-year-old Tel Aviv, Israel-based Fabric has only been operating in North America for six months, and it is already working on its third U.S. facility. The company offers small-scale order fulfillment automation mainly for the grocery home delivery market.

Steve Hornyak, the company’s chief commercial officer, explained in an interview that the systems can start as small as 5,000 square feet, with the sweet spot being 20,000 to 30,000 sq.ft. Ceilings can be as low as 12 to 16 feet.

The company’s demonstration micro-fulfillment facility in Tel Aviv is located in a disused parking garage under a commercial building. Hornyak calls it “next generation 3PL”, noting it solves the retail challenge of getting product close to customers.

The U.S. facilities are located in the New York City area, with a 15,000-square-foot one in the Bronx that will be capable of covering the entire New York metro area with four-hour delivery.

The matrix system uses two robots, one on the vertical axis and one on the horizontal. “You’re solving a 3D problem with a 2D solution that way,” Hornyak said. Orders are fulfilled individually, with no batching, allowing very quick turnover. The system is capable of 15 to 20,000 individual picks a day.

As well as being quick to pick, a Fabric unit can be up and running in 100 days, Hornyak said.

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TRADE

| By Christian Sivière

NAFTA 2.0

BY ANY NAME, THE NEW AGREEMENT INTRODUCES MINIMAL CHANGE

A

fter NAFTA, the North-American Free Trade Agreement, here comes CUSMA, the Canada-United StatesMexico Agreement, called the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) in the US and Tratato Mexico-Estados Unidos-Canada (TMEC) in Mexico, following the ‘me first’ Trumpian practice. Let’s simply call it NAFTA 2.0!

The original NAFTA between Canada, the United States and Mexico has been in effect since January 1st, 1994. It replaced the Canada-United States Free Trade Agreement of 1988, itself broadening the scope of its predecessor, the Auto Pact of 1965. The Auto Pact then facilitated the integration of the Canadian and American automobile industries.

Trump thought NAFTA the worst-ever Free Trade Agreement signed by the United States, prompting intense discussions between the U.S. and Mexico, eventually joined by Canada, to renegotiate the agreement and find a new one.

The new accord was signed by the three heads of state on November 30th, 2018.

NAFTA 2.0, was ratified by the Mexican Parliament on June 20th 2019 but remained stuck in the US Congress until December 19th, 2019, at which time the Democrat-controlled body finally ratified it, after having negotiated some changes on labour and the environment with the White House.

The U.S. Senate, in turn, ratified it on January 16th, 2020, leaving Canada to ratify, which took place on March 13.

Since its implementation schedule is 90 days following final ratification by all three countries, it will likely be in effect in June or July this year.

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“Although the negotiation process may have changed our perception of Americans, there are really no huge changes.”

The new agreement bears Trump’s mark – he qualified it the best-ever of all time, which may lead us to believe that NAFTA 2.0 is very different from the original NAFTA. However, nothing is further from the truth and although the renegotiation process may have changed our perception of Americans, there are really no huge changes.

The automobile industry is the most affected, as its rules of origin are more demanding. For light vehicles, the regional value content requirement rule is increased from 62.5 percent to 75 percent. For trucks, it goes up from 60 to 70 percent. In addition, 40 percent of the content of vehicles has to be manufactured using labour paid at least $16 an hour.

And there is a new requirement to use 70 percent North American steel and aluminum. Some of these new requirements are phased in over several years.

For dairy products, Canada has managed to maintain its supply management system (the U.S. wanted it dismantled) but we had to open the door to more US dairy products, for 3.6 percent of our total market.

The NAFTA Certificate of Origin is abolished and replaced by an Origin Certification. This origin certification

must contain compulsory information and data elements but it can be on any form, for example on the exporter’s commercial invoice, and can even be issued by the importer. The dispute-settlement mechanism (Chapter 19) has been modified but remains in place (the U.S. wanted to eliminate it).

Another issue on which the Americans put a lot of pressure is the de minimis exemption. This exemption, which permits limited importation of any products free of duties and taxes, was raised from US$200 to US$800 several years ago in the U.S., following intense lobbying by the e-commerce industry. With the new Agreement, Canada has agreed to increase its de minimis exemption from $20 overall to $40 for GST and $150 for customs duties, heavily favouring e-commerce merchants to the detriment of bricks-and-mortar retailers. This exemption will apply across the board on products of all origins and not just on NAFTA goods, ultimately benefitting low-cost countries like China.

Finally, the agreement is not valid forever: its duration is 16 years, with a possible 10-year extension, and an automatic review every six years.

Last-minute changes in December 2019 addressed labour issues (specifically targeting Mexico), protection of the environment and intellectual property on pharmaceuticals. Canadian businesses, and no doubt Mexicans too, will be relieved when the new agreement is in effect: Trump had threatened to tear up NAFTA altogether if he didn’t get his way and the U.S. is by far the largest export market for both Canada and Mexico.

On the other hand, no huge changes except for the automobile industry means a return to more stability for Canadian exporters. The U.S. still represents three quarters of our exports year after year, in spite of our new agreements with European and Pacific countries. Ironically, the automobile industry was the engine of our economic integration with the Auto Pact of 1965 and it will be the most impacted by NAFTA 2.0.

INSIDE Logistics APR I L 2019

L E A R N I N G CU R V E

Q&A: LEGAL CONSIDERATIONS FOR TRUCKERS AND SHIPPERS This month’s Learning Curve column features a conversation with Richard Lande, transportation lawyer and a longtime business colleague, in which he explains some important legal considerations for truckers and shippers to consider.

Q. How should a carrier avoid disagreements with shippers?

A The basic premise of the shipper/ carrier contract is to outline service level expectations. The carrier’s role is to transport the goods and deliver them in the same condition as they were received.

The onus is on the carrier to cover any damage, as spelled out in the Carmack Amendment, which is a U.S. law that truckers liable for the full cargo value, except when they use the “released value”, which can considerably reduce their exposure as low as $0.50/lb.

To help avoid the liability of a freight claim, a carrier should take a very close look at the contents of the shipper/carrier contract to see if the shipper has attempted to dictate unrealistic expectations and/or expose the carrier to an overwhelming claims liability burden.

Q. What are some potential or typical contractrelated problem areas for carriers?

A Sometimes the carrier isn’t bold enough to challenge the terms of the contract. It is important to remember that ignoring or accepting onerous terms in the shipper/carrier contract is a dangerous practice.

With a bit of effort, the carrier can easily source legal advice or tackle the language of the contract and try to introduce more favorable options. A disciplined approach to the negotiating process with shippers and brokers is a critical component of a well-run carrier operation. These agreements should be a formality if there is

insidelogistics.ca

TRACY CLAYSON, Director of Client Development, In Transit/CPC Logistics Canada

truly a good working partnership. And carriers should resist the temptation to jump into a compromising business relationship with unsavory shippers.

Q. What are the principal differences in the event of cargo damage between U.S.-origin and Canadian-origin loads?

A First, cargo claim rules are vastly different in the U.S. and Canada. When cargo claims occur with freight exported from the U.S. into Canada, the carrier may be held liable for the entire value of the shipped product while in Canada.

On the other hand, products shipped into the U.S. would have a claims value based on a certain dollar amount ($2.00 on average) per pound of the weight of the shipment. These entirely different rulings are important considerations for carriers based in Canada that are taking on back-haul loads on behalf of a U.S.based shipper with freight destined for Canada.

Q. What insurance limits should manufacturers insist upon when drafting carrier contracts?

A Flat-deck operators that haul goods could suffer damages due to both load

securement and protection from weather conditions. Also, trucking companies hauling metal products might be subject to insurance claims involving the incidence of rust due to exposure to water, or dampness.

Some provinces have a statute of limitations for a set period – up to six years in some jurisdictions. So, if the truck driver involved is no longer at the company by the time the claims action is initiated, it hampers the carrier’s ability to provide testimony or evidence of the strapping or tarping of the metal products, for example.

Carriers should initiate a policy whereby each driver takes photos of loads to ensure that what they picked up, transported and delivered was not damaged.

Some legal cases have also involved shipments that are not correctly described or valued. To prevent problems, either the broker or the shipper should always verify that the carrier is covered with enough insurance to compensate for the replacement value of the product should it be damaged or lost.

Q. Are shippers liable in the event the carrier does not pay their WSIB or has a poor CVOR (commercial vehicle operator registration) rating?

A Both the shipper and broker need to ensure that the trucking services they source demonstrate financial viability, high-level operations qualifications, and a positive CVOR safety rating.

The CVOR rating should be no less than “Satisfactory” and there should be a program of demonstrated safety practices and WSIB coverage and training for the truck drivers.

There should also be an understanding that if the rating is downgraded to conditional, the carrier must report that change of status to the shipper. At all times, due diligence with shippers, brokers and carriers and a mutually beneficial contract should be the goal.

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LEADING EDGE

FAREWELL TO A FRIEND Lessons learned from my four-legged family member AS I WRITE THIS ARTICLE it’s just a week

ago that our family had to say goodbye to our much beloved dog. His name was Seve, named after one of my favourite golfers, the Spaniard Seve Ballesteros. A Portuguese water dog, he was with us for 10 fantastic years.

His personality was aptly defined by a line I heard while watching the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show. The breed was described as “highly spirited, requiring an equally spirited owner.” I can confirm that Seve never ran out of energy, and there were certainly many times when my own energy did not match his. He was always ready for a run, a long hike, and chasing a ball at what looked like 30 miles an hour.

And if we didn’t get the chance to spend enough time outside, he would turn our house into an indoor racetrack. For those who have lost a pet, you understand that this passage comes with a mixture of sadness as well as great memories, many of which are captured in pictures and videos.

So how does a family dog have anything to do with an article for Inside Logistics?

As I reflect on Seve’s life with us, it strikes me that there are some important lessons I can learn. Lessons that are certainly applicable to both our business and personal lives.

First and foremost was his unreserved loyalty, spread equally throughout our family. It didn’t matter which one of us came home, Seve trotted to the door with an excited greeting, his tail wagging and his eyes bright with excitement. What a feeling to return home to his steadfast and enthusiastic welcome.

Over the years we barely trained him to not jump all over us during these greetings, although truth be told we all pushed that training aside often to give him the chance to jump up and at least try for the big lick. His loyalty was there regardless of time of day or night – totally dependable. Even if there weren’t enough walks in the last few days, even if there wasn’t enough time spent chasing the ball, he

insidelogistics.ca

ROSS REIMER has over 30 years of experience in transportation/supply chain.

For the last 20 years he has been president of Reimer Associates, a recruitment firm within supply chain. rreimer@reimer.ca

didn’t hold back for a second.

I think we can learn from that loyalty.

When our workmates don’t come through as we had hoped, or we have let our teammates down, that’s when loyalty can show up. It keeps relationships moving forward even when there have been bumps in the road.

As exuberant and energetic as Seve was,

he also taught me a great deal about patience. The fact is, his choice would have been to run and play for the better part of his life. But living in a house with a busy family meant he spent a fair bit of time waiting for his turn. Waiting for that all-important time outside. And he did this so patiently. He would often spend time with me in my home office. I’d be focused on my emails and getting things done and he’d be lying close by, his eyes always aimed in my direction, patiently waiting for his turn.

Honestly, I lack patience in a big way.

I’m hardwired to get things done, usually at a pace that bumps up against barriers.

No question that there are times when the healthier choice would be to slow down, take a break and learn to wait. In a world where patience is in short supply, it’s worth considering the patience of a loyal companion like Seve.

Lastly and most importantly Seve taught our whole family about the importance of having fun. Yes, life is full of responsibilities and important things we need to do each and every day. Our careers and businesses matter a lot and require diligent and consistent attention. But, without fun (and fun can take on about as many forms as the personalities that exist), life gets pretty tedious. Not only that, without fun we actually become significantly less productive.

Watching Seve galloping through snow drifts or running through the woods with a branch in his mouth that was twice his size, one thing was for sure – he was having fun! If you haven’t had any fun in a while, take a page out of his book and make time for it.

Thanks for indulging while I reminisce about our faithful and sometimes crazy family dog. He’ll be missed but never forgotten. His zest for life combined with his loyalty and patience will continue to be inspiring lessons for life both in the office and out of it. Farewell, my faithful friend.

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SA F E T Y F I R S T

ARE YOUR LOADING DOCKS SAFE? Add these 15 items to your next loading dock safety inspection AS A HUB OF near-constant activity, load-

ing docks are frequently congested with equipment, goods and people, exposed to weather, and poorly laid out and lit.

These conditions can easily lead to injuries and property loss.

Nevertheless, loading docks are often the workplace’s most overlooked areas during monthly safety inspections. They just don’t get the same attention that your lifting equipment or racking systems might get. Sometimes, loading docks aren’t even included on an inspection checklist.

But not everyone overlooks loading docks. Government inspectors write orders for inadequate inspection and maintenance of shipping and receiving areas related to loading docks.

Loading dock hazards can result in injuries and even death. The hazards include: • wet, oily, or broken floor surfaces • collisions between equipment and pedestrians • lift trucks falling off the dock or through the trailer floor • collapsing dock plates • unsafe trailer movement • unsafe manual material handling • outside pedestrian traffic.

Managing hazards The first step is training workers, supervisors and committee members on what to look for in the loading dock area. Before you can manage hazards, your people need to know how to identify them.

Next, put these steps into practice: Implement control measures. Look for ways to optimize truck traffic, material flow, the staging area, pedestrian traffic, and lighting. Building a well-designed dock is important, as are using reliable equipment, monitoring and maintaining equipment regularly, developing dock safety rules, and providing training to lift truck operators, pedestrians, and joint health and safety committee members.

Ensure all staff and drivers are aware of

38

CHUCK LEON is a Warehouse and Racking Specialist at Workplace Safety & Prevention Services (WSPS)

your operational procedures and implement them daily for the safe loading, unloading and transportation of materials.

Maintain the loading docks. Keep them clean and free of obstructions, debris and stored items. Clean up any spills right away.

Repair cracked, broken or uneven floor surfaces right away. In winter, prevent snow, ice and water from accumulating.

Use material handling equipment for heavy loads (e.g. lift trucks, dollies), and proper lifting techniques for other loads.

Minimize the amount of lifting, twisting, bending and reaching below the knees and above the shoulders.

Involve workers who are on your loading docks every day in identifying hazards and how to deal with them. They may have practical, actionable suggestions that might not have occurred to you.

Inspection checklist Here are 15 items to consider, based on recommended practices: 1 Are dock approaches free from potholes or deteriorated pavement?

2 Are dock bumpers in good repair?

3 Are trailer positions marked with lines

or lights for accurate trailer spotting?

4 Are trailer wheel chocks used to block trailers and prevent movement during loading and unloading operations?

5 Are there two trailer wheel chocks for each trailer? Chocks are the most common solution for preventing trailers from moving.

6 Are trailer wheel chocks chained to the building? Is there a holding rack for the chocks?

7 Are warning signs or warning lights in use?

8 If dock levelers are used, are they in proper working order?

9 Are the loading docks inspected as per the manufacturer’s recommendations?

10 Do all dock workers and visitors wear personal protective equipment?

11 Is lighting adequate for the task being performed?

12 Is snow removed from the loading dock during winter?

13 Are the loading docks inspected outside during the winter months?

14 Are workers demonstrating proper lifting techniques?

15 Do workers know where to find and how to use emergency equipment, such as fire extinguishers, spill kits, first aid kits, alarms, and eye wash stations or showers?

Add to this list any hazards unique to your workplace or identified in your own loading dock inspections, and update as needed. Also, encourage all employees to report possible hazards and concerns, including unsafe loading dock practices and damaged equipment.

Many free resources are available from WSPS to help employers identify hazards.

These include an information sheet on Loading Docks and Warehouses (https:// tinyurl.com/wsps-docks) and a video (https://tinyurl.com/wsps-dock-hazards) that can help you identify different hazards, review the health and safety threats they pose, and provide safe work guidelines to minimize or eliminate the threats.

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