200TH ANNIVERSARY ISSUE
Food Logistics
INSIDE: SUPERVALU NOW NO. 2 WITH ALBERTSONS BUY
Intelligence For Food Warehouse, Transportation, Technology Leaders A Cygnus Business Media Publication
Issue No. 83 January/February 2006
INSIDE: Supermarket Sales To Grow In 2008
Intelligence For Food Warehouse, Transportation, Technology Leaders
Issue No. 101 January/February 2008
INSIDE: HUDSON REVIVAL—NEW JERSEY TO SHIFT CARGO TO ALBANY
Supply chain and e-business solutions for food/CPG executives
Issue No. 57 March 15, 2003
A Cygnus Business Media Publication
INSIDE: MAKING THE BUSINESS CASE FOR RFID
Intelligence For Food Warehouse, Transportation, Technology Leaders
INSIDE: WAL-MART STIRS POWERADE DSD BATTLE
Issue No. 75 March 15, 2005
Intelligence For Food Warehouse, Transportation, Technology Leaders
Who’s Minding The Consumer?
• RFID Makes An Impact • Dock Lights Shine On
GOLDEN PALLET AWARD
Brookshire’s Goes It Alone
PLUS: STATUS REPORTS • Onboard System Update • AS/RS For Cold Storage
• 2003 Truck Report
COLD CHAIN
Checking The Mercury
RISK MANAGEMENT
Big Ticket, Bigger Payoff
Voice Future
Unbreakable?
Getting In Synch
CAREER MANAGEMENT
PRW UPDATE
A Flurry Of Activity
PLUS: STATUS REPORTS
• Outsource Forklift Management • Warehouse Goes Wireless
Making The Most Out Of Capacity
• Plastic Pallets Prevent Pests • Truck Report 2006
Online Grocers Rise Again
• Pallet Building Software • Truck Report 2005 • Going Wireless
SECURITY:
DSD In Reverse
WAREHOUSE AUTOMATION
PLUS: STATUS REPORTS
PLUS: STATUS REPORTS
Demand Planning Comes Of Age
Issue No. 85 2006 84 April March15, 15, 2006
SUPPLY CHAIN FOCUS: RETAILERS
Searching On Line
DISTRIBUTION CHANNELS
When Disaster Strikes
Don’t Keep A Lid On Unsaleables
Intelligence For Food Warehouse, Transportation, Technology Leaders
FACTORY GATE PRICING
A Fresh Approach To Dairy, Deli, Bakery
AUTOMATION
SUPPLY CHAIN FOCUS: CPG
INSIDE: C&S WORKERS SUE FOR $750 MILLION
Issue No. 76 April 15, 2005
Finding The Right Partner
Fast Boat From China
PLUS: STATUS REPORTS
Aggregate The Data
• En ‘Route’ To Savings • To RFID, Or Not • Perishable Solutions
use, Transportation, Technology Leaders
Intellig
Issue No. 102 March 2008
INSIDE: C&S Merges A&P, Pathmark Distribution Agreements
Intelligence For Food Warehouse, Transportation, Technology Leaders
INSIDE: GMA 2010 Logistics Benchmark Study Results Revealed
information For Grocery and Foodservice Distributors/Manufacturers
Issue No. 103 April 2008
Issue No. 120 March 2010
A Cygnus B
GLOBAL LOGISTICS
SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT
DISTRIBUTION CHANNELS
DSD Processes Improving
PLUS: STATUS REPORTS
Intelligence For Food Warehouse, Transportation, Technology Leaders
THIRD-PARTY LOGISTICS
Choose Your Site Objectives
REVERSE LOGISTICS
INSIDE: RFID—OFF TO A GOOD START WITH FEDS
INSIDE: Largest Beef Recall Sparks Food Safety Debate
Issue No. 84 March 15, 2006
A Cygnus Business Media Publication
A Cygnus Business Media Publication
SITE SELECTION
Consumer Pull
DISTRIBUTION CHANNELS
Produce Firms To Improve Traceability
2010 innovators
Ten Companies To Watch GLoBaL stUDY
COLD CHAIN REPORT
Food Fraud In The Supply Chain
Thinking Out Of The Box
PluS: STaTuS RePoRTS
• Fleet Maintenance Made Easy • Connecting With Technology • Lift Truck Update
PLUS: STATUS REPORTS • Annual WMS Update • Talking Voice Solutions
PLUS: STATUS REPORTS
PLUS: STATUS REPORTS
• When To Outsource • Lift Truck Update • Get Onboard
• Lift Truck Maintenance • 2008 Truck Review
Running On Empty
Making Every Penny Count
Toasting To Success
Cold Chain
Tracking From Farm To Fork
Don Ratliff, Jaymie Forrest and Harvey Donaldson (from left) head up the newly launched Georgia Tech Integrated Food Chain Center.
0 0 2 Of The
New solutions eliminate technological hurdles for voice in distribution.
A Cygnus Business Media Publication
Issue No. 59 May 15, 2003
With Demand-Driven Supply Networks, companies are moving from internallyfocused supply chains to networks that react to consumer demand.
For Lighthouse Foods’ John Shaw, demand planning tools created the foundation for organizational change.
INSIDE: FMI’S ANNUAL TRANSPORTATION BENCHMARK SURVEY
INSIDE: WAL-MART SPINS OFF MCLANE
Supply chain and e-business solutions for food/CPG executives
Just how real is the threat of terrorism to the nation’s food supply chain?
Intelligence For Food Warehouse, Transportation, Technology Leaders
Issue No. 77 May 15, 2005
But order fulfillment and ‘the last mile’ continue to be a challenge.
INSIDE: Is The U.S. Food Safety System In Crisis?
INSIDE: ANNUAL WMS REVIEW
Intelligence For Food Warehouse, Transportation, Technology Leaders
Issue No. 86 May 15, 2006
Intelligence For Food Warehouse, Transportation, Technology Leaders
Supply chain and e-business solutions for food/CPG executives A Cygnus Business Media Publication
EXECUTIVE ROUNDTABLE
FLEET LEASING
GOLDEN PALLET AWARD
LIano, United: Dynamic Duo
Talkin’ Transportation
PLUS: STATUS REPORTS • Annual WMS Review • Pallet Recycling
Who’s Winning The Supply Chain Game? PLUS: STATUS REPORTS
Swim Different
A Cygnus Business Media Publication
The Power Of Standards
FLEET MANAGER’S GUIDE
Use It Or Lose It
PLUS: STATUS REPORTS • Truck Tire Maintenance • Barcodes Are Back • ABCs Of RPCs
It’s An Automated World
Intelligence For Food Warehouse, Transportation, Technology Leaders
• DSD Technology ‘Rules’ • Plastic Makes Perfect
demand for the coop’s plum harvest was a tough balancing act. Technology changed that for Sunsweet, as well as for our other logistics innovators.
INSIDE: Sales Growth Strong In CPG Industry—Report
Issue No. 87 June 15, 2006
INSIDE: POWERFUL TOOLS FOR THE MOBILE SALES FORCE
Issue No. 105 June 2008
Intelligence For Food Warehouse, Transportation, Technology Leaders
SECURITY UPDATE
DISTRIBUTION CHANNELS
SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT
CORPORATE COMMITMENT
Supply chain and e-business solutions for food/CPG executives
Shaken, Not Stirred
Measuring The Supply Chain
Publix Sustains ‘Green’ Focus
Warehouse Benchmarks
PLUS: STATUS REPORTS
• Going The High Bay Way • Hybrid Trucks Hit The Road • Mobile Devices For Multitasking
SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT
Managing Trade Funds
• Trailers Go Lightly • Rack Up The Savings • Freezer Doors Heat Up
Brewing A Better Schedule
PLUS: STATUS REPORTS • Retaining IT Employees • RPCs: Worth The Cost? • Multi-temps Chill Out
FLEET MANAGER’S
Finding The Gold In Green
Will Kappel, vice president of supply chain for Mother Parkers Coffee and Tea Co., tackles manufacturing complexity with a scheduling system.
Carrier capacity is no longer an issue for Tim Egan of Chef Solutions since he switched to pool distribution.
Issue No. 52 July/August 2002
CENSUS CENSUS REPORT REPORT
PLUS: STATUS REPORTS
Pool Party
With the economy on the rocks, public refrigerated warehouses contend with rising energy costs and a consolidating customer base.
AA Cygnus Cygnus Business Business Media Media Publication Publication
Organic Presents New Challenges
Keeping Up With Records
PLUS: STATUS REPORTS
For Sunsweet Growers’ Harold Upton, forecasting
From smart machines to reinventing the cold supply chain, this year’s innovators present illuminated solutions to complex challenges.
Inside are 10 companies that have taken a unique approach to solving logistical challenges.
Preparing For The EPC
WAREHOUSING
2008 INNOVATORS
Ripe For Success
LOGISTICS INNOVATORS
INSIDE: WHAT’S THE FREQUENCY, WAL-MART?
Supply chain and e-business solutions for food/CPG executives
COLLABORATION COLLABORATION
• Managing The Yard • Pallets For Every Taste • Optimize Routes, Cut Costs
LOGISTICS INNOVATORS
Bright Ideas
COLD CHAIN SURVEY
Chill Challenge
SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT
Logistics Costs On The Rise
PLUS: STATUS REPORTS
• Slotting: Striking A Balance • LEDs In Trailers
INSIDE: Supervalu Syncing With 500 Suppliers
Issue No. 78 June 15, 2005
A Cygnus Business Media Publication
GMA STUDY
Uncovering The Hidden Value Of The Network
OUT-OF-STOCKS
In the supply chain, but not at the store. Logistics plays a crucial role in reducing out-of-stocks.
Intelligence For Food Warehouse, Transportation, Technology Leaders
Shop Talk
EXECUTIVE FOCUS: TMS
SUPPLY CHAIN FOCUS: DSD
Uncovering The Benefits
• Truck Maintenence • Cartons Go With The Flow
Bridging The Great Divide
Issue No. 60 June 15, 2003
WERC CONFERENCE
PLUS: STATUS REPORTS • WMS Update
INSIDE: SITE SELECTION
INSIDE: ALUMINUM PALLETS —A NEW LOOK AT AN OLD PROBLEM
Issue No. 104 May 2008
A Cygnus Business Media Publication
RETAIL DISTRIBUTION
Minimize Risk
Companies are reigning in logistics costs. Inside, we look at five that are putting money in the bank.
Cadbury Schweppes’ Craig Hodnett celebrates his company’s sales growth of the soft drink category.
Earthbound Farm’s Will Daniels (left) and Alex Brinsmead are prepared to quickly respond to any product recall.
Emerging technologies help fleet managers reduce the amount of fuel they’re using.
HANDBOOK
Sustainability initiatives in the food industry’s warehousing and transportation operations equate to bottom-line performance.
Getting the right product to the right place—at the lowest cost—remains the fleet manager’s biggest challenge.
INSIDE: COST OF UNSALEABLES CONTINUES TO DECLINE
Issue No. 61 July/August 2003
Intelligence For Food Warehouse, Transportation, Technology Leaders
Issue No. 79 July/August 2005
ÂŽ
Intelligence For Food Warehouse,
A Cygnus Business Media Publication
PLUS: STATUS REPORTS
FLEET MANAGER’S GUIDE
• Cool Running • ‘Meating’ Container Standards • Trading Exchange Update
On The Road To Savings
GMA 2005 LOGISTICS SURVEY
D
Driving Up Costs BEVERAGE DISTRIBUTION
Hangover Helper PLUS: STATUS REPORTS
• Movable Bulkheads Cool Off • Unstoppable Handhelds • AS/RS Trends
Always Fresh And Natural La Huerta faced a dilemma: should the Mexican frozen vegetable producer continue to store finished product at the local refrigerated warehouse or build its own facility?
Radio frequency identification technology is poised to revolutionize the supply chain.
INSIDE: UCCnet MORE THAN DOUBLES MEMBERSHIP
INSIDE: Spinach Recall Renews Food Safety Fears
Intelligence For Food Warehouse, Transportation, Technology Leaders
Issue No. 90 October 15, 2006
Supply chain and e-business solutions for food/CPG executives
Food Logistics
INSIDE: AHOLD SPLITS U.S. FOODSERVICE INTO TWO UNITS
Issue No. 55 November/December 2002
A Cygnus Business Media Publication
DC REPORT
New Solutions For Speed, Accuracy
Intelligence For Food Warehouse, Transportation, Technology Leaders
Intermodal Rail Takes A Bigger Piece Of The Pie
Global Supply Chain Solutions for the Food and Beverage Industry
AUTOMATION
Light Speed
Food Logistics’
ECONOMIC DEVELOPMEMT
PLUS: STATUS REPORTS
2014
The Bronx Is Up
• Dock And Freezer Door Update
100 TECHNOLOGY PROVIDERS
• WMS: It’s All About The Numbers
Changes In The FL 100
• Onboard Systems Reduce Fuel Costs
• Affordable GPS Tracking • Racking Rolls On Wheels
Getting Ahead Or Getting By
PLUS: STATUS REPORTS
• Refrigerated Vans Chill Out • Carton-Flow For Tight Spaces • Riding The Intermodal Rails
Foodservice distributors have been reluctant to invest in technology that would help streamline the supply chain.
Foodservice Barcode Dilemma
Motivation, high morale and a bit of teamwork were the ingredients that made this foodservice distributor the first recipient of Food Logistics’ Golden Pallet Awards.
Cool It!
Food companies that measure their carbon footprint reduce negative environmental impact— and save money, too. Page 25.
Despite progress, there is not enough barcode use across the industry to achieve real supply chain efficiencies.
• Fuel Cells Take Off • Managing The Yard
Growing Green By Going Green
It Pays To Collaborate AUTOMATION HANDBOOK
Flexible Storage
Companies are finding that sustainable best practices not only help the environment, but have a positive impact on the bottom line.
FLEET OF THE YEAR
MDS, Greatwide Take The Honors
WEB EXCLUSIVES
• Building A Better Reefer Box
Issue No. 114 June 2009
Twelve Companies Take Top Honors
Plus: sTaTus RePoRTs
THIRD-PARTY LOGISTICS
3PLs and technology providers help mitigate risk for food customers.
• AGVs: No Need To Mount And Dismount In The Warehouse
Information For Grocery and Foodservice Distributors/Manufacturers
The The grocery Th grocery distribution ddiistriibbution center center of of the the future future has has arrived—Sobey arrived—Sobe y Inc.’s Inc.’ss new ne w automated automated facility facility inn Toronto. Toronto. At At the the heart heart of of the the DC DC iss a case case picking picking system system that that can can handle handle 320,000 320,000 cases cases per per day. day. Page Page 32. 32.
CARBON
Calculations
Pg. 18
+
SECTOR REPORTS
Issue No. 125 October 2010
To Today
PERISHABLES LOGISTICS
Pg. 22
BUILDING BLOCKS FOR SUCCESS
INSIDE: Kraft Reduces Empty Miles Within Private Fleet, Carriers
Warehousing and Transportation Solutions for the Food and Beverage Supply Chain
www.foodlogistics.com
2009 loGIstIcs Innovators
Putting Food Safety Front And Center
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PERISHABLES LOGISTICS
Issue No. 122 June 2010
PROJECT WAREHOUSE
Nature's Best Finds The Right Recipe
TOP 3PL & COLD STORAGE PROVIDERS
PLUS: STATUS REPORTS
2002: THE YEAR IN REVIEW
The Good, The Bad, And The Ugly
Slow To Connect
Product Recall Recommendations Unveiled In Report
Information For Grocery and Foodservice Distributors/Manufacturers
Global Supply Chain Solutions for the Food and Beverage Industry
Issue No. 159 August 2014
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Pg. 40
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Issue No. 82 November/December 2005
A Cygnus Business Media Publication
â–ź
RFID: Radical Change Ahead
Organic Baby Food Startup Hits $1 M — Meeting The Logistics Challenge Was Key For Owner Fran Free
PLUS: PLUS: STATUS STATUS REPORTS REPORTS
Multi-TTemp Trailer Trailer Trends Trends • Multi-Temp GS1 Update: Updatte: Foodservice Foodservice • GS1
PLUS: STATUS REPORTS
• SaaS Models Drives TMS Market • Improving Dock Safety
Blog: ‘Walmart To Go’ Comes Out Swinging
WWW.FOODLOGISTICS.COM
INSIDE: FMI Develops Seafood Sustainability Guidelines
Information For Grocery and Foodservice Distributors/Manufacturers
INSIDE: Wakefern Expands Wholesale Operations
INSIDE: SUPERVALU ACQUIRES TOTAL LOGISTICS INC.
Issue No. 109 Nov./Dec. 2008
The Source For Supply Chain Solutions
Issue No. 74 January/February 2005
Intelligence For Food Warehouse, Transportation, Technology Leaders
INSIDE: Global Cold Chain Alliance Launched
INSIDE: Top 85 3PLs Offer A Menu Of Services
Issue No. 96 June 2007
Intelligence For Food Warehouse, Transportation, Technology Leaders
Issue No. 97 July/August 2007
Surviving Supply Chain Disasters
Data Warehousing
Supercharging The Supply Chain
3pl planner
A Menu Of Services
MATERIAL HANDLING
INTERMODAL UPDATE
It’s Automation
Soft Economy Means Hard Savings
supply chain management
supply chain management
CIO ROUNDTABLE
refrigerated logistics
Multi-Temps Improve Safety
PLUS: STATUS REPORTS
• Beyond The Barcode • Vertical Conveyors Rise • Fleet Leasing Cuts Costs
PLUS: STATUS REPORTS
• Voice Goes Multi-Modal • Rolling Endorsements • Racking Trends
• Trailer Leasing ABCs • Energy-Saving Doors
Tackle Business
White Rose Frozen Is Still Blooming
PluS: STaTuS RePoRTS
PluS: StAtuS RePORtS
• Energizing Lift Truck Batteries • Fleet Leasing Pros And Cons • Warehouses Go Wireless • Delivering On Roll Carts
New York City’s oldest and largest independent wholesale grocer delivers lowcost goods along with exceptional service from its state-of-the-art freezer facility. From left, Larry Lowe, Tom Manin, Keith Dengelegi and Bill Canty run the show.
Who’s Minding The Yard?
Challenges With This year’s list of the FL100—the leading technology and solution providers to the food industry—offer tools to help companies gain a competitive advantage while reducing costs and increasing productivity.
GLOBAL SUPPLY CHAIN
COLD CHAIN REPORT
It’s A Green World After All
Voice technology is brewing at Dunkin’ Donuts Mid Atlantic Distribution Center.
Economic Recovery Signals New Direction
Under Pressure
SPECIAL REPORT: SUSTAINABILITY
Warehouse yards can be messy at best and chaotic at worst. Technology can help companies take control over their yards.
Coffee Talk
Technology Solutions
Issue No. 123 July/August 2010
Information For Grocery and Foodservice Distributors/Manufacturers
A Cygnus Business Media Publication
SUPPLY SCAN
Reduce Fuel Consumption With Driver Education
KANSAS CITY UNDERGROUND
Subterranean Storage
PLUS: STATUS REPORTS
• Lift Truck Maintenance Made Easy • Voice Keeps Netto Humming • Driving Down Trailer Costs
SITE SELECTION
Drinking Up The Competition
â–ź
Companies are learning that business processes and investments which are ecologically viable are also economically beneficial.
INSIDE: ProLogis, Sainsbury Build ‘Green’ Distribution Center
INSIDE: Rail Yields Super-Sized Benefits For Martin-Brower Co.
Issue No. 93 March 2007
Intelligence For Food Warehouse, Transportation, Technology Leaders
SURVEY
Warehousing and Transportation Solutions for the Food and Beverage Supply Chain
www.foodlogistics.com
Issue No. 91 November/December 2006
Intelligence For Food Warehouse, Transportation, Technology Leaders
Measuring Up: Industry Trends
For news updates, go to www.foodlogistics.com
Issue No. 127 Jan./Feb. 2011
THIRD-PARTY LOGISTICS
LTL Consolidation
SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT
Technology: A Look Ahead
TRANSPORTATION
WAREHOUSING
PLus: sTATus RePoRTs
Challenges In Every Direction
The Focus Is On
• Meeting HOS Requirements • In The Driver’s Seat With TMS • Designing A DC For Growth
Recalls On The Rise
Planning For A Rainy Day
SUPPLY SCAN
Prevention
The Freshest At Its Fastest
PlUs: sTATUs REPoRTs
Five Automation Myth Busters
The Food saFeTy ModernizaTion acT
• 3PL Partnership Reaps Success • AS/RS Work Well In The Cooler • Reefer Units Maintain Temps
PERISHABLES LOGISTICS
A&P Files For Chapter 11
PLUS: STATUS REPORTS
• Lift Trucks On Ice • Routing Revised
The new bill has many regulations that take a more proactive approach towards food safety. A major component is the requirement to maintain a documented ‘food safety plan.’ Page 34.
Last summer’s spinach recall highlighted the vulnerability of the nation’s food supply chain— especially in the produce arena. Technology was credited with lessening the blow.
Event management solutions help identify situations that require human intervention— as they are developing.
SEALAND, PORT HUENEME PARTNERSHIP
INSIDE: Kraft, Perdue Drive Success With EPA SmartWay
THE CONNECTED FLEET
ADDING FLEXIBILITY TO THE COLD CHAIN
Food Logistics
TRACK AND TRACE:
ENHANCING VISIBILITY AND QUALITY THROUGHOUT THE SUPPLY CHAIN
Intelligence For Food Warehouse, Transportation, Technology Leaders
Issue No. 98 September 2007
ÂŽ
CARGO THEFT
Stop, Thief!
RISK MANAGEMENT
Shelter From The Storm TRAINING
Evaluate Your Safety Program
PluS: STaTuS REPoRTS • Lift Truck Safety Training • Temp Control With RFID
Running Down The Safety Checklist
Global Supply Chain Solutions for the Food and Beverage Industry
CHECK OUT THE FOOD LOGISTICS
2017 CHAMPIONS
7
™
From managing product recalls to preventing fork lift accidents, our Annual Safety Issue offers strategies for safer operations.
PLUG IN TO FUTURE FOOD CONNECTIONS USING THE IOT CAN REDUCE FOOD LOSS AND MAKE FOOD SAFER TO EAT
Issue No. 184 March 2017
FoodLogistics.com
SPECIAL EDITION: REGULATORY COMPLIANCE, BRAND REPUTATION
Warehousing and Transportation Solutions for the Food and Beverage Supply Chain
Food Logistics
AND RISK IN THE GLOBAL FOOD SUPPLY CHAIN
Issue No. 134
www.foodlogistics.com
N O L O G Y CH TE
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SO LU
Nov./Dec. 2011
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Global Supply Chain Solutions for the Food and Beverage Industry
COUNTRY OF ORIGIN AND FOOD A FAMILY OF TRADE ISSUES
A
STRATEGIES FOR THE LOGISTICS INDUSTRY
N
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S
TAX REFORM
A CORNUCOPIA OF
d
SE r v I C E
d vI P r O
E
as a
Competitive Differentiator
2011 Golden Pallet Award for Small DC
Our annual FL100 showcases the leading software and technology companies in the food and beverage industry. Page 17
AN INCREASINGLY COMPLEX GLOBAL FOOD SUPPLY CHAIN MEANS EVEN GREATER RISK, YET THOSE WHO STAY ON THE LEADING EDGE WILL DISCOVER NEW OPPORTUNITIES
Page 37
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THE AUTOMATED SEAPORT
Food Logistics
FSMA TODAY
INVENTORY COSTS
Food Logistics
SPECIAL EDITION: CAPITALIZING ON CONSUMER TRENDS
Food Logistics
Drive Need For Greater Storage Density Pg. 34
Issue No. 171 October 2015
Global Supply Chain Solutions for the Food and Beverage Industry
WWW.FOODLOGISTICS.COM
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Issue No. 141 Oct. 2012
A Holistic Approach to
Food Logistics Issue No. 154 March 2014
Warehousing and Transportation Solutions for the Food and Beverage Supply Chain
Global
Pg. 30
Food Supply Chain
Managing reputational risk, media, logistics and more. Page 18
Improved production and new food sources must keep pace with growing populations, climate change, and food insecurity in the developing world.
Pg. 12
Food Logistics
3PL HEADLINE TO GO HERE Boosts Cold Transport Capabilities Pg. 24 ÂŽ
Pg. 20
By air, land and sea, transportation innovations are creating new opportunities Pg. 20
Pg. 14
Portwood Farms’ Joel Ackerknecht
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“The Week Ahead in 60 Seconds� audio blog updated every Monday.
The latest industry news updated daily. Archived Webinars
INSIDE: C-Stores Sales, Profits Showed Gains In 2008
SECTOR REPORTS • Telematic Solutions Improve Vehicle Management For Drivers And Fleet Managers • Static Racking Systems Offer More Ways To Stock And Replenish Inventory • Label Solutions Enhances Data Capture, Improve Traceability, Speed And Accuracy
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Archived Webinars, including FL's Educational Webinar series
Traceability Capabilities
Blog: Sysco/US Foods Merger Stalls; Customers O.K. While Competitors Are Lovin' It
Today’s food distributors are using technology to improve product traceability. Ralph Viscomi of Cabot Creamery is using a barcode system to track cheese at the case and pallet level.
Could McDonald's Have Prevented A Meat Supplier Closure? Daily news: Cold chain and more FL's educational webinar series
Warehousing and Transportation Solutions for the Food and Beverage Supply Chain
www.foodlogistics.com
www.foodlogistics.com
Issue No. 132 September 2011
INSIDE: Wal-Mart Canada To Build Grocery Hub Near Calgary
Information For Grocery and Foodservice Distributors/Manufacturers
FOODSERVICE DISTRIBUTION
Reverse
Plus: stAtus RePoRts
TRACEABILITY
Keeping It Safe For Consumers
• Don’t Postpone WMS Plans • Improve Routing Efficiency • Finding The Right Rack
Logistics
Moves Forward Companies are beginning to measure the effectiveness and efficiencies of their returns operations with the same level of attention they employ for forward logistics.
Public refrigerated warehouses are fighting the good fight against numerous contenders—an unpredictable economy, severe customer demands and costly regulations—but pressures continue to mount. Page 22.
PLUS: STATUS REPORTS
• Lift Truck Management • Great Pallet Debate
Sorry
Best practices for safe and secure cargo moves. Page 20
Create A Winning Team
thIrD-PartY LoGIstICs
Six Tips For Choosing A 3PL
PLus: sTATus RePoRTs
• Reduce Perishable Shrink • Racking System Basics • WMS Trends
PLuS: STATuS RePoRTS
The
Biggest
Best
Is The
Managing the Cold Storage Supply Chain
Information For Grocery and Foodservice Distributors/Manufacturers
Designing For The Future
ThIRD-paRTy lOGISTICS
Better Issue No 200 September Safe Than 2018
Issue No. 113 May 2009
INSIDE: GS1 US Announces Launch Of Groundbreaking Foodservice Initiative
warehouse autoMatIon
Reducing Labor Costs
Walmart Canada’s Virginia Garbutt (right) and Marnie Banting of Supply Chain Management.
Kuna Gets A Lift
On The Rise
Revitalizing Interest In
Selection Perfection
WWW.FOODLOGISTICS.COM
Warehousing and Transportation Solutions for the Food and Beverage Supply Chain
• Truck Report 2011 • Hearing Voices • Rack It Up
Challenges
Telematics For Hire
WEB EXCLUSIVES
WEB EXCLUSIVES
New guest blogs; exclusive online content Daily news on 3PLs, Transportation & Warehousing; Sustainability; Cold Chain; and Food Safety & Security.
AS/RS UPDATE
Automation Domination
FACILITY DESIGN
The Cold Facts:
LEASING UPDATE
• Truck Weight, Length Survey • Chilling OutWith ASRS • Pallet Choices Expand
Issue No. 119 January/February 2010
Ten To Watch
BEVERAGE DISTRIBUTION
PLus: sTATus RePoRTs
Information For Grocery and Foodservice Distributors/Manufacturers
LOGISTICS INNOVATORS
Bottlers Quench Thirst With Automation
THE WAREHOUSE AS A COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE
WWW.FOODLOGISTICS.COM
PLUS: STATUS REPORTS
INSIDE: Consumer-Driven Supply Chain Becoming A Reality In The Industry
Issue No. 129 April/May 2011
Issue No. 112 April 2009
SITE SELECTION
Consumer Lifestyles Drive Away-From-Home Food Sales; Evolving Formats Challenge The Foodservice Supply Chain Pg. 16
PROFILE
Archived Webinars, including FL's Educational Webinar series
Warehousing and Transportation Solutions for the Food and Beverage Supply Chain
Nine Prime Areas To Locate Your DC
Automation keeps adding ways to streamline inventory flow
RAIL UPDATE
Subway Improves Data With GS1 'Global Language'
IFDA Solutions Conference Reports
WWW.FOODLOGISTICS.COM
www.foodlogistics.com
Information For Grocery and Foodservice Distributors/Manufacturers
Global Supply Chain Solutions for the Food and Beverage Industry
FOODSERVICE CHARGES FORWARD
Time For Intermodel?
Pg. 26
WHEN CARGO CALLS FOR SPECIAL HANDLING Pg. 36
Archived Webinars
WWW.FOODLOGISTICS.COM
SECTOR REPORTS
THE FLEET MANAGER'S 2015 FORECAST Pg. 30
Issue No. 128 March 2011
“The Week Ahead in 60 Seconds� audio blog updated every Monday. Daily news on 3PLs, Transportation & Warehousing; Sustainability; Cold Chain; and Food Safety & Security.
WEB EXCLUSIVES
• Operator comfort boosts forklift safety • WMS and WCS • Econ Dev: Kentucky
ÂŽ
+
F&B PUSHES INTO E-COMMERCE
WEB EXCLUSIVES
WWW.FOODLOGISTICS.COM
Food Logistics
THE FUTURE OF FOOD LOGISTICS
A profile of Portwood Farms in San Joaquin Valley highlights changes affecting the broader agricultural community.
+
Issue No. 163 January/February 2015
Global Supply Chain Solutions for the Food and Beverage Industry
• Warehouse Energy Optimization • Mobile Devices: Consumer v. Enterprise-grade
STORY
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PLUS: SECTOR REPORTS
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Global Supply Chain Solutions for the Food and Beverage Industry
SECTOR REPORTS
FARMER’S
Pg. 14
• The Evolution of Forklift Technology • Telematics & EOBRs • LMS: Making the Job Easier
FoodLogistics.com
PG. 42
Issue No. 162 Nov/Dec 2014
+
3PLs & Refrigerated Logistics: Bienvenido A Miami!
ONE
•
The Port of New Orleans dredged its channel, expanded its container terminal and purchased new gantry cranes to handle larger post-Panamax ships, such as this one from Maersk Line.
Issue No. 181 October 2016
Food Logistics
• Smaller, Faster and Sustainable Pallets and Packages • Succeeding in the World of the Omnichannel Shopper
Global Supply Chain Solutions for the Food and Beverage Industry
WEB EXCLUSIVES
WWW.FOODLOGISTICS.COM
GULF COAST PORTS
POST-PANAMAX SHIPS ARE ALREADY ENTERING GULF COAST PORTS THAT READIED THEMSELVES FOR THE OPENING OF THE PANAMA CANAL’S NEW LOCKS
WINNERS ARE REVEALED
• The Next Generation of Flexitanks
Issue No. 156 May 2014
The
Safe and Secure Inside the 4 Walls
Recalls
Pg. 22
Global Supply Chain Solutions for the Food and Beverage Industry
Handling Specialty Foods Pg. 24
Food Logistics
PLUS: SECTOR REPORTS
Food Safety From A to Z
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Food Logistics
Walmart Canada opens up the largest sustainable refrigerated food distribution center in North America. Page 16.
Daily News On 3PLs, Transportation, Warehousing, Sustainability, Cold Chain, Food Safety And Security
August 2018
FoodLogistics.com
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Green
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Issue No. 199
Get The Latest Updates On Food Product Recalls
Archived Webinars, including FL’s Educational Webinar Series
â–ź
APPROACH
CHANGING BUYER HABITS SHAPE NEW GROCERY FULFILLMENT STRATEGIES
Think Ahead
WEB EXCLUSIVES
From capacity constraints and labor shortages to changing buying habits, the complexity of today’s supply chain leaves the global cold chain prone to numerous risks
OMNICHANNEL
• Scott Carter of NDCP, the supply chain management organization for Dunkin’ Donuts franchisees, sees product sourcing as playing an important role in managing the supply chain.
The consumer demands immediacy, variety and freshness, requiring an integrated, collaborative foodservice supply chain. Pg. 18
PLAYING IT COOL
AN
Giant
IoT TECHNOLOGY UPLIFTS CONTAINER TRACKING IMPROVING MONITORING CAPABILITIES PROMPT OCEAN CARRIERS TO INVEST IN INTELLIGENT CONTAINERS
IS YOUR FOODSERVICE SUPPLY CHAIN?
Consumer-driven demands have far-reaching implications for the logistics providers and others who support the food supply chain
GOLDEN PALLET AWARD
Food Logistics
HOW AGILE
CALL THE SHOTS
Issue No. 198 July 2018
INNOVATIONS TO MAINTAIN COLD CHAIN INTEGRITY
Global Supply Chain Solutions for the Food and Beverage Industry
COLD STORAGE CAPACITY RISES To Meet Growing Global Food Demand Pg. 28
CONSUMERS
HOW THE IoT IS TRANSFORMING TMS
ÂŽ
Global Supply Chain Solutions for the Food and Beverage Industry
A DIVERSIFYING FOOD SUPPLY CHAIN Drives New TMS Features Pg. 44
PACKAGING EVOLVES
MARKETPLACE TRENDS PLAY A PIVOTAL ROLE IN MORE SUSTAINABLE SOLUTIONS
BUYING VERSUS LEASING: FACTORS TO CONSIDER
For news updates, go to www.foodlogistics.com
THE COMFORTABLE TRUTH ABOUT WAREHOUSE ERGONOMICS
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Global Supply Chain Solutions for the Food and Beverage Industry
Issue No. 160 Sept 2014
Page 34
Maintaining Cold Chain Integrity
FoodLogistics.com
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Issue No. 195 April 2018
PLUS: STATUS REPORTS • Cubing and Weighing • Route Vehicle Update • Mobility is the Mantra
Jack Mixey oversees Safeway’s NorCal distribution center, the retailers’ largest DC, which boasts a 99.9 percent accuracy rate.
• Cut CARBs By Leasing • Cut CARBS By Leasing • Flexible Supply Chains
INSIDE: Kane Is Able Launches Collaborative Distribution Program
Information For Grocery and Foodservice Distributors/Manufacturers
Issue No. 117 October 2009
COLD
Collaboration
Alpha Baking Co. and Frozen Assets Cold Storage designed a DC that accommodates 8,000 pallets in just 41,000 sq. feet of space. From left, Alpha’s Bob McGuire, Frozen Assets’ Tom Wick and Mike Meehan from Quality Storage Products championed the project.
Issue No. 116 September 2009
FoodLog st cs com
Safety Always Comes First
PluS: STATuS RePoRTS • Track Assets With RFID • Tech Center Visit
Product Recall Recommendations Unveiled In Report
Issue No. 122 June 2010
Nature's Best Finds The Right Recipe
HR 2749
www.foodlogistics.com
Issue No. 130 June 2011
Will New FDA Penalties
Your Bank?
CARBON
GREEN SUPPLY CHAIN PARTNERS
Twenty That Make A Difference
Calculations Food companies that measure their carbon footprint reduce negative environmental impact— and save money, too. Page 25.
Going
Green With Fresh ideas
Page 14
PLUS: STATUS REPORTS
PLUS: STATUS REPORTS
• Lift Truck Safety Habits • Preventing Cargo Theft
• SaaS Models Drives TMS Market • Improving Dock Safety
Issue No. 111 March 2009
INSIDE: Reducing Logistics Costs • Managing Unsaleables
Intelligence For Food Warehouse, Transportation, Technology Leaders
Issue No. 92 January/February 2007
PRW UPDATE
Food companies are learning that business processes and investments that are ecologically viable are also economically beneficial. Page 24.
Pricey monetary penalties are just one of many concerns over the Congressional passage of the Food Safety Enhancement Act of 2009.
Information For Grocery and Foodservice Distributors/Manufacturers
Driving Efficiencies In The Cold Supply Chain
REVERSE LOGISTICS
How Green Are Your Returnables?
PERISHABLES LOGISTICS
Cool It!
INSIDE: Coca-Cola Enterprises To Purchase Hybrid Trucks
Warehousing and Transportation Solutions for the Food and Beverage Supply Chain
PROJECT WAREHOUSE
IFDA CONFERENCE PLANNER
Best Practices For Today’s Times SAFETY UPDATE
â–
Information For Grocery and Foodservice Distributors/Manufacturers
PLUS: STATUS REPORTS
• TMS Leads To Cleaner Highways • Meet Green Initiatives
With ASRS
GOLDEN PALLET AWARD
Hershey And Exel Exceed The Standard
PluS: STATuS REPoRTS
• Improve Warehouse Efficiency • Tap Into Carrier Networks • Tracking With Labels
PREVENTING THE
NEXT PRODUCT
RECALL The food industry reacts to the massive peanut recall by re-examining safety procedures within each link of the supply chain.
SPECIAL 10th ANNIVERSARY ISSUE INSIDE: METRO EXPANDS RFID ROLL OUT
INSIDE: P&G, EDS DEVELOP PRODUCT LIFECYCLE SOLUTION
Supply chain and e-business solutions for food/CPG executives a Cygnus Business Media publication
The Source For Supply Chain Solutions
Issue No. 56 January/February 2003
Issue No. 66 March 15, 2004
A Cygnus Business Media Publication
INSIDE: NEAR RECORD FUEL PRICES EXPECTED
The Source For Supply Chain Solutions
Issue No. 67 April 15, 2004
A Cygnus Business Media Publication
E-Supply Chain SurvEy
UNSALEABLES REPORT
Traditional Technologies, Still Rule...For Now
Auditing Provides Answers
E-COMMERCE
SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT
Take Control of Inventory
Know The Code
goldEn pallEt award
Bozzuto’s Creates Opportunities
Plus: sTATus RePoRTs
SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT
How To Reduce Logistics Costs
onlinE groCEr
Freshdirect Delivers To The Big Apple
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Leading food companies take measures to reduce the industry’s $2.4 billion unsaleables problem.
INSIDE: SAFEWAY, UNILEVER SYNC UP THEIR DATA
The Source For Supply Chain Solutions
Issue No. 70 July/August 2004
INSIDE: HOW SECURE IS YOUR BRAND, COMPANY?
The Source For Supply Chain Solutions
Issue No. 72 October 15, 2004
A Cygnus Business Media Publication
A Cygnus Business Media Publication
PERISHABLES LOGISTICS
Delivering Just-In-Time
FLEET MANAGER’S GUIDE
Safety First
WAVELENGTH
Concern About RFID Costs, Standards
RADIO FREQUENCY IDENTIFICATION
Ready, Willing And Labeled?
PluS: STATuS RePoRTS
PLuS: StAtuS RePoRtS
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INSIDE: Supervalu Syncing With 500 Suppliers
Intelligence For Food Warehouse, Transportation, Technology Leaders
SECURITY UPDATE
Keeping Up With Records
SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT
Measuring The Supply Chain
Issue No. 87 June 15, 2006
INSIDE: Wegmans Releases Results Of GDS Study
Intelligence For Food Warehouse, Transportation, Technology Leaders
Issue No. 89 September 15, 2006
SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT
INSIDE: Rail Yields Super-Sized Benefits For Martin-Brower Co.
Intelligence For Food Warehouse, Transportation, Technology Leaders
Issue No. 91 November/December 2006
SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT
Grocery Wholesalers Flying High With Demand Planning
Technology: A Look Ahead PLus: sTATus RePoRTs
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ON THE MENU
ON THE MENU
OCTOBER 2015 ISSUE NO. 171
September 2018 ISSUE NO. 200 COLUMNS
COVER STORY
FOR STARTERS
The Impact of E-Commerce
Online grocery is still getting its legs, but all signs indicate it will be running at full speed in the near future.
16
F ood Logistics Vol. 200 —A Milestone
6
Good fortune alone isn’t why Food Logistics continues to thrive in an era of digital media. COOL INSIGHTS
14
O pening Windows of Possibility—and Visibility—into the Cold Chain
FEATURES
Cold chain shipping partners are better equipped than ever before to protect the safety of their food supply and document conditions inside refrigerated trailers throughout every step of the process.
THIRD-PARTY & REFRIGERATED LOGISTICS
FOOD (AND MORE) FOR THOUGHT
22
I ncreased Demand for Frozen Food Spawns Cold Chain Innovation
The global food logistics market is responding to the challenges of frozen food transport with innovative consolidation methods. INDUSTRY UPDATE
28
old Chain Council C Offers Perspective on Challenges, Opportunities
50
TRANSPORTATION
36
U rban Delivery Paves a Path Beyond the Last Mile
Evolving customer preferences are driving innovations in urban delivery vehicles that stretch the traditional last mile. SOFTWARE & TECHNOLOGY
V endor Insights on Supply Chain Management Software
The industry’s influential leaders gathered in June to discuss trends impacting the global cold chain.
42
SECTOR REPORTS
The latest trends in SCM software are shared by the sector’s leading providers.
WAREHOUSING
32
U nsecured Cargo an Easy Target for Theft
The majority of in-transit cargo thefts occur while a vehicle is left unattended, whether in a public parking area or at a truck stop or drop stop, such as a distribution center or warehouse.
OCEAN PORTS & CARRIERS
46
A ccounting for Every Container
A new blockchain-based platform promises real-time global visibility for every ocean container, while lowering costs for stakeholders.
C aring for a Connected World with Cold Chain Technology
Producers, shippers and consumers all stand to benefit from connected technology that ensures quality is maintained throughout the trip from factory to table.
DEPARTMENTS
Supply Scan 12 Food on the Move 49 Ad Index 8
WEB EXCLUSIVES • How to Ensure Food Safety in Transit with Smart Sensors foodlogistics.com/21019717
• Direct-to-Consumer Sales: How Does it Effect Food Manufacturers? foodlogistics.com/21020332
• Cross-Border E-Commerce: The Future is Here foodlogistics.com/21020344
Published and copyrighted 2018 by AC Business Media. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording or any information storage or retrieval system, without written permission from the publisher. Food Logistics (USPS 015-667; ISSN 1094-7450 print; ISSN 1930-7527 online) is published 10 times per year in January/February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October and November/December by AC Business Media, 201 N. Main Street, Fort Atkinson, WI 53538. Periodicals postage paid at Fort Atkinson, WI 53538 and additional mailing offices. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Food Logistics, P.O. Box 3605, Northbrook, IL 60065-3605. Canada Post PM40612608. Return undeliverable Canadian addresses to: Food Logistics, Station A, P. O. Box 25542, London, ON N6C 6B2. Subscriptions: U.S., one year, $45; two years, $85; Canada & Mexico, one year, $65; two years, $120; international, one year, $95; two years, $180. All subscriptions must be paid in U.S. funds, drawn from a U.S. bank. Printed in the USA.
4
FOOD LOGISTICS | SEPTEMBER 2018
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FOR STARTERS
FROM THE EDITOR’S DESK
DETAILS
FOOD LOGISTICS
VOL. 200 — A MILESTONE T SOWINSKI
6
he September 2018 issue of Food Logistics celebrates a notable milestone—it is the 200th issue. So many consumer and B2B publications have come and gone over the years that the sheer survivability of any publication in an era that has witnessed the drawn out death of printed magazines in favor of digital media is an achievement in itself. But, good fortune alone isn’t why Food Logistics is thriving. I chalk it up to two things. One: the dynamic, constantly evolving, and increasingly complex global food supply chain that serves as its fundamental inspiration. Two: the founding editors, publishers, supporters and others who have made their mark over the years—and who beyond the obvious profitability of the publication—were attracted to and intrigued by the topic of food. Namely, how it gets from the farm to our forks. The way I think about food has changed since I joined Food Logistics in 2011. I’ve learned a lot about the logistics and regulatory aspects. But mostly, I’ve acquired a deeper understanding and appreciation
about farming, environmental resources, food security, food waste and food safety. My colleagues would agree. We still marvel at the global food supply chain. And while we’ve witnessed so many changes and innovations, it’s certain there are many still to come. At this very moment we are watching the overhaul of NAFTA— the world’s largest free trade agreement and one that has been vitally important to agricultural trade for the past 24 years. The U.K., meanwhile, continues to brace for the fallout of Brexit, including growing concerns about food shortages and a dwindling supply of migrant workers for pack-houses, processing plants and other jobs. At the same time, climate change and its effects on the planet’s ability to maintain food production on land and sea are alarming. Other changes are less doom and gloom, like the budding online grocery movement or autonomous trucks, drone delivery, lab meat, 3D food printing, and robots in warehouses, restaurants and store aisles. What else will the global food supply chain experience in the next year—or over the next 200 issues? One can only imagine. Enjoy the read.
LARA L. SOWINSKI, EDITORIAL DIRECTOR LSOWINSKI@ACBUSINESSMEDIA.COM
Published by AC BUSINESS MEDIA 201 N. Main Street, Fort Atkinson, WI 53538 (800) 538-5544 • www.ACBusinessMedia.com
WWW.FOODLOGISTICS.COM PRINT AND DIGITAL STAFF Group Publisher Jolene Gulley Associate Publisher Judy Welp Editorial Director Lara L. Sowinski lsowinski@ACBusinessMedia.com Editor John R. Yuva jyuva@ACBusinessMedia.com Assistant Editor Amy Wunderlin awunderlin@ACBusinessMedia.com Web & Copy Editor Mackenna Moralez mmoralez@ACBusinessMedia.com Contributing Editor Barry Hochfelder Senior Production Manager Cindy Rusch crusch@ACBusinessMedia.com Creative Director Kirsten Wiskus Audience Development Director Wendy Chady Audience Development Manager Angela Franks ADVERTISING SALES (800) 538-5544 Associate Publisher (East Coast) Judy Welp (480) 821-1093 jwelp@ACBusinessMedia.com Sales Manager (Midwest and West Coast) Carrie Konopacki (920) 542-1236 ckonopacki@ACBusinessMedia.com National Automotive Sales Tom Lutzke (630) 484-8040, tlutzke@ACBusinessMedia.com EDITORIAL ADVISORY BOARD Jaymie Forrest, Chief Supply Chain and Commercial Officer, ScanTech Sciences Inc. John Haggerty, Vice President of Business Development, Burris Logistics Robert A. Norton, Ph.D., Professor of Veterinary Microbiology, Public Health and Biosecurity, Auburn University; Coordinator of National Security Initiatives, The Futures Laboratory Jon Shaw, Director of Sustainability and Global Marketing Communications, UTC Climate, Controls & Security Smitha G. Stansbury, Partner, FDA & Life Sciences Practice, King & Spalding CIRCULATION & SUBSCRIPTIONS P.O. Box 3605, Northbrook, IL 60065-3605 (877) 201-3915, Fax: (847)-291-4816 circ.FoodLogistics@omeda.com LIST RENTAL Jeff Moriarty, InfoGroup (518) 339-4511 jeff.moriarty@infogroup.com REPRINT SERVICES Carrie Konopacki (920) 542-1236 Fax: (920) 542-1133 ckonopacki@ACBusinessMedia.com AC BUSINESS MEDIA INC. CEO Barry Lovette CFO JoAnn Breuchel Digital Operations Manager Nick Raether Digital Sales Manager Monique Terrazas Published and copyrighted 2018 by AC Business Media. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording, or any information storage or retrieval system, without written permission from the publisher.
FOOD LOGISTICS | SEPTEMBER 2018
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SUPPLY SCAN
NEWS FROM ACROSS THE FOOD SUPPLY CHAIN Daily Updates at FoodLogistics.com
LANETIX UNVEILS CRM FOR DOMESTIC FREIGHT MARKET
In July, Lanetix announced LxRoadFreight, the first CRM suite exclusively developed for the domestic freight market, including asset-owning trucking firms and freight brokerages. The outof-the-box software suite brings Global 2000 CRM to growing transportation companies. “Too often, trucking firms have had to make choices when it came to evaluating software. Do we focus on automating the spot market or contracted rates? Do we use technology to manage our shipper accounts or prioritize the carriers? Lanetix.com How can we apply our customer retention strategy to driver retention? Lanetix solves for the complexity of the industry with a beautiful user interface that feels more like Instagram than a CRM,” says Brian Everett, president of the Transportation Marketing and Sales Association. With LxRoadFreight, trucking companies and freight brokerage firms with as few as five employees can take advantage of the same powerful, cloud-based CRM software as market-leading multinationals.
NESTLE TESTS BLOCKCHAIN TRACING WITH BABY FOOD
Nestle is using Gerber baby food products for a food-tracking blockchain test to see if the technology can trace the fruits and vegetables that go into its purees and squeezable pouches. The company is working with nine other food companies on Food Trust, a blockchain system that will trace food and ingredients worldwide. The platform, which will require partners and competitors to share a ledger, will help speed up investigations of bad food and make recalls more accurate and less expensive. Companies that use Food Trust will have data about harvests, processing, packaging and shipping stored electronically on the system, allowing it to trace back in seconds compared to days and weeks, The Wall Street Journal reports. Recently, Nestle tracked the contents of its Libby canned pumpkin on the platform and found that while tracking a single-ingredient from a limited number of growers is simple, baby food involves multiple ingredients. Some even include cross-border transactions. The Wall Street Journal reports that the company is working with farmers and processors of apples, sweet potatoes and pumpkin in one test, and a mango provider in Colombia in another.
ZEST LABS SUES WALMART OVER EDEN TECHNOLOGY
pixabay.com
8
FOOD LOGISTICS | SEPTEMBER 2018
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Zest Labs is suing Walmart for $2 billion, claiming the retailer is stealing its technology to prolong the shelf life of produce and reduce spoilage. According to the complaint, Zest Labs accuses Walmart’s Eden technology of looking, sounding and functioning like its own Zest Fresh technology. Reuters reports that Zest had previously worked with Walmart on Zest Fresh, but the retailer lost interest in November. Walmart estimates Eden could save up to $2 billion over five years, and that it could potentially save $15 billion over the next 10 years. Zest seeks to recover these savings, citing alleged theft of trade secrets, unfair competition, breach of contract and other wrongdoing. www.foodlogistics.com
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SUPPLY SCAN
NEWS FROM ACROSS THE FOOD SUPPLY CHAIN
pixabay.com
Daily Updates at FoodLogistics.com
FDA SETS REINSPECTION FEES FOR 2019
MEAT STOCKPILES FILL COLD STORAGE WAREHOUSES
Surges in supplies and trade disputes are causing meat to pile up in U.S. cold-storage warehouses, The Wall Street Journal reports. According to federal data, the level of beef, pork, poultry and turkey being stockpiled is equal to 2.5 billion pounds. While U.S. consumers’ appetite is growing for meat, it isn’t enough to keep up production, leaving the meat industry reliant on exports. However, since Mexico and China recently placed retaliatory tariffs on pork products and other goods, meat products are becoming more expensive and slowing sales. In an attempt to combat the slowing demand, some farmers and processors are scaling back. Maschhoffs LLC, a hog-farming company, is putting a hold on a $30 million investment to expand its breeding operations and upgrade truck washes. Meanwhile, other companies have reduced hours and turned away hogs. When China placed duties on pork, the industry saw an 18 percent drop over the first five months of the year, The Wall Street Journal reports. On the other hand, Mexico, the top exporter of U.S. pork, placed tariffs on the meat as well, bringing sales to an all-time low.
ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH GROUP FINDS CONTROVERSIAL HERBICIDE IN OAT-BASED BREAKFAST FOODS
An environmental research and advocacy group has found traces of a controversial herbicide in Cheerios, Quaker Oats and other breakfast foods that it says could increase cancer risk for children. The report comes amid what The New York Times reports is a longstanding debate about the safety of the chemical glyphosate, which is found in the weed killer Roundup. Federal regulators maintain it is not likely to cause cancer, but questions surrounding the effects of glyphosate still remain. In its report, the Environpixabay.com mental Working Group said that it tested 45 samples of breakfast foods made from oats grown in fields sprayed with herbicides. Then, using a strict standard the group developed, it found elevated levels of glyphosate in 31 of them.
10
FOOD LOGISTICS | SEPTEMBER 2018
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The FDA announced its fiscal year 2019 fee rates for certain domestic and foreign food facility reinspections, failures to comply with a recall order, and importer reinspections. Fees will be assessed at $253 per hour if domestic travel is required and $282 per hour if foreign travel is required. The fees are expected to go into effect October 1, 2018, and run until September 30, 2019. It’s possible the fees will not actually be assessed during this period, however, because the FDA doesn’t intend on issuing invoices for reinspection or recall order fees until it publishes a guidance document on how small businesses may request a reduction to those fees given the “severe economic hardship” that paying them could cause. The FDA is also still considering various issues associated with the assessment and collection of importer reinspection fees.
WALMART AUGMENTS ONLINE DELIVERY PROCESS WITH AUTOMATION
For the last two years Walmart has implemented new technologies in its stores to save time for its customers and associations. The company is now partnering with startup Alert Innovation to launch a pilot using automation to help associates fill online grocery orders faster. The service, Alphabot, will work behind the scenes to make the process easier by automatically bringing items from storage to associates who will consolidate the items in the order. Pickup associates will now have to spend less time walking the aisles searching for products and have more time ensuring customers are getting the best items. With Alphabot taking over more mundane, repeatable tasks, associates will have more time to focus on service and selling.
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FOOD ON THE MOVE
LOGISTICS TRENDS IN OUR INDUSTRY
UBER FREIGHT TRANSFORMS LAND O’LAKES SUPPLY CHAIN
safeconnectsystems.com
GOLDEN STATE FOODS, DUKE ENERGY PARTNER TO SAVE FUEL AND LOWER EMISSIONS
A total of 32 electric power outlets will help trucks at the Garner, North Carolina Golden State Foods (GSF) distribution center cut costs and lower air emissions as part of a Duke Energy electrification project. GSF will allow cargo trucks to stop idling their engines to keep food cold, and instead plug into power outlets at the facility. The $300,000 project will help lower exhaust emissions and is cheaper than the practice of running trucks on diesel fuel. SafeConnect Systems installed the power outlets. “Duke Energy is a strong believer in the benefits of electrification for our industrial customers,” says Clark Gillespy, senior vice president, economic development at Duke Energy. “At Golden State Foods, truck idling will be lessened—saving money, lowering noise levels and reducing air emissions.” This is Duke Energy’s third project in North Carolina using electricity to power trucks instead of idling engines. The company has funded other projects at MDI Distributors in Catawba County and at Big Boy’s Truck Stop in Johnston County. “Because of Golden State Foods’ pursuit of new solutions to realize internal carbon emission reduction goals, lower overall energy costs and keep drivers safe, we’ve had the privilege of installing our innovative electric standby connection system at more than 10 of their distribution facilities over the last three years,” adds Bob Provencher, director of technology and sales for SafeConnect. Duke Energy funding for the project is available by a 2015 settlement with the U.S. EPA and environmental groups.
Land O’Lakes partnered with Uber Freight to coordinate the movement of its FTL freight around the country. Land O’Lakes is one of the largest producers of butter and cheese in the United States and moves billions of dollars of goods globally each year. A case study released in July describes how as the company expands, it continues to innovate its supply chain to ensure it is robust enough to keep up with supply and elastic enough to meet unpredictable demand. The company partnered with Uber Freight last year to facilitate dry van and reefer freight across both contract and spot loads. Loads from shippers are posted directly into the Uber Freight app, where carriers and drivers see full details and can book loads instantly. The features allow drivers to customize load preferences based on location and available equipment. The butter company has seen remarkable results on a particular lane in Texas, where nearly 100 percent of loads are moved via the Uber Freight App. With the lane optimization, Land O’Lakes takes a hands-off approach to facilitating shipments, saving time and money.
DAT SOLUTIONS’ MONTHLY FREIGHT REPORT
Reefer Rates Slip, But Fall Awaits By Mark Montague Mark Montague is an industry rate analyst for DAT Solutions, which operates the DAT® network of load boards and RateView rate-analysis tool. He has applied his expertise to logistics, rates and routing for more than 30 years. Montague is based in Portland, Oregon. For information, visit www.dat.com.
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After hitting an all-time high of $2.69 per mile in June, spot truckload rates for refrigerated freight retreated during July, and by mid-August, the national average was down 7 percent to $2.50 per mile. That’s still higher than any monthly average prior to January 2018, and nearly 25 percent higher year over year. The average spot reefer rate also exceeded the average contract rates in July by 10 cents a mile. Going forward, rate trends are likely to
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follow a normal seasonal pattern but at a level that’s 25 percent to 30 percent higher than in 2017.
Back-to-school shopping and Halloween generates additional demand for more fresh and refrigerated foods at consumer and commercial levels, such as chain restaurants and school cafeterias. Harvests of apples, potatoes and other fall crops could lead to local shortages of reefer equipment in the Midwest, along the Mexican border, in Southern Idaho and other potato-growing regions. There’s still some uncertainty about export volume of fruit, soybeans, grains and meat due to tariffs. Disruptive weather is also always a threat to strain capacity and drive freight costs up. Rates may be settling, but conditions are ripe for continued strength.
www.foodlogistics.com
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FOOD ON THE MOVE
LOGISTICS TRENDS IN OUR INDUSTRY
PORT LONG BEACH, GE TRANSPORTATION BEGIN TECHNOLOGY PILOT PROJECT
A pilot project between GE Transportation and the Port of Long Beach to enhance advance planning at the busiest port complex in North America is officially underway. Over the next two months, stakeholders across the port will use GE’s Port Optimizer software to access data that the port says will allow them to move cargo containers more efficiently. Port Optimizer enhances cargo flow as participating terminal operators and other stakeholders receive much improved advance notice of cargo arrival, coordinated with data on the availability of equipment, labor and other resources needed to move that cargo through the supply chain. Three of the port’s six container terminals are involved—Long Beach Container Terminal, Total Terminals International and International Transportation Service. The system debuted at the Port of Los Angeles last year. In addition to piloting the product’s core capabilities around advanced visibility and planning, Jen Schopfer, vice president and general manager of transport logistics for GE Transportation, says they also are launching some Long Beach-centric functionality, including marine terminal operator and landside transportation integrations for better planning and gate transactions, MatchBack Systems for dual transactions and advanced/predictive analytics addressing truck congestion using GeoStamp’s IOT platform. According to a statement by the Port of Long Beach, these capabilities serve many stakeholders across the port complex, including, but not limited to, marine terminal operators, ocean and motor carriers, railroads and beneficial cargo owners.
DRIVER SHORTAGE BILL INTRODUCED TO SENATE
The DRIVE-Safe Act was formally introduced to the Senate on Aug. 16 to address the driver shortage affecting the movement of goods within the country and provide enhanced safety training for emerging trucking professionals. An area specifically addressed by the proposed bill is current law that prevents drivers under the age of 21 from moving goods interstate. This restriction on interstate deliveries is problematic in regions like the greater D.C. metro area where an emerging driver would be prohibited from making the 10mile trip between Arlington, Virginia and Bethesda, Maryland, but could make a six-hour drive roundtrip from Arlington to Norfolk, Virginia. “This legislation paves the way for new drivers to sustain a safe and efficient supply chain for the more than 1 million restaurants and foodservice outlets in the U.S.,” says Mark Allen, president and CEO of IFDA.
FASTER
FOOD www.foodlogistics.com
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TRUCKING COMPANY EXTENDS APPRENTICE PROGRAM TO FILL TRUCKER POSITIONS
Holland, a trucking company that offers delivery in 14 states, will expand its apprenticeship program to attract more drivers. The apprenticeship program is free to all and takes roughly a year to complete. The company added the program to its terminal in Des Moines, Iowa, and has plans to expand to locations in Alabama as well. With those additions, the program will be available at 26 terminals across the country. Under the program, Holland hires drivers at $16 per hour who start working in the loading dock. They then use machinery to load and unload trucks while working toward their commercial driver’s license. So far, 50 students have completed the program, and another 100 are currently enrolled. Holland has been using high wages to get people interested in the program. After three years on the job, drivers can earn up to $22 per hour and have benefits that include health insurance, a 401(k), pension and paid time off.
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COOL INSIGHTS
BY SCOTT BATES
OPENING WINDOWS OF POSSIBILITY— AND VISIBILITY—INTO THE COLD CHAIN
T B AT E S
Scott Bates is the product management and marketing leader for Thermo King North America.
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emperature management telematics solutions are an integral part of ensuring safe food transport. When these telematics solutions are enabled, they open a window into the real-time operations of the fleet. Not only do they provide critical visibility of temperature-sensitive cargo and the refrigeration equipment protecting it while on the road, but they also allow a more comprehensive assessment of the entire fleet. Today’s cold chain shipping partners are better equipped than ever before with smart technologies that allow them to protect the safety of their food supply and document conditions inside refrigerated trailers throughout every step of the transportation process. With temperature management telematics solutions, shippers today have real-time access to information critical to preventing spoilage and ensuring cargo safety. By tracking assets, managing temperatures and monitoring refrigeration unit alarms, carriers that use telematics solutions can give food producers and processors peace of mind that they will maintain the integrity of their products during transportation. Intuitive dashboards to monitor temperatures, door openings and fuel levels remotely via a computer, tablet or smartphone provide full visibility into what is happening at all times. Because this technology allows fleet operators to manage their entire fleet from one system, they can modify set points and other control parameters, change operating modes and respond to refrigeration system alarms in real time, providing an extra layer of security for
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their customers. It also allows great flexibility to meet different customers’ requirements based on the different needs of the commodity. For refrigerated fleets, a delayed response time can result in a lost load. At the very least, delayed responses and temperature excursions can result in textural degradation, discoloring, and bruising of various foods, all of which contribute to a less-satisfied customer and increased food waste. Consumers and retailers are both impacted financially in these scenarios, while food safety issues add another layer of concern when there are breaks in the cold chain. Therefore, cargo traceability and the value of temperature data are critical today. The ongoing evolution of satellite and cellular technologies has resulted in robust telematics solutions such as Thermo King’s TracKing, which enables carriers to record pertinent data to meet their customers’ needs. With this technology, carriers can easily deliver proof-of-compliance data to their customers for any given point
throughout their travels. With highly reliable data capture and storage capabilities, the system is also capable of generating proof-of-delivery reports for its food producer and processor customers. Because its web-based telematics system and the refrigeration unit control system are combined, it integrates with shipper bill-of-lading systems, so trailer temperature remains within a range of the specified cargo temperature for the duration of transport. Most robust telematics systems offer mapping, alarm and notification features to improve security and ultimately reduce risk. Systems like TracKing can monitor trailer arrival and departure times, flag trailers with temperatures out of range, detect unauthorized movements, door openings and fuel drops—all aimed at preventing loss of cargo. Telematics’ real-time tracking, monitoring and documenting of refrigeration units is poised to strengthen the transportation link within the cold chain and help ensure food safety from farm to table.
THE COLD CHAIN IS EXPANDING—AND SO IS THE NEED TO CONNECT IT
As the global cold chain grows, the need to improve connectedness among stakeholders likewise expands. Telematics tools are evolving to meet this requirement. The convergence of telematics and cold chain management is driven by: • Compliance with regulations, such as • Longer, more complex food supply the Food Safety Modernization Act chains • Growing volumes of perishable food • Increased awareness about brand in the pipeline, driven in large part by reputation and how food safety is a consumers’ desire to eat healthier central component
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COVER STORY
BY LARA L. SOWINSKI
THE IMPACT OF E Online grocery is still getting its legs, but all signs indicate it will be running at full speed in the near future.
W
hen it comes to e-commerce in the grocery sector, it’s apparent there’s substantial room for growth. A recent Gallup poll of 1,033 adults revealed that 84 percent of Americans do not order groceries online, while 89 percent have not used meal kits. Of the 11 percent who do order online, whether they pickup or opt for home delivery, they do it only twice a month or less, Americans while a small 4 percent overall remain report ordering online traditionalists when once a week or more. it comes to purchasing food, According to Lydia relying mostly on grocery Saad, senior director shopping rather than services and advanced consulthat bring food to them.” tant at Gallup, “Americans overall remain Lydia Saad, senior director and advanced consultant, Gallup traditionalists when it comes to purchasing food, relying mostly on grocery shopping rather than services that bring food to them.
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“Services like PeaPod, Instacart, Shipt and Amazon Fresh that cut out the trip to the grocery store appeal mainly to those short on time: parents with children younger than age 18 and employed adults,” Saad explains, adding that, “Higher-income Americans are also bigger adopters of grocery delivery, either because higher income means they can afford more groceries or they have greater access to mobile technology like smartphones and tablets that make ordering online easier.” So why aren’t more consumers ordering groceries online? It’s not a technology barrier, says Saad, considering how other areas of e-commerce are booming. “Food can be one of the biggest
line items in people’s household budget, and going to the store— including comparison shopping among stores—may afford more control over getting the lowest prices. Others may simply enjoy browsing a grocery store for inspiration, prefer to pick out their own perishables or not want to plan ahead for meals,” she states. “If dinner is not in the fridge, then a trip to the store or a restaurant solves the problem. And if that’s too much trouble, there’s always takeout.” A deeper look at the online www.foodlogistics.com
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F E-COMMERCE United States, saw strong growth in categories such as grocery, apparel and seasonal merchandise. During an earnings conference call, Greg Foran, the retailer’s U.S. chief executive, acknowledged that it saw especially strong performance in fresh food, mentioning produce, meat and bakery goods among those helping to drive grocery sales, including those made online. Walmart now offers curbside pickup of online grocery orders in 1,800 U.S. stores, which is bringing in new customers, says Brett Biggs, the retailer’s CFO. It also overhauled its website and worked to use its physical locations as distribution points for online grocery orders and other goods.
ports on the eastern seaboard and moved via rail to places like Columbus for distribution.
Delivery services like Amazon Fresh, PeaPod, Instacart and Shipt that cut out the trip to the grocery store mainly appeal to parents with young children and high-income earners.
Purpose-built For E-Commerce
Walmart now offers curbside pickup of online grocery orders in 1,800 U.S. stores.
grocery sector, and e-commerce in general, reveals a more optimistic outlook, however. In August, Walmart reported that its U.S. e-commerce sales were up 40 percent in the second quarter, with online sales for the entire year expected to also rise 40 percent overall. Walmart, which ranks as both the largest retailer in the world and the biggest grocer in the www.foodlogistics.com
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ODW Logistics is opening a new facility in mid-October targeted at clients who are looking for an e-commerce fulfillment solution. The 200,000-square-foot facility is located along I-71 in Columbus, Ohio, and is within a 10-hour drive to nearly 50 percent of the U.S. population and one-third of Canada. “Columbus is a market that has a lot of good attributes in terms of distribution, access and availability of parcel carriers that offer competitive rates,” notes Jeff Clark, ODW executive vice president. In addition, it offers favorable cut-off times, which are key to supporting a 24/7 supply chain, as well as critical rail links served by CSX and Norfolk Southern. “That’s really important when it comes to e-commerce,” says Clark, because so many consumer products are made overseas then imported through major container SEPTEMBER 2018 | FOOD LOGISTICS
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COVER STORY
continued
According to Clark, ODW’s new high-tech, highly automated facility addresses the needs of shippers who want to use a single source of inventory for multiple commerce channels, and do it efficiently in the midst of a tight labor market. E-commerce, and direct-to-consumer fulfillment in particular,
can be very labor intensive, which makes it a perfect candidate for automation as a way to “remove labor content,” says Clark, while simultaneously making the process more productive. At the same time, whether the shipper is sending merchandise direct to the consumer, or shipping to a retailer, they want to use a single inventory, and do it with equal
OVERCOMING E-COMMERCE CHALLENGES WITH STRATEGIC PACKAGING DECISIONS By Mark Kitzis
The method of transporting products to traditional retail stores has been optimized down to a science over the years. Identical products pack neatly into corrugated boxes, which ship together on a skid to the retailer. Seldom do products arrive damaged, as they have been optimized to be shipped and sold in palletized units. However, the game changes with the e-commerce supply chain. To reach the consumer’s doorstep, food and beverage products may go through three to five times as many touch points as the traditional retail supply chain. When consumers receive a damaged product, not only can it reflect poorly on the brand, but many times, the brand is charged for reshipping, repackaging and damages to any other products in the shipment. To diminish the risks of damaged products during transport, brands and online retailers may implement tertiary packaging such as air pillows, bubble wrap, shrink-wrap, etc. While this does help protect the product, it can significantly affect profitability due to the total cost increase, while also creating an undesirable unboxing experience for consumers. In addition, the excess plastic is not environmentally friendly and makes the shipping process less efficient with fewer items fitting in each box. As brands increasingly become aware of these challenges, they have the opportunity to further improve the performance of primary packaging, and in turn, improve the brand’s bottom line.
efficiency, says Clark. “This facility is a good representation of our response to those two major e-commerce trends,” he adds. ODW’s clients also want flexibility with the type and configuration of merchandise that is shipped direct to consumers versus a retail outlet. For example, a back to school promotion may include a variety of items packed together in
PACKAGING CONSIDERATIONS FOR THE ONLINE WORLD Statista notes that U.S. food and beverage e-commerce revenues are projected to grow to $25.9 million by 2022, which is more than double 2016’s revenue of $11.6 million. To keep up with the radical growth of e-commerce, it is important that food and beverage brands start to consider adopting primary packaging that is designed to withstand this rigorous supply chain. Fortunately, brands do not need multiple packaging formats for the different retail channels, as primary packaging can be simultaneously engineered for e-commerce distribution and brick-and-mortar stores. In the short term, brands will benefit from collaborating with suppliers that are knowledgeable about e-commerce testing protocols. One example is ISTA 6-Amazon.com-Over Boxing, which mimics how a package responds to shipping conditions by simulating drop impact, vibrations and temperature fluctuations. Furthermore, brands can count on packaging suppliers that participate in the Amazon Packaging Support and Supplier Network (APASS). These suppliers provide exclusive services related to packaging design and tests that comply with Amazon’s guidelines in order to help vendors, sellers and manufacturers receive certifications such as Frustration Free Packaging (FFP), Ships-in-Own-Container (SIOC) or Prep-Free Packaging (PFP). As the majority of food and beverage packages are not at a point where they can receive FFP or SIOC certifications, designing a new package that is prep-free (PFP) is not only possible, but also worth pursuing. Benefits of the certification include decreasing total cost per shipment, as PFP-certified products do not need excessive protection and additional labor, as well as highly increasing consumer satisfaction. In addition, PFP-certified packages also minimize the use of plastic, while allowing for a more efficient shipping process, with no returns due to poor performance. The future is bright for brands pursuing primary packaging designed to sell and ship in the e-commerce channel. Embracing the needs of e-commerce and collaborating with strategic suppliers that can help brands to rethink packaging will not only give consumers the e-commerce experience they expect and deserve, but also help brands improve their bottom line with a competitive advantage for years to come.
Mark Kitzis is the president of Aptar Food + Beverage North America and has 22 years of experience in both rigid and flexible packaging. Prior to his current role, Kitzis was a general manager, vice president of global accounts and vice president of research in the packaging industry.
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COVER STORY
continued
ODW Logistics’ new highly automated facility will target shippers in need of an e-commerce fulfillment solution.
one configuration for online sales and a different configuration for display in a store, says Clark. The reason for the differences could be due to size and weight constraints or for a promotion that is specific to the internet versus in-store. Ultimately, the client wants the flexibility to do both. The new facility is therefore designed to support a lot of picking for individual items as well as larger quantities like cases and pallets. As e-commerce continues to grow, manufacturers and shippers from all sectors are being forced to reevaluate their supply chains. Not surprisingly, ODW is having more “consultative” discussions with clients as they look for solutions to take advantage of the omnichannel market, confirms Clark.
TODAY’S EMERGING SHIPPING OPTIONS
A lot of the discussions center around demand planning, inventory planning, analyzing locations for distribution and boosting speed to market, he explains. In addition, a lot of clients are focused on improving their ability to track and trace products.
Responding to the Amazon Effect The impact of e-commerce is manifesting throughout supply chains and sectors, from B2B and B2C, and from grocery to virtually every other consumable good. Consumers’ expectations are changing, and businesses must respond.
Jim Hilton, global principal of manufacturing, transportation and logistics for Zebra Technologies, recounts a conversation he had with a key fruit and beverage customer earlier this year. For decades, Zebra’s customer shipped pallets of product to distribution centers, where it would be broken down and sent to retail outlets for sale as single units. However, the customer saw that its consumers were increasingly accustomed to ordering online, so they made significant adjustments in response. “It was just amazing to me how they fully recognized that USED TODAY (%)
USED BY 2028 (%)
Delivery service picks up parcels at a consolidation point
66%
96%
Store Fleet or Store Staff
Car, bike, foot
49%
91%
Bicycle Couriers
A small number of parcels delivered by bicycle
37%
80%
Crowdsourcing
Driver network selects a specific delivery order
30%
87%
Semi-autonomous Ground Vehicles
Delivery person completes administrative tasks while vehicle does the driving
27%
86%
Autonomous Ground Vehicles
Parcels are delivered to a third-party location without human intervention
25%
85%
Drones
Autonomous aircrafts carry parcels along the most direct route at a relatively high speed
19%
81%
Droids
Small autonomous vehicles deliver parcels via sidewalks rather than streets
18%
78%
SHIPPING OPTION
DESCRIPTION
Dedicated Delivery Person
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they needed to completely re-engineer the shipping side of their supply chain to accommodate that,” says Hilton. In its most recent study, The Future of Fulfillment Vision Study: Confronting logistics challenges in an omnichannel shopping landscape, Zebra says the Amazon Effect and need for speed are prompting decision-makers
to try out a “vast array of delivery strategies to trim time, distance and cost from shipping orders,” including curbside pickup, warehouse pickup and merchandise pickup at third-party locations such as parcel shops and lockers. Meanwhile, tech startups like Instacart, Qourier and UberRush are doing their part to speed fulfillment. Finding solutions for last-mile delivery and speedy fulfillment “has given rise to a crowdsourcing model whereby retailers, manufacturers, logistics companies and technol-
ogy newbies are working collaboratively to get products in the hands of shoppers faster. That comes as little wonder, as some of the world’s biggest retailers are increasing their same-day delivery capabilities to compete with online giants,” according to the study, which notes that within five years, 78 percent of logistics companies surveyed expect to provide sameday delivery, and in 10 years, 39 percent anticipate delivery within a two-hour window. How can that be achieved? By any available means of transportation, it seems. The chart on page 20 details some emerging shipping options mentioned in the study, and the estimated percentage of shipments that will be delivered via each option by 2028.
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THIRD-PARTY & REFRIGERATED LOGISTICS
BY AMY WUNDERLIN
INCREASED DEMAND FOR FROZEN FOOD
SPAWNS COLD CHAIN INNOVATION A ccording to Technavio, the global food and beverage cold chain logistics market is forecasted to grow at a CAGR of nearly 7 percent from 2018 to 2022, with the consumption of refrigerated foods such as dairy products and frozen foods helping to drive that growth. In fact, the global frozen food market was valued at over $262 billion during 2017 (Nielsen estimates annual U.S. sales of frozen food at $53 billion) and is expected to increase more than 26 percent, thanks to a consumer desire for convenience.
20 18 -20 22
The global food logistics market is responding to the challenges of frozen food transport with innovative consolidation methods.
The global cold chain market will be ACCELERATING
... growing at a CAGR of almost
THE YEAR-OVER-YEAR GROWTH RATE FOR 2018 IS ESTIMATED AT
5.99% INCREMENTAL GROWTH
$53.83 bn
“Generally, consumers perceive frozen food as an alternative to fresh and home-cooked food as well as canned food. The convenience that ready-to-eat meals provide consumers has been encouraging the consumption of frozen food. This is primarily because of hectic lifestyles, in addition to other factors. Rapid urbanization is also driving the growth of the market,” says a senior analyst for research on logistics at Technavio. While demand for frozen foods, as well as fresh produce, is creating a plethora of opportunities for the food logistics sector, it has also created challenges. Thus, it will be essential that the industry support that expansion with continued cold chain innovation.
A History Lesson To understand the added complexities of the logistics behind frozen foods’ resurgence, we must first understand its history. Frozen food owes thanks to American entrepreneur Clarence Birdseye
Source: Technavio
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3PL
continued
STARTING TO CLIMB SALES OF FROZEN MEALS HAVE RETURNED TO GROWTH AFTER YEARS OF DECLINE 2.0 0 -2.0 -4.0 year-on-year U.S. sales change
2013
2014
2015
2016
2017
-6.0
Source: Euromonitor
who first realized its potential on a fishing trip. In 1924, while fishing in the Labrador Territory of Canada, he realized that the fish he caught would freeze almost immediately after being pulled from the water. Months later, when he thawed the fish, he was impressed by how well it still tasted. At that time, the concept of flash freezing was as innovative as it got. While it was not necessarily a new idea, it had never been optimized for commercial use. Eventually, Birdseye learned how to package food and freeze it in large quantities. Furthermore, efficient modes of refrigerated transportation as well as improvements in technology combined to create what we know today as cold chain logistics.
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In the 1940s, the first-ever complete frozen meal was created and marketed, quickly becoming a staple in American households. Again, cold chain logistics had to evolve to support the demand. In fact, during World War II, frozen food used fewer ration points than canned food, making it a more affordable alternative. In the year following
the war, Americans consumed 800 million pounds of frozen food. In the early 2000s, frozen food underwent its next revolution as consumers began to question its freshness and nutritional value. Food manufacturers embraced the challenge, creating ready-made “gourmet” and healthy meals, many of which are inspired by ethnic flavors. Today, the variety of frozen foods available has flipped the traditional TV dinner image and is driving renewed demand. This renewed demand, however, means the cold chain logistics sector must again change through innovation to meet it. The last decade has produced myriad technological innovations that have become key to maintaining cold chain integrity, including devices that monitor and record ambient temperature and humidity during transit. But beyond technology, shippers and distributors have also become innovative in how they think about best practices and processes. Amid this frozen food resurgence, new challenges for cold chain logistics have emerged. Of particular note is the fact that order sizes are not growing as fast as the overall frozen foods market.
Beyond Technological Innovation Small but frequent orders are driven in part by the rise of e-commerce, but primarily by the emergence of countless new players in the market, says Winnesota Refrigerated Transportation. “As consumer demands increase for larger variety, more health-conscious frozen alternatives, smaller
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companies are entering the marketplace to attempt to fill these needs,” a blog post by Winnesota notes. “This is making larger players in the frozen foods industry less profitable, because while grocery chains and consumers are ordering higher quantities of frozen food, they’re doing so from a greater number of sources.” This, the regional transporter
says, places stress on shippers and transportation companies alike. In the spirit of innovation, many are turning to new-order consolidation models, which according to Winnesota, looks a lot like Less Than Truckload (LTL) consolidation for frozen goods. “Refrigerated LTL carriers allow shippers, who are under pressure to deliver more frequent loads, to
While consolidate shipments and avoid grocery chains the heightened costs associated are ordering with deploying a host of half-empty higher quantities trucks,” Winnesota adds. of frozen food, In a blog post, Linus Kalenze, they’re doing so director of consolidation at C.H. Robinson, suggests the following from a advice when implementing a congreater solidation strategy: number of • Inventory levels can be used sources.” to your advantage. Just-inWinnesota Refrigerated time (JIT) delivery requires Transportation tight inventory control—at every step in the process. Frozen food companies often miss the opportunity to leverage inventory levels, because they tend to spread inventory out across multiple locations that are near current retailers. However, this is a strategy for highly perishable freight. Less perishable foods often receive fewer benefits from it. Instead, a central inventory location allows you to leverage
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www.foodlogistics.com
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3PL
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AGROFRESH INNOVATES FOR PRODUCE CHALLENGES Cold chain innovation is necessary for the safe transport of all food and beverage types, and while frozen food certainly comes with its own set off challenges, there is no comparison to those of fresh produce. AgroFresh Solutions, a global leader in produce freshness solutions, is working to solve those challenges from farm to fork. In July, AgroFresh launched its FreshCloud platform, a data-backed, insights-driven solution for monitoring produce quality through the supply chain, which further drives its mission to provide end-to-end solutions that enable people to enjoy the freshest produce, while preventing food waste and conserving natural resources. The platform is comprised of three different products, which according to Adam Kinsey, AgroFresh’s general manager of IoT solutions, provides on-demand cloud-based insights that help food producers, distributors and shippers optimize the decisions they’re making regarding the processing, storage, and transportation of fresh produce from harvest all the way through to final retail. At the field level, FreshCloud Predictive Screening predicts the risk of disorder development during storage by analyzing gene expression at commercial harvest, resulting in more informed storage management decisions. “Predictive screening allows our customers to see the results of a test that alerts them to the potential or the early development of developmental disorders in their fruit,” explains Kinsey. “Things that might take a few days or weeks to cause substantial losses of a crop, we can provide them an alert of that in advance. They can then take proactive action to prevent that disease from developing or to ensure that the product makes it to an end consumer before any losses have incurred.” AgroFresh’s FreshCloud platform was made possible by the recent acquisition of Verigo, a disruptive Internet of Things (IoT) company offering end-to-end visibility and management of cold chain logistics. Verigo’s proprietary technology contributed to a revamp of AgroFresh’s AdvanStore offering, now called FreshCloud Storage Insights. Previously, AgroFresh’s customers had limited access to storage room data. They now have a more sophisticated delivery and mobile interface for real-time availability of data. This is especially important, Kinsey notes, because “it’s often very difficult to know what the current status and condition is of the products that you are holding.” Some of AgroFresh’s largest customers are apple producers that store millions of pounds of apples in dozens of storage rooms for months at a time. FreshCloud Storage Insights allows them to monitor the condition and freshness of that inventory by using IoT sensors that feed data about the room and its environmental condition. AgroFresh’s team of more than 20 produce physiologists also helped to develop a solution that provides an analysis of gas samples and the constituent molecules that are present in that room, which Kinsey says helps them “understand what the fruit is telling us about its current condition.”
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“That’s been a challenge that our customers have faced for a long time—trying to understand when they should go and pull certain products out of storage and send them to an end consumer,” he adds. “It’s somewhat of a black hole; they have very little ability today to know what’s happening in that room. And for the first time, storage insight’s gives them the ability to see into that room and know the status of that product, so that they can be proactive in their decision-making and ensure that every apple—or as many of the apples as possible in that room—make it to the retail store and are in excellent condition for the end consumer.” Verigo’s technology also now forms the foundation of FreshCloud Transit Insights, which provides visibility into what is happening to produce during transportation, such as the external factors that are impacting the condition of that produce in transit. AgroFresh uses sensors to monitor produce while in transit that can be attached to bins and pallets to measure what is happening and how the condition of the produce is being impacted. “For the first time, this allows our clients that are distributing and shipping fresh produce products to have the pallets talk to them and tell them their condition as they’re traveling thousands of miles, so that they can make better-informed decisions about that product and make sure that it reaches its end destination in good condition,” Kinsey says. Today the industry is flooded with IoT technologies that claim to offer similar benefits, but Kinsey notes that what sets AgroFresh’s IoT technology apart is that it provides more than raw data. “There’s a lot of IoT out there, such as monitoring systems, monitoring devices and tracking devices. It’s wonderful to see more technology being adopted in the cold chain because it’s desperately needed. The difference is the vast majority of those products are very focused on the generation of raw data,” he explains. “What’s missing from that for the fresh produce industry is that raw temperature information, or even telling you location information, doesn’t help you prevent waste or maximize quality of fresh produce.” While AgroFresh can provide that type of information, it also is leveraging its team of physiologists to understand the characteristics that are specific to fresh produce and specific varieties of produce, Kinsey says, adding they “translate that raw data and analyze it into the metrics that our customers really care about.”
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volumes and drive inventory costs down, without sacrificing product quality. • Do-it-yourself frozen consolidation requires skill. Consolidating frozen foods relies on large volumes to make it successful—especially when retailer expectations are so high. When retailers expect deliveries every week and in a small window, building your own loads can be extremely difficult. Trying to send one truck that’s only 60 percent full isn’t cost-effective. Then further expecting it to make multiple retail stops in a row and hit every delivery appointment isn’t going to work well either. A provider that has several customers all with small orders that are shipping to the same retail location can make a single-consolidation appointment and be far more successful. In its blog post, Winnesota warns, however, that when it comes
to the delivery of frozen foods, it’s not as simple as signing up for frozen fleet consolidation. “Not all refrigerated service providers are created equal,” it says. “When dealing with a high number of perishable shipments, it’s vital for shippers to choose a company that provides consistent communication and visibility. Delivery windows are shrinking, so shippers need to know when items ship, when they are in
transit and when they arrive at their destination. “It’s also important for shippers to entrust their refrigerated LTL shipments to consistent and reliable transportation and warehousing companies that offer fair prices. Just because retailers’ needs have become more complex and nuanced, that doesn’t mean shipping should become prohibitively expensive,” Winnesota concludes.
VEGGIE SURGE THE FREEZER CASE IS SEEING MORE SHOPPERS LOOKING TO BUY VEGETABLES 4.0 3.0 2.0 1.0 0 -1.0 -2.0
year-on-year U.S. sales change
2015
2016
2017
2018 Source: Nielsen data
Note: 52 weeks ending 3/31/18
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FEATURE
BY AMY WUNDERLIN
COLD CHAIN COUNCIL
OFFERS FRESH PERSPECTIVE ON INDUSTRYWIDE CHALLENGES & OPPORTUNITIES Industry leaders gathered in June to discuss trends impacting the global cold chain.
Jon Davis, chief meteorologist for Riskpulse, outlines the impacts of weather trends.
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rom best practices to technological advances and the challenges and opportunities in between, the third annual Cold Chain Council covered it all. The educational forum, held June 25 in Chicago, featured fresh perspective from some of the food and beverage sector’s most influential. Among them was Mary Holcomb, professor of supply chain management at the University of Tennessee, who kicked off the council’s first session, “Refrigerated Transportation in a Global Economy.” Holcomb’s presentation focused on the challenges and trends impacting the transportation industry and offered strategies to navigating the new digital economy. Her assessment of the current state of the industry identified a number of complexities shaping today’s supply chain, including changing customer requirements, as well as demand uncertainty, citing the recent tariffs, and cost to serve. “Everything that we are involved in, in terms of the consumer, is showing up on our doorstep. We like this idea of ordering things. It’s a click away in terms of how I determine what I want, when I want it
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MORE INFO: WWW.COLDCHAINCOUNCIL.COM and in the quantity in which I want something about all these dynamit delivered to me. And if you think ics…that perhaps we can bring our about that, it really is changing the talents together to help solve some face of the industry,” she says. of them,” she says. “In this industry in particular, The professor adds: “It has been a we’re seeing a lot of business to long time since we’ve had a national consumer, and that...creates a lot of transportation policy that looked uncertainty in terms of the across all the modes to demand,” she adds. We like this determine what we need. Holcomb also addressed idea of ordering And I would suggest to you the need for collaborathat it’s time that we do things...and tion among each mode of that.” transportation as capacity it really is Session 2, “Forecast Is changing 20/20: How Technology continues to tighten, eludthe face Is Being Used to Quantify ing to the opinion that technology won’t be the Risk & Guide Accurate of the solution. industry.” Transportation Decisions,” “I’ve heard people say looked at how technology is Mary Holcomb, professor of supply there’s about 20 percent empowering transportation chain management, to 30 percent of space on professionals to identify the University of Tennessee equipment that’s moving right method of temperaover the road that could be ture protection. Guest used. Now that’s like an optimized speakers included: Brandon Clark, space, and we would not be able manager of global transportation, to tap into all of that, but there’s Amway; Andrew Sylling, manager www.foodlogistics.com
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Photo Credit: Carrie Konopacki
S
QProducts & Services launched the Cold Chain Council in 2016, as an annual event comprised of various stakeholders discussing cold chain related challenges.
IF YOU GO WHAT: COLD CHAIN COUNCIL 2018: PHARMA & CHEMICAL WHEN: OCT. 16, 2018 WHERE: CHICAGO, IL of ambient transportation, Unilver; Jon Davis, chief meteorologist, Riskpulse; and Matt Wensing, CEO, Riskpulse. In the council’s third session, foodservice distribution professionals discussed best practices for positive impacts on the bottom line. John Sommavilla, CEO of Shoreline Fruit, discussed the increasing need for good food safety practices, while Eric Kruse, inbound freight manager at Kwik Trip Inc., detailed the Midwest convenience store’s strategy for securing drivers amidst a growing labor shortage. Terrence Bro, director of sales, for-hire cartage at Spartan Nash Co., presented an overview of the grocery distributor’s supply chain re-organization. A focus on food safety rounded out the day, with presentations from Don Durm, vice president of customer solutions, PLM Trailer Leasing; Melanie Nuce, senior vice president, corporate development, www.foodlogistics.com
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GS1 US; and Sherea Dillon, acting director of compliance, U.S. Food and Drug Administration. The industry experts offered a candid conversation on the current state of the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) and how blockchain will play a key role in boosting cold chain integrity and compliance. GS1’s Nuce emphasized that blockchain for food and beverage is about solving the industry’s data-sharing problem. “We’ve been working in the blockchain space for almost two years now with some of the big providers, like IBM, Microsoft and FoodLogiQ, around the notion that legacy centralized systems for data sharing haven’t really gotten us to the level of traceability and supply chain stability that we want,” she explains. Acting as a secure record of events, blockchain could be the missing link in the search for supply
chain transparency, but Nuce notes the technology will not fix all of your problems. “Bad data is bad data. Missing data is missing data. Blockchain isn’t going to fix all of that,” she says. “In fact, it’s probably going to expose any problems you have in data quality or data inconsistency. It’s also not really designed around moving massive amounts of data. “What we’re uncovering is that if your basic business process around traceability isn’t there, blockchain is just going to make it clearer that you have a problem,” she adds. “So we’ve got to adapt what we’re doing as a business and...work collectively as an industry to instill consumer confidence.” To GS1, that means identifying things at the right level, capturing data in a way that machines can read it, and then sharing that data across company lines. “At the end of the day what we’re hoping to gain is transparency,” Nuce says. “We want to deliver on the promise to the consumer who says, ‘I want to know all the information about this, I want to buy it where, when and how I choose.’ And so, we want to build trust with them because that’s also what’s going to help us gain some efficiency.” Nuce assured attendees, however, that if they had not yet invested in blockchain technology, they are not behind the curve. “Now is the time to get educated, to understand what it offers and partner with other industry members, so that we can actually get to the point where we’re delivering transparency and trust,” she says. QProducts & Services launched the Cold Chain Council in 2016. It hosts two separate councils a year— one for the pharmaceutical and chemical industries and another for the food and beverage industry. Food Logistics has partnered with QProducts for the food and beverage event since its inception.
We’ve got to adapt...and work collectively as an industry
to instill consumer confidence.” Melanie Nuce, senior vice president, corporate development, GS1 US
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SECTOR REPORTS WAREHOUSING
BY AMY WUNDERLIN
he discussion about food safety has become a prominent one in the food logistics industry, but a topic often left out of that conversation is theft. Though the precise number of cargo crimes and value of stolen goods is difficult to pinpoint because many incidents go unreported, the FBI estimates total loss value is between $15 billion and $30 billion each year. And while shippers and carriers have numerous tools available to prevent food theft, it still remains a problem as cargo is especially prone to risk while in transit. According to an annual report compiled by SensiGuard, a subsidiary of Sensitech Inc., in-transit thefts accounted for 78 percent of all recorded theftsin 2017. Pilferage was the second-most common type of theft during the year, accounting for 15 percent of all thefts, while fictitious pickups accounted for just 3 percent of thefts, down from 39 percent in of cargo theft cases in 2017 2016 as a result were loads that were left of increased arrests of cargo unattended for multiple thieves. days, making them easier targets. SensiGuard’s CargoNet Supply Chain Intelligence Center’s U.S. Cargo Theft Annual Report indicates the common factor in the majority of these thefts is that they occur while the vehicle is stopped, whether in a public parking area or at a truck stop or drop stop, such as a distribution center or warehouse. In fact, SensiGuard reports that in 2017, 75 percent of cargo thefts occurred in unsecured parking locations.
The majority of in-transit cargo thefts occur while a vehicle is left unattended, whether in a public parking area or drop stop such as a distribution center or warehouse.
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PERCENT
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Rite-Hite
UNSECURED CARGO AN EASY TARGET FOR THEFT T
A drive-through dock set up improves both food safety and security because security seals are only broken inside facilities.
CargoNet, a firm that collects and analyzes cargo-theft data, reports similar numbers in 2017, citing warehouses and secured yard locations, which it defines as fully fenced properties that prevent easy access, as the highest-targeted locations for cargo thefts. It also recorded an increase in theft at parking lot locations, such as those of major retailers. Chad Dillavou, product manager for Rite-Hite, a leading manufacturer of loading dock equipment, industrial doors, safety barriers, industrial fans and other in-plant products, says, “Unsecured, unattended and dropped trailers are most targeted at warehouses as they can be easily hitched to any semi-tractor and hauled away.” He also notes that warehouses are easy targets because they do not move. “Unlike cargo and its containers, warehouses do not move, so thieves know where they are at all time,” he explains. Data for CargoNet supports that
theory, reporting that in 37 percent of cargo theft cases, the loads were left unattended for multiple days, making them easier targets. Additionally, these loads had no electronic tracking, witnesses or surveillance to determine the exact day of the loss. In August, a 53-foot trailer containing nearly $100,000 in ramen noodles was stolen from a Georgia Chevron convenience store after being left unattended for an entire week. The driver reported the theft to police, saying when he returned, the white 2004 Stoughton trailer was gone—noodles and all.
So Why Food? For the first time in eight years, food and drinks in 2017 did not top SensiGuard’s list of most-stolen items. Instead, home and garden products took the top spot, accounting for 17 percent of thefts during the year. Food and drinks made up 16 percent of the 2017 total, a 14 percent decrease from 2016. Other highly-targeted www.foodlogistics.com
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“Once consumed, there is virtually nothing to trace the product back to the original source,” he adds.
Rite-Hite
Identifying Red Flags
Essential to a drive-through dock, the vertical storing leveler improves security at the loading dock by minimizing the points of entry into the facility with the door closed to the pit floor.
products included electronics (15 percent) and building and industrial (12 percent). CargoNet saw a similar trend in the second quarter of 2018, recording just 25 thefts of food and beverage Bulk food and beverage items can freight, down from 34 in second-quarter be easily broken 2017. They too saw down and sold household products individually at a higher become the most stolen commodity, especialmarkup ly major appliances, and quicker mixed household goods turnaround and tools. in profit.” While food and beverage cargo thefts Chad Dillavou, product manager, Rite-Hite may no longer reign supreme, they are still particularly vulnerable to the threat of theft for a number of reasons. Dillavou says food and beverage products provide a lucrative opportunity for thieves because “bulk food and beverage items can be easily broken down and sold individually at a higher markup and quicker turnaround in profit.” In addition, food and beverage items are almost impossible to track compared to electronics, which have serial numbers and permanent bar codes, as well as more secure packaging with tagged alarms, Dillavou says.
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Despite food and beverage products’ propensity for theft, they can be safely transported if protocols are in place and red flags are identified in the supply chain. Technologies such as vehicle monitoring systems are available to alert fleet managers about unauthorized door openings, and locks can be mounted to trailer and container doors to secure cargo from the inside. “Vehicle restraints act as both a physical and visual deterrent,” explains Rite-Hite’s Dillavou. “Some high-functioning models may even accommodate communication between a facility’s security system and a restraint that is properly engaged with and locked to a trailer’s rig or rear wheels. Further, should tampering occur during engagement, an automatic re-fire technology will restore a safe and secure connection between the vehicle restraint and truck. All of the interlocked communication creates an additional layer of security against tampering and theft.” Drive-through dock set ups, where the trailer doors are physically opened and closed within the building, can also help to ensure both cargo security and food safety. “Stringent drive-thru applications help address pilferage on the
drive approach, as it prevents anyone, whether a worker or potential thief, from being around the loading dock’s exterior,” Dillavou says. “This ‘boots off the ground’ policy can also help maintain a clean and temperature-controlled environment.” Beyond technological solutions on the truck, initiative must also be taken at the warehouse itself. “Supply chain security is a multi-layered approach that requires a multitude of steps to mitigate the risk of theft,” explains Dillavou. “Because the global economy is only getting bigger and more complex, security measures need to keep pace and evolve to meet the world’s needs.” He recommends the following actions that can be taken specifically at the warehouse: • Implement a security guard to verify the driver’s identification and trailer information. • Install video surveillance at the warehouse and loading dock. • Ensure proper driver vetting and education during the hiring and onboarding process. • Install hazard and control recognition systems. “If your facility does not have any, or all, of these basic security processes implemented, that may be a red flag,” he says, adding, “With these in place, there are many checkpoints along the process to minimize the chance for trailers and cargo to be stolen.”
A vehicle restraint can be interlocked and connected to building security, and it can automatically re-fire if tampered with.
Rite-Hite
SR: WAREHOUSING continued
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SECTOR REPORTS TRANSPORTATION
BY JOHN R. YUVA
URBAN DELIVERY PAVES A PATH BEYOND THE LAST MILE T Evolving customer preferences are driving innovations in urban delivery vehicles that stretch the traditional last mile.
he glistening glass of skyscrapers are quintessential of cities and sprawling urban areas. Unchanged over time, it’s the activity below these towering buildings where commerce, transportation and technology converge, forming intricate supply chains. As part of that intricacy, the last mile serves as the critical point where food orders and shipments reach their final destination. Over time, consumers have influenced lastmile decision-making and continue to do so. It’s those consumer trends that drive innovation in urban food delivery vehicles that ensure lastmile delivery. What food consumer trends are influencing the last mile? And what are the insights from those involved in urban delivery vehicle manufacturing from insulation providers to chassis manufacturers to nextstage urban vehicle production?
An insulated partition from FG Products enables vans and trucks to deliver food shipments of different temperatures.
Today’s Last-Mile Supply Chain
According to Anne Goodchild, director of the Supply Chain Transportation and Logistics Center at the University of Washington, a major influencer to last-mile delivery is customer demand. More food purchases are now being made in a virtual environment for grocery, restaurant and prepared meals. “The way people purchase goods is changing, and that has upstream impact on the supply chain,” says Goodchild. “The traditional model of consolidating orders into a commercial truck for delivery requires pre-planning and knowledge of those items—something that’s inefficient and excessive given the time element and volume size of online orders.” Daniel Laury, CEO of Udelv, a company specializing in the manufacture and operation of an autonomous vehicle specific for last-mile delivery, says in addition
to online ordering, customers are also expecting deliveries that are shorter, cheaper and on time. However, another significant issue from a merchant perspective is managing teams of drivers at a time when driver turnover and shortages are high. “Today’s e-commerce only accounts for approximately 9 percent of total U.S. retail sales, with experts predicting it will quadruple in the next decade,” says Laury. “There’s a very real chance that a delivery bottleneck will occur. “Thus, the industry needs to evolve toward more technological solutions. Using the Udelv autonomous vehicle, we’re targeting consumer and merchant pain points,” adds Laury. “Our goal is to reduce the cost of deliveries by more than half, while shifting the role of drivers to overcome the shortage that exists. It’s about creating a model that is more efficient and less expensive.”
New Models Emerge, Evolve The emergence of new models with home grocery delivery and meal kits, says Goodchild, is opening doors to more specialized services where smaller markets can be served. Because the quantity of goods is small and customers want
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A sophisticated ultra-low latency system provides Udelv with the ability to take human control of its autonomous vehicle from hundreds of miles way.
their orders quickly, there’s greater reliance on passenger vehicles and even cargo bikes for delivery. “We’re seeing a proliferation and a period of experimentation with these new services that are enabled by technology and mobility, such
as Blue Apron and semi-prepared meals,” says Goodchild. “I don’t know how this will play out in the long term, but it’s a model that is working thus far.” With delivery services, the last mile is extending beyond the store
Last Mile
✓
✓
✓
to include individuals’ homes. That service is an extra cost to the supply chain that companies are bearing at the moment. “There are experiments to reduce those costs, such as Amazon using Whole Foods as a pickup location or Amazon Fresh as a pickup point rather than delivering to 25 homes,” says Goodchild. “This consolidation model is occurring in the food supply chain in different ways than in retail because food has many unique features, such as its perishability, frequency in which people make purchases and the volumes of perishable food moving through supply chains. However, the current landscape will not last forever, but continue transforming.”
The way people purchase goods is changing, and that has an
upstream impact on the supply chain.” Anne Goodchild, The University of Washington
Protecting Food During Delivery Matt Nelson, vice president for FG Products Inc., says the compa-
✓
In Style www.foodlogistics.com
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SR: TRANSPORTATION continued
able delivery solution with assorted product selection has been consistently increasing, says Nelson. Such pressure is leading to diverse types ny’s vans are used extensively for of vehicles. last-mile delivery in the grocery warehouse delivery space as well “FG Products is experiencing as urban deliveries for groceries, distributors purchasing complete ice cream and craft beers. He says solutions as well as companies As online consumers are most concerned performing R&D testing on many ordering and about three areas when it comes to forms of delivery vehicles,” says consumer delivery services and vehicles: Nelson. “With the exception of expectations • Cost of the delivery servicing the vehicle itself, FG is evolve, so • Delivery time window involved in vehicle specification distoo will • Temperature and sanitary cussions and decision-making with delivery concerns customers to provide them with the options.” “As a manufacturer of insulation best solution for their needs.” packages that allow cargo vans to Those specifications often Matt Nelson, vice president, FG Products haul everything from lettuce to include: ice cream, we have input into the • Vehicle weight and cargo temperature and sanitary concerns capacity that our customers receive,” says • Driver safety during entry Nelson. “As online ordering and and egress consumer expectations evolve, so • Temperature management too will delivery options. Delivery of refrigerated, frozen and models are dynamic, and this imspecialty items pacts the sizes and styles of vehicles • Emissions/miles per gallon, going forward.” with ongoing testing of alterConsumer pressure for a perishnative fuel vehicles and electric standby refrigeration systems • Service convenience, particularly refrigerated vehicles “Because perishables are used extensively with our vehicles, we’re heavily involved in the insulation and temperature separation facets of production,” says Nelson. VISIT “Essentially, FG has taken Booth the semi-trailer applica# 6121 tion and condensed it to a Category 3 safety compliant cargo van where frozen, fresh and dry goods can all Enhance safety for warehouse personnel be transported together.”
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Built for Urban Delivery With the move toward freshness and farm-to-table preferences, restaurants are now requesting multiple food deliveries per day. Brian Tabel, executive director of marketing for Isuzu Commercial Truck of America Inc.,
says there’s no longer space to store food when customers want it fresh for lunch and dinner. “Businesses are not only purchasing more trucks, but designating certain vehicles for longer and shorter routes,” says Tabel. “As part of ‘right-sizing’ their operations, customers are looking to gas trucks for urban, last-miletype deliveries and diesel trucks for longer runs.” Isuzu Commercial Truck of America provides the chassis to the truck body companies that transform them into delivery vehicles and other designs. “One grocery store may be requesting 60 percent refrigeration and only 40 percent freezer space. Or another may want 20 percent dry goods, 30 percent freezer and the rest refrigeration,” says Tabel. “Home food delivery services are ordering a number of our chassis for body customization. This is an evolving industry, and the needs of customers are constantly changing. “Our vehicles are a great addition to this industry because of their maneuverability and low-cab visibility in urban settings. It’s more difficult to navigate in a traditional truck with a conventional-style nose. Thus, that smaller footprint is the biggest advantage.”
Next Generation Delivery On the other end of the urban delivery spectrum is Udelv, the autonomous vehicle for last-mile delivery. In a snapshot, the company is two years old, transports multiple food items within different temperatures, operates within a 10- to 50-mile radius of a store and delivers up to 18 customers at one time—autonomously. “What we’re achieving is historical in the sense that Udelv is the first company in the world to launch a real-world application of www.foodlogistics.com
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SOLAR CUTS DIESEL FUEL COSTS,
EMISSIONS AND EXTENDS RANGE OF EVS By Guy C. Shaffer, chief marketing officer for eNow Inc. While the commercial and residential solar-power boom continues, mobile solar applications for commercial transportation are only recently gaining momentum. One reason may be the increased awareness and education provided by the just-released Solar Confidence Report by NACFE. After closely examining solar system effectiveness for truck power needs such as liftgates, telematics, HVAC and hotel loads, the NACFE recommended that fleets “adopt, invest, or test solar for trucking.” Perhaps there is no better place to employ mobile solar technology than on delivery trucks in clogged city streets. eNow Inc., in Warwick, Rhode Island, uses its advanced solar systems to collect power from the sun, even on cloudy days, and charge and maintain the health of a bank of batteries totaling 50kW or more. An inverter then converts the direct current (DC) to alternating current (AC) and increases voltage to a level that can power in-cab appliances, on-board equipment and power-hungry systems such as refrigeration units. This reduces fuel consumption and emissions by a diesel generator or the engine itself. eNow solar systems can also take the load off an EV drive battery by powering its assorted auxiliary equipment. This, in effect, extends the range of the vehicle. Inarguably, there are two main advantages solar offers truck fleets. On the environmental side, it is silent and emission-free. From an economic viewpoint, solar helps reduce truck breakdowns and road service due to dead batteries. It also provides a relatively fast payback. As the first to develop mobile solar systems for commercial transportation, eNow has proved the effectiveness of its systems. Since 2011, it has successfully tested and deployed more than 5,000 systems on trucks nationwide. Last year, eNow teamed with Johnson Refrigerated Truck Bodies to successfully develop and test the first zero-emissions Transport Refrigeration Unit (TRU) on a commercial truck—a 24-foot straight truck—making deliveries in an urban environment. The truck successfully operated at medium temperature in central California for five months during the summer for Challenge Dairy Products. eNow is currently testing a larger medium temperature solar-electric refrigeration system on a 53-foot trailer for C&S Wholesale’s FreshKo Produce Division. eNow’s reefer trailer integrates its proprietary, solar technology and electronic control system.
autonomous driving where paid deliveries are occurring,” says Laury. “We recently completed our 500th delivery in the San Francisco area on behalf of 10 merchants.” Laury says a McKinsey study in October 2016 predicted that 80 percent of deliveries will somehow be autonomous within the next decade. Autonomous could mean ground autonomy or drones servicing less populated or dense areas, but technology is going to play a significant role in deliveries over the next five to 10 years. “Autonomous vehicles are going to drive the cost of deliveries down to a point where it’s nearly zero at scale and volume, allowing virtually every grocery store in the country to deliver autonomously,” says Laury. “These vehicles will deliver heavy items, liquids and packaged foods, while consumers continue purchasing fresh produce in-store.” Today, Udelv’s mission is to improve people’s lives by making deliveries easy and precise—setting their expectations high for what www.foodlogistics.com
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is possible in a delivery service. The Udelv vehicle is often seen at corporate campuses. Once orders are placed, merchants use a mobile app to load deliveries into locked compartments. For perishable food, a honeycomb structure maintains temperature levels for a two-hour cycle. Customers then use the mobile app to access a designated compartment and retrieve their orders. “The vehicle was designed to transport multiple types of goods as long as they fit into a specified dimension,” says Laury. “And 100 percent of what we deliver occurs within two hours with sustained temperature levels for all fresh and frozen food. We have plans to launch Udelv in nearby cities before branching out to states across the country.”
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SECTOR REPORTS SOFTWARE & TECHNOLOGY
BY JOHN R. YUVA, AMY WUNDERLIN
VENDOR INSIGHTS ON SUPPLY CHAIN
MANAGEMENT SOFTWARE I
The latest trends in SCM software are shared by the sector’s leading providers.
n today’s world where supply chains are churning out vast amounts of data, the reliance on software solutions to process and interpret that input has never been greater. According to Gartner, adoption of supply chain management (SCM) software accelerated significantly in 2017, with total worldwide market revenue growing 13.9 percent to reach a total of $12.2 billion in 2017. The flow of data among supply partners, coupled with Internet of Things (IoT), machine learning and artificial intelligence (AI) technologies, makes implementing the right solution more critical. Food Logistics reached out to the leading SCM software providers for their insights on this changing landscape. Their responses are as diverse as the markets they serve.
BluJay Solutions Along with a continued move toward SaaS offerings, BluJay Solutions sees visibility, agility and integration as the leading SCM software trends to watch. SCM software is helping to provide visibility into not only a single shipper’s supply chain, but to supply chains in smaller verticals through data and analytics, says Dan Grimm, senior vice president, global solutions consulting for BluJay Solutions. In addition, notifications of exceptions are now more important. “The ability to react to operational challenges faster and more effectively also is increasingly important in supply chain, making flexible, nimble technology a must,” says Bill Madden, vice president, logistics as a service for BluJay. “Furthermore, SCM software integration with external systems is becoming more
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API-driven. This means shippers are getting more real-time information fed from and to WMS, YMS, ERPs and mobility solutions in order to more proactively manage their supply chains.” BluJay is also seeing a focus on the overall expansion of breadth of technologies offered on a single platform or from a single organization. Grimm says an emphasis on the entire supply chain becomes stronger by the year, and with rapid market change, there’s pressure to offer solutions in multiple areas of supply chain execution, rather than being a leader in only a particular area. “These technologies need to be integrated and provide expansive data solutions,” says Madden.
Infor GT Nexus Commerce Network Now that more companies have become comfortable with the cloud, Infor is seeing real progress in innovations such as machine learning, AI, blockchain and IoT. “What were buzzwords a few years ago, are now powering the next wave of automation and supply chain orchestration, further turning the massive amount of
data about the supply chain into insights businesses can dynamically act upon to ensure the continuous flow of goods from source to store,” says Matt Gunn, senior manager of industry marketing at Infor. In the coming months, he expects to see more software that’s intuitively designed, user-friendly, and that leverages underlying technologies like machine learning and AI to give businesses enhanced visibility and more control over their supply chains. Within the food and beverage industry specifically, blockchain, machine learning and IoT have the potential to enhance visibility and traceability in the supply chain, but also help reduce waste, increase sustainability and help identify ways to improve on the industry’s historically tight margins. “Because of its distributed infrastructure and immutable record keeping, blockchain remains one of the more promising technologies for authenticating transactions and tracing goods. However, until blockchain technology proves itself as a viable option at scale, businesses should continue to invest in technologies that help connect across multiple enterprises to enhance visibility and collaboration, while www.foodlogistics.com
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also providing more control over the real-time movement of goods,” Gunn adds.
JAGGAER The promised digital conversion strategies advertised by many companies are becoming a reality. What this means is that a vision now has to be operationalized: Suddenly the rubber is hitting the road, says Zia Zahiri, chief technology officer for JAGGAER. “Every wake-up call has a starting point, and with most companies, this means prioritizing by applying the strategy to the business considerations that are in highest demand, greatest circulation and have the most immediate impact,” says Zahiri. “Conversion begins with digitizing transactional documents (e.g., purchase order, advance shipping notice, invoice, receivables, payments and the like) into records.” Companies have struggled to manage their data for years, but
there’s finally an approach to cleaning house. Analytic-driven features and guided procurement are being enabled through data cleansing software tools and enrichments (e.g., risk analysis, financial auditability and compliance), says Zahiri. There is also demand for overall spend management process optimization (direct and indirect), supplier visibility and shared practices, including more collaboration using integrated software solutions. What will have the most profound and immediate impact on SCM software? Zahiri says it can be found in the unsheathed sabers of politicians. Tariff wars have placed a sudden constraint on the supplier network and the distribution chain. And this affects revenues, necessitating finding both new sources and distribution revenue streams. “Look at Harley-Davidson—its solution to a tariff crimp in the supply chain was radical: Move the chain.” says Zahiri. “What does this mean? New sourcing in new coun-
tries and a potentially expended distribution network as production is cranked up in what might have been a secondary market. Necessity is a catalyst for innovation; it will be interesting to see what new needs are communicated to software companies as demands change to cope with this political and economic turbulence.”
JDA Software Companies, most importantly, manufacturers are taking the lead in the digitalization of supply chain more seriously due to customer centricity. The stringent service-level expectations from retailers, shrinking order lead times and precise delivery windows are redefining the context of supply chain efficiency, says Srini Muthusrinivasan, senior director, global industry strategy for JDA Software. “JDA sees the top three SCM innovations for the food and beverage industries as demand sensing, with true handle on both
Stringent service-level expectations, shrinking order lead times and price delivery windows are
redefining the context of supply chain efficiency.” Srini Muthusrinivasan, JDA Software
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SR: SOFTWARE & TECHNOLOGY continued
Digital freight matching enables shippers to locate and contract alternative local carriers to transport shipments
without compromising security of service.” Eric Lamphier, Manhattan Associates
short-term and long-term demand; control towers, a platform that allows for real-time inventory and logistics visibility with actionable risk-management workflows; and food quality, leveraging blockchain and data analytics for tracking and traceability of inventory in the endto-end, farm-to-fork supply chain,” says Muthusrinivasan. “The ability to ingest IoT data with actionable response levers, as well as hand-offs or autonomous supply chain software using AI or machine learning has also become important,” he adds. “This is not just about capturing IoT signals, but being able to respond to market dynamics and disruptions in real time, in the most profitable way.”
Manhattan Associates As food and beverage companies work to execute shorter delivery times on smaller orders, they are
prioritizing omnichannel capabilities across the supply chain. Eric Lamphier, senior director of product management at Manhattan Associates, says he often hears the terms “omnichannel” and “digital transformation” used interchangeably, but both mean that you have full visibility into everything in your network, so you can consistently deliver on your promises to customers. Lamphier says he sees three major trends emerging from that shift. Digital freight matching. On the transportation side, the emphasis is largely on the capacity crunch or, specifically, how to get inventory where it needs to go with less available carriers and drivers. “To get around this shortage, companies must create entirely new pathways to ship freight,” says Lamphier. “Digital freight matching enables shippers to locate and contract alternative local carriers to transport shipments without compromising security or service.”
Automation. Companies will continue to invest heavily in warehouse automation and robotics as it becomes more difficult to secure cost-effective talent. “This is especially true in distribution-centric areas during the holiday peak season,” Lamphier says. “Shippers are also placing a high priority on software solutions that can orchestrate workflows across man and machine assets.” Mobility. More warehouse managers are looking to equip workers with intuitive, touchscreen and mobile tools as they reduce training time and improve efficiency and accuracy. The managers themselves are also prioritizing investments in tools that help them understand the status of the operation while at their desks or on the go. “Information and metric-rich software user interfaces, including data visualizations and touch controls, empower managers to confidently monitor and take corrective actions at any time throughout the day, regardless of their location,” says Lamphier. Food and beverage customers are seeking modern, holistic and connected omnichannel solutions that encompass network-wide inventory tracking and order fulfillment workflows, Lamphier adds.
Oracle As the movement of enterprise SCM apps to the cloud accelerates, Jon Chorley, chief sustainability officer and group vice president, SCM product strategy and PLM at Oracle, says IoT and AI will increasingly become more mainstream and link directly to SCM functionality. “Predictive analytics leveraging big data from IoT, web and other sources are helping improve a broad set of SCM processes, from NPD/NPI to maintenance. Additionally, blockchain is now being used as a method to store and share data across a distributed and multi-enterprise network,” he says. Chorley adds that advances in augmented reality, combined with digital twin technology, are also
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seeing great strides in the SCM space, creating an innovative user experience (as well as an improved employee training experience) that integrates the real world with a broad set of contextual information—all within the natural field of view. With new technology, however, comes new expectations from customers. “Customers now want improved insights that enable better tracking and tracing for their orders, which can of course, be supported and improved via blockchain,” Chorley notes. “Additionally, customers are keen on receiving improved access to sales information, all in real time, putting them two steps ahead of their competitors.”
SAP Ariba In the food and beverage industry, SAP Ariba anticipates more change in the next five years than it has seen in the last 50, meaning companies will need supply chain software that can keep up. Leah Knight, senior marketing director, supply chain/ direct spend solutions marketing for SAP Ariba, says aging demographics are also driving a need for rapid and coordinated new product design and introduction. And increasing consumer interest in sustainability, environmental impacts and corporate social responsibility is pushing innovation to differentiate in these areas. SAP Ariba specifically points to three major areas of innovation, which include IoT sensors integrated with predictive analytics and collaborative replenishment technologies to predict shortages before they happen, quality collaboration technologies and multi-tiered supply chain collaboration. “While collaborating with suppliers on supply chain planning and execution has been a trend across industries for a while, new IoT technologies have become a disruptive force,” says Knight. “Supplier collaboration has also evolved to include quality and other next-gen processes that aren’t supported in first-generation technologies like EDI. “New collaboration technology lets brand owners and their suppliers share quality information as well as end products across contract manufacturers, copackers and raw materials suppliers. And this helps them equip their quality managers with better visibility into the quality of supply,” she adds.
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SECTOR REPORTS OCEAN PORTS & CARRIERS
BY LARA L. SOWINSKI
ACCOUNTING
FOR EVERY CONTAINER A new blockchainbased platform promises to provide realtime global visibility for every ocean container, while lowering costs for stakeholders.
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B
lockshipping, a Danish start- company estimates it will reach 60 up founded by Peter Ludpercent coverage of the entire globvigsen, whose decades-long al fleet (about 16 million containers) career includes 8 years combined using the GSCP registry. experience as chief information In addition, the company says its officer for Maersk Line Europe vision for the GSCP is to become Region, UASC and Ports America, the primary platform for managing is developing a blockchain-based operational payments clearing beplatform that can track all the tween stakeholders related to physworld’s ocean containers—about ical handling (interchange), haulage 27 million of them—while simultaand sharing of containers; serve neously lowering costs across the as the shipping industry’s primary supply chain and reducing Internet of Things (IoT) A major CO2 emissions by at least platform for real-time component of tracking of containers 4.6 million tons annually. Blockshipping’s enabling real-time visiThe company is in the business midst of building its Global bility of containers to all proposition is stakeholders; and monShared Container Platform (GSCP), which will provide the launch etize data insights based a complete blockchain on machine learning, IoT of an enabled container asset initial coin data, artificial intelligence registry, similar to a ship offering (AI) and blockchain data. registry, to provide real-time Stakeholders, including for the GSCP locations of every single carriers, beneficial cargo platform.” container in the world. owners (BCOs), terminal Within the first few years, operators and transporBlockshipping’s goal is to establish tation companies, can collectively itself as the primary blockchain save $5.7 billion annually as a result registry and operational payments of reduced container inventories platform for the global container based on real-time information fleet. Three to four years out, the exchange, along with real-time visi-
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bility and blockchain enabled smart contracts that automate processes and payments between parties, the company remarks. Indeed, carriers could be among the biggest winners when it comes to cost savings, explains Blockshipping in its whitepaper, The GSCP ICO, published in May. For example: Greybox opportunity. Carriers miss out on huge annual savings in empty container repositioning in the amount of $3 billion to $5 billion because of a lack of a trusted platform where deficit/ surplus matching of containers can take place. The idea of providing a shared pool of generic containers to the carrier community, a concept referred to as greybox, is generating more buzz lately due to the significant costs carriers face to reposition containers where they’re needed. Seasonal swings associated with fresh produce imports and exports have long plagued reefer BCOs and carriers, while general trade imbalances only exacerbate repositioning costs. Reduced carrier haulage ratios. Carriers have consistently lost out www.foodlogistics.com
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on carrier haulage, leaving others to profit on merchant haulage. Street-turn/Triangulation opportunity. Due to lack of a neutral trusted platform, triangulation and street-turn cost savings opportunities for carriers in the range of $750 million annually are not being realized. Typically, containers move back and forth between shippers and container terminals, and consignees and container terminals. A more efficient “triangular” pattern would have shippers transporting loaded containers to the container terminal, which would then deliver goods to consignees, then have consignees transport empty containers straight back to the shipper for re-use, rather than transporting the empty container back to the container terminal. Container fleet reduction opportunity. Due to lack of real-time tracking and sharing of container locations, global container carriers have inflated container inventories, which could be reduced by 15 percent to 20 percent if location data on containers were shared and had real-time tracking sensors installed. Opportunity for banks and global leasing companies. Banks, leasing companies and insurance companies have realized significant losses in connection with bankruptcy or impending defaults of global container carriers. According to industry experts involved in financing investments in containers, 10 percent to 15 percent of containers are lost in connection with financial distress of carriers due to the lack of real-time tracking of dry containers. With GSCP, financing and asset insurance cost of containers can be reduced due to improved surety and real-time certainty of actual locations of containers at any given time.
According to Blockshipping, “an ICO is a new and alternative funding model, often compared with crowdfunding, to supplement— and sometimes replace—more traditional buying methods, like venture capital funding for start-up companies.” Furthermore, Blockshipping’s ICO will be the first of its kind to be based on The ICO 2.0 Framework.
The framework was developed by a Danish group of legal experts, blockchain experts and communication and PR experts to establish best practices and give recommendations in four areas: law, code, security and communication. In its whitepaper, Blockshipping acknowledges that 2017 “was a wild year for ICOs all over the world,” and while everything
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Global Supply Chain Solutions for the Food and Beverage Industry
Each year, Food Logistics recognizes individual and corporate leaders in the food and beverage industry. Plan now to enter your company — or a cutting-edge client or vendor — in one of these industry-leading recognition programs:
FL100+ TOP SOFTWARE & TECHNOLOGY PROVIDERS
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Recognizing top software and technology providers supporting the global food and beverage supply chain
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Nomination deadline: Sept. 21, 2018 Winners announced in Nov/Dec 2018 issue
Nomination deadline: Oct. 19, 2018 Winners announced in March 2019 issue
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In recognition of companies demonstrating leadership in sustainability in the food and beverage supply chain Nomination deadline: Mar. 29, 2019 Winners announced in June 2019 issue
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Online nominations open approximately eight weeks before the deadlines listed above. Award results, information and nominations posted on:
FoodLogistics.com/Awards Nomination dates and issues may change. Consult the call-for-entries email and nomination survey for confirmation Nomination dates and issues may change. Consult the call-for-entries email and nomination survey for confirmation
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seemed possible, “critical about joining the platform Blockshipping’s ICO thinking was often weakwill be the first of and expects to release an ened or anaesthetized.” soon. The its kind to be based on announcement Frankly, some ICO company is also holding The ICO 2.0 Framework.” projects should have discussions with a container Blockshipping’s whitepaper, never been started, the leasing and sales company The GSCP ICO company says, either in Asia, where the GSCP because the projects and platform will be leveraged the companies behind them didn’t offer to support real-time tracking of containers much value, or “because they simply did not equipped with sensors. worry about complying with applicable laws In the meantime, Blockshipping expects or behave in a responsible, ethical manner.” to release 1.0 on Jan. 1, 2019, “meaning Therefore, adhering to the best practices that transactions and revenue should start set forth in The ICO 2.0 Framework are a to flow from this date,” says the company, way of instilling confidence in investors. adding that it will likely run the platform for What’s next? Blockshipping says it’s in approximately 18 months before break-even negotiations with several large carriers is achieved.
ADVERTISER INDEX ADVERTISER......................................... PAGE Columbia Machine, Inc...................................................................40 Controlant............................................................................................43 Cubic Designs, Inc............................................................................27 DAMBACH Lagersysteme GmbH & Co. KG.......................25 FG Products........................................................................................37 Ford Motor Co.................................................................................2-3 Freightliner - A Daimler Group Brand............................38-39 FST Logistics, Inc...............................................................................41 Great Dane Trailers Inc..................................................................52 IFDA........................................................................................................45 Isuzu Truck............................................................................................. 5 Lightning Technologies..................................................................51 MSC Mediterranean Shipping Co.............................................33 North Carolina Ports........................................................................ 7 RLS Logistics.......................................................................................21 Romark Logistics....................................................................... 30-31 South Carolina Ports ......................................................................15 Superior Tire & Rubber Corp......................................................44 Swisslog.................................................................................................11 Thermo King.......................................................................................... 9 TOTE Maritime..................................................................................47 TranSolutions Inc..............................................................................49 Utility Trailers.....................................................................................23 Viking Cold Solutions, Inc.............................................................19 Weber Logistics.................................................................................13
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MCKINSEY & COMPANY’S TAKE ON BLOCKCHAIN VALUE While there continues to be a lot of hype—and confusion—over what, how and when blockchain technology will start to gain momentum, McKinsey & Company offers three key insights on the strategic value of blockchain: • Blockchain does not have to be a disintermediator to generate value, a fact that encourages permissioned commercial applications. • Blockchain’s short-term value will be predominantly in reducing cost before creating transformative business models. • Blockchain is still three to five years away from feasibility at scale, primarily because of the difficulty of resolving the “coopetition” paradox to establish common standards. The firm advises companies to adopt a structured approach when it comes to their blockchain strategy: • Identify value by pragmatically and skeptically assessing impact and feasibility at a granular level and focusing on addressing true pain points with specific use cases within select industries. • Capture value by tailoring strategic approaches to blockchain to their market position, with consideration of measures such as ability to shape the ecosystem, establish standards and address regulatory barriers.
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FOOD (AND MORE) FOR THOUGHT
BY MANFRED KUBE
CARING FOR A CONNECTED WORLD WITH COLD CHAIN TECHNOLOGY
T
KUBE
Manfred Kube is director of business development for mHealth at Gemalto.
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he growing interconnectedness of our world enables a plethora of unique and beneficial use cases, from smart cities and autonomous vehicles to digital banking and biometric travel. But physical separation still presents a challenge for the logistics of trade. The relationship is clear: the more time a product spends in transit, the more likely its risk of being damaged—especially if the products are perishable or sensitive to external factors. According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, 1.3 billion tons of food is wasted or lost globally each year, but the problem extends beyond just food. In 2014, the pharmaceutical industry had sales of over $1 trillion, with 20 percent of temperature-sensitive products becoming unusable due to logistics issues. Chemical products and electronics are also impacted throughout the supply chain by environmental elements such as temperature, humidity and light as well as shock, vibration and pressure. Until recently, consistency could not be guaranteed throughout the shipping process. But by tracking these factors, companies can identify and correct issues in the shipping process, detect damage sooner and better assign liability for damage to transported goods. Today, Internet of Things (IoT) cold chain technology makes it easy to do just that, ensuring that anything from insulin to deli meat
FOOD LOGISTICS | SEPTEMBER 2018
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remains at the optimum temperature throughout its entire product lifecycle. In this new controlled supply chain, sensors within the shipments can monitor temperature—along with humidity, jarring movements and UV exposure—and then relay this information in real time to remote monitoring applications. If shipping temperatures get too warm, corrective actions can be taken to cool things down and save the load—instead of being forced to dump spoiled products on arrival. Historically, the only checkpoint to identify damaged products was done at the delivery point—either by taking samples or by analyzing data loggers, sensors and other indicators that were shipped with the goods. Fortunately, cold chain technology has evolved with the supply chain complexities and can now be easily integrated into existing logistics solutions using wireless technology for continuous monitoring. The respective monitoring devices are connected to the core business processes utilizing wireless IoT modules for mobile communications using industry-standard protocols. Onboard data processing and machine learning can provide artificial intelligence inside these devices. Using cloud-based software not only makes the solution cost-effective, but it ensures that all the data transmitted from the sensors can be recorded and traced with a verifiable audit trail. With two-way communication enabled by machine-to-machine (M2M) modules, systems can automatically sense critical situations and send commands back to the container’s temperature system to make adjustments. Real-time monitoring combined with location tracking
enables supervisors to proactively re-route cargo to the nearest icing station to save goods before spoilage occurs or to fulfill emergency customer requests. Connected logistics systems can even order replacement shipments when goods can’t be salvaged, which reduces distribution delays, and can communicate with customers to alert when shipments may be delayed. When producers can prove their products have stayed at the optimal temperatures, they not only avoid lost revenue due to less waste, they can even charge a premium. But beyond increased profits, companies have regulations and insurance to think about, especially when it comes to pharmaceutical and food products. Government agencies around the world are consistently increasing scrutiny of distribution practices as well as manufacturing conditions. Companies have more leverage to negotiate better insurance premiums and co-pays when they have an established record of delivering products within required temperature ranges. With cold chain technology, producing companies and their chosen fleet management system have total control of designing analytics and reporting capabilities to meet their specific compliance requirements. Precise analytics help assess the quality of distribution processes and equipment, so that prudent adjustments can be made to continually improve outcomes. As more products with higher values travel farther distances, producers, shippers and consumers all stand to benefit from connected technology that ensures quality is maintained throughout the trip, from factory to table. www.foodlogistics.com
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WE KNOW THE IMPORTANCE OF FRESH AND SAFE. Delivering fresh and safe food to your customers is imperative, which is why we created the most technologically advanced pallet on the planet. The Lightning Technologies and GARD Pallet allows you to track location and trace temperature, impact, and humidity during transport — all critical to ensuring food safety. Global. Innovative. Sustainable. For more information, visit lightningtechnologies.com or call 248-572-6700.
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WHAT ELSE ARE YOU HAULING
IN YOUR REEFER?
BEAT BACTERIA WITH THE INDUSTRY’S ONLY ANTIMICROBIAL REEFER Our Everest reefer is the only refrigerated trailer on the market that offers broad-spectrum antimicrobial protection standard to fight bacteria growth on the liner for the entire life of the trailer. At Great Dane, we’re committed to providing innovation that moves you—starting with a cleaner environment for your food deliveries. See how our technology works at greatdane.com/microban ❯ Visit us at the 2018 IFDA Distribution Solutions Conference Booth 419 • October 28-30 Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center • San Antonio, TX
INNOVATION THAT MOVES YOU
GREAT DANE AND THE OVAL ARE REGISTERED TRADEMARKS OF GREAT DANE LLC. Confidential Scientific, Technical Information. Not for Public Release or Dissemination; Not an Offer for Sale. 728 ELV 0218
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