efficiency

Doosan Infracore Construction Equipment (DICE), a manufacturer of compact and heavy construction equipment, has teamed with procurement outsourcing specialist ICG Commerce in an attempt to drive significant cost savings across non-core spending.

DICE is a global alliance that represents such brands as Doosan, Bobcat, Montabert, Portable Power and Geith. DICE will leverage ICG Commerce's purchasing category expertise, market intelligence and integrated infrastructure to help enable critical internal resources to focus on core competencies.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the U.S. Department of Transportation have introduced national standards to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and improve fuel efficiency of heavy-duty trucks and buses. This national program is projected to reduce GHG emissions by nearly 250 million metric tons and save 500 million barrels of oil over the lives of the vehicles produced within the program’s first five years.

“In addition to cutting greenhouse gas pollution, greater fuel economy will shrink fuel costs for small businesses that depend on pick ups and heavy duty vehicles, shipping companies and cities and towns with fleets of these vehicles, says Lisa Jackson, EPA administrator.

GS1 Australia is seeking to conduct a pilot project in the Australian transport and logistics sector to unlock the gateway to efficiency improvements between consignors and their logistics service providers.

The U.S. federal government could save over $500 billion by 2020 by applying supply chain best practices used in the private sector, according to a new economic report released this week by the Technology CEO Council (TCC).

The research findings and recommendations in the TCC report, “One Trillion Reasons,” were shared with the Administration’s economic team by the Council’s members, chaired by IBM CEO Samuel Palmisano, and submitted to National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform that is considering proposals to reduce the federal deficit.

FedEx is planning to withdraw over 80 aircraft and buy a smaller number of more modern, fuel efficient models as part of its reorganisation and environmental drive.

It is reported that 10 aircraft will be retired immediately and 70+ more permanently grounding earlier than planned.

Dematic has launched its modular goods-to-person storage and retrieval system to Australian distribution centres that the company says can deliver a picking rate improvement of 500% compared to a traditional environment.

The new modular GTP system is said to be a flexible, off-the-shelf picking solution for a wide variety of small to medium-throughput order fulfilment applications, suited for businesses distributing from 200 to 1,000 or more order lines per hour.

“In busy distribution centres getting the right goods on shelf, or delivered to the right customer at the right time, is critical. To help address these stock availability and delivery efficiency issues, we developed the new modular GTP system, resulting in productivity improvements where one operator is capable of achieving the same sort of picking rate as up to five people in a traditional picking environment,” said Dematic’s wholesale and distribution logistics manager Darren Rawlinson.

Landair has launched a customized transportation management system (TMS) for the Marine Corps Exchange (MCX) as part of a plan to improve the military retailer's supply chain efficiency.

"Over the next few months, the MCX may adjust business rules and synchronize replenishment schedules to focus on building multi-stop truckloads when and where it makes sense," explains Cindy Whitman Lacy, deputy director of MCX business operations. "The TMS determines scenarios to utilize pool points and cross-dock facilities, as well as optimize shipments. It may even change the way the MCX buys merchandise."

The decision of certain container shipping lines to reduce the free time available for import containers to be de-hired will increase international trade costs inAustraliafor both importers and exporters.

Goya Foods, a Hispanic-owned food company based in New Jersey, has selected supply chain solutions from Manhattan Associates to optimize its distribution and transportation processes.

Goya will implement Manhattan's Warehouse Management Slotting Optimization and Labor Management solutions in 12 distribution centers located in the United States, Puerto Rico and Spain, which will work with solutions from the Manhattan Transportation Lifecycle Management suite to optimize global distribution.

Wisconsin Distributors and Erie Beer, two Anheuser-Busch InBev wholesalers, have implemented route accounting system solutions to power their beer distribution operations. The wholesalers implemented RouteCenter software from HighJump Software to manage their growing direct store delivery (DSD) operations.

Erie Beer distributes three million cases per year and is based in Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin Distributors distributes six million cases each year and is located in Wisconsin. RouteCenter manages the distributors' selling, delivery, inventory and settlement processes. Additionally, the route accounting system (RAS) works in conjunction with the Anheuser-Busch Mobility solution to extend the solution to the store shelf.