Category Archives: Supply Chain

Zypp Electric to build India’s ‘First EV D2C Business’

To become carbon emission-free, Zypp Electric-an EV logistics tech delivery start-up claims to build India’s 1st EV D2C business. “We are extremely proud to be the first EV D2C Business in India. Our goal is to achieve 100% electrification in last-mile logistics and to assist businesses from many sectors in becoming emission-free,” said Akash Gupta, Co-Founder & CEO of Zypp Electric. Zypp electric caters to a wide range of enterprises, including e-commerce companies, e-grocery, Kirana stores, and restaurants, and handles end-to-end last-mile deliveries – from stores to customers’ homes – with various differentiated tech-enabled custom solutions, including the use of e-vehicles, service timing fixes, IoT-enabled battery swapping infrastructure, etc. The start-up at present has a fleet of 2000+ electric scooters and provides 500k deliveries each month. Zypp Electric made its debut in India with its first B2B heavy electric scooter, the ‘Zypp Cargo,’ in July 2021. This heavy-duty scooter, designed for last-mile logistics is capable of carrying up to 250 kg and has a 40 Ah battery and can go 120 kilometers in one charge. It can accommodate multiple battery systems and have swappable batteries.

Read More »

Piyush Goyal suggest GeM for more transparency through AI

Union Minister Piyush Goyal, while reviewing the functioning of the Government e-Marketplace (GeM), warned officials to watch out for business malpractices like ‘cartelisation and collusion’ and suggested the GeM team to use Artificial Intelligence (AI) to avoid them. The Minister for Commerce & Industry, Textiles, Consumer Affairs, Food & Public Distribution said AI would further simplify the system and as the volume of operations grow, AI would be needed to bring the most appropriate buyers and sellers together for transactions, according to a government statement. Goyal asked for bringing more transparency to the system and added that operations should be audited regularly to ensure that all technical and financial aspects of GeM stay strong all the time. He also asked officials to make GeM more user and commerce friendly so that ease of doing business can be further promoted. Officials were also directed to significantly reduce and cap the transaction charges so that more traders are attracted to the GeM portal.

Read More »

o9 Solutions platform enables Vestas to advance its global supply chain

o9 Solutions, announced its collaboration with Vestas, a world leader in wind technology, to develop its global supply chain planning capabilities by leveraging the o9 Digital Brain platform. Vestas is the energy industry’s global partner on sustainable energy solutions and an innovator in wind energy design, manufacturing, and installation. The company services wind turbines in 83 countries across the globe. With the demand for renewable energy sources increasing worldwide, Vestas decided to digitally transform its supply chain with the aim of supporting its global growth and its ability to better navigate disruptions. Vestas selected o9 Solutions to meet these goals. With o9, Vestas will improve its demand planning and review, supply chain visibility, global and regional Sales & Operations Planning / Sales & Operations Execution. The o9 Digital Brain platform was selected by Vestas due to its ability to leverage modern technology – including the digital twin of the supply chain, big data, AI / ML algorithms, knowledge graphs and the like – to help companies achieve new levels of productivity, speed, and expertise in planning and decision-making. Additionally, o9’s experience in the wind turbine industry played a pivotal role in Vestas’ decision.

Read More »

UPS begins first direct flight from India to Europe

A UPS 747 flight is now connecting India directly to Europe and connecting UPS customers to North and Latin American markets five days per week. That doubles the company’s previous capacity to and from India for small and medium-sized business customers looking to grow their revenue base. UPS’s first direct flight from India will connect Delhi to its largest international hub at Cologne, Germany. Customers have been diversifying their supply chains as they respond to pandemic disruptions. And cargo space in the belly of passenger aircraft – normally reliable and cost-effective – has been significantly reduced. Now, buoyed by market demand and with an eye on business continuity, Indian entrepreneurs are looking for reliable alternatives to import and export products. “When business demand is increasing and volumes globally are being challenged, what you need is a smart logistics network that can respond to what customers are asking for, in an altered business environment. The agility to connect major economies to India via a direct flight for exports and imports is an example of UPS’s better not bigger strategy and will provide reliability and expanded capacity to UPS’s customers,” said Rachid Fergati, Managing Director Middle East, Central Asia, and Indian subcontinent for UPS.

Read More »

GEODIS to invest in Autonomous Mobile Robots

GEODIS announced the deployment of Autonomous Mobile Robots (AMR) from Geek+, a global technology company specialized in smart logistics through advanced robotics and artificial intelligence (AI), at its Yuen Long Warehouse Distribution Centre (YLDC) in Hong Kong, SAR China. The YLDC will be provided with an exclusive AMR operating area with QR coding to guide automated operations. The smart facility underlines GEODIS’ digital-first outlook to future operations. Onno Boots, Regional President & CEO, Asia Pacific said: “Our investments in this AI-driven automation system brings substantial value to GEODIS’ eCommerce and retail customers by addressing some of the key challenges they face today. These solutions not only bring long-term cost-savings, operational efficiencies, and safety, but also enable us to maintain high-quality control standards while providing customers greater speed and flexibility of movement of goods.”

Read More »

Air Cargo up 9.1% in September, capacity remains constrained

The International Air Transport Association (IATA) released September 2021 data for global air cargo markets showing that demand continued to be well above pre-crisis levels and that capacity constraints persist. As comparisons between 2021 and 2020 monthly results are distorted by the extraordinary impact of COVID-19, unless otherwise noted, all comparisons below are to September 2019 which followed a normal demand pattern. • Global demand, measured in cargo tonne-kilometers (CTKs*), was up 9.1% compared to September 2019 (9.4% for international operations). • Capacity remains constrained at 8.9% below pre-COVID-19 levels (September 2019) (-12% for international operations). “Air cargo demand grew 9.1% in September compared to pre-COVID levels. There is a benefit from supply chain congestion as manufacturers turn to air transport for speed. But severe capacity constraints continue to limit the ability of air cargo to absorb extra demand. If not addressed, bottlenecks in the supply chain will slow the economic recovery from COVID-19. Governments must act to relieve pressure on global supply chains and improve their overall resilience,” said Willie Walsh, IATA’s Director General.

Read More »

APM Terminals Pipavav receives first full reefer rake from ICD Viramgam

The first full reefer rake titled as “The Maersk Processed Food Express” was flagged off from ICD Viramgam to Pipavav Port. The reefer train operated by Gateway Rail Freight Ltd, carried agro-based commodities from Gujarat to be exported to South East Asia. This service will help in safe and quick passage of frozen food from Ahmedabad and nearby area, thereby shifting the transport of commodities from road to rail, an environment friendly mode. The flagging off ceremony was graced by Ashok Pandey & Bhumik Bhatt from Gateway Rail. Senior executives from Maersk & APM Terminals Pipavav were also present. Commenting on reefer rake movement, Jakob Friis Sorenson, MD, APM Terminals Pipavav said, “The reefer rake facility is going to be a boon for exporters from Gujarat as it will open up a whole new global market for their produce. We are excited to be a part of a logistics supply chain for ‘Made in India’ products from Gujarat to the world. This initiative by Maersk and Gateway Rail is commendable and we believe that with collaborative efforts of ICD, Liner and the Customer, this service will benefit the agro based trade.”

Read More »

PHD Chamber urges the Government to expedite Cargo Clearance at Airports

There is immense congestion in cargo clearance at Airports, especially in Delhi Airport Cargo Terminals due to sudden mandate by the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS) to follow the order of 2015 regarding rules of screening export cargo, said Pradeep Multani, President, PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry, in a press statement issued here today. The order regarding the change in the operational method of x-ray of cargo (Aviation Security Service (AVSEC) Order no. 11/2015) states that before delivery to air carrier, all cargo processed at the terminals shall be subject to 100% X-Ray screening at piece level. This decision of screening cargo on a piece level basis is a cumbersome task, which requires more manpower, security staff and x-ray machines, said Multani. The catastrophic effect causes high congestion at the airport due to slow cargo clearance at piece level, average time for a shipment has increased from 12 hours to 1-2 days, shippers have to pay higher demurrage, staff of the shippers has to work for a long shift to clear the order and even some export orders are getting affected, said Multani.

Read More »

SafeStorage signs MoU with Imperial Supply Chain Solutions

SafeStorage®, has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Imperial Supply Chain Solutions. Safestorage will support them with on demand space to scale up/down business as per requirements. This would include storage space support, third party logistics, and support for technical/non-technical staff. To optimize warehousing and to facilitate ease our operations, Safestorage has incorporated AI&ML models in their processes. Artificial Intelligence is used to identify unused space across warehouses and it then suggests best fit space based on the inbound customer goods/items. The company has employed Machine Learning & Deep Learning to assign pickups based on geography resulting in optimization of transportation. Sharing his thoughts, Ramesh Madisetty, CEO & Co-founder of SafeStorage, said, “We are excited to partner with Imperial Supply Chain solutions. We hope this collaboration sustains for a long time and we achieve newer heights. We have seen a significant positive growth in our business this year as well. Our target is to be one stop shop for storage & logistics solution in the country.”

Read More »

Tata Motors announces plan to introduce small commercial EVs

Along with the launch of 21 new commercial vehicles, Indian multinational Tata Motors also announced its plans to launch Electric Small Commercial Vehicles (SCVs) for the Indian ecosystem. The EVs are being developed in synergy with a few e-commerce organisations as Tata targets last-mile transportation. Though an exact timeline has not been revealed, Tata Motors Executive Director Girish Wagh said it was going to be ‘soon’. EVs have a substantial advantage over conventional vehicles in reference to the cost of operating as fuel prices continue to surge by the day. Moreover, demand for EVs in the e-commerce and logistics sectors have increased multi-fold as organisations strive to achieve net-zero emissions as a part of sustainable supply chains. Girish Wagh cited the advantage of operating cost, shrinking price gap between EVs and conventional vehicles and ballooning demand of EVs for last-mile transportation as the grounds for electrification along the supply chain.

Read More »