Shadowfax Technologies has announced its partnership with Vinculum to foray into Warehouse Management System across 10 centers to offer E2E services. This partnership will address the growing demand in the E2E category by offering end-to-end services across multiple industry segments like e-commerce, apparel, consumer electronics, auto, etc. Shadowfax plans to set up 50 more centers leading the warehousing space to grow from 5lac sq. feet to 12 lac sq. ft. by March 22. Commenting on the partnership, Abhishek Bansal, Founder & CEO, Shadowfax Technologies, said, “Vinculum is an established player in the WMS space. Our partnership will bring a differentiated offering for enterprises and bring them a host of benefits and features backed by solid technology and people. Speed of delivery and customer satisfaction are the two important features that Shadowfax is focusing on to stay ahead of the competition. Integrated software from Vinculum for picking, packing, and shipping from a central warehouse management platform will bring the fulfillment speed to Shadowfax E2E services provided to our clients reaching their customers swiftly, securely with real-time inventory monitoring.” On this partnership, Venkat Nott, Founder and CEO, Vinculum said, “Buyer behavior has shifted to shopping across multiple online and social channels. Online revenues have moved to over 30 per cent of overall retail revenues and expected to continue growing at a frenetic pace. Brands need to be available in channels where customers shop and are looking to fulfill from all locations where inventory is present including making inventory available with distributors for fulfillment of online orders and deliver direct to consumer. This forces brands to adopt cutting-edge technology platforms like Vinculum and fulfillment options that can best serve the customers’ demands. At …

Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust (JNPT) has signed over 30 MOUs (Memorandum of Understanding) with potential investors for port projects, technology transfer and development of plots in JNPT SEZ for an amount of around Rs27000 crore. The MoU was signed by Sanjay Sethi, IAS, Chairman, JNPT in presence of Unmesh Wagh, IRS, Deputy Chairman, JNPT. The investments by DP World, JM Baxi & Co., Ganesh Benzo, BPCL, NITIE, SS G Pharma, Sooraj Agro, JWR Logistic, Cineline India are some of the companies that have signed MoUs towards Manufacturing, IT services, Warehousing/Cold Storage, FTWZ, Pharma, Confectionary Manufacturing, Engineering Services, Food Processing. Speaking on the occasion, Sethi said, “JNPT is dedicated towards setting quality benchmarks for the port industry across the globe and we have systematically invested in improving the port’s operating efficiency and handling capacity to enable seamless trade escalating its growth trajectory. We have signed over 30 MoUs with various companies at the ‘Maritime India summit’. This will help establish JNPT as one of the premier investment destinations in the country, as we continue to remain an attractive investment destination even after the impact of COVID -19 across the globe. Even during these trying times, JNPT has attracted around Rs27,000 crore worth of new investments. The signing of the MoUs will provide vast employment opportunities and various benefits to the EXIM Trade. Additionally, this will open opportunities within India and in the international coastal lines.”

In a major expansion of its international aerospace business, CEVA Logistics has been awarded a contract to manage production supply for Airbus at the aircraft manufacturer’s assembly site in Hamburg, Germany. CEVA will operate the production supply logistics on behalf of Airbus at multiple locations with a total area of 58,631 m². Among the services that will be provided are inbound, put away/storage, pick and prepare, marketplace, internal transport, delivery to point of use, returns, empties handling and external dispatch. Within the scope of the new contract, CEVA will initiate and implement logistics improvements and projects, using LEAN principles to further increase efficiency within the facilities. CEVA’s successful management of a spare parts and components contract for Airbus awarded in 2020 was key to the awarding of this new contract. “CEVA’s capabilities and commitment in aerospace logistics have once again been recognized by Airbus with the awarding of this new contract. Our two companies have successfully worked together previously on other projects, most recently in Hamburg on the spare parts and components contract. The depth of CEVA’s specialist knowledge in this industry, combined with its innovative operational and delivery solutions, have been key to securing this new business,” says, Mathieu Friedberg, CEO, CEVA.

DHL Global Forwarding has announced to deliver additional doses of Covid-19 vaccines on a weekly basis into Australian and New Zealand to support the countries’ inoculation programme. DHL Global Forwarding arranged for the collection and airfreight of the vaccines from the manufacturing site in Europe and upon the vaccines’ arrival in Australia and the Auckland Airport, handled the customs clearance and final delivery to the designated locations. “Logistics plays a critical role in getting vaccines to where it is urgently needed. Globally, across many markets, our cold-chain network and pharmaceutical logistics expertise have meticulously planned every last detail to manage an extremely complex operation seamlessly,” said Charles Kaufmann, CEO, DHL Global Forwarding North Asia & South Pacific. “The shipments were delivered on time, and most importantly, in the right condition according to strict requirements. That’s the result of many months of rigorous planning to ensure the vaccines are delivered within the fastest possible time while ensuring the quality, safety and security of these critical shipments,” said George Lawson, managing director, DHL Global Forwarding Australia. “The deliveries were smooth as can be expected, thanks to the significant effort and rigorous planning by the teams involved. Working in close coordination with our partners on the ground and New Zealand’s regulatory authorities, all measures have been taken to ensure not just the speed of deliveries, but also ensuring the quality and safety of these critical shipments,” said Zane Morton, managing director, DHL Global Forwarding New Zealand. Across DHL’s dedicated global network, more than 9,000 specialists work to connect pharmaceutical and research organisations, wholesalers and distributors, as well as hospitals and healthcare providers across the value chain. With this contract, the logistics expert for …

Kuehne+Nagel enters into a binding agreement to acquire Apex International Corporation (Apex), one of Asia’s leading freight forwarders, especially in the transpacific and intra-Asia. The company was founded in China in 2001 and has expanded throughout Asia and beyond over the years of its growth history. With approximately 1,600 employees, Apex generates yearly turnover in excess of CHF 2.1 billion. In 2020, the company handled total air freight volume of approximately 750,000 tons and sea freight volume of 190,000 TEU. Dr. Detlef Trefzger, CEO of Kuehne + Nagel International AG, says, “The combination of Apex and Kuehne+Nagel provides us with an opportunity to offer our customers a compelling proposition in the competitive Asian logistics industry, especially in e-commerce fulfilment, hi-tech and e-mobility. We are looking forward to welcoming the Apex colleagues to the Kuehne+Nagel family.” Tony Song, Chairman of the Board of Directors and CEO of Apex, adds, “With Kuehne+Nagel, we have found a strategic shareholder and logistics group with more than 130 years of heritage. We are sure that with this transaction, we will be able to add value for our customers’ supply chains and expand our global logistics network. We will complement Kuehne+Nagel’s existing global Air Logistics team while offering our management and key talents unique career opportunities.” The acquisition is subject to customary closing conditions, including merger clearance by the competent competition authorities. The purchase price will be financed by available liquid sources and, if needed, by available credit lines. Following closing of the transaction, a minor stake of Apex shares is to remain with the experienced and entrepreneurial management of Apex. Furthermore, the company will then continue to operate separately within the Kuehne+Nagel Group. At this …

Responding to increased demand for airfreight transport options out of Europe, Dachser USA, a subsidiary of the global logistics provider Dachser, is expanding its dedicated Frankfurt-Chicago air cargo service with the addition of a second flight, scheduled for the weekday to compliment the current weekend schedule. Dachser USA has been successfully operating a dedicated Frankfurt-Chicago-Frankfurt air cargo service since end of July last year when demand for air transport began to increase due to pandemic-related supply chain disruption. The new route will be operated by American Airlines with B777/PAX freighters and will run every Wednesday from Frankfurt to Chicago. This additional dedicated air freight option will allow for more transit choices as Dachser’s extensive network continues to expand, innovate and deliver for its customers. Andy Frommenwiler, Vice President – Airfreight, Dachser USA, commented, “Many of our customers are shifting some of their shipments to airfreight transport because of the uncertainty surrounding ocean transport right now. As volumes increase, our recently launched dedicated Frankfurt-Chicago airfreight service continues to attract clients and is now operating at full capacity. In order to serve the growing demand for reliable and predictable service levels, we launched our new weekday service, which is already drawing new customers.”

Gati-KWE has announced that it will launch its largest Surface Transhipment Centre (STC) in Delhi, in June this year which is spread over 1.5 lakh sq. ft area. To build the facility, Gati-KWE has taken up space at Allcargo Logistics’ 1.8 million sq. ft. logistics park at Farukh Nagar. Located on Western Peripheral Expressway in Delhi, the state-of-the-art, tech enabled STC will offer superior transit time, accuracy in cargo delivery and high locational advantage of access to all major National Highways. The company has plans to come up with four more STCs in the near future. Apart from consolidating Gati-KWE’s logistics operations on the outskirts to decongest the city, the STC adheres to the green belt requirement. The facility has been conceptualised to achieve economy of scale and provide unparalleled customer service. It will have the capacity to process cargo for short-haul deliveries in North India and long-haul movements across the country. “We are setting up our largest STC in Delhi because the region has been witnessing robust economic growth. The advanced express logistics infrastructure at the facility with enhanced operational efficiency, productivity and throughput will emerge as a key enabler of economic growth in that region. The STC will have the capability to process and transport a massive volume of cargo thanks to the technology integration in the operations and time-defined short-haul and long-haul connectivity,” said Bala Aghoramurthy, Deputy Managing Director, Gati. Gati-KWE’s STC in Delhi will benefit its customers by offering express trucking routes across the country to facilitate faster cargo movement and improved transit time. Gati-KWE is also working towards building competence for enabling short-haul movement from the Farukh Nagar STC to Delhi/NCR and the entire North …

With an aim to remodel its core business processes and further expedite the adoption of next-generation technologies and digital-driven solutions Safexpress then collaborated with IBM to design and build ‘PROPEL-i’, an innovative scalable logistics platform, deployed in a secure & resilient cloud environment. The digital platform enables the company to attain agility in demand management, obtain advanced and flexible dynamic pricing modelling capabilities and provides enhanced visibility and transparency for its customers. Commenting on the collaboration, Kapil Mahajan, Group CIO, Safexpress said, “Being a technology driven organization, our next wave of business strategy was focused on building a cognitive enterprise that can keep up with the speed of transformation around us. ‘PROPEL-i’, which is our new transportation management system (TMS) platform, has been built with Design Thinking at its core and centered around 4 key pillars: People, Process, Data and Technology. Its micro services based cloud native architecture will further strengthen our position as a market leader both from logistics and technology standpoint and help us respond exceptionally faster to the market dynamics while minimising time, cost and effort on new product development lifecycle.” Kamal Singhani, Country Managing Partner, IBM Services, India/South Asia adds, “PROPEL-i is a major milestone for Safexpress as well as India’s logistics sector and is a testament to the continued success of the company’s longstanding association with IBM. By leveraging our deep industry expertise and access to technological innovations including cloud & AI, Safexpress will be able to leverage the new digital platform to manage their growing business, enrich customer experiences as well as boost revenues by acquiring new accounts & by optimizing costs.” ‘PROPEL-i’ is an internal logistics operations management suite of applications custom-built by …

MASkargo successfully flew in the first batch of Covid-19 vaccines to Malaysia. Over 300,000 doses of the Pfizer BioNTech vaccine were transported via a passenger-to-cargo flight utilising the Airbus 330-300 aircraft in close collaboration with the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation, Ministry of Transport, Ministry of Health, Pfizer and DHL Express. Captain Izham Ismail, Chief Executive Officer, MAG Group said, “Being the country’s national carrier, we take this responsibility of transporting the vaccines very seriously, as the success of the vaccination programme is key in helping the country achieve economic and financial recovery.” “Our skilled workforce and adequate infrastructure are vital points in ensuring the safe, secure and hygienic handling, transportation and distribution of the Covid-19 vaccines to Malaysia or any part of the world,” he said. The distribution of Covid-19 vaccines involves highly coordinated transport and security protocols to ensure their safe delivery to key hubs/points of vaccination. MASkargo has conducted live simulations and dry runs during its international and domestic scheduled flights in preparation for the various types of vaccines, of which each has different logistic requirements in Malaysia.

Qatar Airways operates 14 weekly flights from Dubai and daily flights from Abu Dhabi. In preparation for this much awaited recommencement of cargo sales and bookings in the United Arab Emirates, ECS has bolstered its local teams, with a dedicated team supervising the scheduled flights seven days a week. Ehab Matta, Senior Manager Regional Cargo – Indian subcontinent, Middle East and Pakistan, said, “We are delighted to be able to count on ECS Group, with who we share our values of service excellence and customer-centricity. Their perfect understanding of the airline’s processes and their excellent reputation in the region were key factors in our choice.” For the world’s leading GSA, the recommencement of cargo sales and bookings is excellent news for the region. “We welcome Qatar Airways’ return to the Gulf region. At ECS Group, all the teams in place are fully committed and are ready to support our partner, Qatar Airways Cargo, as they recommence cargo sales and bookings,” said Adrien Thominet, CEO of ECS Group. As of February 21, ECS Group, the leading GSSA, with its established presence in the region and strong partnership with the airline in over 20 countries, is supervising the management of cargo capacity via its subsidiary Globe Air Cargo.