Çelebi Ground Handling Hungary has successfully completed the all evaluations and audits and received CEIV Pharma Certification for cargo/warehouse operations. Since the start of Covid-19, Celebi Aviation has been taking all necessary actions and making necessary implementations and developments for ensuring the safest transportation environment while the handling of medical aid, especially Covid-19 vaccines. “With our enhanced facilities and ground support equipment, we are more than ready to meet all the expectations. As one of our developments in cargo business we are glad to announce Celebi Ground Handling Hungary is awarded with IATA CEIV Pharma Certificate,” the company said in a statement. IATA had created the Center of Excellence for Independent Validators in pharmaceutical logistics (CEIV Pharma), to help organisations and the entire air cargo supply chain to get on the right track to achieve pharmaceutical handling excellence. CEIV Pharma addresses industry’s need for more safety, security, compliance and efficiency, by the creation of a globally consistent and recognized pharmaceutical product handling certification. By establishing a common baseline from existing regulations and standards, this certification ensures international and national compliance to safeguard product integrity while addressing specific air cargo needs.

According to ports’ apex body IPA, “India’s 12 major ports has witnessed a 4.59 per cent fall in cargo handling to 672.60 million tonnes (MT) in the financial year 2021. These ports had handled 705 MT, 699 MT and 679 MT cargo in 2019-20, 2018-19 and 2017-18, respectively.” Recently, Mansukh Mandaviya, Minister of State for Ports, Shipping and Waterways, Government of India, said that the cargo traffic at 12 major ports declined considerably March onwards due to the adverse impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.”Percentage variation from previous year” in “traffic handled at major ports during April to March 2021 vis-a-vis April to March 2020” declined 4.59 per cent, the IPA said in its latest report. In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, sharp declines were witnessed in the handling of containers, coal and POL (petroleum, oil and lubricant), among other commodities. The percentage variation from the previous year was recorded at 4.59 per cent. All ports, barring Paradip and Mormugao (which recorded 1.65 per cent and 37.06 per cent increase in cargo handling to 114.54 MT and 21.95 MT, respectively), saw negative growth. Cargo handling at Kamrajar Port (Ennore) dipped 18.46 per cent during April-March 2021 to 25.88 MT, while ports like Mumbai and V. O. Chidambaranar saw their cargo volumes dropping by over 10 per cent during the said period. Cochin, New Mangalore and Chennai ports suffered a sharp decline of about 7 per cent. JNPT saw a decline of 5.32 per cent in cargo volumes, while Deendayal Port Trust and Kolkata ports logged an over 4 per cent drop in cargo volume. Cargo handling at Visakhapatnam slipped 3.96 per cent. India has 12 major ports under the control …

FM Logistic India has announced that the company is deploying its first batch of electric vehicles (EVs) in Bengaluru. The first batch of EVs comprises 3-wheelers from a leading commercial vehicle manufacturer having a load capacity of 500 kg. The vehicles take approximately three hours for charging and can cover a distance of about 80 km in a single charge. The EVs will be used to carry out intra-city deliveries for WayCool, a leading player in the FMCG and food segment. FM Logistic India will be helping WayCool to carry out hyper local deliveries to local kirana stores, supermarkets as well as end consumers. Elaborating on WayCool’s efforts towards sustainable Agri-commerce, Amrit Bajpai, COO, WayCool Foods, said “Our partnership with FM Logistic is another step towards advancing fleet electrification. To start, we will have EVs constituting 5 per cent of our total fleet and will continue to increase it. WayCool is committed towards sustainable actions and innovations to drive efficiency across the Agri-commerce value chain. We strongly believe that responsible behavior needs proactive efforts and it’s our duty to leave the earth better than how we found it.” Alexander Amine Soufiani, MD – FM Logistic India, said, “At FM Logistic, sustainability is at the heart of our operations. When WayCool approached us to help them to develop a green network, we were excited to be able to provide them with a green distribution offer to help fulfill their delivery commitments within city limits. We include the challenges of sustainable development in our strategic vision – teams creating solutions for a sustainable supply chain. We are committed to reducing the impact of our business activities on the environment. We are focussed …

Flipkart has announced a strategic and commercial partnership with the Adani Group to strengthen Flipkart’s supply chain infrastructure and further enhance its ability to serve its rapidly growing base of customers. In addition, Flipkart will set up its third data centre at Adaniconnex, Chennai based facility, leveraging AdaniConneX’s world-class expertise and industry-leading data centre technology solutions. Adaniconnex is a new Joint Venture formed between EdgeConneX and Adani Enterprises. As part of this partnership, Adani Logistics will construct a massive 534,000 sq. ft. fulfilment centre in its upcoming logistics hub in Mumbai that will be leased to Flipkart to address the growing demand for e-commerce in Western India and support market access of several thousands of sellers and MSMEs in the region. Leveraging state-of-the-art technologies, the centre is expected to be operational in Q3 2022 and will have the capacity to house 10 million units of sellers’ inventory at any point. In addition to strengthening Flipkart’s supply chain infrastructure to support MSMEs and sellers, the facility will enhance local employment and create ~2,500 direct jobs and thousands of indirect jobs. The other prong of the partnership will see Flipkart developing its third data centre at the AdaniConnecX facility as a part of one of the largest private cloud deployments in the country, thereby further strengthening its growing marketplace e-commerce business in India. The data centre has been designed to meet the highest standards in reliability, security, and sustainability, which will capitalise on the Adani Group’s capability as the largest solar player in the country to generate and source green power. The AdaniConneX data centre is a brand-new facility enabling Flipkart to design the data centre to its growing infrastructure needs with …

Bringing the Group a step closer toward carbon neutrality, CMA CGM has launched the low-carbon shipping solution. Rodolphe Saadé, Chairman and CEO, CMA CGM Group has put forward solutions that are immediately available and that contribute to achieving the Group’s objective of being carbon-neutral by 2050. The CMA CGM Group has reached another milestone in its efforts to be carbon-neutral by 2050, by supporting the production of 12,000 tonnes of biomethane (equivalent to a year’s fuel consumption of two 1,400-TEU ships). Biomethane is a renewable green gas produced in part by the methanation of European-sourced organic and plant waste. This energy source represents a fine example of how the circular economy can work while benefitin g the agricultural sector. CMA CGM intends to push ahead with the development of this energy source by investing in biomethane production facilities and studying the viability of liquefaction processes so that biomethane can be rolled out as a shipping fuel. By supporting biomethane production, CMA CGM is accelerating its commitment to leading the energy transition in the shipping sector. The Group cut its overall CO2 emissions by four per cent in 2020, following a six per cent reduction in 2019. Since 2008, the Group has lowered its CO2 emissions per container-kilometer by 49 per cent. 12,000 tonnes of guarantee-of-origin (GO) biomethane is enough to fuel the equivalent of two 1,400-TEU LNG-powered ships operating on the Northern European Balt3 line between St Petersburg and Rotterdam for a whole year. Guarantee-of-Origin Biomethane, coupled with CMA CGM’s dual-fuel gas-power technology, can reduce well-to-wake (entire value chain) greenhouse gas emissions (including CO2) by at least 67 per cent. On a tank-to-wake basis (at ship level), the reduction in …

Following the increased demand for healthcare shipments during the pandemic, Bolloré Logistics is reinforcing its healthcare product processing facilities with an 800 m2 extension of a pharmaceutical unit with a temperature of 15 degree Celsius to 25 degree Celsius. With the new unit, Bolloré Logistics now boasts a surface area of 2,200 m2 at its Roissy CDG Hub, divided into three temperature-controlled areas of 2 degree Celsius to 8 degree Celsius, 15 degree Celsius to 25 degree Celsius, and -20 degree Celsius. These facilities are reserved exclusively for processing healthcare product shipments in a secure environment managed by teams trained in Good Distribution Practices (GDPs). Three dedicated dock doors ensure the seamless and temperature-controlled flow of goods for total mastery of the cold chain during operations. The new cell also has a racked area with a 550-pallet capacity as well as a mass storage area. The new facility increases Bolloré Logistics’ capacity to manage cross-docking operations and respond to the specific requirements of each product category, including vaccines and nuclear-medicine products. “This investment demonstrates our determination to support the health sector in its logistics challenges. Our facilities and solutions are specially designed to respond to requirements on regulations and operational excellence and are adapted to each category of goods transported,” said Pascal Le Guevel, Director of the Bolloré Logistics Roissy CDG Hub. Bolloré Logistics implements solutions that ensure the safety and integrity of products, including power connections for active containers, monitored unit temperatures, temperature mapping and staff training. The warehouse responds to all the requirements of European GDPs for pharmaceutical products. “With this environment, we are able to deliver complete and needs-adapted solutions to all our customers, from the preparation …

To serve growing demand between Asia Pacific and the U.S. and Europe, DHL Express has strengthened its flight network using its Boeing 777 freighters to offer weekly capacity of almost 2,350 tonnes. With over 1,730 tonnes of capacity per week, DHL’s dedicated flights operated by Kalitta Air will cater to increased demand for express logistics services from Oceania. AeroLogic will add 610 tonnes of capacity as it flies six times a week to and from Leipzig via Hong Kong, Singapore and Bahrain. DHL Express’s South Asia Hub in Singapore as the common point of transit will help to consolidate and facilitate deliveries from Asia Pacific to the US and Europe. Operated by DHL Express’ partner airline Kalitta Air, one of the aircraft is flying five times a week from the United States to the DHL Express South Asia Hub in Singapore, via Sydney. From Singapore, the aircraft will make stops in Hong Kong and Japan before returning to the US. In addition, Kalitta Air will operate a new flight route that plies between Singapore and Sydney six times a week. The other aircraft – operated by AeroLogic, the joint venture cargo airline of DHL Express and Lufthansa Cargo – will fly six times a week from Leipzig to Hong Kong and Singapore before making a stop at Bahrain and returning to Leipzig. By scheduling both Kalitta Air and AeroLogic flights to cross load in Singapore places a growing significance of the South Asia Hub, which serves as a conduit for Oceania customers looking to expand their reach to the rest of Asia Pacific, the US and Europe. The new dedicated flights and aircraft will also help to strengthen DHL’s service …

Carrying eight tonnes of cargo, SpiceXpress has launched a freighter flight connecting Mumbai and Delhi in India with Bangkok in Thailand. The airline’s Boeing 737-800F aircraft will be used on twice weekly flights to Suvarnabhumi Airport in Bangkok. The flight will carry cargo including automotive parts, electronics and perishables. Sanjiv Gupta, Chief Executive, SpiceXpress, comments, “We have been operating cargo flights to Bangkok for a long time and I am delighted that we have commenced scheduled freighter operations to Thailand today. Bangkok is one of the biggest centers of trade, commerce and tourism in Southeast Asia and launching scheduled cargo services between the two countries will help in seamless import and export of essential commodities in these very challenging times.”

SafeStorage has unveiled facility 40,000 square footage warehouse facility with state-of-the-art features in Bhiwandi. The company is growing at a steady pace and has crossed the 7 lakh square feet mark in its business. Sharing his thoughts on the Mumbai launch, Ramesh Madisetty, CEO & Co-Founder, SafeStorage, said, “Our research shows that Mumbai is a promising market for self-storage & warehouse companies and we hope to capitalise on the demand. It is our mission to be recognised as India’s top end-to-end storing facility and we are building on our capabilities each day to reach that goal. Seeing the response we have received from our patrons in current markets, we are also planning on entering Kolkata market in the coming months. By end of 2021, we aim to be present across nine cities in India.” The software used at SafeStorage, such as the automated quotation and booking process, work order management and customer portal is customised by the in-house tech team. There has been a huge up haul in the technology used by SafeStorage. The web application has been upgraded from Code Ignitor to Laravel Framework. The SafeStorage app has been updated from Native to google flutter. Madisetty adds, “We have made out user interface much more intuitive and customer friendly. Our new website & app is devised to help customers navigate through it quite easily. The entire booking, estimation, & slot securing process can be completed online on the SafeStorage website by a customer. SafeStorage tracks all the items received through a mobile app. Our warehouse consultants then update the inventory list with finer details such as weight, shape, size, image etc. and upload the stacked images on a customer …

Taking the supply chain to next level, Locus has released a smart supply chain decision-making platform ‘Locus NodeIQ’ which enables companies to perform end-to-end network and inventory optimization. Locus, which focuses on fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG), consumer packaged goods (CPG), retail, home services, third-party logistics (3PL), e-commerce and industrial enterprises, provides a portfolio of products that drive efficiency with AI and machine learning. NodeIQ automates strategic supply chain decisions that impact four key areas; flow, location, inventory, and strategic sourcing. With NodeIQ, users can optimise the movement of goods, from raw materials to delivery of finished products, identify optimal facility locations to address supply and demand gaps, optimise stock levels and improve strategic sourcing. NodeIQ factors in real-time constraints like service levels, lead times, costs and capacity to minimize costs and maximize efficiency. “A black swan event like the pandemic demonstrates the importance of agility in the supply chain,” said Krishna Khandelwal, Chief Business Officer, Locus, in adding, “But supply chains are enormously complex, and depending on the scope of the operation, the number of factors to weigh in while making the right strategic decision is truly beyond human capacity. NodeIQ’s AI-powered strategic decision-making capabilities let enterprises make the right strategic choices so they can stay agile and optimize results at every level.” Locus products are gaining users worldwide because the platform is simple to use. Supply chain optimization is a data-intensive function, but Locus uses AI and other advanced technologies to cleanse data, flag anomalies and deliver clear insights. Following the same product principle of ease and simplicity, Locus NodeIQ uses a digital twin approach to make it easy for clients to test various scenarios and drill down to …