Category Archives: Supply Chain

Even as the world is fighting a battle with the pandemic, the impact of the Russian-Ukraine war has hit logistics and cargo like a Damocles sword. The conflict has made commercial shipping through sea routes in Russia and Ukraine suicidal. Most ports in the region are closed and commercial ships are not accepting orders from Russia or making port calls. As per a statement, Container xChange, premier container leasing and trading marketplace, stated, “Due to disruption to commercial shipping on the sea lanes, we expect container build-ups at ports to exacerbate at storage areas in the region. The closure of airspace across Russia and Europe has reduced air freight capacity.” It added, “Maritime trade with Russia and businesses could be difficult in the near future. On Monday, the UK has banned all Russian ships from entering its ports. What’s more, the EU intercepted and seized one ship. On the Asia-Europe trade, we see more demand for maritime shipments and equipment out of Asia due to modal shift.” “Russian and Belarussian ports in the Baltic, Black Sea and Sea of Azov may see a build-up of boxes if carriers refuse port calls due to the precarious situation and sanctions. The full implications of sanctions are not yet clear, but the closure of the SWIFT system to Russia will make payments from Russian partners difficult.” An official said, “Borders with the EU are closed. We expect the war to add to the stretched nature of global container supply chains, bringing more inflation and delays.”

American Airlines Cargo has announced a dedicated suite of products and priorities to make it easier for customers to book a variety of Life Sciences and Healthcare shipments – a segment that has seen a 17% volume increase over the last years across regions the airline serves. With advancements in individualized healthcare and medical innovations that lead to longer, healthier lives, fast and reliable transportation of these shipments has never been more crucial. This new offering leverages the network of the world’s largest airline and award-winning expertise to serve customers now and into the future. The Life Sciences suite offers cargo products designed for time-sensitive shipments. Whether under 100lbs, bulk or containerized, American’s Priority Parcel Service (PPS) or ExpediteFS services provide benefits including next-flight booking options, priority boarding and the shortest tender times. These two products are also customizable, as the airline offers an array of handling and monitoring capabilities based on the level of handling a shipment may need – from prioritized take-off and landing for life-saving medical shipments with MEDEVAC service, to enhanced monitoring and proactive updates with Critical PPS service. Also included in the Life Sciences suite is American’s cold-chain solution, ExpediteTC. This product offers both active and passive temperature capabilities for shipments and has earned the airline Center of Excellence for Independent Validators in Pharmaceutical Logistics (CEIV Pharma) certification. Awarded by the International Air Transport Association (IATA), CEIV Pharma certification recognizes air carriers and entire air cargo supply chains that have established the tools, procedures and staffing to ensure pharmaceuticals are properly handled and maintain product integrity. American is currently CEIV Pharma certified for its operations in and out of Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport (DFW), Philadelphia …

Taking advantage of the good momentum, Combi Lift is expanding its business into the Americas. “Houston is the perfect location in the USA. It is one of the main project capitals in the world,” explains explained Klaus Hilpert, Managing Director and Chairman of the Board of Directors at Combi Lift. “Solutions are becoming more complex and project risk profiles are increasing.Clients are looking for trusted and globally connected partners who can leverage their assets and drive risk-sharing throughout project delivery. For all of these reasons, opening the Houston office was therefore the logical next step for us.” The new branch is headed by Grant Wattman, President and Managing Director of Combi Lift Americas LLC. “Grant brings life-long industry experience in leadership roles, defining and implementing strategic plans, driving growth, operational excellence and building a strong financial portfolio”, said Klaus Hilpert. “I am extremely pleased that Grant is part of our team. He is a one of the industry heavyweights. Together, we will set new standards in the project logistics industry.” Grant Wattman is looking forward to the new challenge: “I am excited to be joining Combi Lift at a unique time for the global supply chain. Combi Lift provides subject matter expertise and assets, and is a member of the Harren & Partner Group, which also owns SAL Heavy Lift and Intermarine. The market is looking to those companies that will stand up and take a fresh approach to project cost, risk and predictability. The strength of the Combi Lift portfolio positions itself strongly for this new paradigm.” The new Combi Lift office is located in the Brookhollow Central III (2900 N Loop W, Suite 1100, Houston, TX 77092) which …

LOBB has announced that it has raised $1.1 million in Pre-Series A funding round led by Byju Pillai, Group Managing Director, Inflow Technologies and angel investor Gopal Kaul. The round also saw participation from 3one4 Capital and other investors, including Srinath Ramakkrushnan (Zetwerk & Ofbusiness), Mohit Mittal (Southern Cargo Carriers), M D Ramaswami (former MD, Dell India) and Vishad Gupta (Fidelity Information Services, India). The funds raised will be primarily used to scale the business and expand LOBB’s network across newer geographies in India. The company is also looking to strengthen its technology to automate tasks, grow its team across functions to increase fulfilment ratios, and acquire more customers—i.e., add more truckers and transporters onto the platform. Currently, LOBB is operational in 12 cities across India, such as Bengaluru, Chennai, Mumbai, and Pune, working with 500+ logistics companies. It plans to expand to another 20 cities to have a pan-India reach within the next 8 months. Founded in 2015 by techno-domain experts Jayaram Raju and Venu Kondur, LOBB was started with a mission to digitally disrupt the $100 billion Indian logistics sector. The company’s end-to-end digital freight brokerage platform connects transporters with truckers in a seamless way to ensure a national-level supply-demand match, considering the complex nuances of the trade. Through its proprietary Truck Discovery Model, which creates a unique network of fleets and routes, LOBB also aims to empower the 10 million Indian long-haul truck owners who struggle to find the right loads on time. Through its deep intelligence engine, LOBB aims to increase truck utilisation for truckers by reducing halting through digital payments, thereby increasing truckers’ revenue by 30%. On the occasion, Venu Kondur, CEO & Co-Founder, LOBB, …

Continental Carriers Pvt. Ltd. (CCPL) has been awarded the Best Freight Forwarder of the year 2021 by Assocham at the 13th International Conference cum Awards Civil Aviation & Cargo on February 28, 2021. The award was received by Continental Carriers’ chairman, Vipin Vohra; managing director, Vaibhav Vohra; and director, Viraj Vohra. This award recognises CCPL’s excellent performance, commitment, and professionalism in the freight forwarding industry.

Mahindra Logistics Ltd. (MLL), one of India’s largest Third-Party Logistics (3PL) solution providers, has announced its acquisition of a majority stake in ZipZap Logistics Private Limited, a last-mile logistics service provider operating under its brand ‘Whizzard’. The recent acquisition complements MLL’s existing last-mile delivery business and EDeL, its Electric Vehicle (EV) based delivery services. Looking to expand technology-based last-mile services as an integral part of MLL’s growth strategy, this transaction will help accelerate the addition of technology, geographical coverage, and operational capabilities of MLL. Whizzard operates an intra-city distribution network for digital commerce and last-mile delivery. The Hyderabad-based company currently enables seamless handling of 60 million packages per year, across diverse segments. In the last three years, Whizzard, which is led by a strong founding team of Ankit Madhania and Arun Rao, has grown 10X and has been serving customers with its full-stack digital capabilities and micro-distribution centers catering to 3000+ pin codes. “Last-Mile Delivery & Fulfilment continues to see strong tailwinds with increased digital adoption, expanding delivery networks, and the onset of quick commerce. This association will enhance and strengthen our existing presence for our customers in e-commerce and other segments. The Whizzard team has built deep capabilities and delivered strong growth to date. We look forward to building the association together and providing customers integrated solutions”. sid, Rampraveen Swaminathan, MD & CEO, Mahindra Logistics Limited

As the crisis takes a turn for the worse, and the Russian military waiting at the borders threatening Ukraine finally invades, the agri supply chains get disrupted, adversely affecting many countries. Traders from the vital Black Sea region particularly Russia and Ukraine, which are also known as the crop heavyweights have denied the supply of Wheat to several countries. While Russia accounts for about 20 percent of the world’s wheat exports, Ukraine supplies 10 percent, data from the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) of the United Nations showed. Egypt, which is one of the prime importers of Wheat among the many Middle East and North African nations, has canceled a previous tender after only receiving one offer of French wheat and has now scheduled a new one. While old orders are being met, new deals are denied as traders are staying away from Russian grains and exporters are unable to agree to contracts at the moment as they fear they will not be able to fulfill them as the situation evolves. In addition to this, Ukraine and Russia are also major producers of corn, sunflower seed oil, barley, and rye, and much of Europe depends on it. The two nations jointly account for about 80 percent of the world’s sunflower oil exports and 19 percent of world corn supplies.

Tata Steel,has shipped nearly 1,800 tonnes of finished steel products from Haldia Port in West Bengal to Pandu Port in Assam using the Indo-Bangaldesh Protocol (IBP) route via Brahmaputra River. This shipment of Tata Steel’s TMT bars – that arrived at Haldia on rail before being loaded on to river barges – marks the beginning of the use of multimodal logistics, a landmark effort to decarbonise the steel sector and the country. Union Minister of Ports, Shipping & Waterways and AYUSH, Sarbananda Sonowal, said “that this maiden voyage showcases multimodal movement of cargo by harnessing the power of the river-sea combination for transportation.” The Minister urged other stakeholders to move in the same direction and commit to make it a grand national success. Says Peeyush Gupta, Vice President Supply Chain, Tata Steel, “The Indo-Bangladesh Protocol route will help us service the growing North East market better. This route can also be explored for servicing other locations enroute this waterway to deliver steel in smaller lots and in better condition for the benefit of customers in the North-East. The initiative paves the way for seamless and robust integrated logistics solution towards utilising inland waterways for India and Bangladesh.” As Tata Steel became the first in Indian steel sector to transport products over inland waterways, the IBP route will also help them lower their scope 3 carbon footprint. In July 2021, the Company had also pioneered the use of electric vehicles to move finished goods in select locations.

The Department of Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) and Ministry of Commerce and Industry (MOCI) are jointly organising the first post-Budget webinar – Creating Synergies for Accelerated Economic Growth’. The Webinar will be a platform for dignitaries, academicians and industry stakeholders to discuss the plans for improving India’s logistics game. Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s address to the participants on the GatiShakti masterplan will be on how the Union Budget 2022 is a scaffold for progressing through it. Piyush Goyal, the Minister for Commerce and Industry, will chair the concluding session – which will be a chance for all the stakeholders to give their inputs on the possible strategies that can be applied to achieve the aim. The webinar is to be conducted as 5 simultaneous sessions discussing various aspects of the logistics sector in India With the GatiShakti Masterplan, the government aims to fill the gaps in the existing logistics ecosystem of the country, thereby, improving the logistics infrastructure which ensures a seamless movement of people, goods and services. Better standard and ease of living, ease of doing business, expedited paperwork, faster completion of projects and ultimately, cost efficiencies are a few landmarks that the master plan will achieve while striving for the main goal.

FarEye, a global SaaS platform provider transforming last-mile logistics, today announced several new capabilities for more environmentally sustainable delivery operations, route optimization, and consumer experience. New capabilities across FarEye’s Intelligent Delivery Management Platform are designed to help customers boost delivery efficiency, enable green fleets, and gain visibility into outcomes of sustainability initiatives. “We are partnering with our customers using our optimization and visibility solution to optimize fleets and reduce emissions while delivering delightful experiences to their end customers,” said Suvrat Joshi, chief product officer at FarEye. “In a world shifting towards prioritizing environmental sustainability, we are dedicated to complementing and supporting our customers’ sustainability goals. In 2021, customers that used our platform collectively helped reduce carbon footprint by 40,961 tons. We see this number continue to increase as our customers adopt and use these new capabilities across first, mid, and last mile in their delivery network.” FarEye’s four new sustainability capabilities have been developed to help both shippers and carriers minimize CO2 emissions throughout their logistics operations, addressing end consumers’ desire to have their online orders delivered on time and with minimal or zero carbon emissions.