Category Archives: Supply Chain

With the opening of a new logistics center in Taulov, Denmark, DB Schenker is once again on the track for growth. The new facility operates with 87 gates over an area of 90,000 m2 and complies with the most stringent environmental and sustainability standards. Integrated into DB Schenker’s European network, the site connects 430 land transport locations in Europe with a state-of-the-art system that is designed to accommodate the growing demand for cross-border shipments. From here, all kind of goods are delivered to more than 38 European countries every day. All distribution trucks run on HVO 100 Biodiesel, a 100% biofuel that reduces CO2 emissions by at least 90% and NOx-emissions by approximately 30%. “It’s a big milestone for us to participate in the expansion of our DB Schenker network in Europe,” says Henrik Dam Larsen, DB Schenker CEO in Denmark. “With this important step, DB Schenker has created capacity for growth in the key distribution sector and is thus now ready to develop other aspects of the business exponentially. We are starting an exciting journey this year, with a new logistics center and more new services, and we are also welcoming new customers and colleagues.”

Supply chain visibility platform project44 received an investment totaling $420 million from a syndicate led by Thoma Bravo, TPG and Goldman Sachs Asset Management. project44 had raised $202 million equity in May 2021 (at an approximate valuation of $1.2 billion), and has an annual run rate of $100+ million, 1,000+ team members, 1,000+ customers, and 1+ billion packages tracked annually. “Today, project44 is helping companies solve supply chain challenges ranging from inflationary pressure and lockdowns to unpredictable weather and bottlenecks at ports,” says Jett McCandless, Founder & CEO, project44. “Our growth over the past year speaks to these macroeconomic tailwinds and the competitive edge we can provide to our customers. With ongoing support from our investors, we can offer even more value to our customers and solidify our position as the global network that powers the future of the supply chain.”

QuickShift has launched its second fulfillment center in Bengaluru to cater to the surging demand, owing to the rapid growth in online transactions across marketplaces and brand portals. The sprawling 65,000 sq. ft. facility will give thrust to the company’s commitment of providing excellent services such as warehouse fulfillment, logistics, order management and last-mile delivery in the burgeoning markets of South India. “The growth in e-commerce and online transactions fuelled by the pandemic, has created a huge demand in Bengaluru. Now, this facility will help to ease and smoothen delivery services in this thriving market and will ensure the product reaches the right place, right hands, hassle-free with 100% accuracy. Same-day delivery today has made a tremendous impact on online businesses and we believe that by reducing the amount of time between making an order and receiving it, can greatly enhance customer satisfaction levels and experiences,” said Anshul Goenka, Founder and CEO, Quickshift Catering to a large number of D2C brands, QuickShift has already set up fulfillment centers in major metropolises like Bengaluru, Delhi-NCR and Mumbai. At this new center, all individual units would be completely scan-based to ensure tracking across the facility. Quickshift is investing in a new ‘Warehouse Management Software’ to ensure pre-assignment of storage locations and reduce order processing TATs. It aims to achieve order accuracy of 99.9% with this deployment. The new fulfillment center also has arrangements to store products needing ambient conditions viz cosmetics, perfumes, skincare products apart from the regular general merchandise like clothing, footwear, and electronics.

The spread of new variant Omicron, has disrupted the global supply chains causing the container prices to spike by 10-15% in January at all major ports of India. As per shipping companies, the Chennai port in the first week of January witnessed a rise of $2,100 (Rs 1,55,316) for a 20-foot dry container from about $1,880 in December. The average price of a 20-ft dry container in Mundra climbed to $1,950 in the first week of January from $1,763 in December. While the Nhava Sheva in Navi Mumbai rose to $1,900 against $1,775 in December. As per market officials, the price of a 40-ft dry container at Chennai Mundra and Nhava Sheva rose to $5,100, $4,900, and $4,850, respectively, from $4,780, $4,650, and $4,600, respectively, in December. Several factors including the widespread restocking by retailers in China ahead of the Lunar New Year starting February 1 and the country’s rising Covid-19 cases have accounted for the rise of container rates. “Container turnaround times at major ports in China are once again on the rise due to bottlenecks ports are facing because of rising Covid cases and logistical bottlenecks,” an official from Container xChange said.

The International Air Transport Association (IATA) released data for global air cargo markets showing slower growth in November 2021. Supply chain disruptions and capacity constraints impacted demand, despite economic conditions remaining favorable for the sector. 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 November 2019 which followed a normal demand pattern. • Global demand, measured in cargo tonne-kilometres (CTKs*), was up 3.7% compared to November 2019 (4.2% for international operations). This was significantly lower than the 8.2% growth seen in October 2021 (9.2% for international operations) and in previous months. * Capacity was 7.6% below November 2019 (-7.9% for international operations). This was relatively unchanged from October. Capacity remains constrained with bottlenecks at key hubs. • Economic conditions continue to support air cargo growth, however supply chain disruptions are slowing growth. “Air cargo growth was halved in November compared to October because of supply chain disruptions. All economic indicators pointed towards continued strong demand, but the pressures of labor shortages and constraints across the logistics system unexpectedly resulted in lost growth opportunities. Manufacturers, for example, were unable to get vital goods to where they were needed, including PPE. Governments must act quickly to relieve pressure on global supply chains before it permanently dents the shape of the economic recovery from COVID-19,” said Willie Walsh, IATA’s Director General.

KredX, an integrated financial services provider announced its vision of becoming a one-stop solution for supply chain financing for businesses. As a part of this rebranding, the company unveiled a new logo and a revamped website. The company has developed cutting-edge innovative products such as discounting of unpaid invoices etc. that has been fostering India’s fintech ecosystem. “Customers are the core of our business and as a customer-first company, we are committed to delivering innovative solutions as per their requirements,” said Manish Kumar, CEO and Co-founder of KredX. “We realised that our customers wanted us to take a deep-dive into supply chain finance and to become an end-to-end solutions provider that can cater to all aspects of supply chain financing and not just invoice discounting. Therefore, our rebranding initiative is a sincere effort to showcase this change and our commitment to the cause.” The company offers a host of customisable solutions ranging from enterprise finance to working capital and channel financing solutions for businesses, large and small, operating within the supply chain ecosystem. Recently, the company has also introduced a slew of new products catering to every player in the supply chain ecosystem – Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL) for all kinds of online and offline B2B payments, Import – Export Financing with licensing from IFSCA to launch India’s first ITFS platform, and Capvel for enterprises looking to optimise their cash flow while further strengthening the alternative fixed income instruments offerings for investors on the platform.

Safexpress has launched its ultra-modern Logistics Park in Gujarat. This state-of-the-art facility is strategically located Between Bhayla and Dholka Industrial Area on Ahmedabad Bhavnagar, National Highway – 47. On this occasion, senior dignitaries from Safexpress were present to launch the Safexpress Logistics Park at Gundi, Gujarat. These included S.K Jain, Vice President, Narayan Jayan, Associate Vice President– Gujarat, Manoj Mittal, Corporate Head, Cargo Relationship Management including others were present. Gujarat has emerged as an important economic and industrial hub in India. It is crucial from supply chain & logistics perspective. This new Logistics Park will serve as a nodal point for logistics and to provide for the transitional connective facility with all Indian states, especially with nearby districts and manufacturing hubs. Safexpress Logistics facility in Gundi, Gujarat is spread over a land area of 4 Lakh 30 thousand square feet, enabled with ultra-modern transshipment and 3PL facilities, which will boost storage & warehousing needs of this region while providing for faster connectivity. The new Logistics Park is cross-dock, equipped with loading and unloading of over 160 vehicles simultaneously. It has a column-less span of over 80 feet, which facilitates uninterrupted movement of goods within the facility. To enable all-weather loading & unloading of goods, the facility is equipped with 16 feet wide Cantilever Shed.

Federation of Indian Export Organisations signed a MoU with RebelCorp for the purpose of facilitating the individuals and MSMEs including the new exporters, enterprises and artisans have an online digital presence with the tools needed to do business in today’s market environment at a very affordable cost and without having any technical or coding knowledge with the help of RebelCorp’s No Code, All-in-one Easy to Use Website Builder. Saad Khan, Founder & COO, RebelCorp said, “Team RebelCorp is thrilled to be a part of this journey to help more than 30,000 members of FIEO in helping them create a digital identity that they can easily manage themselves and help them in growing their global customer base. The RebelCorp technology platform will enable all exporters to enter the next decade with all the tools they are going to need to do business digitally for 2022 and beyond.” Mr Akash Chaturvedi, Founder & CEO added that they would be designing special website templates exclusively for the exporter members of FIEO, keeping in mind their special requirement as exporters catering to the global market and need for integrated e-commerce module at very highly subsidised subscription plans.” Sujata Uchil, Regional Head, FIEO Western Region while signing the MoU mentioned that FIEO will be inviting RebelCorp to organise dedicated workshops and training programs for member exporters to encourage them to own and manage their own website with ease.

Seafrigo Group, the global specialist and leader in temperature-controlled food logistics, has announced that it will open a new dedicated facility in New Jersey in 2022. Seafrigo Group already offers a full spectrum of Food Safety Inspection Services for imports and exports into the USA and it’s part of the Group’s commitment to guarantee high quality standards to its customers. As an approved inspection center at the Port of NY/NJ it is able to partially or totally manage shipments across a range of different services including drayage from/to port or, storage (Chilled, Frozen and Ambient), Lab test requested USDA, special labelling for different foreign languages and repacking to ensure freight is secure for export onforwarding such as for e-Commerce customers Already operating from four facilities in the same area, the new state-of-the-art 85,000 sq foot facility will provide additional, fully automated capacity in order to cater to customer fulfilment requirements. Seafrigo Group will also install its own Dry Ice making production plant within the facility in order to be able to maintain all frozen products at the correct temperature.

Industrial and warehousing space absorption stood at 44 mn sq. ft in 2021 to include 35.1 mn sq. ft from Tier I cities and 8.6 mn sq. ft from Tier II & III cities. Inspite of Covid restrictions and lockdowns impacting construction activities, India witnessed a fresh supply of 45 mn sq. ft. in 2021 where 36 mn sq. ft was from Tier I cities and 8.9 mn sq. ft from Tier II & III cities, as per data released by International real estate advisory firm Savills India. Similar to 2020, 3PL and e-commerce sectors continued to drive warehousing demand accounting 62% of the total absorption in 2021, followed by manufacturing sector at 14%. Among the major cities in India, Delhi NCR led with the highest absorption in 2021 at 18% followed by Pune at 15%. Mumbai and Bangalore saw absorptions at 14% and 11% respectively, while tier II & tier III cities accounted for 20%.