Category Archives: Technology

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.

cargo.one announces the launch of a real-time data and analytics product called cargo.one360. This will provide cargo.one partner airlines with unique insights to maximize their sales performance in digital channels. cargo.one360 helps airlines to accelerate the airlines’ adoption of best practices in digital sales, delivers valuable customer insights, and reflects market changes and trends to facilitate better tactical and strategic commercial decision-making. As the Boston Consulting Group recently noted, data-based steering can boost net profits by up to 12 percent in the first year. While an increasing shift towards digital sales predates the pandemic, Covid-19 has supercharged this trend: volatile schedules, constrained capacity, and disrupted pricing mechanisms have sent customers seeking transparency on offers, and instantly confirmed bookings.

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.

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.

The transnational project “South Baltic Transport Loops” (SBTL), supported by the European Union and initially developed by Hamburg Port Consulting (HPC) recently held its closing conference in Copenhagen. Aimed at assisting in the development of smaller and medium-sized ports in the region, a number of significant new sea connections have resulted. The main focus of the partners in the project, the ports of Elblag, Karlshamn, Mukran and Roenne, and the Klaipeda Shipping Research Centre is developing and implementing new regular services and ship connections for container, bulk and general cargo transport, and ferry services. Attention is also being placed on improving the intermodal hinterland connections of the ports. Representatives of the project partners presented their results at the closing conference in Copenhagen on 28 September. HPC developed the project in 2016, applied for funding and has been coordinating it since 2018. Dr Olaf Zeike, Senior Consultant at HPC and the project manager in charge, takes positive stock: “With the activities promoted by the SBTL project, the course has been set for sustainable development of the partner ports in the southern Baltic Sea region. Despite Corona-related delays, we can be proud of the team effort that has been achieved across the countries involved in the project.” The list of innovations and improvements is impressive

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.”

The Application Programming Interface (API) solution for Air Canada Cargo customers is live now. By being directly integrated with Air Canada Cargo, customers will be able to reduce the amount of time taken to complete a booking or AWB, resulting in improved efficiency. This API solution will improve efficiency for customers by manual interactions such as quoting, booking, scheduling, and track and trace requests. It will also improve connectivity and collaboration, as well as the overall customer experience by connecting different systems and processes to offer an enhanced booking flow. “We are thrilled to implement this important technology for Air Canada Cargo and are excited about the role it will play in advancing the industry toward the digitization of processes, and indeed our business as a whole. This will be beneficial for Air Canada Cargo’s valued customers who will be able to take advantage of the many benefits this API will provide,” said Matthieu Casey, senior director, Global Sales and Revenue Optimization.

DB Schenker and Lufthansa Cargo became news when a cargo flight flew on rotation between Europe and Asia, whose fuel requirements are completely covered by Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF). To continue their contribution towards a greener future, DB Schenker and Lufthansa Cargo extend their weekly CO2-free freighter flights between Frankfurt and Shanghai. The joint mission will be continued throughout the entire winter flight schedule until March 2022. Now Nokia has signed up for the initiative. Every week, the global telecommunication network provider will avoid greenhouse gas emissions by using the world’s only freighter flight 100 percent covered by Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF), produced from renewable waste, such as used cooking oils. The fuel requirement for the flight rotation from Frankfurt (FRA) to Shanghai (PVG) and back is covered entirely by SAF. This saves around 174 tons of conventional kerosene every week. During the summer flight schedule 2021, the initiative successfully achieved a net reduction of 20,250 tons of greenhouse gases (CO2e). In the upcoming winter flight schedule, from the end of October 2021 to the end of March 2022, another 14,175 tons are expected.

FedEx Express in its ‘Future is Now’ study’ offers insights into India’s readiness to embrace the future. India is at the cusp of change, with the pandemic accelerating the country’s digital transformation. From healthcare to education, banking to manufacturing, technology is transforming every sector, giving rise to a future full of possibilities. According to the study, which surveyed more than 4,000 respondents in 18 cities, 79% stated that India was prioritizing technology like Artificial Intelligence, the Internet of Things, and Blockchain to deliver a future-ready world. Approximately 83% believed technology they’d seen in science fiction movies is either already a part of their daily lives, or likely to be in the next few years. Mohamad Sayegh, Vice President, India Operations for FedEx Express, said, “At FedEx we have a legacy of innovation spanning several decades, and we constantly innovate to create solutions for the world in responsible and resourceful ways. With the shift towards digital transformation accelerating, innovations and cutting-edge technologies with a focus on sustainability are poised to drive the future of business. Further progress in Blockchain, IoT, Automation, and Robotics is not only going to lead the way for the logistics industry, but all industries in the future.” The ‘Future is Now’ study focused on three main views: being dynamic, how India is open to experimentation and innovation, and to what degree the country is sustainability conscious. The findings indicated that future success will likely rely on businesses structuring their approach around these three outlooks.

Cargolux introduced sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) program in the airline’s services and takes Cargolux’s sustainability engagement one step further, cementing the company’s commitment to decarbonizing its operations. The airline aims to being carbon neutral by 2050 and has acted to be fully compliant with upcoming proposed European regulations and offsetting schemes. This new milestone is an additional step in the company’s endeavor to reduce CO2 emissions and lays the foundation for a customer sustainability program, that will offer more sustainable options for their transportation requirements. “Our commitment to Corporate Social Responsibility is intrinsic to our business model and the introduction of SAF in our operation is a significant step forward for Cargolux. We are pleased to be part of an industry-wide initiative to make our business, our industry and our world more sustainable”, says Richard Forson, President and CEO, Cargolux.