Category Archives: Technology

Supply Chain tech-based startup, Elixia Tech Solutions Ltd, has secured USD 1 million in its Pre-Series A funding led by RVCF and other angel investors. With this investment, Elixia Tech is planning to scale up its presence in both domestic and international markets. Elixia Tech had introduced its first product in Vehicle Telematics space, followed by a completely digital and efficient suite of supply chain solutions, under the umbrella of Supply Chain Control Tower. It provides interlinked softbots for all segments of logistics, warehouse and inventory that control supply chain planning and execution to reduce costs and bring visibility for goods in-transit and provide actionable business intelligence using Machine Learning. Announcing the investment, Elixia Tech’s Founder, Sanket Sheth added, “This is a very important milestone. While supply chains have evolved from on-ground manual operations to something as advanced as digital twins, majority of companies are still stuck somewhere in between. With the world going through the impact of external changes, it has now become even more imperative to bring in real-time visibility, optimization & transparency in the supply chain. Thus, I believe that now is the right time and the right place to get the right products to make waves in the Indian as well as Global Logistics Market.”

BlueBoxSystems GmbH announces the launch of BlueBoxAir with an aim for worldwide unique system to retrieve up-to-the-minute data from over 130 airlines and more than 1,600 airports. This allows not only the answer to the question where a specific shipment is exactly at this moment, but also if it is delayed, why and where the delay has occurred. BlueBoxAir offers much more information: ATA/ETA, Chargeable weight, Delay, Airline, Aircraft type, Henning Flaspöler BlueBox: Paket#2-Content Osnabrück, 02.04.2021 Transshipment Port, Split Shipment are just a few examples of information you get per shipment. Additionally, one can create detailed reports based on all data: Get an up-to-the-minute overview of chargeable weight, performance of the respective airlines and/or tradelanes, best in class. The perfect basis to not only optimize your supply chains, but to establish the best supply chains.

DoKaSch Temperature Solutions has opened a new service station in India. It is located at GMR Hyderabad Air Cargo terminal. Strategically, the Hyderabad Airport location is a very important network station for the global supply of lifesaving medicines given Hyderabad’s status as a major pharma production and export hub. With the new location in India, DoKaSch strengthens its network in the region and globally. In turn, the solution provider contributes to a reliable cool chain for highly sensitive pharmaceutical products, especially during the pandemic. Hyderabad was chosen because of its outstanding importance for the global pharmaceutical industry. The city’s Genome Valley business district is a hub for research and development as well as manufacturing for pharma and lifesaving medicines. Several key pharmaceutical companies are located here and export their products to the USA, EU, Japan and other major countries across the globe. The upcoming Pharma City, an extensive industrial park for pharmaceuticals, will further increase the city’s importance.

Kale Info Solutions Inc’s recent study on the impact of digitisation at Atlanta Airport, Georgia, USA showed that by using digital tools the Atlanta Airport Community, which is powered by Kale’s digital solutions, had saved nine tonnes of CO2 from being processed since the beginning of 2021: the equivalent of planting more than 400 trees. The study demonstrated CO2 and fuel savings, as well as reduced labour costs, and close to 2,000 man-hours saved. They looked at 1,839 shipments, 389 trucks, and 680 tonnes of cargo going through Atlanta Airport for the first seven months of 2021. In total, more than 5,650 litres of fuel, USD 69,000 of labour costs, and 1,945 man-hours were saved by using Kale’s slot management tool to organise and facilitate the arrival and loading of trucks at the airport. Kale’s Single Window System used for airport and maritime community systems enables electronic communications between multiple supply chain stakeholders. “We want to add momentum to the global sustainability drive and be a major influencer for airports, ports, and supply chains across the world to go paperless, improve digital connectivity, and reduce carbon emissions,” said Amar More, President and Chief Executive Officer, Kale Info Solutions, USA.

GMR Hyderabad Air Cargo (GHAC), a division of GMR Air Cargo and Aerospace Engineering Limited today announced that it had become the first cargo terminal in India & South Asia region to handle a shipment using the next generation Envirotainer Releye® RLP air cargo containers. Envirotainer active heating and cooling containers are one of the preferred options for movement of highly temperature-sensitive air cargo shipments globally. Pharmaceuticals and vaccines need to be protected from the vagaries of temperature excursions at all times throughout the supply chain providing an unbroken cold chain, irrespective of location, time of day or mode of handling, this is the preferred choice. Envirotainer has introduced the RLP size for the first time in an active container in the industry. Releye® RLP is the next generation temperature-controlled air cargo container introduced by Envirotainer, offering superior performance, up to 50% higher space efficiency, advanced live monitoring, and control features with an unparalleled ability to maintain the temperature of shipment for up to 170 hours, the highest in the world today.

Drone delivery tech start-up, Skye Air Mobility recently confirmed its participation in the Drone Logistics Ecosystem as a new member and the first member from India. The drone delivery tech company primarily dealing on healthcare, e-commerce, and food logistics, as the lead operations member of the first consortium is to be given approval by DGCA. The company is spearheading the BVLOS (beyond visual line of sight) trials and the “Medicines from the Sky” trials for the Telangana government in collaboration with leading logistics delivery partners. The collaboration between Skye Air & Mobility & AirGo Design will enable Inclusivity for all players in the industry and provide an open Drone Logistics Ecosystem, and it will standardize globally to ensure the smooth and efficient movement of goods from the factory to the end customer globally. Furthermore, it will create a win-win situation for all participants in this emerging industry and the delivery and courier industry, and more importantly, the customers.

UPS is delivering COVID-19 vaccines with Matternet drones to a hospital in North Carolina. Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist medical center is believed to be the first in the country to receive COVID-19 vaccine deliveries by drone. This new initiative operated by UPS and its subsidiary, UPS Flight Forward expands Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist’s existing drone program, which was launched in July 2020. The World Health Organization estimates that up to 50 percent of vaccines are wasted globally every year, largely due to temperature control failure, Matternet CEO Andreas Raptopoulos said in a statement. When transporting the COVID-19 vaccines, the Matternet M2 drone is outfitted with a special cargo box that contains Cold Chain Technologies’ customized PCM Gel solution, a temperature-sensitive packaging mixture that maintains the COVID-19 vaccine at 2 degrees to 8 degrees Celsius (35.6 degrees to 46.4 degrees Fahrenheit).

Ethiopian Airlines Group has teamed up with Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) to launch a B767-300ER freighter conversion line in Ethiopia. Ethiopian Airlines Group chief executive Tewolde GebreMariam, said: “In line with our Diversified Aviation Business Model of Vision 2025, we have been increasing our cargo capacity in fleet, ground service infrastructure and cargo connectivity network. Accordingly, we are partnering with IAI, one of the global technology leaders in the Aerospace industry, in building a cargo conversion center in our MRO facilities in Addis Ababa Airport. The Cargo conversion center will commence its first business with three Ethiopian Airlines owned B-767-300 aircraft.” Yossi Melamed, IAI’s executive vice president and general manager of Aviation Group, said, “the partnership comes as the company witnesses a “sharp rise in demand for cargo aircraft” on the back of an acceleration in e-commerce demand due to the Covid-19 outbreak.”

RattanIndia Enterprises Ltd. (“REL”) an electric power distribution company announces a strategic investment in US based Matternet, the world’s most extensive urban drone logistics platform. With this investment, REL has forayed into the deep-tech Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) industry, which is set to transform logistics ecosystems worldwide. Matternet, based out of Silicon Valley counts Boeing, Mercedes-Benz, McKesson Ventures and Sony as investors. Anjali Rattan, Business Chairperson, RattanIndia Enterprises, said, “We are highly impressed with the team and credentials of Matternet. The partnership with Matternet is in line with our philosophy of investing in new age cleantech companies with tremendous growth potential. We share Government’s vision of Drone as a futuretech, which opens new vistas of business opportunities”.

ODeX, the fastest growing automated platform for the shipping industry, has recently announced a collaboration with USoft Multitech LLP for VGM submission and Form 13 integration on ODeX platform. Increasingly being recognized as a one-stop solution for the entire shipping industry, to receive documents and make payments electronically, ODeX’s joint efforts with USoft Multitech is expected to assist over 200 plus shipping lines and NVOCC’s with ease of data submission. Commenting on the alliance with USoft, Liji Nowal, Director, ODeX , said, “It is our constant endeavour to improve and enhance the experience of our esteemed customers and with this venture we have added another layer of convenience, efficiency and savings for them. At ODeX we are determined to bring the use of technology for enhanced shipping operations, which leads to enhancing efficiencies significantly for the entire shipping industry. “USoft aims to provide easy, smooth, automated and economical solutions to custom brokers, freight forwarders, and other logistics service providers,” said, Uday Jhaveri, Designated Partner, USoft Multitech. And in keeping with this, “We have collaborated with ODeX for the efficient and automated online filling of VGM and Form 13. We believe that this collaboration will significantly help streamline the workflow process,” he further added.