Category Archives: Warehousing

EV maker Hero Electric has created a new hub-and-spoke logistics arrangement for serving its customers in the eastern and north-eastern region of the country. Under this, the company has set up a fully integrated storage and handling facility at Patna, which will serve as the hub, initially catering over 80 dealers and later expanded to spare and warranty parts. Besides, the new facility, which will cater to customers across Bihar, Jharkhand, Odisha, West Bengal and north-east region, will also train professionals ensuring the highest levels of after-sales service and solutions to the existing customers, it added. The EV maker already has two such strategic facilities, one each in Ludhiana (Punjab) and Hosur (Tamil Nadu). The setting of a hub at Patna is another step forward in Hero Electric”s plan for expansion to ensure maximum penetration across the length and breadth of the country. “With the doubling of capacity at the plant, and the three strategically located ‘hub and spoke’ distribution arrangements, we will now be able to reach the customers in the farthest corner of the country,” said Sohinder Gill, CEO, Hero Electric India. The company said the move is in line with the government’s vision to promote and foster the adoption of electric mobility in India. The company will further invest in R&D to introduce technologically advanced products that India needs in order to make the switch from internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles. The new ‘hub and spoke’ logistics arrangement has been put in place to fulfil customers’ choice of a particular model and colour in the shortest possible time, it said, adding that the hub has been created through a large, fully integrated storage and handling facility at …

Strategically located on Banur-Tepla road, NH205A, Safexpress has opened its state-of-the-art ultra-modern logistics park in Rajpura. Rajpura is a hub for various industries in India, and several well-known brands have their manufacturing plants located here. The development is on a land area of over 3.50 lakh square feet. The park is enabled with state-of-the-art transhipment and 3PL facilities. It will boost the industrial growth of this region. The park enables loading & unloading of over 100 vehicles simultaneously. Safexpress has taken special environment-friendly initiatives at the park by investing in rainwater harvesting system, developing a special green zone and using natural sunlight during the daytime to conserve energy. Supply chain & Logistics has a very crucial role to play in the development of numerous industries spread all over Punjab. Safexpress Logistics Park at Rajpura will help greatly in minimising the infrastructure gaps and serve the supply chain & logistics requirements of the entire Punjab region.

CEVA Logistics has further expanded its reach in South East Asia with the opening of a new warehouse located in Bien Hoa City, Dong Nai Province in Vietnam. Strategically located to the north east of Ho Chi Minh City, this new facility has a range of convenient connections to the Eastern Economic Zone as well as the city. The new facility will support customers’ storage and distribution needs including value-added services across various industries. CEVA Logistics’ multi-user distribution centre spans 10,000m² and is designed to provide storage and fulfillment solutions with value-added services such as co-packing, labelling, kitting and consolidation services for B2B and B2C distribution across Vietnam. The facility will act as CEVA Logistics’ main hub for south and central Vietnam, leveraging CEVA Logistics’ in-house warehouse management system capabilities and suite of solutions supporting global and local customers in a fast-growing environment. Elaine Low, CEVA Logistics’ Regional Managing Director South East Asia & Pacific Region, says, “This new facility allows us to continue to expand our capabilities in support of our customers’ growth in Vietnam complementing our air, ocean and ground services. It will provide customers with additional storage and various services to meet their rapidly expanding supply chain needs in the country. Its strategic location means customers will also be able to take advantage of new transport infrastructure coming to the region as economic growth gathers further momentum.”

Gujarat government has inked an agreement with the Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone (APSEZ) to explore possibilities of development of a dedicated air cargo complex and multi-modal logistics park in the state at VirochanNagar near Sanand, Gujarat,” Adani Ports and SEZ said in a regulatory filing. APSEZ informs that the aforesaid evaluation is subject to various regulatory and legal permissions/ approval and clearances including land acquisition. “We will announce any such development as and when any concrete decision is reached in such matters after evaluation,” the filing noted. Shares of APSEZ were trading 0.46 per cent higher at Rs 525.85 apiece on BSE. According to the state government, the project will be completed in a phased manner in three years as the work will commence within six months after obtaining required clearances and permissions. Spread across 1,450 acres, the park near Sanand will attract investments worth Rs50,000 crore

Crystal Logistic Cool Chain (Crystal) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Pluss Advanced Technologies (PLUSS) for the supply of indigenously developed precise temperature control boxes required of maintaining the effectiveness of the vaccine during transport. According to the MoU, PLUSS will supply its patented product – Celsure®, developed using its proprietary Phase Change Material technology, for transportation of the Covid-19 vaccines from the manufacturer to different parts of the country. Crystal specialises in refrigerated warehousing (cold storages), refrigerated transportation on a pan-India network. “Transportation of the vaccine while maintaining the precise temperature control is as important as the vaccine itself. This partnership is a very significant step towards ensuring the COVID-19 vaccine reaches its destinations in a way that maintains its efficacy,” said Samit Jain, MD, PLUSS. While, transporting pharmaceutical products, biological products or vaccines in particular, the need to maintain precise temperature ranges is very important and the efficacy of vaccine can be impacted if the temperature goes above or below the specified range. PLUSS, an India based material solutions company has designed and manufactured a precise temperature-control delivery solution that is required for vaccine delivery to the last mile. “Crystal Group has always been championing warehousing services and we see a major role for Crystal Logistic Cool Chain to play in transportation and storage of the COVID-19 vaccine. With PLUSS’ temperature control boxes we will ensure last mile delivery, to even the remotest parts of India,” said Akash Agarwal, CEO, Crystal Logistic Cool Chain.

Balmer Lawrie’s Temperature Controlled Warehouse (TCW) at Hyderabad, handled 2 lakh doses of Covaxin on January 21, 2021. The activities included unloading, storage, packaging, loading and despatch of Covaxin to different parts of the country as per the Government of India’s directive. Balmer Lawrie will continue to support Bharat Biotech and in turn the Government, in India’s mission to drive the world’s largest COVID-19 vaccination program. Balmer Lawrie is the only storage and logistics partner of Bharat Biotech in Hyderabad. The company has been Bharat Biotech logistics partner for other vaccines like pulse polio and BCG in the last two years. Balmer Lawrie, an end-to-end Logistics Infrastructure and Services provider, is one of the most trusted PSEs offering one-stop-shop solution to the temperature-controlled supply chain requirements of the nation with state-of-the-art TCWs and Temperature Controlled Vehicles (TCV) across the country. The Company has TCVs and TCWs at Medchal (Hyderabad) with storage capacity of 3500 pallet positions, Rai (Haryana) with 3800 pallet positions and Patalganga (Navi Mumbai) with 3840 pallet positions, adhering to international standards, besides other facilities. A new TCW is being set up at Bhubaneswar. The Company also has best-in-class Container Freight Stations at Kolkata, Mumbai and Chennai along with Warehouses at Kolkata and Coimbatore, Integrated Check Posts at Jogbani and Raxaul and a Multi-modal Logistics Hub at Visakhapatnam.

Welspun One Logistics Parks has announced the launch of its first Alternate Investment Fund (AIF) product ‘Welspun One Logistics Parks Fund I’. The fund, a SEBI-registered Category II AIF, is India’s first warehousing fund that provides domestic institutions, HNIs, family offices and NRIs, an opportunity to invest in the booming warehousing and industrial real estate sector in India. The sector, poised at an inflection point of growth, has exhibited significant interest from blue-chip investors globally and in India. Warehousing has been one of the few sectors to have demonstrated resilience and continued growth, despite the economic headwinds due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The fund has a target size of Rs500 crore with a tenure of four years and a hurdle rate of 15 per cent. It has a significant commitment from the Welspun promoter family office of Rs75 crore. The investment thesis of the fund is to acquire land parcels in high demand, pre-identified markets, and develop Grade-A warehousing parks which will be leased on a long-term basis to ‘AAA’ credit tenants from sectors such as e-commerce, FMCG, third-party logistics (3PLs), pharma and auto-ancillaries. On completion, these assets would be divested to institutional investors including private equity, pension and sovereign funds, REITs, etc. so as to provide an exit and deliver the targeted returns to the fund investors. On the launch of the AIF, BK Goenka, Chairman, Welspun Group said: “India’s logistics sector will continue to be the backbone of economic growth and warehousing is a key component of this ecosystem. Presently, domestic investors can only invest in this high growth sector by investing directly in warehouses. Through this AIF, the investor can reap the benefits of the returns by …

DSV Panalpina will develop an integrated logistics centre close to the airport, railway and motorway. The new site in Rosersberg north of Stockholm offers an entire range of transport and logistics services and will be ready for use by the end of 2021. The traffic around Stockholm is particularly dense during rush hours and in addition to its cross-docking terminal in southern Stockholm DSV will establish a logistics centre at the Northern part of the city. “With the new location, goods for local customers can be shuttled between the northern and southern sites and be distributed from either of the locations. We will to a great extent avoid most rush hour problems which will enable us to improve on both pick-up, delivery times and reliability,” says Magnus Malmqvist, Managing Director, DSV Road AB, Sweden. Driven by e-commerce, the demand for advanced warehouse solutions customised to meet the requirements of this segment continues to increase. “With the new site, we can offer automated robotic storage combined with narrow aisle racking and thus a very efficient and competitive utilisation of the general warehouse space. The capacity is almost twice that of a conventional warehouse,” says Ian Swinhoe, Managing Director, DSV Solutions AB, Sweden The warehouse will occupy approximately 68,000 sqm and feature an automated robotic storage system and narrow aisle racking systems and altogether provide twice the usual warehouse capacity. The location will also comprise a 5,000 sqm cross-docking area and office space. “We are always looking for sustainable solutions when building new sites. The buildings will be DGNB certified, 80% of the materials can be reused, solar panels on the roof will provide a large part of the electricity required for …

DP World has announced that the company has started construction of its Nhava Sheva Business Park (NSBP) Free Trade Zone (FTZ) in Mumbai. The Rs1000 crore DP World FTZ investment comes under the Hindustan Infralog (HIPL) joint venture between DP World (65 per cent) and the National Investment & Infrastructure Fund (NIIF) (35 per cent). This venture has been created to invest up to US$ 3 billion in ports, logistics and related sectors across the country. NSBP, a Special Purpose Vehicle, is a co-developer for the Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust (JNPT) SEZ. The FTZ is on a long-term Lease of 60 years and is located 5 kms away from JNPT. After signing a lease agreement in July and successfully acquiring all permissions & approvals, the company has started construction in full swing. The facility comprising of 1 million sq. ft covered storage area with other cargo handling facilities, modern equipment, commercial building, etc., will be completed in 12 to 14 months. The facility will be equipped with state-of-the-art infrastructure like specialised multi-product and temperature-controlled warehouses, and a container yard with ultra-modern digital & security systems. It will offer round-the-clock customs clearance and value-added services to provide customers a one-stop solution for all their consumption and trading needs. Its strategic proximity – to the largest container port in India, the upcoming Navi Mumbai International Airport and National Highways – provides quick and direct access to domestic and global markets. It will offer long-term advantages to domestic as well as global traders and manufacturers, by enabling reliable and fast movement of cargo. Rizwan Soomar, CEO & MD, Subcontinent, DP World says, “We are delighted to build the Free Trade Zone in such …

Ecom Express has announced a strategic investment worth of US$ 11 million in Bangladesh’s largest third-party e-commerce logistics (3PL) firm Paperfly. Through this investment, Ecom Express is entering Bangladesh marking its maiden venture outside India. After having covered the length and breadth of the country reaching over 1.2 billion people daily, Ecom Express is now looking at expanding into adjacent countries, starting with Bangladesh. T.A. Krishnan, CEO and Co-Founder, Ecom Express, says, “We see a lot of growth opportunities in adjacent markets and the current investment is one of the many things in the pipeline. We looked at multiple aspects before identifying Bangladesh for our first international venture. The market draws parallel with India in terms of growth and demography and we want to leverage our experience and domain expertise to enable high scalability growth and build a strategic backbone of e-commerce logistics in Bangladesh. Paperfly is quite similar to Ecom Express in its operations and we admire what the company has accomplished in the Bangladesh market. We look forward to enabling Paperfly to unlock new avenues for an enhanced third-party logistics and home delivery in the country.” The investments will be used by Paperfly towards transformation of logistics through intelligence driven automations and data sciences that would enable the company to meet the fast-growing demand for quality e-commerce logistics services in Bangladesh. It will further accelerate the company’s implementation of advanced supply chain and logistics processes, agile solutions in delivery and warehouse management, and other operational facets in the logistics and supply chain. With more than 167 million inhabitants and over 90 million internet users, the e-commerce industry in Bangladesh is emerging and has become one of the fastest …