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Logistics and Supply Chain Trends to Monitor in 2016

Writing about trends is tough. Many trends are slow moving trains. Sometimes few people question that the trend is underway, they just want to know when it will impact them. The other thing about making predictions, is ideally a prediction should be specific enough and testable enough that after the fact someone can look back and see whether it was right or wrong.

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Supply Chain

Boosting Efficiency with Carrier Management

Article | August 17, 2023

Carrier management systems have undergone much evolution thanks to the exponential development in shipping and logistics technology. Although its primary mission was to assign, control, and track shippers and carriers, the industry's post-pandemic trends have reflected a variety of new best practices. Traditionally, many carrier management systems were manually operated and made extensive use of paper processes that didn’t provide perks like real-time data, reporting functionalities, or the visibility to make informed decisions. Today’s carrier management systems comprise these features and go even further. They offer tangible improvements and advantages that impact the bottom line. Here are three things you should look for in a carrier management solution to make sure your digital transformation goes as well as possible. Support for a Diverse Range of Carriers To effectively manage your carriers, it’s essential to be able to keep up with technologies used by everything from small to large carriers. The ability to support modern technologies and EDI that are routinely used by larger carriers while also offering online portals and mobile-readiness is integral. A platform that supports a diverse range of carrier sizes helps streamline processes and eliminate friction between operational groups. It also offers all carriers on the system the ability to stay in the loop and access the same data for load and freight boards to keep the freight moving. Performance Mapping Capabilities The ability to track performance and keep an eye on crucial metrics is an important consideration for a carrier management system. Real-time data bolsters carrier relationships and equips you with the ability to control and manage factors like load capacity, location of your fuel and fleet, and intimate teams on issues like inventory, sourcing, forecasting, and dispatching in real-time. Not only does this positively impact shippers, but carriers as well. With an overview into their own performance, carriers are empowered to course-correct and respond to sudden hurdles in time. Shippers must be able to get access to the following metrics in order to have the upper hand in rate negotiations with carriers: On-time performance Data accuracy Compliance Status update timelines Collaboration-Friendly Platforms A flexible solution that allows shippers to work collaboratively ensures strategic flexibility. Monitoring the performance across different modes including truckload, intermodal, and LTL as well as parcel consolidators and shippers. Today, carrier management systems and other digital solutions are able to integrate these modes and offer superior capabilities when it comes to receiving updates from all modes in real-time. When combined with cloud-based solutions, carrier management can take efficiency to a whole new level. To Conclude The success of your supply chain and company depends on your partnerships with your carriers, which can also have a significant impact on your ROI, particularly as the market continues to transform further towards third party partnerships. In order to foster carrier performance, carrier management should be a significant part of your strategy.

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Warehousing and Distribution

Reducing Risk in Your Global Supply Chain

Article | July 11, 2023

The complex, hyper-connected nature of global supply chains makes them extremely vulnerable to a range of risk factors. In 2019, corporations experienced new levels of volatility in commodity and energy pricing, interest and exchange rates, and general international trading conditions. In 2020, things are likely to remain rocky. Research shows that many businesses, despite being forewarned about these risks, are still tending to be reactive rather than proactive in their approach.

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Warehousing and Distribution

A New Mobility Landscape Is Coming (but not fully yet)

Article | July 17, 2023

A sector which has been heavily disrupted in the last years is the mobility sector. Following decades of "car being king", we have reached a saturation and mentality shift. People want to be more healthy and more ecological (sustainable) and also avoid losing precious time in traffic jams. As a result a whole eco-system of companies has been created to find solutions for this. This article tries to provide an overview of the trends in this market, with a focus on the Belgian market. First of all when looking at mobility and the offers on the market it is important to make a distinction between private and professional displacements. This last category can additionally be split up between the daily commute and professional displacements during working hours. When looking at private mobility (the so-called B2C market), the car remains an important pilar. Especially for families with (young) children it remains difficult to do everything without a car. Obviously, there is a trend to be more sustainable, which is reflected in more sales of hybrid and electric vehicles, more usage of (e)bikes and (e)steps and an increasing usage of shared mobility options (like shared bikes, steps or cars). Statistics from China, which is already the furthest in the post-Covid era, show that most mobility options have lost terrain (compared to pre-Covid), with the exception of the car and bike. The car, although still not very sustainable, is still the most flexible and has the least chance for contamination. Especially the flexibility will become more important as office hours also become more flexible. Additionally due to the increased home working, in some cities traffic jams have considerably reduced, making room again for more people to switch back from public transport to their car. Additionally there is the bike. This is a very flexible, individual, healthy and sustainable mode of transportation that many have discovered during the crisis. Furthermore with ebikes becoming more and more common, bigger distances can be covered without needing to be in excellent physical shape. The professional mobility (i.e. B2B(2C) market) is however even more in evolution, as governments provide all kinds of fiscal incentives to change the mobility habits of employees and employers. Furthermore employers want to offer more flexibility (in working hours, in working location and in mobility options) and less administrative burden to their employees, allow them to profit from those fiscal incentives (resulting in an increased buying power) and become more sustainable. As a result a variety of new offers to be more flexible and optimally profit of those extra-legal advantages has come to the market. This makes it very complex for an employer to find his way in this tangle. Obviously, every company is unique, with multiple axes determining which mobility options are possible and best suited for the company: The location of the company, i.e. Is the company situated in a city with a lot of mobility difficulties (traffic jams)? Is the company situated near public transport options? Is the company situated in a city where a lot of shared mobility options are available? Are the employees typically living close or far away from the company? Which kind of parking facilities does the company have? Does the company have multiple offices geographically spread over the country? The type of work done at the company, i.e. Does the work require physical presence at a specific location (i.e. time- and location-dependent work)? Is remote work possible? Does the work require a lot of displacements to customers (and/or partners, suppliers…) during working hours? The type of employees working at the firm, i.e. Are the employees typically living close or far away from the company? What is the age distribution of the employees within the company (e.g. lot of young people, lot of employees with children…)? How strong is the war for talent for the desired employees, forcing the employer to offer a lot of extra advantages to attract people? The size of the company, i.e. a bigger company has the means to setup more complex mobility plans/options, as they often have dedicated people within HR specialized in these setups. This makes it difficult to define a "one-solution-that-fits-all" approach, but rather a more tailored approach is required, with some degree of customization per customer. Some examples: Promoting commuting by bike via bike leasing and a bike allowance is mainly interesting for companies with employees not living too far away from the company and not requiring doing customer or other professional displacements during working hours. Additionally it depends on the profile of the employees and the safety of the trajectory between the home of the employees and the office. Note that 54% of Belgian employees does not want to use a bike to come to work, with the main reason people finding it too dangerous. At the other hand a similar percentage of employees indicates they would be very interested in options like bike leasing and bike allowances. Shared mobility options are of course only interesting in the bigger cities, where those options are also strongly available. As a result incorporating those options in a mobility plan does not make much sense when the employer is situated in a location where those options are (almost) not available. The same applies for "multi-modal transportation" (and the associated multi-modal route planners), which are also only interesting in the larger cities where multiple mobility options are readily available. Furthermore a company introducing this multi-modal mobility concept should be able to put a whole change management trajectory in place, as it requires discovering new mobility options and changing existing commute habits (for most employees the commute is a routine activity, which they do in "auto-pilot") Setting up a Cafeteria plan or Mobility budget can be quite complex, making the costs and effort, especially for smaller firms, not always outweigh the benefits. New digital solutions can provide a (partial) solution to this, but they typically do not take away the uncertainties for employers to deal with something they do not fully understand. Electric cars are still difficult for people doing large distances on a regular basis, due to their limited action radius and the too low number of charging stations (especially in the South of Belgium). On the other hand for companies where employees come to the office the whole day and that have the required space to setup charging stations, this can be a very interesting option both fiscally and ecologically. Collective organized transport is typically only economically viable for large companies, for which a large number of employees are coming from the same region. Platforms exist to manage this cross-employers, but this raises a number of other concerns and reduces the added-value. Options like "no-mobility" (i.e. home working) and "less-mobility" (flex-offices / co-working places) depend on the work culture and the type of work to be done. For some companies the shift to homeworking during the Covid-confinements was already a serious stretch, which will take years to get fully absorbed. Introducing new concepts like "flex-offices" (co-working places) is probably a bridge too far, especially as there is still a lot of unclarity of who will be paying (and what the fiscal implications are) for the office space (employee paying out of his mobility budget or employer paying) and even more for the added-services like drinks, snacks, catering… … In general employers have a big interest to do something around mobility, but when having to deal with all complexity (fiscal and operational concerns like policies, load administration…), many employers drop out. Employers fear especially all exceptions, as they often represent hidden costs and lot of extra effort. E.g. what happens if an employee leaves the company? What if someone is fired? What about the liability in case of accidents/theft/vandalism? What will be the exact total cost for me as an employer? How do I need to manage VAT? What is the exact value of benefit of all kind for the employee? Which proofs do I need to collect for the tax authorities? Does it fit with the agreements made in the collective labor agreement of the joint committee?… These questions mainly originate from the existing unclarities in the fiscal regime, which is due to the fact that many HR managers are not yet acquainted with these new offers, the fact that new mobility offers are created continuously (making it impossible for the government to stay up-to-date) and the continuous change in regulation (e.g. "Mobility Budget", "Company Car Legislation"…). This lack of maturity in the industry puts a break on the adoption and this maturation might take years to unfold. E.g. meal vouchers took 40 years to arrive to a market penetration of 50%, while this is a much simpler HR product than most mobility options. Until this maturity level is reached, resulting in more well-known, better integrated, more frictionless and cheaper offers, the traditional company mobility options of reimbursing public transport subscriptions and salary cars will remain mostly used. Those are still most widely known by HR managers, are fiscally still very interesting and fit well the needs and desires of most employees. This last argument is important, as no mobility option will become mainstream unless employees are happy with it. This means the mobility option should not only give a solution for "Professional displacements" but also for the "Private displacements" (in evenings, weekend, holidays…), often with the whole family. Nonetheless we see the market is maturing and transforming, as millions of euros of VC money are invested in promising new start-ups. Almost all of those start-ups are not profitable yet but given the market potential a few of them could grow out to become unicorns. Today’s students are more acquainted and open for these new mobility services, so likely some of them will become mainstream in the next decade. Today a whole eco-system of young start-ups and existing incumbent players are offering mobility services, like Car leasing companies: Alphabet, ALD Automotive, ING Lease, KBC Autolease, LeasePlan, ARVAL… Car rental companies: Sixt, Avis, Dockx, Hertz, Rent a car… Car sharing companies (in the form of cars that can be easily used for individual trips up to platforms facilitating sharing your private car or co-driving): Cambio, Poppy, Partago, Zipcar, Cozywheels, Getaround, Dégage, Share Now, Stapp.in, Tapazz, BlaBlaCar, Klaxit, TooGethr, Carpool (Mpact)… Taxi services: Uber, Wave-a-Cab, Taxi.eu, Heetch, Bolt, Free Now, Allocab… Bike leasing companies: Ctec, O2O, Joulebikes, KBC-Fietsleasing, B2Bike, Cyclis, Lease-a-bike, Cyclobility, Cycle Valley… (e)bike, (e)step and scooter sharing & renting: Lime, Dott, Bird, Felyx, Scooty, Villo!, Billy Bike, Mobit, Blue Bike, Swapfiets, Spinlister… Fuel card and Electric charging card issuing companies: Network Fuel Card, Modalizy, Fleetpass, Belgian Fuel Card (BFC), XXImo, EDI (Electric by D’Ieteren), New Motion, Plugsurfing, Blue Corner, Luminus, EVBOX, Cenergy, Eneco, Dats24, EV-Point,… Parking companies (either companies providing public parkings or platforms to share individual and company parkings): Yellowbrick, Indigo, QPark, BeMobile, BePark, Pasha, ParkOffice… Companies helping to define mobility plan and manage setup of policies and mobility plans/budgets: Social Secretariats (SD Worx, Partena, Securex, Acerta, Liantis…), Payflip, Mbrella, MaestroMobile (Espaces-Mobilités)… MaaS (Mobility as a Service) players: Modalizy, Skipr, Optimile, Olympus, Be-Mobile, MyMove, Vaigo (Eurides), Moveasy… (Inter-modal) Route planners: Google Maps, Coyote, Waze, Mappy, Jeasy, Skipr, Stoomlink… Co-working place companies (either companies providing co-working places or platforms allowing to reserve spaces over multiple co-working places): Bar d’Office, Workero, Cowallonia, Burogest, Regus, Welkin, Meraki, Frame 21, Fosbury & Sons, Start it, Coffice, Spaces, House of Innovation, Ampla House, WeWork, Betacowork, Startbloc, SilverSquare… Expense management solutions for local and international (mobility) expenses: Rydoo, XXImo, MobileXpense, N2F, Certify, SAP Concur, Travel Perk, Trippeo, SpenDesk, Splendid, Declaree, SRXP, Dicom, WebExpenses, Notilus, Expensify, ExpensePath, Abacus, ExpensePoint… It will be interesting to see which of those companies will still be around in 10 years (i.e. which of the start-up have sufficient funding to bridge the long-time gap to profitability) and to which form they have evolved. Clearly regular pivoting will be required as this market is in full evolution.

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Software and Technology

Put Strategy First When Pondering Automation for Your DC

Article | April 19, 2022

The unsurprising investment eagerness of venture capital funds is manifesting in an automation tech glut in the distribution center space. Motivated by enabling trends like labor and land shortages, DCs are amid an automation transformation. Never has defining an automation strategy been more important. There’s no shortage of VC cash available to logistics tech startups With a brightly shining spotlight centered on supply chains for the past two years, it’s no surprise that total funding in logistics startups has seen a dramatic increase – growing at over 70% CAGR (Compound Annual Growth Rate). Logistics technology startups raked in over $25 billion in the first three quarters of 2021. That’s more than half of the total amount raised in the whole of 2020, and the incentives for continuing investment persist. The rise of the of the “micro” DC “Micro” is a relative term. The size of a micro fulfillment center (MFC) can range from 5,000 to 50,000 square feet. Those reduced square footages allow location in dense urban areas, typically within 40 miles of most of their intended customers. In addition, smaller footprints lead to reduced rents compared to a standard customer fulfillment center (CFC), and the proximity to consumers makes for lower final mile delivery costs. It’s no wonder that MFCs accounted for more than half of the logistics real estate leasing activity in the third quarter of 2021. The “urban logistics” trend is fueling demand for these highly automated, smaller locations. Vertical logistics integration grows ever more fashionable among retailers It’s a very “in” thing right now, these acquisitions and partnerships, and they won’t be going out of fashion soon. For example, American Eagle took in Airterra and its parcel optimization tech and third-party logistics (3PL) provider Quiet Logistics. Target started early. They bought Grand Junction, a software platform that helps retailers determine the best delivery method and track carrier performance, in 2017. Their 2020 acquisition of Deliv brought with it same-day delivery routing technology that they’re now applying to their 2021 purchase, on-demand delivery service Shipt. Target uses Delivs’ tech to generate more efficient routes for Shipt. Kroger has partnered with UK’s e-grocery specialist Ocado to build automated CFCs across the US and expand their retail footprint. The first CFC opened last spring in Ohio and their second in Florida later that year. They plan to open 20 CFCs over the next three years. “The proliferation of DC automation solutions and modalities, the rise of MFCs in high-density urban areas, the increasingly automated vertical integration of logistics, and the need to rapidly expand order fulfillment capacity have all, in combination, advanced the need for and application of clearly defined strategies concerning the implementation of automation technology. Do not operate without one.” Vikas Argod, Principal, Supply Chains Operations practice at Chainalytics Coping with shortages in warehouse space and labor availability Third quarter, 2021 US demand for industrial real estate exceeded supply by 41 million square feet. This pushed the national vacancy rate in the fourth quarter down to a record 3.7% in the Cushman & Wakefield US National Industrial MarketBeat report for Q4 2021. Who knows what the record might be when the Q1 2022 report breaks in a few weeks? On the labor side, the December 2021 US unemployment rate was 3.9%, lower than in December 2019 (3.6%) yet reflecting a tighter labor market. Labor force participation rates are at 61.9%, nearly 2% below February 2020 levels, because of lingering effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. The rising wages and signing bonuses of the past year offer silent testimony to the ongoing constraints in today’s labor market. Both trends will remain with us for the near- and mid-term, making an automation strategy a necessary part of your DC operations as you attempt to mitigate the effects of both. In addition, warehouse labor shortages are most pronounced in markets with high distribution center densities – Greater Memphis, In-land Empire, Allentown, PA, et al.) Building the capability to rapidly open DCs at scale No other factor drives home the need for a coherent DC automation strategy like this one. Let’s explore it with an example. We’ll call this “A Tale of Two Companies.” One jumped on the automation bandwagon without hesitation – not a bad thing – but applied no strategic groundwork. The other is, well, Amazon. Company one responded to increasing demand by creating DCs in their usual, strategically located fashion. However, with automation, the lack of a logical strategy led to adopting “the best that money could buy.” So, while these DCs work fine on their own (most of the time), each employs unique implementations from a variety of vendors, with little to no overlap of methods, capabilities, and management procedures between DCs. It’s functional, but a needlessly complicated hodgepodge. On the other hand, it definitely looks like Amazon has a standardized automation strategy. One that can easily adapt to exploit the individual physical specifications of any space. This makes it simple to arrive and equip it with a standard package of automation solutions. That’s probably how Amazon blanketed the US with over 400 new DCs in just the last two years. They waste no time or money on repeating unnecessary decisions along the way. Now, we all can’t have the resources of an Amazon. However, the rise of on-demand warehousing companies like Stord and Flexe allow organizations to dramatically decrease the cycle time of standing up additional fulfillment capability. Developing an automation strategy will feel familiar. It begins with benchmarking, order profiling, current performance drivers, EBIT targets, and theoretical evaluations of newer technology options. All this leads to the creation of a decision framework for DC automation. The goal here is achieving alignment among the leadership on critical capabilities to focus on. These include rapid fulfillment, labor shortage, capacity constraints, safety challenges, or sustainability. Those that commit to this process will start slowly but finish with a strategy that will underpin thousands of decisions and enable sustained rapid growth. If, in the end, you decide that automation is not right for your operation, that’s a perfectly valid strategy as well. So long as you have a method to evaluate all of your options, and you base your decision on cost-service-sustainability trade-offs, the right strategy for your organization may be no automation at all. There’s no point in chasing shiny robotic objects if automation makes little sense‌. The rise of automation and the multitude of technologies to choose from require the development of a strategic decision framework. Contact us and see how Chainalytics – an NTT DATA company – can be your guide in developing this critical part of your foundation for growth. Our top supply chain talent, enabled by proven, leading-edge digital assets – tools, methods, and content – deliver actionable insights and measurable outcomes to some of today’s largest and most complex supply chains.

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Supply Chain

Inventory Management Best Practices for Supply Chain Distribution

Article | August 17, 2023

Carrier management systems have undergone much evolution thanks to the exponential development in shipping and logistics technology. Although its primary mission was to assign, control, and track shippers and carriers, the industry's post-pandemic trends have reflected a variety of new best practices. Traditionally, many carrier management systems were manually operated and made extensive use of paper processes that didn’t provide perks like real-time data, reporting functionalities, or the visibility to make informed decisions. Today’s carrier management systems comprise these features and go even further. They offer tangible improvements and advantages that impact the bottom line. Here are three things you should look for in a carrier management solution to make sure your digital transformation goes as well as possible. Support for a Diverse Range of Carriers To effectively manage your carriers, it’s essential to be able to keep up with technologies used by everything from small to large carriers. The ability to support modern technologies and EDI that are routinely used by larger carriers while also offering online portals and mobile-readiness is integral. A platform that supports a diverse range of carrier sizes helps streamline processes and eliminate friction between operational groups. It also offers all carriers on the system the ability to stay in the loop and access the same data for load and freight boards to keep the freight moving. Performance Mapping Capabilities The ability to track performance and keep an eye on crucial metrics is an important consideration for a carrier management system. Real-time data bolsters carrier relationships and equips you with the ability to control and manage factors like load capacity, location of your fuel and fleet, and intimate teams on issues like inventory, sourcing, forecasting, and dispatching in real-time. Not only does this positively impact shippers, but carriers as well. With an overview into their own performance, carriers are empowered to course-correct and respond to sudden hurdles in time. Shippers must be able to get access to the following metrics in order to have the upper hand in rate negotiations with carriers: On-time performance Data accuracy Compliance Status update timelines Collaboration-Friendly Platforms A flexible solution that allows shippers to work collaboratively ensures strategic flexibility. Monitoring the performance across different modes including truckload, intermodal, and LTL as well as parcel consolidators and shippers. Today, carrier management systems and other digital solutions are able to integrate these modes and offer superior capabilities when it comes to receiving updates from all modes in real-time. When combined with cloud-based solutions, carrier management can take efficiency to a whole new level. To Conclude The success of your supply chain and company depends on your partnerships with your carriers, which can also have a significant impact on your ROI, particularly as the market continues to transform further towards third party partnerships. In order to foster carrier performance, carrier management should be a significant part of your strategy.

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Warehousing and Distribution

Top 10 Warehouse Automation Tools to Optimize Supply Chain Performance

Article | July 11, 2023

The complex, hyper-connected nature of global supply chains makes them extremely vulnerable to a range of risk factors. In 2019, corporations experienced new levels of volatility in commodity and energy pricing, interest and exchange rates, and general international trading conditions. In 2020, things are likely to remain rocky. Research shows that many businesses, despite being forewarned about these risks, are still tending to be reactive rather than proactive in their approach.

Read More
Warehousing and Distribution

Role of Warehouse Management Systems to Drive Productivity & Accuracy

Article | July 17, 2023

A sector which has been heavily disrupted in the last years is the mobility sector. Following decades of "car being king", we have reached a saturation and mentality shift. People want to be more healthy and more ecological (sustainable) and also avoid losing precious time in traffic jams. As a result a whole eco-system of companies has been created to find solutions for this. This article tries to provide an overview of the trends in this market, with a focus on the Belgian market. First of all when looking at mobility and the offers on the market it is important to make a distinction between private and professional displacements. This last category can additionally be split up between the daily commute and professional displacements during working hours. When looking at private mobility (the so-called B2C market), the car remains an important pilar. Especially for families with (young) children it remains difficult to do everything without a car. Obviously, there is a trend to be more sustainable, which is reflected in more sales of hybrid and electric vehicles, more usage of (e)bikes and (e)steps and an increasing usage of shared mobility options (like shared bikes, steps or cars). Statistics from China, which is already the furthest in the post-Covid era, show that most mobility options have lost terrain (compared to pre-Covid), with the exception of the car and bike. The car, although still not very sustainable, is still the most flexible and has the least chance for contamination. Especially the flexibility will become more important as office hours also become more flexible. Additionally due to the increased home working, in some cities traffic jams have considerably reduced, making room again for more people to switch back from public transport to their car. Additionally there is the bike. This is a very flexible, individual, healthy and sustainable mode of transportation that many have discovered during the crisis. Furthermore with ebikes becoming more and more common, bigger distances can be covered without needing to be in excellent physical shape. The professional mobility (i.e. B2B(2C) market) is however even more in evolution, as governments provide all kinds of fiscal incentives to change the mobility habits of employees and employers. Furthermore employers want to offer more flexibility (in working hours, in working location and in mobility options) and less administrative burden to their employees, allow them to profit from those fiscal incentives (resulting in an increased buying power) and become more sustainable. As a result a variety of new offers to be more flexible and optimally profit of those extra-legal advantages has come to the market. This makes it very complex for an employer to find his way in this tangle. Obviously, every company is unique, with multiple axes determining which mobility options are possible and best suited for the company: The location of the company, i.e. Is the company situated in a city with a lot of mobility difficulties (traffic jams)? Is the company situated near public transport options? Is the company situated in a city where a lot of shared mobility options are available? Are the employees typically living close or far away from the company? Which kind of parking facilities does the company have? Does the company have multiple offices geographically spread over the country? The type of work done at the company, i.e. Does the work require physical presence at a specific location (i.e. time- and location-dependent work)? Is remote work possible? Does the work require a lot of displacements to customers (and/or partners, suppliers…) during working hours? The type of employees working at the firm, i.e. Are the employees typically living close or far away from the company? What is the age distribution of the employees within the company (e.g. lot of young people, lot of employees with children…)? How strong is the war for talent for the desired employees, forcing the employer to offer a lot of extra advantages to attract people? The size of the company, i.e. a bigger company has the means to setup more complex mobility plans/options, as they often have dedicated people within HR specialized in these setups. This makes it difficult to define a "one-solution-that-fits-all" approach, but rather a more tailored approach is required, with some degree of customization per customer. Some examples: Promoting commuting by bike via bike leasing and a bike allowance is mainly interesting for companies with employees not living too far away from the company and not requiring doing customer or other professional displacements during working hours. Additionally it depends on the profile of the employees and the safety of the trajectory between the home of the employees and the office. Note that 54% of Belgian employees does not want to use a bike to come to work, with the main reason people finding it too dangerous. At the other hand a similar percentage of employees indicates they would be very interested in options like bike leasing and bike allowances. Shared mobility options are of course only interesting in the bigger cities, where those options are also strongly available. As a result incorporating those options in a mobility plan does not make much sense when the employer is situated in a location where those options are (almost) not available. The same applies for "multi-modal transportation" (and the associated multi-modal route planners), which are also only interesting in the larger cities where multiple mobility options are readily available. Furthermore a company introducing this multi-modal mobility concept should be able to put a whole change management trajectory in place, as it requires discovering new mobility options and changing existing commute habits (for most employees the commute is a routine activity, which they do in "auto-pilot") Setting up a Cafeteria plan or Mobility budget can be quite complex, making the costs and effort, especially for smaller firms, not always outweigh the benefits. New digital solutions can provide a (partial) solution to this, but they typically do not take away the uncertainties for employers to deal with something they do not fully understand. Electric cars are still difficult for people doing large distances on a regular basis, due to their limited action radius and the too low number of charging stations (especially in the South of Belgium). On the other hand for companies where employees come to the office the whole day and that have the required space to setup charging stations, this can be a very interesting option both fiscally and ecologically. Collective organized transport is typically only economically viable for large companies, for which a large number of employees are coming from the same region. Platforms exist to manage this cross-employers, but this raises a number of other concerns and reduces the added-value. Options like "no-mobility" (i.e. home working) and "less-mobility" (flex-offices / co-working places) depend on the work culture and the type of work to be done. For some companies the shift to homeworking during the Covid-confinements was already a serious stretch, which will take years to get fully absorbed. Introducing new concepts like "flex-offices" (co-working places) is probably a bridge too far, especially as there is still a lot of unclarity of who will be paying (and what the fiscal implications are) for the office space (employee paying out of his mobility budget or employer paying) and even more for the added-services like drinks, snacks, catering… … In general employers have a big interest to do something around mobility, but when having to deal with all complexity (fiscal and operational concerns like policies, load administration…), many employers drop out. Employers fear especially all exceptions, as they often represent hidden costs and lot of extra effort. E.g. what happens if an employee leaves the company? What if someone is fired? What about the liability in case of accidents/theft/vandalism? What will be the exact total cost for me as an employer? How do I need to manage VAT? What is the exact value of benefit of all kind for the employee? Which proofs do I need to collect for the tax authorities? Does it fit with the agreements made in the collective labor agreement of the joint committee?… These questions mainly originate from the existing unclarities in the fiscal regime, which is due to the fact that many HR managers are not yet acquainted with these new offers, the fact that new mobility offers are created continuously (making it impossible for the government to stay up-to-date) and the continuous change in regulation (e.g. "Mobility Budget", "Company Car Legislation"…). This lack of maturity in the industry puts a break on the adoption and this maturation might take years to unfold. E.g. meal vouchers took 40 years to arrive to a market penetration of 50%, while this is a much simpler HR product than most mobility options. Until this maturity level is reached, resulting in more well-known, better integrated, more frictionless and cheaper offers, the traditional company mobility options of reimbursing public transport subscriptions and salary cars will remain mostly used. Those are still most widely known by HR managers, are fiscally still very interesting and fit well the needs and desires of most employees. This last argument is important, as no mobility option will become mainstream unless employees are happy with it. This means the mobility option should not only give a solution for "Professional displacements" but also for the "Private displacements" (in evenings, weekend, holidays…), often with the whole family. Nonetheless we see the market is maturing and transforming, as millions of euros of VC money are invested in promising new start-ups. Almost all of those start-ups are not profitable yet but given the market potential a few of them could grow out to become unicorns. Today’s students are more acquainted and open for these new mobility services, so likely some of them will become mainstream in the next decade. Today a whole eco-system of young start-ups and existing incumbent players are offering mobility services, like Car leasing companies: Alphabet, ALD Automotive, ING Lease, KBC Autolease, LeasePlan, ARVAL… Car rental companies: Sixt, Avis, Dockx, Hertz, Rent a car… Car sharing companies (in the form of cars that can be easily used for individual trips up to platforms facilitating sharing your private car or co-driving): Cambio, Poppy, Partago, Zipcar, Cozywheels, Getaround, Dégage, Share Now, Stapp.in, Tapazz, BlaBlaCar, Klaxit, TooGethr, Carpool (Mpact)… Taxi services: Uber, Wave-a-Cab, Taxi.eu, Heetch, Bolt, Free Now, Allocab… Bike leasing companies: Ctec, O2O, Joulebikes, KBC-Fietsleasing, B2Bike, Cyclis, Lease-a-bike, Cyclobility, Cycle Valley… (e)bike, (e)step and scooter sharing & renting: Lime, Dott, Bird, Felyx, Scooty, Villo!, Billy Bike, Mobit, Blue Bike, Swapfiets, Spinlister… Fuel card and Electric charging card issuing companies: Network Fuel Card, Modalizy, Fleetpass, Belgian Fuel Card (BFC), XXImo, EDI (Electric by D’Ieteren), New Motion, Plugsurfing, Blue Corner, Luminus, EVBOX, Cenergy, Eneco, Dats24, EV-Point,… Parking companies (either companies providing public parkings or platforms to share individual and company parkings): Yellowbrick, Indigo, QPark, BeMobile, BePark, Pasha, ParkOffice… Companies helping to define mobility plan and manage setup of policies and mobility plans/budgets: Social Secretariats (SD Worx, Partena, Securex, Acerta, Liantis…), Payflip, Mbrella, MaestroMobile (Espaces-Mobilités)… MaaS (Mobility as a Service) players: Modalizy, Skipr, Optimile, Olympus, Be-Mobile, MyMove, Vaigo (Eurides), Moveasy… (Inter-modal) Route planners: Google Maps, Coyote, Waze, Mappy, Jeasy, Skipr, Stoomlink… Co-working place companies (either companies providing co-working places or platforms allowing to reserve spaces over multiple co-working places): Bar d’Office, Workero, Cowallonia, Burogest, Regus, Welkin, Meraki, Frame 21, Fosbury & Sons, Start it, Coffice, Spaces, House of Innovation, Ampla House, WeWork, Betacowork, Startbloc, SilverSquare… Expense management solutions for local and international (mobility) expenses: Rydoo, XXImo, MobileXpense, N2F, Certify, SAP Concur, Travel Perk, Trippeo, SpenDesk, Splendid, Declaree, SRXP, Dicom, WebExpenses, Notilus, Expensify, ExpensePath, Abacus, ExpensePoint… It will be interesting to see which of those companies will still be around in 10 years (i.e. which of the start-up have sufficient funding to bridge the long-time gap to profitability) and to which form they have evolved. Clearly regular pivoting will be required as this market is in full evolution.

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Software and Technology

Put Strategy First When Pondering Automation for Your DC

Article | April 19, 2022

The unsurprising investment eagerness of venture capital funds is manifesting in an automation tech glut in the distribution center space. Motivated by enabling trends like labor and land shortages, DCs are amid an automation transformation. Never has defining an automation strategy been more important. There’s no shortage of VC cash available to logistics tech startups With a brightly shining spotlight centered on supply chains for the past two years, it’s no surprise that total funding in logistics startups has seen a dramatic increase – growing at over 70% CAGR (Compound Annual Growth Rate). Logistics technology startups raked in over $25 billion in the first three quarters of 2021. That’s more than half of the total amount raised in the whole of 2020, and the incentives for continuing investment persist. The rise of the of the “micro” DC “Micro” is a relative term. The size of a micro fulfillment center (MFC) can range from 5,000 to 50,000 square feet. Those reduced square footages allow location in dense urban areas, typically within 40 miles of most of their intended customers. In addition, smaller footprints lead to reduced rents compared to a standard customer fulfillment center (CFC), and the proximity to consumers makes for lower final mile delivery costs. It’s no wonder that MFCs accounted for more than half of the logistics real estate leasing activity in the third quarter of 2021. The “urban logistics” trend is fueling demand for these highly automated, smaller locations. Vertical logistics integration grows ever more fashionable among retailers It’s a very “in” thing right now, these acquisitions and partnerships, and they won’t be going out of fashion soon. For example, American Eagle took in Airterra and its parcel optimization tech and third-party logistics (3PL) provider Quiet Logistics. Target started early. They bought Grand Junction, a software platform that helps retailers determine the best delivery method and track carrier performance, in 2017. Their 2020 acquisition of Deliv brought with it same-day delivery routing technology that they’re now applying to their 2021 purchase, on-demand delivery service Shipt. Target uses Delivs’ tech to generate more efficient routes for Shipt. Kroger has partnered with UK’s e-grocery specialist Ocado to build automated CFCs across the US and expand their retail footprint. The first CFC opened last spring in Ohio and their second in Florida later that year. They plan to open 20 CFCs over the next three years. “The proliferation of DC automation solutions and modalities, the rise of MFCs in high-density urban areas, the increasingly automated vertical integration of logistics, and the need to rapidly expand order fulfillment capacity have all, in combination, advanced the need for and application of clearly defined strategies concerning the implementation of automation technology. Do not operate without one.” Vikas Argod, Principal, Supply Chains Operations practice at Chainalytics Coping with shortages in warehouse space and labor availability Third quarter, 2021 US demand for industrial real estate exceeded supply by 41 million square feet. This pushed the national vacancy rate in the fourth quarter down to a record 3.7% in the Cushman & Wakefield US National Industrial MarketBeat report for Q4 2021. Who knows what the record might be when the Q1 2022 report breaks in a few weeks? On the labor side, the December 2021 US unemployment rate was 3.9%, lower than in December 2019 (3.6%) yet reflecting a tighter labor market. Labor force participation rates are at 61.9%, nearly 2% below February 2020 levels, because of lingering effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. The rising wages and signing bonuses of the past year offer silent testimony to the ongoing constraints in today’s labor market. Both trends will remain with us for the near- and mid-term, making an automation strategy a necessary part of your DC operations as you attempt to mitigate the effects of both. In addition, warehouse labor shortages are most pronounced in markets with high distribution center densities – Greater Memphis, In-land Empire, Allentown, PA, et al.) Building the capability to rapidly open DCs at scale No other factor drives home the need for a coherent DC automation strategy like this one. Let’s explore it with an example. We’ll call this “A Tale of Two Companies.” One jumped on the automation bandwagon without hesitation – not a bad thing – but applied no strategic groundwork. The other is, well, Amazon. Company one responded to increasing demand by creating DCs in their usual, strategically located fashion. However, with automation, the lack of a logical strategy led to adopting “the best that money could buy.” So, while these DCs work fine on their own (most of the time), each employs unique implementations from a variety of vendors, with little to no overlap of methods, capabilities, and management procedures between DCs. It’s functional, but a needlessly complicated hodgepodge. On the other hand, it definitely looks like Amazon has a standardized automation strategy. One that can easily adapt to exploit the individual physical specifications of any space. This makes it simple to arrive and equip it with a standard package of automation solutions. That’s probably how Amazon blanketed the US with over 400 new DCs in just the last two years. They waste no time or money on repeating unnecessary decisions along the way. Now, we all can’t have the resources of an Amazon. However, the rise of on-demand warehousing companies like Stord and Flexe allow organizations to dramatically decrease the cycle time of standing up additional fulfillment capability. Developing an automation strategy will feel familiar. It begins with benchmarking, order profiling, current performance drivers, EBIT targets, and theoretical evaluations of newer technology options. All this leads to the creation of a decision framework for DC automation. The goal here is achieving alignment among the leadership on critical capabilities to focus on. These include rapid fulfillment, labor shortage, capacity constraints, safety challenges, or sustainability. Those that commit to this process will start slowly but finish with a strategy that will underpin thousands of decisions and enable sustained rapid growth. If, in the end, you decide that automation is not right for your operation, that’s a perfectly valid strategy as well. So long as you have a method to evaluate all of your options, and you base your decision on cost-service-sustainability trade-offs, the right strategy for your organization may be no automation at all. There’s no point in chasing shiny robotic objects if automation makes little sense‌. The rise of automation and the multitude of technologies to choose from require the development of a strategic decision framework. Contact us and see how Chainalytics – an NTT DATA company – can be your guide in developing this critical part of your foundation for growth. Our top supply chain talent, enabled by proven, leading-edge digital assets – tools, methods, and content – deliver actionable insights and measurable outcomes to some of today’s largest and most complex supply chains.

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Software and Technology, Sustainability, Supply Chain

GoBolt & Instock Team Up To Power Warehouse Efficiency & Drive Toward Self-Service Automation

PR Newswire | January 09, 2024

GoBolt, a technology company building the world's largest sustainable supply chain network, today announces it has partnered with Instock on a technology-driven warehouse initiative. GoBolt is already at the forefront of innovation in the logistics industry with its sustainable fleet and proprietary technology and now, by working with Instock, the company continues to blaze a trail in terms of advancing and simplifying logistics. Instock and GoBolt, united by their shared commitment to technology-driven efficiency and innovation, are partnering to integrate Instock's Automated Storage and Retrieval Solution (ASRS) into GoBolt's fulfillment centers. This collaboration, launching in January 2024, will enhance logistics operations by automating routine tasks, allowing warehouse associates to focus on more complex responsibilities. "GoBolt is committed to driving innovation in the traditional logistics sector through the development and adoption of groundbreaking technology. That's why our team is thrilled to partner with Instock on this exciting automation project," said Mark Ang, Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of GoBolt. "In addition to advancing automation and improving efficiency for our brand partners, Instock allows our employees to dedicate their efforts to increasingly complex tasks. This is not only a win for warehouse productivity and safety, but also for employee satisfaction." Founded in 2020, Instock is a team grounded in deep experience in both engineering and operating technology for retailers in the U.S. and abroad. Their desire for more flexible and agile automation led them to embark on a mission to radically improve goods-to-person robotics with a simplified, soup to nuts rebuild. The result is their Robotics-as-a-Service (RaaS) offering, which delivers high-density goods-to-person automation with a flexible range of throughput rates. "We're inspired by what GoBolt is achieving for brands and retailers," said Yegor Anchyshkin, Instock's Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer. "Just as impressively, the company is eager to explore and embrace new technologies, like automation, instead of waiting in the wings. When it comes to partnerships, ours with GoBolt is as natural and synergistic as it gets." Through this partnership, the two dynamic companies will redefine storage density and volume throughput boundaries within defined footprints, and lay the groundwork toward self-service in warehouse automation.

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Supply Chain

Blastr Green Steel and Cargill Metals sign MOU for supply of green steel and to advance decarbonization of the ferrous supply chain

Blastr | October 18, 2022

Cargill's metals business and Blastr Green Steel AS ("Blastr"), a developer of decarbonized steel supply, have agreed to work together to supply steel made without use of fossil fuels in the Nordic region to meet growing global demand for green steel. Both companies share an ambition to drive significant reductions of carbon emissions in the steel industry.Under the Memorandum of Understanding ("MoU"), Blaster and Cargill Metals plan to combine the skills of both companies to accelerate the development of projects that enable significant carbon savings to the global steel industry. Cargill Metals brings expertise in raw materials sourcing, and Cargill's global capabilities in ocean transportation and logistics, as well as development of green products for market, risk management and financing facilities. Blastr contributes its industrial decarbonization expertise, entrepreneurial business skills, track record and access to capital within green energy and CO2 abatement. Blastr also brings regional knowledge of sites, opportunities and local support.Cargill's ambition is to develop world leading projects in the green steel supply chain through the expedient development of initial production and then incrementally expand capacity based on market demand. Separately, independent market analysis suggests a market shortfall in supply, with global demand for low carbon steel likely to increase from below 5mt in 2021 to 200mt in 2030, with European demand increasing to nearly 40mt by that date, driven by automotive and construction sectors1. "Solving the decarbonization challenge of the steel industry requires new and innovative partnerships, We are thrilled to partner with Blastr and collaborate on bringing meaningful carbon reduction to this vital to abate sector. It brings us one step closer to our goal of shaping a responsible and sustainable ferrous supply chain that helps the world thrive." -Lee Kirk, Managing Director, Cargill Metals Ensuring the long-term supply of raw materials at required quantity and quality is crucial for providing green steel to the market with an absolute minimum of CO2 emissions through the entire value chain," said Dag Moxnes, CEO at Blastr. "Cargill offers a unique combination of access to regional raw materials, expertise, network and logistics solutions, which brings us a long step closer to realizing our joint Nordic green steel project. The next phase of the cooperation will focus on final technology selection, access to green power, location and the final mix of products. Teams from Blastr and Cargill Metals will collaborate on sustainable supply chains, speed to market, technology risks and constraints, and on raising capital to finance the project development. About Blastr Blastr aims to decarbonize the steel industry, by creating an integrated green steel producer leveraging Nordic advantages. By utilising local raw materials and fossil free energy and applying a circular economy thinking throughout the value chain, we aim to cut the CO2 emissions of our end products by 95%. We will establish production facilities in the Nordic Region, with its ambitious political energy transition agenda, deep ice-free ports giving access to the attractive European markets, and highly qualified workforce. The Blastr green steel project is expected to be one of the largest industry start-ups in the Nordic region. Blastr is founded and backed by Vanir Green Industries ("VGI"), a Nordic investment company that invests in, develops and scales green, robust and profitable businesses needed to accelerate the energy transition. VGI is established by Tore Ivar Slettemoen, one of the founders of Freyr Batteries (NYSE: FREY), and managed by a team of experienced professionals with deep industrial competence and a genuine drive to build a more sustainable future. Our focus areas are onshore and offshore wind development, carbon capture, usage and storage, energy storage and deep decarbonisation of existing industries. For more information, visit blastr.no. About Cargill Cargill helps the world's food system work for you. We connect farmers with markets, customers with ingredients and families with daily essentials—from the foods they eat to the floors they walk on. Our 155,000 team members around the world innovate with purpose, empowering our partners and communities as we work to nourish the world in a safe, responsible, sustainable way.From feed that reduces methane emissions to waste-based renewable fuels, the possibilities are boundless. But our values remain the same. We put people first. We reach higher. We do the right thing. It's how we've met the needs of the people we call neighbors and the planet we call home for 157 years—and how we'll do so for generations to come. For more information, visit Cargill.com and our News Center. About Cargill Metals Headquartered in Singapore, Cargill's metals business provides value-add services and solutions along the global ferrous supply chain. Combining over 150 years track record of risk management in global commodities markets with more than 40 years unique insights in the ferrous industry, we provide our customers the support they need to thrive. We connect iron ore miners around the world with steel mills in key markets and provide a broad range of services from technical marketing to customized risk management solutions along the supply chain including to end users of steel.With around 130 dedicated experts, an established global network and hubs in China, Singapore, U.K. and Vietnam to serve our customers, Cargill operates across over 25 ports and more than 50 warehouses globally, providing physical and financial solutions to over 2,500 customers in 40 countries. Each year we move around 50 million tons of physical iron ore and 6 million tons of physical steel globally. For more information, visit Cargill Metals or Cargill.com.

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Freight

Loadsmart Introduces True Mode Optimization in an Effort to Reimagine Sustainable Shipping

Loadsmart | April 22, 2021

Loadsmart, a main advanced cargo innovation organization, today declared the dispatch of another mode streamlining capacity to offer variety in split-second bookable rates for a solitary full load (FTL) shipment. Supported by information and investigation, the update gives vital data to transporters to choose the savviest and earth manageable modes for FTL shipments. These important experiences can assist transporters with diminishing their carbon impression, save time on rate revelation and keep away from FTL delicate dismissals. "While most transporters know there is a more productive and ecologically dependable approach to move cargo, they have not had the examination to effectively source elective modes, as of recently," said Felipe Capella, president, and fellow benefactor at Loadsmart. "We're making an objective where transporters, empowered by continuous information experiences, are coordinated with numerous modes to advance their destinations, regardless of whether it be cost, productivity, or maintainability." The new contribution is a significant advance in rethinking the elements among transporter and intermediary to improve coordination execution. Customarily, a transporter goes to a commercial center with a shipment that is as of now reserved to a mode. Subsequently, an FTL shipment is essentially coordinated with an FTL transporter, without gauging choices. Loadsmart's new component goes past the limits of mode and burden type to distinguish which shipments are most appropriate for rail and which rail courses are sufficiently adaptable to permit shipments to arrive at the last objective. Loadmart's top-tier calculations perceived 30% of all FTL shipments qualified as appropriate for rail. Maybe than looking for numerous statements for FTL and rail alternatives, Loadsmart saves time by giving the information and knowledge important to in a flash analyze choices and settle on the best choice with no extra rate revelation. This can decrease the two expenses and fossil fuel byproducts as one multi-purpose train (on normal 140 rail vehicles) is equipped for pulling roughly 280 loads of cargo. This is an undiscovered asset for the cargo business which at present midpoints 173 loads for each multi-purpose rail. Also, rail ventures a normal of 473 miles on one gallon of fuel while cargo voyages 115 miles for each gallon per ton. "It's an obvious fact that what is best for one transporter may not work for another," proceeded with Capella. "Likewise, we planned this new capacity with a choice to apply business rules lined up with a transporter's extraordinary necessities to permit our AI-fueled stage to consequently choose the best mode for that client, further smoothing out the cycle." Loadsmart experts are accessible to assist clients with deciding and select the suitable mode, contingent upon the worth set on natural effect and cost. Loadsmart transporters regularly see cost decreases somewhere in the range of 20 and 50 percent utilizing mode advancement. "With mode improvement, transporters will get an Environmental CO2 Savings Report permitting them to gauge and accomplish their supportability objectives," said Capella. "Booking through Loadsmart permits transporters to move loads dependent on the least ecological effect, either by moving them over the rail or sharing a not exactly or halfway load to decrease void miles, and ceaselessly improve results." Transporters can book dry van, reefer, flatbed FTL, LTL, and drayage shipments on, or through the organization's reconciliation stage, which organizations can work straightforwardly with Loadsmart's record supervisory group to carry out. About Loadsmart Changing the eventual fate of cargo, Loadsmart uses man-made brainpower, AI, and key associations to robotize how cargo is estimated, booked, and delivered. Matching cutting-edge innovations with profound situated industry mastery, Loadsmart energizes development improves on operational intricacy and supports proficiency for transporters and transporters the same.

Read More

Software and Technology, Sustainability, Supply Chain

GoBolt & Instock Team Up To Power Warehouse Efficiency & Drive Toward Self-Service Automation

PR Newswire | January 09, 2024

GoBolt, a technology company building the world's largest sustainable supply chain network, today announces it has partnered with Instock on a technology-driven warehouse initiative. GoBolt is already at the forefront of innovation in the logistics industry with its sustainable fleet and proprietary technology and now, by working with Instock, the company continues to blaze a trail in terms of advancing and simplifying logistics. Instock and GoBolt, united by their shared commitment to technology-driven efficiency and innovation, are partnering to integrate Instock's Automated Storage and Retrieval Solution (ASRS) into GoBolt's fulfillment centers. This collaboration, launching in January 2024, will enhance logistics operations by automating routine tasks, allowing warehouse associates to focus on more complex responsibilities. "GoBolt is committed to driving innovation in the traditional logistics sector through the development and adoption of groundbreaking technology. That's why our team is thrilled to partner with Instock on this exciting automation project," said Mark Ang, Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of GoBolt. "In addition to advancing automation and improving efficiency for our brand partners, Instock allows our employees to dedicate their efforts to increasingly complex tasks. This is not only a win for warehouse productivity and safety, but also for employee satisfaction." Founded in 2020, Instock is a team grounded in deep experience in both engineering and operating technology for retailers in the U.S. and abroad. Their desire for more flexible and agile automation led them to embark on a mission to radically improve goods-to-person robotics with a simplified, soup to nuts rebuild. The result is their Robotics-as-a-Service (RaaS) offering, which delivers high-density goods-to-person automation with a flexible range of throughput rates. "We're inspired by what GoBolt is achieving for brands and retailers," said Yegor Anchyshkin, Instock's Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer. "Just as impressively, the company is eager to explore and embrace new technologies, like automation, instead of waiting in the wings. When it comes to partnerships, ours with GoBolt is as natural and synergistic as it gets." Through this partnership, the two dynamic companies will redefine storage density and volume throughput boundaries within defined footprints, and lay the groundwork toward self-service in warehouse automation.

Read More

Supply Chain

Blastr Green Steel and Cargill Metals sign MOU for supply of green steel and to advance decarbonization of the ferrous supply chain

Blastr | October 18, 2022

Cargill's metals business and Blastr Green Steel AS ("Blastr"), a developer of decarbonized steel supply, have agreed to work together to supply steel made without use of fossil fuels in the Nordic region to meet growing global demand for green steel. Both companies share an ambition to drive significant reductions of carbon emissions in the steel industry.Under the Memorandum of Understanding ("MoU"), Blaster and Cargill Metals plan to combine the skills of both companies to accelerate the development of projects that enable significant carbon savings to the global steel industry. Cargill Metals brings expertise in raw materials sourcing, and Cargill's global capabilities in ocean transportation and logistics, as well as development of green products for market, risk management and financing facilities. Blastr contributes its industrial decarbonization expertise, entrepreneurial business skills, track record and access to capital within green energy and CO2 abatement. Blastr also brings regional knowledge of sites, opportunities and local support.Cargill's ambition is to develop world leading projects in the green steel supply chain through the expedient development of initial production and then incrementally expand capacity based on market demand. Separately, independent market analysis suggests a market shortfall in supply, with global demand for low carbon steel likely to increase from below 5mt in 2021 to 200mt in 2030, with European demand increasing to nearly 40mt by that date, driven by automotive and construction sectors1. "Solving the decarbonization challenge of the steel industry requires new and innovative partnerships, We are thrilled to partner with Blastr and collaborate on bringing meaningful carbon reduction to this vital to abate sector. It brings us one step closer to our goal of shaping a responsible and sustainable ferrous supply chain that helps the world thrive." -Lee Kirk, Managing Director, Cargill Metals Ensuring the long-term supply of raw materials at required quantity and quality is crucial for providing green steel to the market with an absolute minimum of CO2 emissions through the entire value chain," said Dag Moxnes, CEO at Blastr. "Cargill offers a unique combination of access to regional raw materials, expertise, network and logistics solutions, which brings us a long step closer to realizing our joint Nordic green steel project. The next phase of the cooperation will focus on final technology selection, access to green power, location and the final mix of products. Teams from Blastr and Cargill Metals will collaborate on sustainable supply chains, speed to market, technology risks and constraints, and on raising capital to finance the project development. About Blastr Blastr aims to decarbonize the steel industry, by creating an integrated green steel producer leveraging Nordic advantages. By utilising local raw materials and fossil free energy and applying a circular economy thinking throughout the value chain, we aim to cut the CO2 emissions of our end products by 95%. We will establish production facilities in the Nordic Region, with its ambitious political energy transition agenda, deep ice-free ports giving access to the attractive European markets, and highly qualified workforce. The Blastr green steel project is expected to be one of the largest industry start-ups in the Nordic region. Blastr is founded and backed by Vanir Green Industries ("VGI"), a Nordic investment company that invests in, develops and scales green, robust and profitable businesses needed to accelerate the energy transition. VGI is established by Tore Ivar Slettemoen, one of the founders of Freyr Batteries (NYSE: FREY), and managed by a team of experienced professionals with deep industrial competence and a genuine drive to build a more sustainable future. Our focus areas are onshore and offshore wind development, carbon capture, usage and storage, energy storage and deep decarbonisation of existing industries. For more information, visit blastr.no. About Cargill Cargill helps the world's food system work for you. We connect farmers with markets, customers with ingredients and families with daily essentials—from the foods they eat to the floors they walk on. Our 155,000 team members around the world innovate with purpose, empowering our partners and communities as we work to nourish the world in a safe, responsible, sustainable way.From feed that reduces methane emissions to waste-based renewable fuels, the possibilities are boundless. But our values remain the same. We put people first. We reach higher. We do the right thing. It's how we've met the needs of the people we call neighbors and the planet we call home for 157 years—and how we'll do so for generations to come. For more information, visit Cargill.com and our News Center. About Cargill Metals Headquartered in Singapore, Cargill's metals business provides value-add services and solutions along the global ferrous supply chain. Combining over 150 years track record of risk management in global commodities markets with more than 40 years unique insights in the ferrous industry, we provide our customers the support they need to thrive. We connect iron ore miners around the world with steel mills in key markets and provide a broad range of services from technical marketing to customized risk management solutions along the supply chain including to end users of steel.With around 130 dedicated experts, an established global network and hubs in China, Singapore, U.K. and Vietnam to serve our customers, Cargill operates across over 25 ports and more than 50 warehouses globally, providing physical and financial solutions to over 2,500 customers in 40 countries. Each year we move around 50 million tons of physical iron ore and 6 million tons of physical steel globally. For more information, visit Cargill Metals or Cargill.com.

Read More

Freight

Loadsmart Introduces True Mode Optimization in an Effort to Reimagine Sustainable Shipping

Loadsmart | April 22, 2021

Loadsmart, a main advanced cargo innovation organization, today declared the dispatch of another mode streamlining capacity to offer variety in split-second bookable rates for a solitary full load (FTL) shipment. Supported by information and investigation, the update gives vital data to transporters to choose the savviest and earth manageable modes for FTL shipments. These important experiences can assist transporters with diminishing their carbon impression, save time on rate revelation and keep away from FTL delicate dismissals. "While most transporters know there is a more productive and ecologically dependable approach to move cargo, they have not had the examination to effectively source elective modes, as of recently," said Felipe Capella, president, and fellow benefactor at Loadsmart. "We're making an objective where transporters, empowered by continuous information experiences, are coordinated with numerous modes to advance their destinations, regardless of whether it be cost, productivity, or maintainability." The new contribution is a significant advance in rethinking the elements among transporter and intermediary to improve coordination execution. Customarily, a transporter goes to a commercial center with a shipment that is as of now reserved to a mode. Subsequently, an FTL shipment is essentially coordinated with an FTL transporter, without gauging choices. Loadsmart's new component goes past the limits of mode and burden type to distinguish which shipments are most appropriate for rail and which rail courses are sufficiently adaptable to permit shipments to arrive at the last objective. Loadmart's top-tier calculations perceived 30% of all FTL shipments qualified as appropriate for rail. Maybe than looking for numerous statements for FTL and rail alternatives, Loadsmart saves time by giving the information and knowledge important to in a flash analyze choices and settle on the best choice with no extra rate revelation. This can decrease the two expenses and fossil fuel byproducts as one multi-purpose train (on normal 140 rail vehicles) is equipped for pulling roughly 280 loads of cargo. This is an undiscovered asset for the cargo business which at present midpoints 173 loads for each multi-purpose rail. Also, rail ventures a normal of 473 miles on one gallon of fuel while cargo voyages 115 miles for each gallon per ton. "It's an obvious fact that what is best for one transporter may not work for another," proceeded with Capella. "Likewise, we planned this new capacity with a choice to apply business rules lined up with a transporter's extraordinary necessities to permit our AI-fueled stage to consequently choose the best mode for that client, further smoothing out the cycle." Loadsmart experts are accessible to assist clients with deciding and select the suitable mode, contingent upon the worth set on natural effect and cost. Loadsmart transporters regularly see cost decreases somewhere in the range of 20 and 50 percent utilizing mode advancement. "With mode improvement, transporters will get an Environmental CO2 Savings Report permitting them to gauge and accomplish their supportability objectives," said Capella. "Booking through Loadsmart permits transporters to move loads dependent on the least ecological effect, either by moving them over the rail or sharing a not exactly or halfway load to decrease void miles, and ceaselessly improve results." Transporters can book dry van, reefer, flatbed FTL, LTL, and drayage shipments on, or through the organization's reconciliation stage, which organizations can work straightforwardly with Loadsmart's record supervisory group to carry out. About Loadsmart Changing the eventual fate of cargo, Loadsmart uses man-made brainpower, AI, and key associations to robotize how cargo is estimated, booked, and delivered. Matching cutting-edge innovations with profound situated industry mastery, Loadsmart energizes development improves on operational intricacy and supports proficiency for transporters and transporters the same.

Read More

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