Drones, driverless vehicles, 3-D printing, wearable technology and robotics that will have the largest impact on the supply chain over the next five years is the subject of a study carried out by the University of Tennessee, Knoxville's Global Supply Chain Institute.  Of the technologies, studied  robotics will be byfar the greatest potential disrupter over the next five years.

"Robotics have been around for more than 50 years, but they have become dramatically more dynamic in the last five," said Paul Dittmann, executive director of the Global Supply Chain Institute. "They are no longer stationary, blind, expensive and unintelligent but can work alongside people and learn as jobs change." 

The Lang Technik Robotic Systems who are represented in New Zealand by WorthyCAM are a good example of the advances made in automated systems that now make short runs very competitive.  And as far as Drones are concerned only have to turn to the TV News to see how footage taken by a Drone enhances the viewing experience.

|  A Materials Handling & Logistics release  ||  May 16, 2017   |||

Transport and logistics company, Mainfreight, has ranked at number eight on the New Zealand Annual Corporate Reputation Index, an annual listing produced by research consultancy, AMR.

The Index measures how New Zealanders view the nation’s top 25 companies across seven reputation drivers, and then ranks them according to people’s overall emotional reaction using more than 6,000 ratings.

The 25 companies included in the New Zealand Reputation Index are sourced from the Deloitte Top 200 list, which ranks companies by revenue.

"It is a great achievement for Mainfreight to be listed in the top 10 of the AMR NZ Annual Corporate Reputation Index in our first year of inclusion," Mainfreight said in a statement.

"Our culture has been key to this achievement shaping the way we operate. A 100 Year Vision keeps us focused on the company we want to be now and in the future."

Air New Zealand ranked first, while Toyota ranked second on the listing.

|  A Trailer Magazine relese  ||  May 01, 2017   |||

The European Commission has cleared under the EU Merger Regulation the proposed acquisition of container liner shipping company Hamburg Südamerikanische Dampfschifffahrts-Gesellschaft KG (HSDG) of Germany by Maersk Line A/S of Denmark, subject to conditions.

Both Maersk Line and HSDG are active worldwide in container liner shipping. The clearance is conditional upon the withdrawal of HSDG from five consortia on trade routes connecting (i) Northern Europe and Central America/Caribbean, (ii) Northern Europe and West Coast South America, (iii) Northern Europe and Middle East, (iv) the Mediterranean and West Coast South America and (v) the Mediterranean and East Coast South America. On these routes, the merged entity would have faced insufficient competition after the transaction.

Commissioner Margrethe Vestager, in charge of competition policy, said: “Competitive shipping services are essential for European companies and for the EU’s economy as a whole. The commitments offered by Maersk Line and HSDG will maintain a healthy level of competition to the benefit of the very many EU companies that depend on these container shipping services.”

The Commission’s competition concerns

The proposed transaction would lead to the combination of two leading container liner shipping companies. Maersk Line is the largest container shipping company, while HSDG is number nine worldwide. Like several other carriers, Maersk Line and HSDG offer their services on trade routes through cooperation agreements with other shipping companies. These are known as “consortia” or “alliances” and are based on vessel sharing agreements where members decide jointly on capacity setting, scheduling and ports of call, which are all important parameters of competition.

The Commission examined the effects of the merger on competition in this specific market for container liner shipping on seventeen trade routes connecting Europe with the Americas, Asia, the Middle-East, Africa and Australia/New Zealand.

The Commission found that the merger, as initially notified, would have created new links between the previously unconnected entities Maersk Line and five of the consortia HSDG belongs to (Eurosal 1/SAWC, Eurosal 2/SAWC, EPIC 2, CCWM/MEDANDES and MESA).

According to the Commission’s analysis, this would have resulted in anti-competitive effects on the corresponding five trade routes (Northern Europe and Central America/Caribbean; Northern Europe and West Coast South America; Northern Europe and Middle East; Mediterranean and West Coast South America; Mediterranean and East Coast South America). In particular, these links could have enabled the merged entity to influence key parameters of competition, such as capacity, for a very large proportion of those markets, to the detriment of their commercial customers and, ultimately, of consumers.

The proposed transaction would also create (a) limited links between Maersk Line and HSDG in the markets for short-sea shipping and “tramp services” (unscheduled, on demand shipping), as well as (b) limited links between the two companies’ activities in container liner shipping and the container terminals, harbour towage, freight forwarding, container manufacturing and inland transportation sectors where Maersk Line or other companies belonging to the Maersk Group are active.

However, in both areas, the Commission found no competition concerns, in particular because several other service providers are active in these markets.

The proposed commitments

In order to address the Commission’s competition concerns, Maersk offered to terminate the participation of HSDG in the five consortia (Eurosal 1/SAWC, Eurosal 2/SAWC, EPIC 2, CCWM/MEDANDES and MESA). This will entirely remove the problematic links between Maersk Line and HSDG’s consortia that would have been created by the transaction.

HSDG will continue to operate as part of the five consortia during the notice period to guarantee an orderly exit. However, a monitoring trustee will ensure that no anti-competitive information is shared between these five consortia and the merged entity during that notice period.

In view of the proposed remedies, the Commission concluded that the proposed transaction, as modified, would no longer raise competition concerns. The decision is conditional upon full compliance with the commitments.

Companies and products

HSDG operates 130 container vessels. HSDG markets its services through its global Hamburg Süd brand and its CCNI (Chile) and Aliança (Brazil) brands. HSDG is a member of several consortia and in particular:Trade route                                                                          ConsortiumNorthern Europe to Central America / Caribbean          Eurosal 1/SAWCNorthern Europe to West Coast South America              Eurosal 2/SAWCNorthern Europe to Middle East                                         EPIC 2Mediterranean to West Coast South America                   CCWM/MEDANDESMediterranean-East Coast South America                        MESA

Maersk Line operates 611 container vessels, 324 of which are chartered, and sells its container liner shipping services worldwide. It markets its services through the Maersk Line, Safmarine, SeaLand (Intra-Americas), MCC Transport (Intra-Asia) and SeaGo Line (Intra-Europe) brands. In addition, the Maersk Group also provides container terminal services, freight forwarding services, inland transportation, container manufacturing, and harbour towage services.

Merger control rules and procedures

The transaction was notified to the Commission on 20 February 2017.

The Commission has the duty to assess mergers and acquisitions involving companies with a turnover above certain thresholds (see Article 1 of the Merger Regulation) and to prevent concentrations that would significantly impede competition in the EEA or any substantial part of it.

The vast majority of notified mergers do not pose competition problems and are cleared after a routine review. From the moment a transaction is notified, the Commission generally has a total of 25 working days to decide whether to grant approval (Phase I) or to start an in-depth investigation (Phase II).

|  A  Marine Insight release  ||  April 11, 2017   |||

Air New Zealand Chief Executive Officer Christopher Luxon is today in Washington DC where he met with United States Secretary of Transport Elaine Chao, a member of President Trump’s Cabinet.

Mr Luxon also met senior officials in the Transport Security Administration and the Department of Homeland Security.

The meetings were an opportunity to identify the importance of the United States as a source market for visitors to New Zealand and as a destination for New Zealand travellers. United States visitors to New Zealand are up 19.8%, with almost 300,000 visitors arriving in the year to January 2017. The success of Air New Zealand’s new Houston service, which makes travel easier for visitors from the mid-west, east and south of the United States is a key factor in this growth.

Today’s high level meetings were also an opportunity for Air New Zealand to seek improvements to its customers’ experience in US airports. Particularly, the airline is seeking a streamlined process for its passengers transiting Los Angeles (LAX) to London on NZ1.

“Air New Zealand is one of only a very few airlines that have an international transit in the United States like NZ1. We think there’s room for an improved process that would benefit customers without compromising security, and would also reflect well on LAX as a major hub airport,” says Mr Luxon.

“It was a privilege to meet Secretary Chao today and to seek her sponsorship for our efforts. We are grateful to New Zealand’s United States Ambassador Tim Groser and his embassy team in Washington DC for facilitating today’s meetings. A great example of New Zealand punching above its weight on the international stage.”

|  An Air New Zealand release  |  March 8,2017  ||

Load handling equipment provider, Kalmar, will soon deliver two new container straddle carrier models to New Zealand shipping company, Port Otago.

According to Port Otago, the two Kalmar straddle carriers will include its ESC350 and ESC450 models. “Improved economy, performance, reliability, and safety are key facets of this purchasing decision, and the Port welcomes any developments in Straddle Carrier design that reflect genuine safety improvements,” said Bob Smillie, Maintenance Manager, Port Otago.

“The Port is currently conducting a detailed analysis of Kalmar’s HSC350 Hybrid, a design that is expected to be a leading contender for future Straddle Carrier replacement decisions.

“Port Otago Ltd operates in a pristine area of New Zealand, taking pride in environmental conservation while undertaking their operations. Kalmar therefore focuses on providing solutions to support their operations while maintaining environmental sustainability.”

The air freight market saw rare growth of more than 3% last year, according to figures released today.

IATA’s freight tonne kilometre (FTK) measure shows growth of 3.8% – nearly double the average rate of 2% over the past five years.

WorldACD shows chargeable weight growth at 3.1%, with direct tonne kilometres (DTK) up 3.4% in 2016.

And the consultant noted that, excluding Q1 – distorted by 2015’s transpacific boom caused by the west coast ports crisis – weight growth rose 4.4%, while DTKs grew 5.2%.

Q4 saw the best quarterly performance seen since 2010, with chargeable weight up 7.5% and DTKs up 8.3%.

WorldACD explained: “In other words, the average distance between origin and final destination of the shipments carried, increased slightly (DTK-growth outpacing weight growth).”

One of the key measures, yields, rose some 6% in Q4 16 over Q3 – a rise which was just 1% in the previous two years.

IATA shows all regions except Latin America seeing growth last year, with Europe’s airlines picking up nearly half the additional demand, the majority of which came in the second half after a weak first half.

In December, Europe’s carriers enjoyed a 16.4% rise in air freight demand against a capacity increase of 5.9%, while Asia Pacific airlines saw volumes grow 9.8%, year-on-year, while capacity grew 5.7%. North American carriers saw demand grow 3.7% while capacity fell 1.4%.

In the Middle East, where things are not as glowing as they once were, volumes rose 11.2% in December and capacity increased a (relatively) meagre 5.9%. Total demand for those carriers in 2016 rose 6.9% – the region’s slowest pace of growth since 2009 and well below the 12% average. IATA suggests the carriers lost volumes to Asia and Europe.

According to WorldACD, weighted average yields (including charges) for the year on westbound origin and destination routes fell $1.75, a drop of 12.5%. Easterly, it fell 15.5% to $1.63.

IATA attributed some of the overall growth in demand to a rise in shipments of silicon materials and greater export orders, plus an early Chinese new year holiday.

CEO Alexandre de Juniac urged airlines to become more competitive through digitisation, warning : “Looking ahead, strong export orders are good news. But there are headwinds. The most significant is stagnant world trade which also faces the risk of protectionist measures. Governments must not forget that trade is a powerful tool for growth and prosperity.”

|  An IATA release  |  February 1, 2017  ||

Regular container shipping is returning to Wellington, with weekly visits by a geared ship linking central region businesses with international markets.

From Sunday 12th February an ANL ship will visit the Port weekly to drop off and pick up containers with its own cranes.

Chief Executive Derek Nind said the port’s gantry cranes were made inoperable by the Kaikoura earthquake on 14 November last year. Work is underway to resume modified crane operations within four to six months.

“CentrePort understands that customers have faced significant challenges as a result of the disruption caused by the earthquake. That’s why we’ve worked closely with ANL on this initiative, which will make it easier for central region businesses to connect with international markets.”

Noel Coom, General Manager of ANL New Zealand, said he expected the service to be well-utilised by central New Zealand shippers.

“We’re excited to be working with CentrePort on this initiative. By adapting our operations we are bringing regular container shipping in Wellington. We’ve already visited the Port since the earthquake, and this scheduled service will further meet the needs of central region businesses.”

The service will connect Wellington shippers directly with Australia, and will provide an opportunity for them to connect with services between North America, North Asia, South East Asia and globally.

CentrePort’s key trades of ferries, fuel, logs, cars, and cruise ships continue to operate.

|  A Centreport release  |  January 30, 2017  ||

January 2017 Edition Click here to open

The first freight train has set off from China to the UK on the reintroduced historic Silk Road trade route.

The train, carrying household items, garments, textiles, bags and suitcases, will take around 18 days to travel more than 12,000km.

The train, which left on New Year’s Day from Yiwu in eastern Zhejiang province, will pass through Kazakhstan, Russia, Belarus, Poland, Germany, Belgium and France before arriving in London.

According to the China Railway Corporation (CRC), London will be the 15th European city to receive freight train services from China.

The CRC said the service would “improve China-Britain trade ties, strengthen connectivity with western Europe, while better serving China’s Belt and Road initiative, an infrastructure and trade network connecting Asia with Europe and Africa along ancient trade routes”, China’s state-owned news agency Xinhua reported.

Under China’s officially named One Belt, One Road initiative, billions of dollars will be ploughed into infrastructure along historic trade routes in a bid to shift the world’s centre of economic gravity.

China is the EU’s second biggest trading partner after the US and in 2015 the EU imported goods worth €350.5bn from China, up 4.4% on 2014.

|  From Supply Management  |  January 3, 2017  |

The LoadScan Load Volume Scanner (LVS) is the original non-contact ‘drive-through’ lorry and dump truck load measurement instrument for the measurement of bulk materials volumes, and LoadScan are the leading international manufacturer of payload volume scanner and load management solutions for the construction, mining, mulch and biomass, quarry and sandpit, oil and gas as well as many other industries. LoadScan are the leading experts in volumetric truck load measurement solutions.

The Load Volume Scanner was developed in 1998 to accurately tally the movements of aggregate and spoil being moved onto, off and around earthworks sites.The need for such a product came from the civil construction industry where engineering materials for the construction of roadways, subdivisions, landfills, building sites etc are tendered, scheduled and paid for using volume measures. These materials are generally carted by truck and trailer, and volumetric truck measure is a standard measure for the monitoring or trading of bulk quantities.

Up until this time there was no satisfactory means of measuring load volumes quickly and accurately. Quarries, cartage companies and construction contractors have traditionally used weight as their trade measure. Load volumes are computed from assumed bulk densities (mass/volume ratios), but this method can be inaccurate. It is also labour intensive and time consuming for the contractor who receives product purchased by volume measure to manually level and check each truck load.

LoadScan has continued to develop the LVS product and LVS devices are successfully operated on a full spectrum of truck and trailer designs including on-road truck and trailer units, semi-trailers and centre-dumpers, as well as off-road articulated dumpers and quarry trucks. The Load Volume Scanner (LVS) design for conventional truck and trailer units has been approved for trade use within New Zealand and Australia, trade approval was first gained in New Zealand in 1999 by the New Zealand government’s Measurement and Product Safety Service (MAPSS) and in Australia in 2010 by the National Measurement Institute (NMI). Patents have also been granted for the LVS design.

The LVS is a proven, reliable technology that receives glowing accolades from its users so it is no surprise LoadScan is rapidly gaining recognition in the civil construction, quarrying, Mining and bark & mulch products industries. The Loadscan Load Volume Scanners are working in these industries in 10 countries around the globe, all manufactured and tested at their facility in Hamilton, New Zealand.