newsworthy
a logistics concept grows in North Carolina
A coalition of businesses, educational institutions, and economic development agencies in North Carolina’s Piedmont Triad region has an ambitious
goal: to make the area (which includes the cities of Greensboro, High Point,
and Winston-Salem) the biggest global logistics hub on the U.S. East Coast.
Work has already begun on making the vision of the “Piedmont Triad
Aerotropolis” a reality. The concept envisions a city in which the layout, infrastructure, and economy are centered on a major airport—in this case, Piedmont
Triad International Airport in Greensboro. Situated midway between New York
and Florida, it’s surrounded by a tangle of state and interstate highways, placing
the airport within a two-day truck journey of 70 percent of the U.S. population
and within a five-hour drive of three major seaports.
The presence of more than two dozen distribution centers for companies like
Kmart, Liberty Hardware, Polo Ralph Lauren, and Dell testifies to the area’s appeal
as a logistics hub. Some 40 third-party logistics service companies, including locally headquartered M33 Integrated and New Breed, serve the DCs and manufacturing plants nearby. Both truckload and LTL services abound, led by Thomasville,
N.C.-based Old Dominion Freight Line, one of the nation’s largest transportation
companies. CSX and Norfolk Southern provide intermodal and bulk rail service.
And last month, FedEx Corp. opened a $300 million hub at the airport.
Underpinning the aerotropolis vision is the need to develop a logistics-savvy
workforce. Under the guidance of the Piedmont Triad leadership group’s global logistics task force and the business community’s logistics and distribution
roundtable, a Center for Global Logistics will be built at Guilford Technical
Community College in Greensboro. The center, scheduled for completion in
2011, will develop and coordinate logistics education and training programs
among some 20 colleges and universities. The planning group’s logistics task
force has already met with educators at the region’s public schools to begin
work on introducing logistics careers at the high-school level and is exploring
opportunities in the lower grades. ;
—Toby Gooley
Buchs, Switzerland-based Swisslog
has acquired EVOmatic Engineering
Solutions GmbH in a bid to
strengthen Swisslog’s position in
light goods logistics.
EVOmatic, founded in 2003 and
based in Thalheim, Austria, specializes in automated technologies like
miniload cranes, load-handling
devices, and shuttle systems.
“The material handling technologies of EVOmatic will bolster
Swisslog’s competitiveness in the
area of light goods logistics,” said
Daniel Fink, head of Swisslog’s
Warehouse & Distribution Solutions
division, in a prepared statement.
“The acquisition is part of our strategy of expanding the solutions
portfolio in high-growth business
areas.”
Swisslog builds warehouses and
distribution centers and also provides information technology services to support hospitals’ intra-company operations. ;
—M.S.
Swisslog buys
EVOmatic
; Hanson Logistics is investing $2 million in a two-phase,
two-year upgrade to its Hartford, Mich., cold storage facility.
The improvements, which are designed to support growth in
the region’s blueberry industry, will increase the facility’s
long-term storage capacity and deep-frozen space.
ground breakers
; Network Global Logistics (NGL), a third-party provider of
transportation and supply chain solutions, has built a new
distribution center in New Lenox, Ill. The DC, which occupies
282,000 square feet of space, will offer multi-tenant warehousing and customized distribution and order fulfillment
services to NGL’s clients.
; Drugstore chain CVS/pharmacy plans to construct a
750,000-square-foot distribution center near Elmira, N. Y. The
DC, which will be located in Chemung County, is scheduled
to open in 2011.
; Dr. Pepper Snapple Group has purchased 53 acres from
Stirling Capital at the Southern California Logistics Centre in
Victorville. Dr. Pepper plans to build an 850,000-square-foot
production and distribution center on the site. The $120 million project is expected to be completed by the spring of 2010.
In addition, Fastenal, a distributor of fastener products,
has leased 6,322 square feet of distribution space at the site.
; Sanyo Logistics, a logistics service provider and business
unit of Sanyo Electric Co., has leased 215,000 square feet of
distribution space in Romeoville, Ill., from ProLogis. The new
acquisition brings the amount of space Sanyo Logistics leases from ProLogis to about 2 million square feet.
; Global food company General Mills is building a new distribution center in Social Circle, Ga., to serve customers in
the Southeast. The $42 million project will create 112 jobs.
