alliances
Inttra, a neutral electronic transaction platform, software, and information provider for the ocean shipping
industry, is expanding its longstanding
partnership with IT company Ningbo
International Logistics to include Inttra’s
“eVGM” verified gross mass compliance
solutions in China. Inttra has also welcomed NVOCC and LCL (
less-than-con-tainerload) carrier iCargo Alliance to
its network. … Mitsubishi Caterpillar
Forklift America Inc. has appointed
G&W Equipment Inc. to serve as the sole
authorized dealer of its three brands
(Cat lift trucks, Mitsubishi forklift trucks,
and Jungheinrich warehouse products)
in Georgia. … Western Pacific Storage
Solutions, a supplier of industrial shelving and work platforms, has partnered
with 84-year-old material handling systems integrator Morrison Co. to engineer an “active-pick” warehouse operation on behalf of a national specialty
retailer of women’s and girls’ apparel. … Procter & Gamble has adopted
E2open’s demand planning solution to
improve its productivity and performance. … Third-party logistics specialist
syncreon has contracted with Swisslog
Logistics Automation to implement an
AutoStore automated storage and picking system in its newly constructed DC
in Carlisle, Pa. The facility will handle
both e-commerce and retail fulfillment.
… MedSpeed, a healthcare intracom-pany logistics specialist, has selected
Descartes Systems Group’s route planning and execution solutions to help
manage its nationwide healthcare logistics network. … Labelmaster, a maker
of labels, packaging, and technology
for the safe and compliant transport of
dangerous goods and hazardous materials, has been named the exclusive label
manufacturer and distributor for the
American Chemistry Council’s Chemtrec
program. Chemtrec provides information and emergency incident support for
hazmat shippers.
GE Transportation expands online cargo
tracking portal to Port of Long Beach
GE Transportation will expand the coverage of its online cargo
tracking portal at California seaports in July, launching a two-month
pilot program at the Port of Long Beach and extending its existing
program at the Port of Los Angeles to cover all of that site’s terminals
and shipping lines.
The installation will help improve cargo flow at the port by increasing visibility, enhancing real-time decision-making, and optimizing
cargo movement, GE Transportation said. Long Beach is the country’s
second-busiest port after neighboring Los Angeles.
GE Transportation, a unit of Boston-based General Electric Co., will
install its Port Optimizer solution at several Long Beach marine terminals for a two- to three-month pilot. The company took a similar
approach in 2016 when it launched the Los Angeles trial of its portal.
The project was eventually expanded in 2017 to a $12 million, five-year initiative.
The product offers a common Web-based portal that allows a range
of supply chain stakeholders to make scheduling, planning, and payment decisions prior to cargo arrival, the company said. At the Port
of Los Angeles, that effort has helped increase visibility of incoming
cargo to two weeks from two days, GE Transportation said.
Beginning in July, GE will add features that will improve chassis
inventory accuracy, share inbound cargo information with the railroads that serve both ports, and support cross-terminal scheduling
for truckers, Jennifer Schopfer, vice president and general manager
of transport logistics for GE Transportation, said in a phone interview.
“The more of the community that participates in the portal, the
greater the functionality and the benefits,” Schopfer said. The installation at Long Beach will cover more terminals than the original
Los Angeles project did—two or three terminals compared with just
one—and provide the additional functionality from the start, she
said.
For example, the cross-terminal scheduling function will allow the
portal to draw and compare data from a variety of independent
truck scheduling tools within the port. “Currently, if a trucker miss-
es an appointment window because of heavy traffic, he might get
re-booked the next day or even a few days later,” she said. “So we
want to look across the different terminals’ appointment applications
and see if he could be rerouted to another terminal right away.”
The upgraded portal will also share more data about the status of
inbound cargo with the ports’ railroads, allowing them to apply more
sophistication to how they assemble rail assets to carry freight and
helping them provide better information about the outbound cargo
they’re delivering to the port, she said.
Long Beach officials are eager to take advantage of these tools to
handle rising volumes of imports and exports, including an 11-percent
increase last year that made 2017 the port’s busiest year ever, with
7. 54 million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) handled.
—Ben Ames
