Systems integrator Actemium Lyon Logistics and mate-
rial handling solutions provider Interroll have won a
contract to provide three sorters for French postal play-
ers PLa Poste, DPD, and Viapost. The order represents
Interroll’s 400th sorter order worldwide. … Dematic has
partnered with Dot Foods, a food-industry redistributor
in North America, on Dot Foods’ first fully automat-
ed 117,000-square-foot warehouse. … CargoSphere,
a neutral rate network for container shipping, has
announced a digital integration with CaroTrans that
allows the NVOCC (non-vessel-operating common car-
rier) and ocean freight consolidator to distribute dig-
ital LCL (less-than-containerload) import and export
rates on the CargoSphere platform. … Amsterdam-
based brewer Heineken has expanded its partnership
with software developer Blue Yonder (formerly JDA
Software) in a bid to strengthen its business planning
capabilities. … Automated Logistics Systems (ALS), a
Jackson, Michigan-based full-service freight brokerage
and 3PL/managed transportation provider, is now using
Descartes Systems Group’s MacroPoint freight-tracking
solution to improve its real-time shipment visibility and
operating efficiency. … L.I.N.K. Global, an internation-
al network of independent forwarders, has signed an
agreement to provide logistics services to marine e-com-
merce platform ShipParts.com. Under the new agree-
ment, L.I.N.K. Global will deliver spare parts purchased
on the ShipParts platform to customers anywhere in the
world. … North American transportation and logistics
services provider Dupré Logistics and international logis-
tics service provider Hoyer Group have entered into a
joint venture agreement to create Hoyer Bulk LLC. The
new venture, which will be headquartered in Houston,
will focus on the transport of bulk liquids. … Automaker
Porsche Cars Canada Ltd. has selected DB Schenker
Canada to operate its new parts distribution center
in Mississauga, Ontario. … Redwood Logistics and
Transflo, a telematics and business process automation
provider, have formed a strategic partnership to stream-
line digital freight brokerage operations. The compa-
nies will integrate Redwood’s Digital Transportation
Management Platform with Transflo Velocity+, the com-
pany’s all-in-one mobile and cloud-based transportation
software technology for brokers and 3PLs.
ALLIANCES
Lawmakers form bipartisan Congressional Supply Chain Caucus
As the coronavirus epidemic continues to disrupt global supply chains, lawmakers in the nation’s capitol havelaunched an initiative to cooperate on possible solutionsby forming a bipartisan CongressionalSupply Chain Caucus in the U.S. House ofRepresentatives.
Interest groups often form congressional caucuses in order to gain greater voting leverage for their platforms. Whilesome of these focus on traditional politicalgroups—such as the House RepublicanCaucus or the Senate Democratic Caucus—others focus on ethnic identity, such as theCongressional Black Caucus, or on specificsubject areas like the Congressional BikeCaucus or the Senate Taiwan Caucus.
The newly formed supply chain caucus includes four founding members fromboth sides of the traditional political aisle:Reps. Colin Allred (D-Texas), Angie Craig(D-Minn.), Rodney Davis (R-Ill.), and David Rouzer(R-N.C.).
Together, they plan to serve as co-chairs and recruit addi-
tional members to work toward a goal to “strengthen and
add resiliency to protect the delivery system, which can be
severely harmed by geopolitical events such as the recent
coronavirus outbreak that has had signifi-
cant impacts on global supply chains,” the
members said in a public statement.
That vision has won the support of
the Consumer Brands Association, an
Arlington, Virginia-based trade group representing the consumer packaged goods(CPG) industry, which it says accounts forone-fifth of total U.S. freight. “Americanconsumers have billions of interactionswith consumer packaged goods each day.Ensuring access and affordability of theseproducts is a complex task, made morechallenging by the emergence of coronavirus,” Geoff Freeman, president and CEOof the Consumer Brands Association, saidin a release. “Our industry is grateful forthe bipartisan leadership of the co-chairs in recognizingthe critical role supply chains play and the importance ofstreamlining them for the benefit of consumers.” n
