DC Velocity - December 2015

4 DC VELOCITY DECEMBER 2015 www.dcvelocity.com inbound

The National Retail Federation (NRF) holds its annual convention and expo beginning Jan. 17, 2016, at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center in New York City. The educational conference includes a range of sessions divided into content tracks such as mobile retailing, global trends, and sustainability. Speakers include senior executives and C-level officers from corporations including SAP, The Hershey Co., Ikea, Marks and Spencer plc, Macy’s Inc., Disney Consumer Products, Nike Inc., and Under Armour.

One of the event’s highlights will be a keynote address by Gen. Colin Powell, USA (Ret.) on “Diplomacy: Persuasion, Trust & Values.” Following the presentation, NRF Chairman Kip Tindell, founder and CEO of The Container Store, will lead a fireside chat with Gen. Powell.

The show will culminate with the presentation of the NRF Annual Awards, which recognize retail industry leadership and innovation.

For information and to register, visit http:// bigshow16.nrf.com.

Material handling experts know how challenging it can be to design automated systems in large warehouses, but a group in Covington, Tenn., took the task to another level last month when they built a cold storage system that operates at 20 degrees below zero Fahrenheit.

British-Dutch consumer goods giant Unilever teamed up with U.S. Cold Storage (USCS) to build the 336,500-square-foot facility about an hour’s drive north of Memphis, Tenn. The new frozen-goods DC connects to Unilever’s existing 815,000-square-foot production facility next door with a 312-foot corridor kept at - 20 degrees F, creating one of the largest ice cream manufacturing and distribution facilities in the world.

To move all that ice cream between production, storage, and shipping, Unilever turned to Swisslog to design a handling system capable of running smoothly in a freezer. The systems integrator came up with a solution that includes Vectura cranes, pallet conveyors, and automated guided vehicles (AGVs), all controlled by Swisslog’s own warehouse execution system (WES).

Frozen DC is the Fort Knox of
ice cream
NRF Big Show kicks off Jan. 17

Here’s our monthly roundup of some of the charitable works and donations by companies in the material handling and logistics space.

; Douglassville, Pa.-based equipment manufacturer American Crane and Equipment Corp. held a holiday food drive in partnership with the Greater Berks Food Bank, donating a can of food for each parts order placed during the month of November. The charitable group helps feed over 60,000 people per year.

; Choptank Transport, a Preston, Md.-based third-party logistics company, awarded the fourth annual scholarship award to a business student at the University of Maryland. This year’s scholarship recipient is Bethany McCrone (right).

; Reusable plastic container (RPC) provider Ifco of Portland, Ore., has donated 185 containers to Meals on Wheels People for its “Meals 4 Kids” program. The containers will allow staff to pack and deliver more than 3,000 meals weekly to low-income, nutritionally at-risk children and families in North and Southeast Portland. The group had previously used cardboard boxes, which were not only smaller, but did not hold up well and could not be washed.

; Total Quality Logistics of Cincinnati, Ohio, raised $45,799 to support breast cancer awareness during the freight brokerage firm’s annual Pinktober campaign. Employee fundraising efforts included the Great Shave event, where workers donated money to earn the right to shave their managers’ heads. All funds raised went to the American Cancer Society’s Making Strides Against Breast Cancer effort.

; Atlanta-based freight and logistics giant UPS has launched a free website and mobile app to help U.S. veterans and transitioning service members find civilian careers. The UPS Military Transition App is available at app stores for iOS and Android devices, while the UPS Veteran Career Gateway can be found online at UPSjobs.com/military. Both offer links to dozens of government and private veteran hiring programs, services, and networking opportunities, as well as a Military Skills Translator that offers guidance on which currently available jobs best fit veterans based on their military occupations.