DC Velocity - December 2016

4 DC VELOCITY DECEMBER 2016 www.dcvelocity.com inbound

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

; O’Fallon, Mo.-based supply chain consultants Flat World Holdings donated nearly $10,000 to Grant Me Hope, an organization that helps children in foster care find adoptive families. The funds were raised by 77 employees and their families during the company’s fall charitable campaign.

; Oak Brook, Ill.-based intermodal solutions provider Hub Group Inc. raised nearly $70,000 in the first year of its #CauseContainer charity campaign, which uses custom-painted 53-foot shipping containers as “mobile billboards” to encourage donations. The funds will support cancer prevention charity Bright Pink, healthcare provider Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago, and veterans housing provider Fisher House. The company has also kicked off the 2017 version of the charity drive and will add two more recipients: the National Park Foundation and Chicago Blackhawks Charities.

; Life sciences packaging specialist Pelican Bio Thermal of Plymouth, Minn., is supporting two cyclists as they complete a global bicycling challenge for diabetes awareness. The athletes will pedal nearly 11,185 miles from Italy to Singapore as part of the “For a Piece of Cake” event, made possible in part by the company’s donation of a temperature-controlled portable medical transport bag to hold the insulin that controls one rider’s diabetes.

; Miami-based transportation and supply chain solutions provider Ryder System Inc. has donated $812,701 to the United Way, a 4.4-percent increase over last year’s gift. Collected during the company’s “Live. Care. Give.” annual fundraising week, the money will support programs that prepare children for success in school and life, assist individuals and families in becoming financially stable, and offer resources that will help individuals, families, and older adults improve their health.

Logistics gives back

Logistics and transportation professionals will head to Atlanta on Jan. 23 for SMC3 JumpStart, an annual three-day supply chain event designed to facilitate collaboration between carriers, shippers, logistics service providers, and technology companies.

Hosted by Peachtree City, Ga.-based freight pricing software firm SMC3 Inc., the strategic educational event will feature more than 20 targeted sessions and presentations from 40 industry experts.

Just two days later, logistics executives will have a chance to tap into the pipeline of up-and-coming supply chain talent at a Research Expo hosted by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s (MIT) Center for Transportation & Logistics. Scheduled for Jan. 25 on the MIT campus in Cambridge, Mass., the event showcases the company-sponsored thesis projects of 125 supply chain master’s program students. Visitors are invited to walk around, meet the students, and see their work.

Mark your calendars

Warehouse work is physically demanding, requiring laborers to lift hefty items and perform repetitive tasks. The job can take its toll on both workers and employers, forcing companies to pay out big money every year for injuries caused by overexertion.

One solution? Outfit employees with a flexible exoskeleton that gives them superhuman strength and augments their ability to perform repetitive tasks in awkward postures. Once a science fiction dream, this vision is now a reality. It even has a name: MAX.

An acronym for Modular Agile Exoskeleton, MAX is a wearable, modular, passive (meaning no motors) tool that helps employees avoid injuries. Made up of modules designed to protect the shoulder, back, and leg (the modules can be worn individually or in any combination), MAX is a type of assistive bionics technology that reduces the muscle force required to complete tasks. The product, which is suited to fields like warehousing, delivery services, and construction, was developed by Berkeley, Calif.-based suitX, a robotics company that designs and manufactures medical and industrial exoskeletons.

“The MAX solution is designed for unstructured workplaces where no robot can work as efficiently as a human worker,” suitX founder and CEO Homayoon Kazerooni said in a release. “Our goal is to augment and support workers who perform demanding and repetitive tasks in unstructured workplaces in order to prevent and reduce injuries.”