DC Velocity - February 2014

22 DC VELOCITY FEBRUARY 2014 www.dcvelocity.com newsworthy

Descartes Systems Group, the Canadian logistics software provider, announced two all-cash acquisitions designed to strengthen its customer base in Switzerland and its customs compliance operations in the United Kingdom.

Descartes said it acquired Compudata, a Murten, Switzerland-based firm that provides business-to-business supply chain integration and e-invoicing services mostly for Swiss companies, for $17.9 million. Compudata has more than 500 customers, Descartes said in a statement.

In addition, Descartes said it acquired Impatex Freight Software Ltd., based in Cadman, U.K., for $7.9 million. Impatex provides electronic customs filing and freight forwarding solutions mostly to U.K. firms.

Both transactions are the first announced under Edward J. Ryan, Descartes’ new chief executive officer. Ryan replaced CEO Arthur Mesher in late November after Mesher announced his retirement.

Compudata and Impatex add to Descartes’ growing global platform of communities that collaborate on end-to-end logistics and supply chain processes. Today, Waterloo, Ont.-based Descartes has more than 171,000 participants in its cloud-based software-as-a-ser-vice programs.

Mavi Silveira, Descartes’ vice president-global marketing, said Compudata’s and Impatex’s services are utilized outside of Switzerland and the U.K., respectively.

Descartes buys
Swiss, U.K. firms

The National Shippers Strategic Transportation Council
(NASSTRAC) has named Gail Rutkowski as its executive direc-
tor. … Hytrol Conveyor Co. Inc., an industry expert in automat-
ed material handling solutions, has added Jon Little as quality
assurance manager. … Seegrid, a maker of automated guided
vehicles (AGVs), has hired Peter Bak as its new European rep-
resentative. … EnerSys, a provider of stored energy solutions,
has hired Joe Monahan to manage the company’s Convert to
Electric program (C2E) for the West and Southwest U.S. … Jane Sorensen has
been appointed vice president, import services and U.S. customs brokerage,
for Ceva Logistics.… PwC US has added John Donahue as a director in the
firm’s transportation and logistics sector within the larger industrial products
practice. … Greg Carter is the new chief technology officer and senior vice
president of product development for Kewill, a global provider of multimodal
transportation and logistics management solutions. … Data-collection com-
pany Datalogic has named Jacopo Mazzolin senior vice president and chief
human resources officer, and Paul August Maltseff U.S. chief intellectual
property counsel. … Intelligrated, a North America-based automated materi-
al handling solutions provider, has hired Chris Lingamfelter as vice president,
integrated system sales and strategy. … Thomas J. Pawlowicz
has been promoted to senior account executive at Integrated
Systems Design in Wixom, Mich. … Invata Intralogistics
Inc., which designs, implements, and supports automated
distribution and fulfillment centers, has hired Charlie Zebell
as vice president of systems integration and Eric Goeringer
as a system engineer. … Choptank Transport has promoted
Pam Hutchinson to director of human resources. … Forte has
added three new supply chain consultants and a marketing specialist to its
team of distribution center experts. Jeff Cunningham and Will Nowak have
accepted positions as senior consultants. Randie Bumgardner joins the com-
pany as a consultant/analyst, and Brittany Encinas will step into the role of
marketing and sales support coordinator. … RoadOne IntermodaLogistics,
an intermodal, distribution, and logistics services company, has appointed
Rick Longerbeam terminal manager for its Norfolk, Va., location. … Mike
Weisburn has been named a tooling engineer for storage and transport prod-
uct company Akro-Mils’ Wadsworth, Ohio, facility. … Southeastern Freight
Lines, a provider of regional less-than-truckload transportation services,
has promoted John Greene to fleet services manager in Greenville, S.C. The
company has also promoted Russ Brien to service center manager in Albany,
Ga., and Raul Gomez to service manager in Odessa, Texas. … Thomas Chen,
chairman of Evergreen Shipping Agency (America) Corp. (EGA) since 2007, is
being transferred to assume a new position in Taiwan. Jack Yen, who is vice
chairman of EGA, has been named to replace Chen as chairman. … Hanne
B. Sorensen has been appointed CEO of Damco. He will take over for Rolf
Habben-Jansen, who announced his departure in September 2013. … Toyota
Material Handling, U.S.A., Inc. has appointed Joe Cacopardo national mar-
keting manager and Anne Ewing national manager of dealer IT operations.
… Wynright Corp. has hired Bryan Duncan and Mathias (Matt) Frick as senior
account executives, and John Postema as director of application engineering
for its new Grand Rapids, Mich., office. … The Transportation Marketing and
Sales Association has named Dino Moler, executive vice president of client
solutions for LeSaint Logistics, as its new president.
newsmakers