DC Velocity - January 2020

Takeoff Technologies expands grocery
automation deal with Albertsons

Automated grocery fulfillment system provider Takeoff Technologies is expanding its relationship with Albertsons Cos., saying the strategic partnership will boost the grocery chain’s e-commerce order-fulfillment capabilities through the construction of “micro-fulfillment centers” (MFCs). Albertsons already operates two MFCs and has now agreed to purchase additional units from Takeoff and to evaluate further market expansion opportunities.

The announcement comes amid a series of similar moves by grocers looking to enhance their order-fulfillment capabilities by building small automated warehouses located close to their customers. Other supermarkets that have taken this route include Walmart Inc., which also announced a pilot program in early December to deliver groceries through a deal with an autonomous vehicle company called Nuro.

Likewise, grocery chain Kroger
Co. is expanding a program that
establishes miniature “store-within-a-store” shops inside Walgreens
drugstores and is building a sixth “customer fulfillment center”
designed by the e-commerce automation specialist Ocado. In addition,
Dutch grocery giant Ahold Delhaize recently said its U.S. division would
spend $480 million to transform and expand its supply chain operations
on the U.S. East Coast by building fully automated distribution facilities
that will operate in a “fully integrated, self-distribution model.”
Takeoff and Albertsons began their partnership in 2018 with an
agreement to build two MFCs that would be located in existing grocery
stores. Albertsons began operating its first pilot unit on Oct. 23 at a
Safeway in South San Francisco and was scheduled to launch another
one at a Safeway in San Jose, California, before the end of 2019.

Boston-based Takeoff, which provides robotics technology through a partnership with automated warehouse solution provider Knapp, says its model operates at a lower cost-to-serve than rival e-commerce platforms do. n

go figure …

$6.20

The average net profit per departing passenger for the global airline industry in 2019, up from $5.70 in 2018. The increase is expected to offset sagging airfreight revenue.

SOURCE: INTERNA TIONAL AIR TRANSPOR T ASSOCIATION (IATA)

As the truckload freight sector continues absorbing the blow of the sudden bankruptcy of top- 20 carrier Celadon Group, a report says business conditions in the market improved slightly in October but will likely remain no better than neutral “at least through the first half of 2020.” Generated by freight industry tracking firm FTR, the Trucking Conditions Index (TCI) rose to - 1.04 in October from - 2.94 in September but remained mired in negative territory despite rising freight demand.

Bloomington, Indiana-based FTR produces the index by tracking changes in five key U.S. trucking market indicators—freight volumes, freight rates, fleet capacity, fuel price, and financing—and combining them into a single number. Positive numbers mean strong conditions for carriers, while a zero reading indicates that truck supply and demand are roughly in balance.

Looking into the future, FTR expects trucking to hold steady in a mediocre environment, with the TCI hovering close to a neutral reading at least through the first six months of 2020.

“Although we continue to see high-
profile trucking failures—often due to
internal management issues—we see a
generally stable environment for the
industry,” Avery Vise, FTR’s vice pres-
ident of trucking, said in a release.
“Manufacturing is weakening, but resi-
dential construction is firming, and job
growth and consumer spending remain
strong. While we expect little freight
growth in most segments, volume
remains solid by historical standards.”
The reference to “internal manage-
ment issues” was a dig at both Celadon
and Roadrunner, large truckload carriers
that are in financial disarray following
the revelation that former executives
at the companies had hidden illegal
accounting practices. n