DC Velocity - July 2016

inbound

Are you the type of person who likes to tinker with tools or tweak processes to create more efficient ways to get the job done? Have we got a job for you! DHL Corp. is looking for inventors and visionaries who have ideas for ways to develop a more efficient supply chain.

The German logistics giant has invited participants around the globe to submit their best ideas for self-driving delivery carts and sustainable logistics concepts. Submit your creative concepts in a written document and a video explaining the idea by Sept. 28, 2016. Finalists will have the chance to work with the company to jointly develop a proof-of-concept and display the result at DHL Innovation Day on Nov. 17.

Open to universities, students, companies, and anyone at least 18 years of age, the contest has two categories. The “Fair and Responsible Challenge” invites participants to come up with a new product, service solution, packaging concept, or some other way to generate value for society, the environment, and business. The “Robotics Challenge” requires entrants to develop a prototype of a self-driving delivery cart that can autonomously accompany staff, helping carry parcels during last-mile delivery. Visit www.dhlinnovationchallenge.com for more information.

Got “disruptive ideas”? Read on

High school students tend to stare out the window during dull classes, but the kids at Central Florida Aerospace Academy will soon find there’s much more of interest inside the building.

That’s because the school recently opened a new suite of classrooms built into the converted interior of a retired Boeing 727-200, according to Flying magazine. FedEx Corp. donated the airplane to the school and its partner, Polk State College, back in 2013, and the partners have now finished refitting the aircraft as a school building.

Now permanently mounted on stilts, the plane includes a classroom in the cargo compartment, a boardroom in the tail end, and space for students to sit at the cockpit controls. These virtual pilots can run through a standard flight check-list, power up the auxiliary power unit and engines, and share a wireless record of the lesson with classmates viewing real-time video on tablet PCs.

That curriculum is designed to prepare graduates for careers in aerospace technology, avionics, airframe and powerplant, and engineering, as well as for the Air Force Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps (JROTC). The academy is a public high school located on the Sun ’n Fun and Florida Air Museum campus at Lakeland Linder Regional Airport in Lakeland, Fla.

Cockpit classroom is ready for students

Green-minded consumers have
long been exhorted to “reduce,
re-use, recycle” to cut down on
the amount of waste they send
to landfills. Now, one com-
pany is taking the concept a
step further, using a strategy
dubbed “precycling” to help
e-commerce retailers operate
more sustainably and burnish
the corporate eco-image.
Running a green business
used to mean simply choosing
recyclable materials for pack-
aging and shipping. However,
retailers can gain a bigger return
if they consider an item’s entire
supply chain journey before
they pick a packaging solution,
according to Sealed Air Corp.
Packing a small item in a
large box stuffed with air pil-
lows is not only a business faux
pas, but it can hurt a retailer’s
image, the Charlotte, N.C.-
based packaging company says.
As evidence, Sealed Air points
to its “Packaging for e-Com-
merce Success” survey that
shows 77 percent of Americans
feel that e-commerce packag-
ing should reflect the retailer’s
environmental values.

However, failing to provide enough padding can be even worse, since damaged items create a huge business cost and environmental impact when they must be returned, repaired, rehandled, repackaged, and reshipped. Precycling is a strategy for steering a course between these two dangers … and saving the world while you’re at it.