DC Velocity - July 2016

30 DC VELOCITY JULY 2016 www.dcvelocity.com newsworthy

TMW Systems showcased its expanded portfolio of logistics planning and business intelligence solutions for nonasset-based transportation enterprises during the Transportation Intermediaries Association’s 2016 Capital Ideas Conference and Exhibition in San Antonio. … Commercial real estate services firm Cushman & Wakefield has been named leasing agent for a new 260,000-square-foot industrial development in Sonoma County, Calif. Located on the Sonoma city line, the $32 million ground-up project is a joint venture of Washington Capital Management and VSP LLC. … UniCarriers Americas Corp. celebrated Arbor Day at its Marengo, Ill., headquarters by planting a tree to commemorate its most recent product launch.

… Yusen Logistics Australia Pty. Ltd. has
acquired the Hitech Asia Pacific brand
businesses from logistics provider Hitech
Express Group. … Barcoding Inc., a sup-
ply chain efficiency, accuracy, and connectivity systems
integrator, now offers advice on post-Windows Mobile
application development to help guide enterprises
through mass migrations. … In early June, Numina Group
demonstrated its latest voice-directed order fulfillment
automation solutions for e-commerce and omnichannel
fulfillment operations at IRCE 2016. … Georgia Tech-
Savannah offered a three-day course in defining and
implementing effective sourcing strategies. Tim Brown,
managing director of Georgia Tech’s Supply Chain &
Logistics Institute, was the course instructor. … Highly
trained master riggers working for stevedoring company

Portus moved four multimillion dollar helicopters through Jaxport’s heavy lift and specialty cargo berth at Blount Island Marine Terminal, one of the nation’s highest weight-bearing-capacity docks. …

Mettler Toledo has launched the next installment of its industrial production infographic series. The series of free infographics continues with new ideas for streamlining processes, improving quality, and enhancing the bottom line for manufacturers. … TVH in the Americas has opened its “Active Workspace” area in Olathe, Kan. This new space allows employees to enjoy the benefits of physical activity while working. … Global supply chain management and logistics services provider Penske Logistics was a champion-level sponsor of the Warehousing Education and Research Council’s 39th Annual Conference for Logistics Professionals.

short takes

UNICARRIERS

Swisslog creates regional software integration hub

Logistics automation solutions provider Swisslog said it has created a North American regional technology hub that will forge a single technology platform out of the material handling software that Swisslog gained in two recent acquisitions.

Under the realignment, Swisslog’s Warehouse and Distribution Solutions division will create a regional “Software and Controls Hub” for the Americas, the company said. The hub will be based in Newport News, Va., the home of Swisslog’s North American headquarters. Switzerland-based Swisslog is a unit of the German robotics firm Kuka Systems GmbH.

The new hub will coordinate a team of software developers and controls engineers currently working in Swisslog offices in Newport News; Mason, Ohio; Lathrop, Calif.; and Tlalnepantla, Mexico. The group will collaborate to integrate the software platforms developed by Mason, Ohio-based Forte Industries, which Swisslog acquired in April 2015, and Lathrop, Calif.-based Power Automation Systems (PAS), acquired last April.

Swisslog’s stated goal in acquiring the companies was to complement its expertise in high-end warehouse automation equipment by adding Forte’s strength in midrange material handling and PAS’s business in automated storage and retrieval systems (AS/RS).

Swisslog now hopes to combine those different capabilities and create one common software platform that’s specialized for North American users by adding region-specific functionality and market insight, the company said.

The new division will be led by Michael Howes, a 10-year veteran of Swisslog’s Forte Industries business unit and a specialist in warehouse execution software (WES), according to a statement from Markus Schmidt, senior vice president, Swisslog Warehouse and Distribution Solutions (WDS) Americas.

Howes will continue to work out of the company’s Virginia office and take on the title of vice president, software and controls, of Swisslog WDS Americas, Swisslog said.