DC Velocity - November 2018

4 DC VELOCITY NOVEMBER 2018 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.
b Atlanta-based pallet and contain-
er pooling specialist CHEP, a unit
of the global supply chain logistics
firm Brambles, has donated $75,000 to
the Arbor Day Foundation to support
reforestation projects in the U.S. and
France. As part of their commitment,
Brambles and CHEP will plant 60,000 trees in the Mississippi River
Valley and 5,000 trees in the Landes region of France this year.
b Gulfport, Miss.-based
truck dealership and rent-
al fleet operator Freedom
Trucks LLC helped pro-
mote National Breast
Cancer Awareness Month
by painting its newest semi-
truck, a 2015 Peterbilt,
bright pink with purple
ribbons, symbolizing hope
for women and their fam-
ilies who experience breast
cancer. The truck has been
on view in parades and
other public events across the Gulf Coast.
b Oklahoma City, Okla.-based truck stop operator Love’s Travel
Stops said its store employees and customers raised more than
$3.4 million for Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals through its
annual five-week campaign. From Aug. 26 through Sept. 30, Love’s
sold Miracle Balloon icons for donations and organized fundraising
events like 5K runs, bowling and fishing tournaments, and cookouts.
b Fremont, Calif.-based third-party logistics service provider RK
Logistics Group contributed $1,000 to the “Coding5K Challenge,”
an educational program that teaches San Jose schoolchildren to
write software code. Nearly 3,300 students are expected to partici-
pate in the free program, which is sponsored by the Silicon Valley
Leadership Group.
b Transervice Logistics Inc., a
Lake Success, N.Y.-based provider
of customized transportation solu-
tions, raised over $11,000 by spon-
soring and participating in the “1st
Annual Long Island Truck Pull” to
benefit Move for Hunger, a nonprofit that mobilizes the relocation
industry to fight hunger and reduce food waste. The event show-
cased 18 teams of 10 competing against each other to see who could
pull a full-sized moving truck 100 feet the fastest.

Logistics gives back

When the robot-build-ing startup company Rethink Robotics Inc. shut down in October, the news took many in the industry by surprise. The Boston-based firm had achieved some high-profile successes with its “Baxter” and “Sawyer” collaborative robots, including a deployment by DHL Supply Chain, which used the bots in its warehouses for co-packing and value-added tasks like assembly and kitting. Despite those wins, the company ran out of cash when robot sales fell short of expectations and a deal to sell the company collapsed, Rethink CEO Scott Eckert told The Boston Globe.

Founded in 2008, Rethink Robotics introduced its first “smart” robot, Baxter, in 2012. Baxter was followed by a smaller, faster version, Sawyer, in 2015. Both featured bright-red articulated arms that allowed them to perform rote repetitive jobs, freeing up human workers for high-er-value tasks. The robots were notable for their endearing interactive humanoid “faces,” which enabled them to communicate with co-workers.

Its shutdown notwithstanding, Rethink Robotics made a major contribution to the field, industry observers say. The company led the charge in the development of collaborative robots, or “cobots,” which are designed to safely work side by side with people, rather than being segregated in a separate section of the facility.

“Rethink helped to create and define the collaborative robotics space,” Rick Faulk, CEO of mobile warehouse robot vendor Locus Robotics, told the MIT Technology Review. “The contributions of [the founders] to the robotics field, though slightly ahead of their time, will continue to influence developers for many years to come. Their work opened the minds of prospective customers to the possibility of robots.”