DC Velocity - September 2017

4 DC VELOCITY SEPTEMBER 2017 www.dcvelocity.com inbound

Quick! How do you get hold of a spare part for a rare engine when your warehouse is hours away? One answer: Make it yourself with the aid of a three-dimensional (3-D) printer. As a result of recent advances in the technology, users are now able to produce instant parts from digital blueprints, thereby avoiding the need to maintain vast inventories as well as the cost of expedited transportation.

Among those experimenting with the technology are Mercedes-Benz Trucks and the U.S. Coast Guard, which have shared details of their latest tests of 3-D printing (also known as “additive manufacturing”). Last month, Mercedes printed strong metal versions of parts with the same quality as original stock for the first time, according to Andreas Deuschle, head of marketing and operations in customer service and parts at Mercedes-Benz Trucks. The company now saves money on tools, storage, and transport costs by 3-D printing small batches of spare parts and special items, creating complex, heat-resistant metal structures, Deuschle said. The first 3-D metal part produced was a highly resistant thermostat cover for the company’s Unimog series of multi-purpose, all-wheel-drive medium trucks.

Sailors with the U.S. Coast Guard are following a similar strategy. Researchers at the service’s Coast Guard Research and Development Center in New London, Conn., are now studying how 3-D printing technology might improve mission readiness through logistical support, according to a statement. Researchers have provided 3-D printers for crew use on five Coast Guard cutters and at several operational shore units.

In one trial, crew members aboard U.S. Coast Guard Cutter (USCGC) Spencer printed out a replacement for a hard-to-get switch used in a critical on-board system for “pennies on the dollar” compared with commissioning the manufacture of the part on dry land, the service said. In another test, staff on the USCGC Healy, which operates mostly in the Arctic and Bering seas, printed parts to repair a remotely operated vehicle that had been crushed in the ice, allowing the icebreaker to complete its mission.

Mercedes-Benz, Coast Guard turn to
3-D printing for parts

Here’s our monthly roundup of some of the char-
itable works and donations by companies in the
material handling and logistics space.
b Cookeville, Tenn.-based less-than-truckload
carrier Averitt Express Inc. donated $100,000 to
the American Red Cross National Disaster Relief
Fund to provide food and shelter for people dis-
placed by Hurricane Harvey. The donation was
made from funds collected through the company’s
employee-giving organization, known as Averitt
Cares for Kids.
b Transport and logistics services giant FedEx
Corp. has pledged $1 million in cash and trans-
portation support to deliver critical medical aid
and supplies in the wake of Hurricane Harvey.
The donation will be used to support disaster
relief efforts organized by the American Red Cross,
Direct Relief, Heart to Heart International, the
Salvation Army, and Team Rubicon, a veterans’
group that provides humanitarian aid.
b Hormel Foods is partner-
ing with the Springfield, Mo.-
based humanitarian logistics
organization Convoy of Hope
to assist people affected by
Hurricane Harvey. The food manufacturer has
helped stock Convoy of Hope’s warehouse with
protein-rich products such as peanut butter, chili,
chicken breasts, and—you guessed it—Spam that
could be positioned and distributed immediately
for disaster relief efforts in Texas.
b PLS Logistics Services, a third-party logis-
tics service provider (3PL) based in Cranberry
Township, Pa., will donate 100 percent of the
profits from its Texas freight moves for the week
of Sept. 4th to the American Red Cross Hurricane
Harvey relief efforts. PLS has also teamed up with
the American Red Cross and GoFundMe to raise
money for affected communities.

b Cincinnati-based third-party logistics service provider Total Quality Logistics (TQL) teamed up with the Klosterman Baking Co. to provide free meals to flood victims coping with the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey. Klosterman donated a semi-trailer load of bread to the group “Matthew 25: Ministries” to help Houston-area victims. A TQL-contracted semi transported the loaves from Klosterman’s Springfield, Ohio, bakery to Corpus Christi, Texas, where they were made into 95,000 sandwiches for survivors.