May 2011

26th May 2011

Heinz is closing 5 production facilities across Europe, US and the Pacific region.  Heinz says that the shake-up is needed to "provide the fuel for sustained growth and investment".  Heinz also plans to create a new European supply chain hub.

CButt has won a 3 year UK distribution contract with Coca-Cola to develop UK trunking operations.

Lawrence Christensen (former Sainsburys Supply Chain Director) will join the JJB Sports board as a Non-Executive Director from November 2011.

Jan de Rijk has won a 3 year extension with Dorna Sports.  Jan de Rijk provides road feeder and connected logistics services related to the MotoGP World championship.

Stobart Biomass has won a contract with Iggesund Paperboard.  Stobart Biomass will source, supply and transport forest residue and recycled wood for use as biomass fuel at the new green energy power station at Iggesund's paper mill.

Abbey Logistics has won 3 major contracts with Cargill and Unilever.  Abbey will transport bulk liquids from Northern Europe to the UK worth +£1 million per year.

Yodel has created Yodel Transport.  The Managing Director has said "we are making significant investments in new trailers and state-of-the-art control tower, which is near completion, to support the effective management of network operations.  We will have one of the largest transport fleets in the UK".  Yodel has ordered 107 double-deck trailers and this is in addition to the 100 replacement single-deck trailers it already has.  It wants to offer its customers the broadest range of services to suit their parcel delivery demands.

Fiege Group has won a contract with RWE Effizienz GmbH.  Fiege will handle the complete supply chain fulfillment for the products distributed by RWE via the internet which leave the Hamburg facility en route to the end customer.  Fiege picks, packs and distributes the merchandise germany-wide.  Also, Fiege works with parcel delivery companies to manage the inbound and outbound logistics and handles the entire reverse logistics at Fiege's mega centre in Hamburg.  Fiege also compiles emergency kits and labels merchandise and outer packaging for increased product safety.

Nightfreight has opened a new 15,000 sqft site at Llanelli Gate (South Wales).  This site is being used for its contract with Office Depot and will support future growth plans for both Nightfreight and Office Depot.

DHL Supply Chain has won a 5 year £15 million global contract with Muntons.  DHL Supply Chain will support the movement of over 70,000 kt of malt and related ingredients for the food and beverage sector to some 54 countries.

18th May 2011

DHL Supply Chain wins a contract with Peugoet.  The contract is for managing Peugeot's fleet demonstrator programme and managing all aspects of the test-drive programme including customer booking, delivery and collection and vehicle conditioning.

DHL Supply Chain has acquired Eurodifarm Italy.  DHL Supply Chain is pursuing its strategy of further developing DHL's customer relationships in the Life Sciences and Healthcare industry by providing temperature-controlled product management and distribution.

Meachers Global Logistics has extended its contract with Huhtamaki.  Meachers manages its national transport network, warehousing and freight forwarding and is also managing the delivery of pallets to locations throughout the UK & Ireland.  Deliveries are carried out using a combination of Meachers' fleet of vehicles together with sub-contractors.

Tesco has appointed Richard Broadbent as its new Chairman.  He will replace David Reid in November 2011.

Tesco has appointed Michael Fleming as its new Group Strategy Director.

Mothercare is significantly reshaping its UK store portfolio.  It is moving from the high street to the internet and it is closing 110 in-town stores.

Wickes is acquiring 13 stores from the administrators of Focus DIY for £8.4 million.

12th May 2011

Gist has appointed Alan Devine to the Gist Board.  Alan is responsible for Gist's Key Account Business Unit, Gist's European operations based in The Netherlands, France, Spain, Italy, Austria, Czech Republic and Gist's global managed solutions business unit that provides end-to-end high-care and temperature sensitive supply chain management.

TDG (owned by Norbert Dentressangle) has been appointed to operate a distribution centre in Chorley on behalf of Kimberly-Clark. The distribution centre opens today!

Ceva Logistics is targetting global supply chains and has created a new organisation called Supply Chain Solutions.

Unipart Technology Logistics has won a contract with Virgin Mobile to run its reverse logistics operations, including serving Vodafone and Three.  UTL will carry out the repair and refurbishment of products and operate call centres for Virgin.

DHL Supply Chain has extended its contract with Debenhams for a further 3 years.  DHL Supply Chain provides all Debenhams warehousing and distribution services to stores across the UK & Ireland.  Also, DHL Supply Chain carries out the fulfillment operation from Debenhams distribution centre in Peterborough. 

John Harvey (former Tibbett & Britten chief) has set up Tibbett Logistics in Romania through his holding company, Keswick Enterprises.  The move follows Keswick's acquisition December 2010 of Delamode Logistics and that company's joint venture with DHL, DHL Delamode from shareholders of Delamode group and DHL.  These businesses have been renamed Tibbett Logistics and Tibbett Retail Services respectively together trading as Tibbett Logistics.

Kuehne & Nagel has appointed Karl Gernandt to the position of Chairman. 

Deutsche Post DHL has reported its financial results for Q1 2011:

The Supply Chain division contributed €3.3 billion, up 7.5% on Q1 2010.

The Global Forwarding, Freight Forwarding division contributed €3.6 billion, up 14.9% on Q1 2010.

9th May 2011

Ceva Logistics has reported its financial results for Q1 2011:

Focus DIY has gone into administration.  The joint administrators intend to enable the Group to continue to trade whilst seeking a buyer for all or parts of the business.  It looks like B&Q are interested in buying up the stores for £23 million cash.

Kuehne & Nagel has extended its contract with Agora Network Srl for a further 6 years.  Kuehne & Nagel will provide frozen warehousing and distribution for the retailer's stores across Northern Italy.  Kuehne & Nagel operates a 45,000 sqm ambient foods warehouse for Agora in Brignano Gera d'Adda (east of Milan).  Now Kuehne & Nagel will be responsible for frozen foods inbound services, storage and order preparation at its 12,000 sqm multi-user temperature-controlled facility in La Sorate Primo.  Also, Kuehne & Nagel will carry out road distribution to serve Agora's 200 points of sales throughout Northern Italy.

Fowler Welch has appointed Paul Milnes as Head of Operations for its Ambient business.  Paul was previously the Managing Director and shareholder of JDF Logistics.

4th May 2011

DB Schenker has won a 3 year contract with Marshall Aerospace.  DB Schenker will provide logistics services for the movement of aircraft parts for both civil and military aircraft.  The shipments consist of time-sensitive urgent parts, spares and regular stock items distributed both inbound and outbound, between North America and the UK.

Kuehne & Nagel has opened a new facility at the airport cargo hub in Krakow (Southern Poland).  The new facility provides sea freight, air freight and multimodal services.  The team specialises in the automotive, industrial and pharmaceuticals industries.

Gefco UK has appointed Bertrand De Techtermann as its new Automotive Director.  Bertrand joins from Gefco Slovakia where he was the Automotive Manager.  He will be responsible for the automotive logistics of new and used vehicles across Gefco's 4 automotive centres in the UK.

Geodis Logistics has won a 3 year contract for BenQ in Europe.  Geodis will provide inbound coordination and transport by road and inland waterways, warehousing and storage, order preparation, pick and pack, loading, outbound coordination, returns and customs management.

P&O Ferrymasters has won a 1 year contract with SABIC.  P&O Ferrymasters will handle SABIC's european operations for road transport.  Most of the movements will be for SABIC's plastics business. 

DHL Global Forwarding has opened a new centre at Vienna airport.  The centre provides 500 sqm of refrigerated warehouse space designed to handle time-sensitive products and allow them to be prepared for air shipment.  The facility expands the range of services available to the Life Sciences and Healthcare industries. 

Nightfreight has won a 2 year extension with Vacu-Lug Traction Tyres.  Nightfreight carries out the collection and outbound delivery of Vacu-Lug's new retread tyres from its UK plant in Grantham to its nationwide customer base via Nightfreight's network of regional hubs.  Also, Nightfreight will also collect used tyres from customers and return them to Vacu-Lug for recycling.

Kuehne & Nagel has been awarded the title of 'Supplier of the Year 2010' by its customer, Rolls Royce.  Kuehne & Nagel has worked with Rolls Royce since 2004 providing a full range of services supporting its global supply chain requirements.

Norbert Dentressangle has published its results for Q1 2011: