Ben Ames has spent 20 years as a journalist since starting out as a daily newspaper reporter in Pennsylvania in 1995. From 1999 forward, he has focused on business and technology reporting for a number of trade journals, beginning when he joined Design News and Modern Materials Handling magazines. Ames is author of the trail guide "Hiking Massachusetts" and is a graduate of the Columbia School of Journalism.
When contract logistics specialist DHL Supply Chain wanted to improve security at company warehouses in Mexico and Brazil, the Deutsche Post DHL Group unit deployed flying drones with surveillance cameras.
When transportation and logistics service provider XPO Logistics Inc. wanted to beef up security in its employee parking lots, the company rolled out mobile security robots outfitted with video cameras, heat sensors, two-way speakers, and alarm sirens.
Both companies are turning to new technologies to address the age-old problem of safety and security at distribution centers, parking lots, loading docks, and yards. Drones and sensors are taking on larger roles in facility and yard systems, providing capabilities like airborne reconnaissance and 24-hour surveillance that previous generations of systems could not offer.
"Robots offer exciting new capabilities in terms of productivity and security," XPO President Troy Cooper said in an e-mail. During a test beginning in October 2017 at XPO's Atlanta facility, the use of robots reduced the number of security incidents while cutting costs, Cooper said. XPO declined to share specific numbers on the extent of the reductions. In addition to cutting down on incidents like trespassing, car break-ins, and car damage, the robots ensure a workplace is free of intruders and that no suspicious vehicles are parked at a facility, Cooper said.
Drones are becoming an increasingly common sight in transportation applications, according to a March survey by the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO). The survey found that 35 out of 44 responding state departments of transportation—or 80 percent—are using drones for tasks including bridge inspections, surveying, photography of highway construction projects, emergency response, and daily traffic control and monitoring.
The ability of drones and other sensors to collect a wide range of data also makes them well suited for applications in busy warehouse yards and facilities, technology providers say.
SENSORS ENHANCE SECURITY
Yard management systems provider Pinc Solutions, a Union City, Calif.-based firm known for its drone deployments, said customers are typically concerned about four types of security in the yard: visitors, trailers, drivers, and containers. Yard management systems can address all of those concerns by using sensors to automatically monitor wide areas, Pinc said.
First, a yard system can track visitors, keeping an electronic log of all people who arrive at a facility, recording when they come, how long they stay, and when they leave, said Rafael Granato, the company's marketing director. Second, yard systems can use drones and cameras to track the location of trailers, allowing supervisors to quickly search for missing units and to determine if they have been misplaced or have already departed the grounds.
Third, a system can track individual drivers, allowing facility managers to monitor drivers who don't behave according to company policies. Lastly, video systems can verify the presence of container seals during gate check-in and checkout, Granato said. This allows a facility to verify its role in the chain of custody, he added.
Cargo theft is a common security concern in warehouse yards, said Walt Swietlik, director of customer relations and sales support for Milwaukee-based Rite-Hite, a provider of loading dock equipment and safety barriers. To help deter thieves from making off with loaded trailers, the Milwaukee-based company offers a trailer restraint that connects a truck trailer or intermodal container to the warehouse dock both with physical hooks and with an electronic connection to the building's security system.
"By far our number one concern is trailer theft and hijacking," Swietlik said. "Year in and year out, loading docks are one of the top locations [for trailer theft]."
Another common problem is unauthorized persons entering a yard to gain access to a building, Swietlik said. Even if these visitors don't intend to steal equipment or inventory, they can present a safety problem by wandering around dangerous loading zones and high-traffic lanes, he said. Because loading docks are often left open to allow for quick loading and unloading of cargo, they offer an easy target for thieves. In response, yard management providers are using sensor-based systems such as security doors, access controls, and motion sensors to prevent unwanted pedestrians from wandering around the yard and DC, he said.
STAYING A STEP AHEAD OF THE CROOKS
Another area where sensors can provide a big payoff is in the tracking and reporting of inventory—a task that's becoming increasingly critical for shippers across all industries, according to Maynard, Mass.-based logistics software vendor Kuebix, which specializes in transportation management systems (TMS). In a recent blog post on its website, the company warned that thieves are changing their tactics in ways that often catch shippers off guard. Rather than stealing entire loads or multiple pallets, they're "lifting" small amounts of product at a time, according to the blog post, "Cargo thieves' new strategy hitting shippers hard." This allows thieves to quickly escape, often leaving victims unaware anything was taken, Kuebix said.
To protect against that threat, companies can collect data from sensors, radio-frequency identification (RFID) tags, and global positioning system (GPS) tracking units, tying those inputs together with Internet of Things (IoT) platforms in the yard, Kuebix said. They can then analyze the data and use it for applications like locating trucks and drivers in real time, reviewing how long a truck stayed at a particular checkpoint, and tracking and tracing individual pallets as well as identifying any unusual patterns of activity.
Integrating RFID and GPS data into a yard management system is a crucial tool for improving security measures, according to Ed Moran, managing director and senior vice president for sales and marketing, Americas, at Transporeon Group, a German company that develops cloud-based logistics platforms. Whether that data is generated by a driver's smartphone app, an electronic logging device (ELD), or a hovering drone, users can use it to improve yard security and reduce the risk of lost shipments or trucks as well as cargo theft or damage, he said.
Collecting that data may be cumbersome at first, but users can streamline the process by coupling their dock scheduling and yard management solutions with tracking systems and sensor technology, Moran said. That approach can automate the process of performing security checks like locating lost trailers, ensuring that all the trucks in a yard are supposed to be there, and detecting when a certain truck has remained in the yard longer than expected.
Regardless of which types of tools it chooses, deploying monitoring technologies can improve a facility's ability to keep track of both inventory and personnel on site. And that capability will always be important at bustling docks and busy yards.
Supply chain planning (SCP) leaders working on transformation efforts are focused on two major high-impact technology trends, including composite AI and supply chain data governance, according to a study from Gartner, Inc.
"SCP leaders are in the process of developing transformation roadmaps that will prioritize delivering on advanced decision intelligence and automated decision making," Eva Dawkins, Director Analyst in Gartner’s Supply Chain practice, said in a release. "Composite AI, which is the combined application of different AI techniques to improve learning efficiency, will drive the optimization and automation of many planning activities at scale, while supply chain data governance is the foundational key for digital transformation.”
Their pursuit of those roadmaps is often complicated by frequent disruptions and the rapid pace of technological innovation. But Gartner says those leaders can accelerate the realized value of technology investments by facilitating a shift from IT-led to business-led digital leadership, with SCP leaders taking ownership of multidisciplinary teams to advance business operations, channels and products.
“A sound data governance strategy supports advanced technologies, such as composite AI, while also facilitating collaboration throughout the supply chain technology ecosystem,” said Dawkins. “Without attention to data governance, SCP leaders will likely struggle to achieve their expected ROI on key technology investments.”
The British logistics robot vendor Dexory this week said it has raised $80 million in venture funding to support an expansion of its artificial intelligence (AI) powered features, grow its global team, and accelerate the deployment of its autonomous robots.
A “significant focus” continues to be on expanding across the U.S. market, where Dexory is live with customers in seven states and last month opened a U.S. headquarters in Nashville. The Series B will also enhance development and production facilities at its UK headquarters, the firm said.
The “series B” funding round was led by DTCP, with participation from Latitude Ventures, Wave-X and Bootstrap Europe, along with existing investors Atomico, Lakestar, Capnamic, and several angels from the logistics industry. With the close of the round, Dexory has now raised $120 million over the past three years.
Dexory says its product, DexoryView, provides real-time visibility across warehouses of any size through its autonomous mobile robots and AI. The rolling bots use sensor and image data and continuous data collection to perform rapid warehouse scans and create digital twins of warehouse spaces, allowing for optimized performance and future scenario simulations.
Originally announced in September, the move will allow Deutsche Bahn to “fully focus on restructuring the rail infrastructure in Germany and providing climate-friendly passenger and freight transport operations in Germany and Europe,” Werner Gatzer, Chairman of the DB Supervisory Board, said in a release.
For its purchase price, DSV gains an organization with around 72,700 employees at over 1,850 locations. The new owner says it plans to investment around one billion euros in coming years to promote additional growth in German operations. Together, DSV and Schenker will have a combined workforce of approximately 147,000 employees in more than 90 countries, earning pro forma revenue of approximately $43.3 billion (based on 2023 numbers), DSV said.
After removing that unit, Deutsche Bahn retains its core business called the “Systemverbund Bahn,” which includes passenger transport activities in Germany, rail freight activities, operational service units, and railroad infrastructure companies. The DB Group, headquartered in Berlin, employs around 340,000 people.
“We have set clear goals to structurally modernize Deutsche Bahn in the areas of infrastructure, operations and profitability and focus on the core business. The proceeds from the sale will significantly reduce DB’s debt and thus make an important contribution to the financial stability of the DB Group. At the same time, DB Schenker will gain a strong strategic owner in DSV,” Deutsche Bahn CEO Richard Lutz said in a release.
Transportation industry veteran Anne Reinke will become president & CEO of trade group the Intermodal Association of North America (IANA) at the end of the year, stepping into the position from her previous post leading third party logistics (3PL) trade group the Transportation Intermediaries Association (TIA), both organizations said today.
Meanwhile, TIA today announced that insider Christopher Burroughs would fill Reinke’s shoes as president & CEO. Burroughs has been with TIA for 13 years, most recently as its vice president of Government Affairs for the past six years, during which time he oversaw all legislative and regulatory efforts before Congress and the federal agencies.
Before her four years leading TIA, Reinke spent two years as Deputy Assistant Secretary with the U.S. Department of Transportation and 16 years with CSX Corporation.
As the hours tick down toward a “seemingly imminent” strike by East Coast and Gulf Coast dockworkers, experts are warning that the impacts of that move would mushroom well-beyond the actual strike locations, causing prevalent shipping delays, container ship congestion, port congestion on West coast ports, and stranded freight.
However, a strike now seems “nearly unavoidable,” as no bargaining sessions are scheduled prior to the September 30 contract expiration between the International Longshoremen’s Association (ILA) and the U.S. Maritime Alliance (USMX) in their negotiations over wages and automation, according to the transportation law firm Scopelitis, Garvin, Light, Hanson & Feary.
The facilities affected would include some 45,000 port workers at 36 locations, including high-volume U.S. ports from Boston, New York / New Jersey, and Norfolk, to Savannah and Charleston, and down to New Orleans and Houston. With such widespread geography, a strike would likely lead to congestion from diverted traffic, as well as knock-on effects include the potential risk of increased freight rates and costly charges such as demurrage, detention, per diem, and dwell time fees on containers that may be slowed due to the congestion, according to an analysis by another transportation and logistics sector law firm, Benesch.
The weight of those combined blows means that many companies are already planning ways to minimize damage and recover quickly from the event. According to Scopelitis’ advice, mitigation measures could include: preparing for congestion on West coast ports, taking advantage of intermodal ground transportation where possible, looking for alternatives including air transport when necessary for urgent delivery, delaying shipping from East and Gulf coast ports until after the strike, and budgeting for increased freight and container fees.
Additional advice on softening the blow of a potential coastwide strike came from John Donigian, senior director of supply chain strategy at Moody’s. In a statement, he named six supply chain strategies for companies to consider: expedite certain shipments, reallocate existing inventory strategically, lock in alternative capacity with trucking and rail providers , communicate transparently with stakeholders to set realistic expectations for delivery timelines, shift sourcing to regional suppliers if possible, and utilize drop shipping to maintain sales.