A2b Fulfillment, a third-party order fulfillment and customer service specialist, has pledged $150,000 to the Pete Nance Boys and Girls Club’s Capital Campaign for the charity’s new facility in Greensboro, Georgia. The company has funded $60,000 to date and will remit another $90,000 over the next three years. Upon completion, the new Pete Nance Boys and Girls Club building will be equipped with a STEM lab, study and mentoring rooms, an arts room, and a gym.
Qatar Airways Cargo and global transport and logistics company Kuehne+Nagel have donated airfreight services to UNICEF as part of the “1 million kilos” charitable initiative. Triggered by the Covid-19 crisis, the “1 million kilos” initiative is part of the larger “We Qare” project of Qatar Airways Cargo, through which the airline donated 1 million kilos of freight for humanitarian aid during 2020.
Industrial automation specialist Berkshire Grey partnered with food-rescue organizations City Harvest and the Greater Boston Food Bank to distribute food to needy families for Thanksgiving. In addition to donating about 40,000 pounds of food, Berkshire Grey supplied robotic systems to pick and pack shelf-stable food into boxes.
Shipping and logistics company CMA CGM donated and distributed 10,000 18-pound turkeys to families in areas hit hard by Covid-19. Turkeys were provided to families in Lake Charles, Louisiana; Houston; Los Angeles; Nashville, Tennessee; and Norfolk, Virginia.
Material handling equipment company Raymond Storage Concepts Inc. donated a Raymond 8210 pallet truck (top photo) to the Inter Parish Ministry food pantry in Cincinnati.
Transportation artificial intelligence (AI) provider Optimal Dynamics has raised $40 million of financing for technology that the New York-based company says will reshape decision-making across the trucking industry by building the first-ever autonomous decision layer of logistics.
The new investment comes after Optimal Dynamics earlier this year partnered with third party logistics provider (3PL) KBX Logistics, another Koch company. Green Bay, Wisconsin-based KBX says Optimal Dynamics' platform is capable of driving operational and financial performance gains by automating and optimizing complex logistics operations at scale.
"Optimal Dynamics stands apart because it isn't merely automating existing processes - it is redefining them," Byron Knight, President at Koch Disruptive Technologies, said in a release. "In today's uncertain freight environment, the clarity, efficiency, and profitability that Optimal Dynamics brings are essential.”
According to Optimal Dynamics, the new capital infusion will help accelerate expansion of its platform capabilities, and scale product, support, and sales teams to meet demand for decision automation in logistics.
The supply chain community is full of great stories of organizations and individuals that have taken the skills they have honed getting products to market on time and in full and using them to support humanitarian relief efforts. Since 2017, the nonprofit organization the American Logistics Aid Network (ALAN) has been honoring just some of these individuals and organizations through its Humanitarian Logistics Awards.
For example, when Hurricane Idalia hit Florida's Big Bend in 2023, a small group of employees and retirees from the Midwest supermarket chain Hy-Vee sprang into action to support relief efforts in the region. Hy-Vee's "disaster relief fleet" transported more than 181,000 bottles of drinking water; 2,800 bags of ice; 2,800 cases of snacks; and cleaning supplies to the effected region. The relief fleet also partnered with Operation BBQ Relief—a nonprofit organization of barbecue pit masters out of Kansas City, Missouri—to provide 90,000 meals to impacted residents as well as emergency management teams.
In recognition of Hy-Vee’s efforts, ALAN presented the company with its Employee Engagement Award in 2024 at the annual Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals (CSCMP) EDGE Conference in Nashville, Tennessee. Now ALAN is asking for help identifying other supply chain heroes like Hy-Vee's disaster relief team for its ninth annual Humanitarian Logistics Awards.
“Humanitarian relief wouldn’t happen without the facilitation and support of the supply chain community,” said ALAN Executive Director Kathy Fulton. “These awards were created to shine a light on that generosity. While we at ALAN know a lot about what many organizations and individuals are doing to support disaster relief efforts, there are still many others whose life-changing work we won’t be made aware of—and able to honor—unless someone takes the time to nominate them.”Nominations (including self-nominations) can be made via ALAN’s website at https://www.alanaid.org/humanitarian-awards-nomination/ until June 30. Winners will be announced this fall at ALAN’s 20th anniversary celebration during the this year's CSCMP EDGE Conference in National Harbor, Maryland.
ALAN’s Humanitarian Logistics Awards are open to any supply chain professional, academic, organization, or department. They are awarded in four key categories, each of which can have multiple honorees:
Outstanding Contribution To Disaster Relief, which recognizes businesses or individuals for their financial or in-kind supply chain services donations to crises or humanitarian initiatives.
Employee Engagement, which recognizes businesses for their employee volunteer activities around a crisis or humanitarian initiative.
Research/Academic Achievement, which recognizes business or individual contributions to the body of knowledge supporting humanitarian supply chains.
Lifetime Achievement, whichrecognizes an individual whose work or philanthropic interests have made a substantial positive impact to crisis or humanitarian supply chain activities.
May is Military Appreciation Month and the nation’s truck drivers are taking note.
The Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association (OOIDA), which represents small businesses and independent professional drivers, is honoring the month with a Truckers for Troops campaign from May 12-18. The program supports U.S. troops overseas and veterans at home.
OOIDA’s fundraiser dates back to 2007, when the organization began sending care packages to service personnel stationed in combat zones. Truckers for Troops has also supported a variety of veterans facilities over the years, including those assisting or housing wounded, disabled, or homeless service members, according to OOIDA.
Truckers can participate by joining or renewing their OOIDA membership from May 12-18; 10% of the $35 membership fee will go directly to the fundraiser. Participants can also make additional or separate donations to the campaign. Information is available on OOIDA’s Truckers for Troops web page.
The organization has raised more than $800,000 for the campaign since 2007 and has sent more than 3,278 care packages, serving more than 39, 276 members of the military, according to OOIDA. Aid packages have also been sent to 65 facilities caring for wounded, disabled, and homeless veterans.
The buyout follows DHL Supply Chain’s January purchase of Inmar’s reverse logistics business, which made it the largest returns processing provider in North America.
DHL said it made the move as more multi-national organizations are seeking to establish fulfillment capabilities in North America. “E-Commerce has been a growth driver for DHL in recent years and is an important focus in our Strategy 2030 agenda,” Patrick Kelleher, CEO of DHL Supply Chain North America, said in a release. “The acquisition of IDS Fulfillment not only expands our operational footprint but also ensures small and midsized companies have access to our state-of-the-art logistics solutions designed for their specific requirements.”
DHL's Strategy 2030, titled "Accelerate Sustainable Growth," focuses on achieving a 50% revenue increase by 2030 while also embedding sustainability as a core pillar of its operations.
Supply chain services provider PSA BDP today said it has acquired a majority stake in ED Forwarding, a Mexico-based logistics solutions provider, saying the move strengthens its foothold in Mexico and enhances its ability to provide cross-border logistics and customhouse brokerage activities.
It comes as many shippers are nearshoring from Asia to Mexico, which is a key hub for cross-border trade between North and South America, offering access to both the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, Philadelphia-based PSA BDP said.
Terms of the deal were not disclosed. But the acquisition follows a longstanding partnership between the two companies, as ED Forwarding has been a partner agent within PSA BDP’s global network for over 10 years. Following the closer integration, customers will stand to benefit from PSA’s global network of deep-sea, rail and inland terminals, PSA BDP’s expertise in innovative end-to-end supply chain management solutions, and affiliated businesses in marine and digital services, the company said.