Transport communications

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Archives for October 2011

Menlo Worldwide Logistics Launches Menlo Transportation Services

Company Introduces Comprehensive, Next-Generation Solutions for Transportation Management — from Sourcing to Settlement

 SAN MATEO, Calif. — Oct. 3, 2011 — Menlo Worldwide Logistics, the global logistics subsidiary of Con-way Inc. (NYSE: CNW), today announced the roll out of Menlo Transportation Services, its next-generation transportation management portfolio designed to deliver optimized solutions that remove waste, create new efficiencies and introduce Lean continuous improvement processes to transportation network operations.

Menlo has long been a leader in the adoption of Lean principles and practices in the global supply chain management arena, noted Robert L. Bianco Jr., Menlo’s president. The introduction of Menlo Transportation Services marks a concerted effort by the company to leverage this experience and expertise — which has delivered proven results in 3PL and 4PL customer supply chain engineering engagements — into a comprehensive, next-generation service offering for transportation network management, both regionally and globally.

“Transportation networks and the operating costs they generate are one of the largest expenditure areas for any supply chain,” Bianco said. “And while we have managed transportation capacity for our customers since Menlo’s inception, the difference today is that customers want more specific capabilities and solutions, with rapid deployment and faster cost-saving results.”

“They want proven best practices, coupled with experienced people using the latest systems to plan, optimize, execute, measure and improve their transportation processes as a whole, across the full gamut from sourcing to settlement, or at the individual node level,” Bianco continued. “And they want it delivered as an outsourced, flexible service that can scale to their needs and flows in the supply chain. That’s what Menlo Transportation Services will do.”

Within the Menlo Transportation Services portfolio are two primary service offerings: Solution Engineering and Transportation Management. Both offerings leverage seasoned transportation and logistics professionals applying Lean methodologies and best-in-class standardized practices to deliver innovative, cost-efficient services unique to individual customer needs. 

Solution Engineering: utilizes expert personnel employing state-of-the-art technology tools to design more efficient, faster and more reliable transportation networks, globally or regionally. This service offering encompasses capabilities to:

  • Assess, benchmark and understand the current state of transportation networks.
  • Identify areas of waste and inefficiency using Lean tools and methodologies.
  • Design, test and optimize alternative operating models and transportation network designs.
  • Develop and implement a road map and timeline to deploy redesigns and/or introduce network improvements.
  • Measure and evaluate the new operating model to ensure projected benefits are being captured. Where shortfalls exist, identify root causes of failure, develop and deploy corrective actions.

Transportation Management: deploys expert personnel utilizing disciplined processes and integrated best-of-breed software applications to execute a full menu of transactional transportation functions, across all modes, within or between geographies. This service offering encompasses capabilities to:

  • Evaluate and source transportation resources, manage freight transportation contracts and rates; create value and operating synergies with transportation service providers.
  • Tender and manage freight shipments, and confirm acceptance of planned shipments by carriers across all modes, including status of multiple events in the transport cycle from pickup, to in-transit monitoring through delivery.
  • Integrate product and order information (such as sales or purchase orders) with transportation data and documents to provide a single, holistic view of goods in transit, with visibility to product orders as well as transportation transactions.
  • Settle and pay freight charges, and audit charges against contract rates.
  • Track and manage claims for short, damaged or missing shipments.
  • Generate performance analytics and business intelligence on transportation spend and service metrics to drive additional predictive modeling, qualitative measurement and gap analysis to identify, validate and implement continuous improvement opportunities.

As a comprehensive service offering, Menlo Transportation Services provides a powerful combination of skilled people, proven processes and best-in-class technologies, all built on a foundation of Lean principles and practices. This structured approach provides a framework for collaborative engagement, and keeps the focus on driving out wasteful practice and achieving consistent gains in efficiency — a key tenet of Lean, noted Anthony Oliverio, vice president, supply chain services for Menlo.

“We know Lean works in many discrete areas of the supply chain, we’ve proven it over years of taking customers through Kaizen events and other Lean practices to find new savings,” said Oliverio. “We have now focused the power of Lean on the transportation function, creating a next-generation service offering that can achieve significant, transformative savings and value. It’s a huge opportunity for our customers.”

“Menlo’s strategic extension of its Lean expertise into a formalized transportation management offering is a natural evolution for the company, which has long been using Lean practices to drive continuous improvement in warehousing operations and re-engineered supply chains,” noted Evan Armstrong, a respected industry analyst and principal with Armstrong & Associates, Inc.

“Menlo has carved out a strong position as one of the leading U.S.-based 3PLs in large part because of its Lean management expertise,” said Armstrong. “This approach, already proven in complex supply chain re-engineering projects, has significant promise to bring similar efficiency gains to its customers’ transportation management operations.”

Armstrong added that Menlo’s expanded technology portfolio, which now leverages Oracle’s OTM top-tier TM platform, has appreciably increased both its strategic and tactical LLP (lead logistics provider) transportation network management capabilities. “We see the evolution of Menlo’s transportation management operations into Menlo Transportation Services as a significant move in recognizing its expanded capabilities and ongoing LLP service line growth,” Armstrong concluded.

For more information about Menlo Transportation Services, call (866) 466-3656 or visit us on the web at www.con-way.com/menlotrans.

Follow the Con-way companies on Twitter: http://twitter.com/Con_way_.

Menlo Worldwide Logistics images are available at

www.con-way.com/en/about_con_way/newsroom.

About Menlo Worldwide Logistics
Menlo Worldwide Logistics, LLC, is a US$1.5 billion global provider of logistics, transportation management and supply chain services with operations in five continents, including North America. As a third-party logistics provider, San Mateo, Calif.-based Menlo Worldwide Logistics’ services range from dedicated contract logistics to warehouse and distribution management, transportation management, supply chain reengineering and other value-added services including packaging, kitting, order fulfillment and light assembly through a strategic network of multi-client and dedicated facilities. With more than 17 million square feet of dedicated warehouse space in North America, the Asia Pacific, Europe and Latin America, and industry-leading technologies, Menlo Worldwide Logistics creates effective, integrated solutions for the transportation and distribution needs of leading businesses around the world.

Menlo Worldwide Logistics, LLC, is a subsidiary of Con-way Inc. (NYSE: CNW), a $5.0 billion diversified freight transportation and logistics company. For more information, please visit us on the Web at www.con-way.com.

Dachser subsidiary SWS Karlsruhe extends facility

From L-R: Jürgen Unglehrt, Managing Director Unglehrt Building Company; Bernd Großmann, Dr. Frank Mentrup, member of the State Parliament Baden-Wuerttemberg for the constituency Ettlingen and Parliamentary Secretary of State in the Ministry of Education and Cultural Affairs, Thomas Reuter, Elmar Himmel

Kempten/Karlsruhe, 30 September 2011. The Dachser subsidiary SWS Karlsruhe, Germany is embarking on a major construction project. The company is investing EUR 25 million in building new branch office premises on an 85,000-square-metre plot in the commune of Malsch near Karlsruhe. The ground-breaking ceremony on 30 September marked the official start of the building work. In future the Dachser subsidiary plans to take on between 20 and 30 new staff every year.

The new premises will stand adjacent to the two existing warehouses, which together measure 36,000 square metres and provide 60,000 pallet spaces, and are expected to be completed by the end of 2012. Dachser is constructing a 10,000-square-metre transit terminal with 124 loading bays and a 4,100-square-metre office building. SWS will bring all of the modes of transport under one roof in Malsch, thus creating an optimal environment for the two business fields Dachser European Logistics and Dachser Air & Sea Logistics to dovetail with comprehensive contract logistics services.

“Best service, optimal size, ultra-modern plant” – those were the press headlines back in 1974 when the then newly built facility was officially opened in Ottostraße in Karlsruhe. “We are proud of these roots and since then we have always worked in accordance with these principles,” explains Bernd Großmann, branch office manager in Karlsruhe. He particularly emphasizes the following point: “We believe that our customers and our staff are the company’s most important asset. We owe our success and the growth that we have experienced in recent years entirely to the strong relationships that we have built up with our customers, sometimes over decades, and to a value-oriented corporate culture, which promotes partnership, dialogue, transparency and high standards.”

Elmar Himmel, mayor of the commune of Malsch, is delighted about Dachser’s decision to move from Karlsruhe to Malsch. “SWS is an important driver of employment in the region and will now be bringing 460 jobs with it to Malsch,” says Himmel. “In the medium term we will create between 20 and 30 additional jobs and traineeships every year,” adds Bernd Großmann. “Qualified staff are an essential prerequisite if we are to further enhance our consulting expertise.”

The location is an important intersection in the pan-European Dachser network and ensures that the region has optimal links to all of the world’s major economic regions.

In 2010 the internationally operating logistics provider, Dachser, generated revenue of EUR 3.8 billion. 19,250 staff working in 310 profit centres worldwide handled 46.2 million consignments weighing a total of 35.5 million tonnes.

Dachser strengthens its Norwegian business

Hans-Thomas Andersen, Branch Manager, Dachser Oslo

Kempten/Oslo, 30 September 2011. A new branch office in Oslo signals that the internationally operating logistics provider Dachser is expanding its Norwegian business.

The new branch office is being built on an 11,000-m2 site on a new industrial estate to the south of the Oslo conurbation. The plans comprise an administrative building measuring 1,100 m2 and a 1,900-m2 transit terminal with 26 gates. The building work will start in November 2011 and the new facility should be commissioned in June 2012.

“We are delighted that we will soon be able to service our customers through a new, modern facility within the Dachser network,” says branch office manager Hans-Thomas Andersen.

.The branch office benefits from excellent transport links, including direct connections to the Norwegian-Swedish north-south E6 link and the Oslofjord Tunnel. There are also optimal routes to Dachser’s locations in Sweden, Denmark and Germany. “This will considerably strengthen the northern part of Dachser’s tightly meshed European network,” adds Finn Pedersen, managing director of Dachser Nordic A/S.

Norway is an important component of Dachser’s Scandinavian and pan-European network. The decision to create a new location in the region reflects increased demand for intelligent transport and logistics solutions and the company’s desire to ensure that it can continue to provide seamless high quality on the spot.

“The new branch office in Oslo will enable Dachser to handle ever increasing consignment volumes with even greater efficiency while safeguarding our high quality standards,” explains Michael Schilling, Dachser’s managing director for European Network Management & Logistics Systems.

The logistics provider has had its own country organizations in Norway, Denmark and Sweden since 2005 and has a total of 330 employees in the region.

In 2010 Dachser generated total revenue of EUR 3.8 billion. 19,250 staff working in 310 profit centres worldwide handled 46.2 million consignments weighing a total of 35.5 million tonnes.