Distribution Management News

If autonomous vessels are the future of maritime shipping, then cyber threats may be its Achilles heel. Congested shipping, restricted visibility, limited maneuverability, and intensive docking activities all contribute to port hazards – 42 percent of EU reported marine accidents (injury/death/damage to ships) took place in port areas and 44 percent of workboat fatalities occurred on Tugs. Autonomous shipping should provide numerous benefits including increased safety by relieving crewmembers of unsafe and repetitious tasks.

Intermarine, LLC, a global leader in the transport of project, breakbulk and heavylift cargo, has named Alejandro Pla as Country Manager – Mexico. He will be based in Mexico, City. Pla has more than 24 years of experience in a variety of roles in shipping and logistics. Most recently, he served as Chartering Manager for Representaciones Maritimas S.A. agency in Mexico City where he oversaw commercial and chartering activity for the group and their clients. In his role with Intermarine, Pla will match worldwide cargo opportunities with the Company’s regional chartering desks and work closely with line management on established routes.

Raytheon Anschütz has launched its next generation naval navigation and bridge system SYNAPSIS NAVAL. The new technology leverages Raytheon Anschütz’s SYNAPSIS Integrated Navigation System and integrates various military system capabilities including: radar video merging and other tactical radar features, integrated situational awareness, ship self-defense capabilities, military surveillance radars, and cyber security solutions. Andreas Weidner, director of Business Development for Raytheon Anschütz…

Hanjin Group opened its creative economy innovation center in Incheon on Wednesday, hoping to develop the city into a distribution hub of Northeast Asia utilizing advanced shipping technologies. As part of the center, Hanjin created a fund worth 159 billion won ($138 million), with about 94 billion won to be used for loans to companies starting smart distribution businesses. President Park Geun-hye, Hanjin Group Chairman and CEO Cho Yang-ho and Incheon Mayor Yoo Jeong-bok attended the opening ceremony, held at the center’s location in Songdo, Incheon. “The government hopes the center will successfully combine Incheon’s excellent distribution…

APL Logistics of Scottsdale, Arizona, provides over the road trucking and intermodal services for Barilla in the U.S. They explain that they achieved perfect scores in categories such as on-time pick-up and delivery and load completion, exceeding requirements and expectations set by Barilla. “It’s an honor to be recognized by Barilla America for the Carrier of the Year award as it is testament of APL Logistics’ capability in meeting supply chain demands of our customers,” said Bill Villalon, Senior Vice President, Automotive and Land Transport Services for APL Logistics.

Tognum's new enlarged Asia-Pacific headquarters in Singapore will consolidate the areas of application engineering, sales and service support, distribution management, marketing and communications under one roof, bringing together all business functions and over 300 staff members into one new facility. In 1974, MTU, a Tognum brand, chose Singapore to be its home in Asia and since this time, the country has become an intrinsic part of Tognum’s regional corporate DNA. Boustead Projects Pte Ltd will be in charge of construction, and upon completion, will lease back the premises to Tognum Asia.

Cummins Inc. (NYSE: CMI), a manufacturer of diesel engines for the commercial marine industry, has reorganized it Commercial Marine Business around five customer-focused market segments: commercial transport; offshore oil and gas; passenger transport; government / defense; and special use (fishing). In line with this reorganization, the company has named Greg Young Director of Strategic Growth – Commercial Transport and Waldemar Marchetti Director of Strategic Growth – Offshore.

Cosalt Wind Energy has appointed Adrian Macklin as its new Operations Manager. With a proven track record in project and operational management, business development and distribution management, Adrian brings with him a wealth of experience in managing large teams of people within a wide distribution network. In his new role Adrian will be responsible for developing Cosalt's rapidly expanding team of wind turbine engineers and promoting a culture of service excellence. Working closely with customers…

Horizon Lines, Inc. (NYSE: HRZ) announced a non-union workforce restructuring initiative targeted at reducing annualized labor-related costs by an estimated $7m to $10m. The company intends to reduce its workforce by at least 10%, or approximately 70 of its 700-plus non-union employees. Initially, the company will offer a voluntary severance program to certain eligible non-union employees. If the company is unable to achieve anticipated reductions from the voluntary program, it intends to implement an involuntary severance program for non-union employees. The company expects to complete the workforce reduction initiative by January 31, 2009, and it is expected to result in a fourth-quarter 2008 charge of approximately $3.5m to $5m pretax, or $0.11 to $0.16 per fully diluted share.

Cooper Industries, Ltd., Houston, TX, has acquired Hyundai Explosion-Proof Electric Company, a South Korea-based manufacturer of explosion-proof electrical equipment. HEPEC specializes in explosion-proof Glass Reinforced Plastic lighting, control panels and switchgear and its products are complementary to the current Cooper Crouse-Hinds product offerings. The acquisition provides Cooper with increased access to the South Korean market, with its strong shipbuilding industry and where significant investment to upgrade domestic energy and petrochemical infrastructure is underway. The HEPEC acquisition is the eighth deal announced by Cooper in 2007. Cooper Industries is a global manufacturer with 2006 revenues of $5.2 billion, about 85% of which are from electrical products.

Department of Defense (DoD) organizations now have access to Maersk Line, Limited's (MLL) defense logistics services through the U.S. Army's Field and Installation Readiness Support Team (FIRST) contract vehicle. MLL offers distribution engineering, distribution management and distribution services as a member of two separate FIRST teams, led by HCI Integrated Solutions and Eagle Group International, respectively. "The FIRST contract vehicle serves as another method for MLL to bring our capabilities to the Army and the DoD. In the very near term we fully expect the customer to see the value our team brings to their dynamic requirements"…