Logistics & Materials Handling - Oct/Nov 2017

logisticsmagazine.com.au

inside OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2017 Reimagining 3PL Smart packaging The evolution of trade Disruptive technology

CYBER SECURITY Strengthening the weakest link in the supply chain

Official Partner

CELEBRATE OCTOPUS MONTH WITH

SIGNODE

OCTOPUS PALLET RING WRAPPERS Globally recognised Octopus pallet wrapping ring systems are now available through Signode Australia.

1800 685 824

I

signode.com.au

This Inissue this issue March 2016 October/November 2017

human rights Enullaorem velit augait, volorpero dolortie faccum

28

Think global It is with great pleasure that I take over the reins for Logistics & Materials Handling magazine.

In my time as Assistant Editor, I have had the opportunity to meet the industry, find out what’s on its mind and learn from its operators. As Editor, I look forward to continuing to share the stories of the Australian supply chain’s innovation, passion and achievements.

In this issue, Logistics & Materials Handling is thinking global.

In our cover story, two Australian cyber security experts share their views on two global cyber attacks that affected operations for small and large companies, including major logistics operators, this year, and why it could happen again.

We speak to Mary-Elizabeth Andrews, Curator of the Australian National Maritime Museum’s upcoming exhibition, Container, about the evolution of shipping, and the impact it has had on the country in recent history – in both business and home life. “Australia is an island nation, and we’ve always been really dependent on shipping,” she shares. “We have containerisation to thank for the comfort, variety and affordability we have become accustomed to.”

We talk to logistics company Linfox Proving profitable growth at the about cutting Amazon, visibility and the future find ed Proving profitable growth of at 3PL, the cutout more about an exciting new intermodal ting edProving profitable growth at the hub under development near Melbourne, cutting edProving profitable growth atand learncutting how automation storage andgrowth retrieval the edProvinginprofitable systems can benefit employees, customers at the cutting edProving profitable and the at bottom line. edProving profitgrowth the cutting Happy reading. able growth at the cutting edProving

behindthecover

16 Contents COVER STORY 12 Cyber security

In mid-2017, the launch of two major cyber attacks

left companies around the globe reeling. Two contents cyber security experts talk to Logistics & Materials

28 Tried and true

As the final step on the line for many manufacturing facilities, any downtime for pallet wrapping machines can be disastrous – an offering from load containment system manufacturer Signode offers a new level of reliability.

of quality.

04 Bulletinboard 42 Data Capture & Handling about the crucial processesTru-test large Supply Chains organisations are missing.

30 The cornerstone of globalisation has had an extraordinary impact 24 Factory MaterialsContainerisationSustainable 06 Mercury Awards supply chains. on the world. A new exhibition from the Australian Handling FEATURES 2010 Mercury Awards National Maritime Museum looks to highlight how Spiral conveyor solves launched. & Lifting 44 Forklifts 16 Future disruption container shipping has evolved, and how integral it heat problems.

Next year, the inaugural MEGATRANS2018 trade is to modern life.Six new overhead cranes Humbled and Exalted show will provide a platform to showcase Cart and dollies for simple – 2009 Mercury Award for Ferrocut. discuss the latest and upcoming disruptors in tasks. 34 To the next level handling winners. system reduces In the year since Airfreight Nino Pala became Managing supply chain technology.

Double pallet dispenser. costs. Australia, the Director of Lindehandling Material Handling 14 Training 18 Full steam ahead Palletising robot. company has undergone Hybriddynamic forklift.changes locally, With Australia’sbenefits freight task set to rise, and its regionally and as part of the global Kion Group.

Bell’s Transport major transport links at capacity, planning of from Skills for Growth Warehousing Storage Handling Hazardous 37 Cold-chain49credentials logistics infrastructure has never32 been more critical. & program.

Goods range of fresh produce With the ever-expanding A greenfields development in Melbourne’s southeast Record picking that requires refrigeration the ongoing will soon help spread the load. productivity.

Gloves forand handling 16 Information growth of the market for frozen convenience hazardous substances.

Automated storage. meals and foodstuffs, the demand for refrigerated Technology - Supply 22 Reimagining 3PL Hand-held Chains Adapting to new commerce styles and platforms storage is growing rapidly. eyewash.

Storage success. has proven challenging for Australia’s traditional Information driven. retailers and logistics providers. Linfox is reimagining the potential of third-party logistics.

26 Revolutionising packaging

Packsize recently brought its on-demand packaging

profitable growth at the cutting edProvtechnology down under, and its Australian Philippa Edwards | Editor ing profitable growth at the cutting edcustomers are among the first to experience its most innovative systems yet.

Proving profitable growth at the cutting edProving profitable growth at the cutting edProving profitable growth at the cutting edProving profitable growth at the cutting edProving profitable growth at the cutting edProving profitable growth at the cutting edProving profitJohn Murphy able growthPUBLISHER: at the cutting.

MANAGING EDITOR: Robbie Parkes e robbie.parkes@primecreative.com.au

Regular Run mercuryawards 03 From the Editor

04 Industry News nullaorem velit augait, 09 Global News volorpero dolortie 10 Australian Logistics Council faccum dipsum zzriu 38 Promotional feature – Training

EDITOR: Philippa Edwards e philippa.edwards@primecreative.com.au PRODUCTION CO-ORDINATOR: Michelle Weston e michelle.weston@primecreative.com.au MANAGING DIRECTOR: ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER: Martin Sinclair e martin.sinclair@primecreative.com.au SALES MANAGER: Matt John CareyMurphy e matt.carey@primecreative.com.au EDITORIAL CO-ORDINATOR: Ben Hagemann t 02 8484 0884 e ben.hagemann@primecreative.com.au PRIME CREATIVE MEDIA PRODUCTION ZibaVIC Mahabat 02 (03) 84849690 06258766 e ziba.mahabat@primecreative.com.au 11-15 BuckhurstCO-ORDINATOR: St, South Melbourne, 3205 tTel: Fax: (03) 9682 0044 ABN 80 132 719 861 ISSN 0004-976X www.primecreative.com.au KEY Tim Street, Richards 02 8484 0829 tim.richards@primecreative.com.au Suite ACCOUNT 3.03, Level MANAGER: 3, 1-9 Chandos St tLeonards, NSWe2065 Tel: (03) 9439 7227 PRIME CREATIVE MEDIA Media, 2017 © Copyright Prime Creative Tower 2, reserved.

Level 3, 475 Avenue, Chatswood, 2067 Australia Locked Bag 4700, NSW 2067, Australia All rights NoVictoria part of the publication may beNSW reproduced or copied in any form or byChatswood any meansDelivery withoutCentre, the written permission of the Publisher.

Tel: (02) 8484 0888 Fax: (02) 8484 0633 ABN 80 132 719 861 ISSN 0004-976X www.primecreative.com.au © Copyright Prime Creative Media, 2016 All rights reserved. No part of the publication may be reproduced or copied in any form or by any means without the written permission of the publisher.

logisticsmagazine.com.au

36

FOLLOW US ON

facebook.com/ logisticsmagazine

twitter.com/ LogisticsMatHan

Average Net Distribution Period ending Sept ’15 14,901

March 2016 Logistics &MaterialsHandling | 31 logisticsmagazine.com.au

Industry News

DP World Australia launches logistics arm Stevedoring company DP World Australia (DPWA) has launched DP World Logistics Australia, a new operating company offering transport and intermodal solutions.

As part of the re-branding, a new business ‘Botany Intermodal’ will be housed within DP World Logistics Australia.

The move into landside logistics is part of a long-term strategy to move beyond the port gate, offering efficiencies to customers and other stakeholders in the supply chain, the company explained in a statement.

Paul Scurrah, Managing Director and CEO, DPWA, said the new DP World Logistics Australia brand and Botany Intermodal business in the Port Botany precinct is a natural extension of a local and global network stretching across DP World’s 70 international container terminals.

“As a critical link in the cargo logistics chain, we’re growing our Australian business in a way that makes sense,” said Scurrah.

“This new intermodal business aligns with our plans to develop operations that complement DPWA’s stevedoring business.”

With more than 25 years’ experience in the shipping, logistics and stevedoring industry, Mark Hulme will lead the new DP World Logistics Australia business as Chief Operating Officer – Logistics.

Hulme said customers and stakeholders will benefit from improved stability and customer service integration down the logistics chain.

“DP World Logistics Australia will offer fast and efficient container coordination, movement, cleaning, repairs, refurbishment and storage services to customers who are transiting container

freight into and out of the terminals,” said Hulme.

“Botany Intermodal is connected to the Southern Sydney Freight Line, which will drive improved rail efficiency and speed of service for adjacent stevedoring operations. This opens the opportunity for rail operators to load empties within the port precinct.”

Australian cold-chain industry forms food-waste advocacy group Australia’s first advocacy group to improve compliance and standards in the handling of food at all levels of the cold chain was recently established in Queensland.

The inaugural session of the Australian Food Cold Chain Council (AFCCC) in August brought together representatives from the manufacturing, food transport, refrigeration and cold-chain industries.

The Council has reportedly been established in response to mounting community pressure about the costs and environmental damage of food wastage. The AFCCC is positioning itself as an important part of the solution, encouraging innovation, compliance, waste reduction and safety across the Australian food cold chain.

“The new Council is not about promoting an industry – we want to change the industry for the better, said Interim Chair, Mark Mitchell.

“One of our priorities will be to apply whatever pressure is needed in industry and in government to make sure the existing Australian standards for cold-chain food handling are properly followed.

“There’s lots of rhetoric in government programs, associations and among food handlers and suppliers about commitments to food waste reduction and cold-chain 4 | Logistics&MaterialsHandling October/November 2017

compliance, but little, if nothing, is being done at any level about improving the cold chain, and ensuring that standards are followed.

Australia’s track record in efficient cold food handling, from farm to plate, is far from perfect.”

The interim directors are Stephen Elford, General Manager – Australia and New Zealand, Carrier Transicold; Mark Mitchell, Managing Director, SuperCool – Australia Pacific; Peter Lawrence, Technical Director – ANZ, Thermo King; Kyle Hawker, Transport Manager, Simplot Australia; Adam Wade, National Transport Leader, Lion; Kevin Manfield, General Manager – Products & Markets, MaxiTRANS Australia; plus a nominated individual representing the transport industry.

The AFCCC asserts that on average, Australians waste 860kg of food per person annually, with at least five per cent of Australia’s greenhouse gas emissions coming from food wastage.

Mitchell noted that Australian industry is well placed to attack the issue.

“Performance across the cold-food chain can be improved with better equipment and handling processes as well as with improved monitoring and assessment to determine where the weaknesses lie,” he said.

The new advocacy group’s first priorities will be contributing to both the development of the National Food Waste Strategy and becoming part of the cooperative research centre (CRC) designed to address food waste and fraud.

DRIVING YOUR INDUSTRY 4WARD.

Industrial automation is changing at an extremely rapid pace. As an innovation leader, developing cutting-edge sensor technology, SICK offers solutions today that are ready for the challenges of the future. With intelligent sensors that collect data, evaluate them in real time, adapt to their environment and communicate in the network. Enabling a new quality of flexibility and networked intelligence for efficient processes and reliable cooperation of humans and machines. We think that’s intelligent. For more information please visit www.sick.com.au or call 1800 334 802.

Industry News

ACCC given port pricing regulation power A Federal Court ruling has given the Australian Competition and Consumer Competition (ACCC) power to monitor and regulate pricing at the Port of Newcastle.

Road Freight NSW (RFNSW) General Manager Simon O’Hara said RFNSW was carefully analysing the ruling but described it as a “precedent case of intervention for the regulator.”

“It certainly sends a very strong message to industry about price gouging and that price increases need to be on the basis of an actual increase in costs,” O’Hara said.

RFNSW has thus called for the ACCC to act on new stevedore taxes imposed on truck operators.

“We believe there’s a lesson to be learnt here for stevedores, given that they have burdened our members with unreasonable increases in charges for accessing their terminals at Port Botany.

“They’re on notice.

“In light of the Federal Court’s ruling,

RFNSW is again calling on the ACCC to act, for the sake of our members and other users of

port infrastructure.”

The Australian Logistics Council (ALC) has reminded the ACCC to ensure it is sufficiently resourced and has personnel possessing experience in the operation and/or regulation of logistics infrastructure.

“There are many specialist and complex issues at work with the operation of supply chains and logistics infrastructure,” said Michael Kilgariff, Managing Director, ALC. “[The] Federal Court decision seems to point to increasing ACCC involvement in pricing and access issues at ports.

“If that is going to be the case, then it is imperative that the ACCC ensures it is properly resourced with personnel who have had exposure to and experience in dealing with the complex and unique nature of these infrastructure assets,” he said.

“Any regulatory role played by the ACCC in the freight logistics sector must be fit for purpose.”

Passel to launch crowdsourced delivery platform [L–R] Passel Co-founders Marshall Hughes and Julian Kelabora.

In Melbourne, delivery tech start-up Passel will soon launch an innovative delivery platform in Australia that will offer same-day delivery for consumers, and will source delivery operators from an on-demand network of locals.

Once consumers have completed a purchase, they are guaranteed delivery within three hours. The way the platform intends to honour this is through a network of on-demand couriers – individuals working in and near to shopping centres.

The system will match those finishing work 6 | Logistics&MaterialsHandling October/November 2017

in and around shopping centres in the following period and heading in the same direction as the purchaser’s destination, essentially enabling people to help deliver items on their way home.

In return for their efforts, the individuals will receive a $10 electronic gift card once receipt is confirmed.

One of the platform’s Co-founders, Marshall Hughes, spent two decades working in freight before conceiving the idea for the business due to a throwaway line: “One day, you’ll be shopping in the hardware store and your phone will ping with

a message that Mrs Jones, who lives around the corner from you, has just bought a shovel online.

If you deliver it on the way home, we’ll give you a $10 gift voucher.”

When no one else seemed to be delivering the model, Hughes decided to do it himself.

“The biggest change I have seen over the past 20 years has been the growth of B2C (businessto-consumer) delivery,” he told Logistics & Materials Handling. “It has grown really rapidly and, the thing is, it’s hard to do B2C well.

Traditional freight structures are not suited to sporadic delivery.

“It is hard to predict when people will want things, and with freight you’re constantly trying to balance supply with demand, so you don’t have drivers sitting around doing nothing,” Hughes added.

“Because of Passel’s opportunistic model, we’ll be able to deal well with spikes and troughs.

For example, we’ll be able to find people to deliver for us the week before Christmas when it is impossible to get couriers, and the week after Christmas won’t be a problem for us as our couriers are on demand.”

Industry News

Amazon leases first Australian DCs Following months of speculation, e-commerce behemoth Amazon confirmed in early August that it had leased its first distribution centre in Australia, ahead of the rollout of its business here in the coming 12 months.

The 24,000m2 facility is located in Dandenong South, in the Pellicano M2 Industry Park, southeast of Melbourne in Victoria.

Amazon said in a statement that the location offers easy access to several major transport links including the South Gippsland Highway, the Monash Highway and Eastlink.

Stephen Johns, CEO of Sydney-headquartered global supply-chain company Brambles, told The Australian in a recent interview that he expects Amazon’s arrival to drive opportunities.

“Amazon will be a good thing for us,” he said. “In terms of Brambles, our business model is very solid. It won’t be adversely affected and in fact there could be some good opportunities.”

Johns noted that he believes Amazon will be a disruptive force for retailers in this country, though he added that the extent of the disruption to come “remains to be seen.”

He said, “As supply chains change and get more sophisticated, that is actually a good thing for Brambles and for our CHEP (Commonwealth Handling Equipment Pool) and IFCO business, which has reusable plastic crates which are used for taking fresh produce from the farms to supermarkets and to their distribution centres, in a similar concept to manufactured goods.”

Leading Australian companies have already switched to On Demand Packaging®

packsize.com.au

logisticsmagazine.com.au | 7

Industry News

Kennards Hire expands branch network in WA and NT Family-owned equipment hire group Kennards Hire is expanding its branch network in the northwest of Australia, with three new branches in Western Australia and the

Northern Territory.

Having recently acquired CAPS Hire, the Kennards Hire network has expanded to include Broome and Kununurra in Western Australia.

In the Northern Territory, the acquisition has enabled the business to consolidate branch operations, closing its current branch in Winnellie and moving into the newly acquired site.

The newly branded Kennards Hire branches have been fitted out with specialist equipment designed to suit the unique industries in the regional areas – specifically the mining and agriculture industries – as well as its traditional DIY customers.

“It’s a great opportunity for Kennards Hire to be joining these communities since we’re

able to benefit locals while filling the gap in the market for these areas,” said Tony Symons, General Manager, Kennards Hire Western Australia and Northern Territory.

“The real story is that in all of our new locations, we are tweaking our capability and service offering to meet the unique market needs. For instance, Broome has a far less focus on mining than Kununurra, so we will bring many of our traditional equipment products to town.”

In addition to the CAPS Hire acquisition, a new Kennards Hire branch in Port Hedland opened in September.

The CAPS Hire branches changed ownership at the end of July and were rebranded as Kennards Hire in early August.

Australian team takes top robotics prize

The 2017 Amazon Robotics Challenge. Image via Business Wire.

An Australian robotics team has taken the top prize in the 2017 Amazon Robotics Challenge.

The Australian Centre for Robotic Vision (ACRV) team from Australia succeeded in the Grand Championship Combined Task to win the 8 | Logistics&MaterialsHandling October/November 2017

.

overall challenge and the top prize of US$80,000 ($99,850). Nanyang Technological University from Singapore took the pick task and the US MIT Princeton team won the stow task.

“This year’s finalists demonstrated

sophisticated solutions combining object recognition, pose recognition, grasp planning, compliant manipulation, motion planning, task planning, task execution, and error detection and recovery to successfully pick and stow unique items,” Amazon said in a statement.

“Teams were judged based on how many items were successfully picked and stowed by their robots in a fixed amount of time.”

Joey Durham, Contest Chairperson and Manager of Research and Advanced Development for Amazon Robotics, added, “This year, we made some changes to the challenge to make it even more difficult and to encourage broader participation from multiple robotics fields – and the response was exciting.

“The versatility of recognition capabilities in an unstructured environment and the dexterity of grasping mechanisms was truly impressive.

“What we’re most proud of with the Amazon Robotics Challenge is its celebration of robotic community and the venue it’s created to share and promote research in a fun and rewarding way.”

The ACRV team consisted of researchers, early PhD candidates and undergraduate students who combined computer vision, machine learning and a variety of robotic hardware to successfully complete both pick and stow tasks the fastest.

Global News

Google Glass reborn for industry ‘Google Glass’ has been relaunched for the logistics and manufacturing industries, with a new name: ‘Glass Enterprise Edition’.

The small, lightweight wearable computer with a transparent display that brings information into the wearer’s line of sight has undergone a two-year redevelopment phase with several industry partners.

Now, more than 50 businesses use Glass, including agricultural equipment manufacturer AGCO, global logistics provider DHL, aeroplane producer The Boeing Company and automotive company Volkswagen.

“Workers in many fields, like manufacturing, logistics, field services and healthcare, find it useful to consult a wearable device for

information and other resources while their hands are busy,” said Product Lead, Jay Kothari.

“That’s why we’ve spent the last two years working closely with a network of more than 30 expert partners to build customised software and business solutions for Glass for people in these fields,” he added. “We’ve also made improvements to the design and hardware so that it’s lightweight and comfortable for long-term wear. We’ve increased the power and battery life too.”

Picavi, a company providing pick-byvision solutions, is specifically aimed at the intralogistics industry and has been partnered with Glass since the beginning.

“Glass Enterprise Edition has long since

proven its suitability for the logistics sector,” said Dirk Franke, CEO, Picavi. “It has gone a long way toward establishing pick-by-vision as one of the leading order-picking technologies.”

Logos backs Indian $500M warehouse rollout Australian industrial property developer Logos has established a partnership with the Indian arm of Singapore-based asset manager Assetz Property Group. Together they aim to raise US$400 million ($508 million) to build and manage modern, specialised logistics and industrial parks around India over the next four to five years.

Ben Salmon, Co-founder and CEO of Assetz

Property Group, said that Logos will benefit from Assetz’s local development expertise through the partnership, while Logos will bring institutional management and development expertise, The Economic Times of India reported.

Trent Iliffe, Joint Managing Director, Logos, added, “We are seeing extensive demand from our existing and new customers for institutionalgrade logistics facilities in the region.”

The partnership will see approximately 1.8 million square metres of warehouse and logistics space developed in cities including Gujarat, Hyderabad, Mumbai and Bangalore.

“Assetz has a long history of partnering to enhance the growth of our business,” said Salmon. “I am confident that this association with Logos will deliver a market-leading warehousing and logistics business in India.”

Logistics Hall of Fame honours Amazon’s Jeff Bezos Jeff Bezos, Founder and CEO of e-commerce company Amazon, has been inducted into the Logistics Hall of Fame.

The Logistics Hall of Fame honours figures that have made significant efforts to promote the further development of logistics and supply chain management.

Bezos joins key logisticians including Gottlieb

Daimler, credited with inventing the truck and pioneering modern freight transport; Henry Ford and Ransom Eli Olds, inventors of assemblyline production; and James E. Casey, Founder of United Parcel Service (UPS), among others.

According to the Logistics Hall of Fame team, Bezos has been honoured as a “revolutioniser of e-commerce and logistics” that has transformed logistics in the mail-order sector.

According to the jury responsible for selecting deserving individuals, Bezos was the first to realise that software and logistics are crucial in the shift from purchasing-driven trading to demand-driven online trading.

“Thanks to a combination of software, efficient delivery, automation and long-term strategy, the computer scientist transformed

transport logistics and intralogistics from the ground up, making Amazon a benchmark for the sector as a whole,” the team wrote. “Almost any technological development is nowadays influenced by e-commerce and many innovations are geared exclusively towards e-commerce.

Bezos also impressively demonstrated that innovative logistics make an important contribution to corporate success.”

Anita Würmser, Executive Jury Chairperson of the Logistics Hall of Fame, said: “Jeff Bezos has rewritten the history of logistics. His name is synonymous with successful e-commerce and a generation of entrepreneurs whose business models are based on algorithms and innovative logistics solutions. Had it not been for him, not much would have moved in logistics.” logisticsmagazine.com.au | 9

ALC Column

Michael Kilgariff Managing Director Australian Logistics Council

I

n the lead-up to the 2016 Federal Election, the Australian Logistics Council (ALC) urged the development of a comprehensive National Freight and Supply Chain Strategy to address these challenges.

The Federal Government subsequently agreed to undertake the development of such a strategy during the Prime Minister’s Annual Infrastructure Statement to the Parliament in November 2016.

Throughout the months of 2017, the ALC has been working closely with its members, supply-chain participants and other interested parties to catalogue the unique challenges faced by the transport and logistics sector, and to craft recommendations for appropriate policy responses from the Government.

The ALC believes the development of a National Freight and Supply Chain Strategy presents an ideal opportunity to establish a high-level framework that will facilitate the safe and efficient operation of Australia’s supply chains, which will: • provide an integrated and efficient freight transport and supply chain network for Australia’s international and domestic supply chains; • to the fullest extent possible, ensure that policy settings and regulation are competitively neutral between the different freight transport modes; • allow freight operators to innovate and increase the productivity of the freight logistics services they provide, in order to improve outcomes for consumers, Australia’s industries and the wider economy; and

10 | Logistics&MaterialsHandling October/November 2017

WE CAN’T DELAY THE HARD DECISIONS • contribute to continuous improvement in the safety of all freight logistics operations, as well as improved societal and environmental outcomes.

In early August, the ALC released Freight Doesn’t Vote – its final submission to the Inquiry Into National Freight and Supply Chain Priorities. This comprehensive document sets out a pathway that will equip the nation’s supply chains to deal with the economic needs of the future.

The reality is that Australia’s economy is being transformed by population growth, by technological change and by the changing behaviour of ever-more-discerning and empowered consumers. Like all other industries, the freight logistics sector must adapt to an economy in transformation.

Moreover, given the exponential growth of the middle class throughout Asia, and thus the importance of exports to Australia’s continuing economic performance, becoming a world leader in supply-chain efficiency and safety is not merely desirable, but essential.

The lived experience of Australian society over recent decades points to increasing levels of urbanisation. Effectively, this means we are trying to do more in a limited physical space.

In particular, resurgence in the desirability of inner-city living coupled with rapid rates of population growth present some urgent challenges for our freight logistics industry.

The essential items that most Australians take for granted in everyday life – food to eat, household appliances, clothing, medications and vehicles to name just a handful – are

generally not grown or manufactured close to the places where most of us live.

These commodities must be transported from their point of origin to the retailers from which we purchase them, or otherwise delivered directly to our doorsteps from ports, freight depots or warehouses.

Yet, as we create more populous cities, it is fast becoming apparent that our existing planning regimes and approaches to development fail to adequately prioritise the movement of freight.

The congested state of many major freeways and key arterial roads – as well as traffic gridlock within cities themselves – is a constant source of annoyance for many Australians. However, more than simply being an irritation, these problems are symptomatic of a far deeper issue.

Capacity constraints in the road network are not only a problem for motorists – they also impose significant costs on the freight logistics industry.

The disruption to the supply chain that occurs because of road congestion as well as capacity issues afflicting ports, airports and rail freight facilities all have an impact on the cost of moving freight – and ultimately, the prices paid for goods by Australian consumers.

Australia’s supply chains do not stop at state borders. Our economy is national – and accordingly a nationally consistent approach to infrastructure and the regulation of freight movement is required.

In an ideal world, a national economy should be managed by the national government. This

ALC Column

includes the responsibility for the development of the infrastructure and regulatory settings necessary for the nation’s supply chains to operate safely and efficiently.

In many circumstances, the Australian Government has encouraged the development of individual pieces of infrastructure through financing. However, many of the decisions relating to the planning and delivery of such projects are made by state and/or local governments.

This is the reality of Australia’s federal structure. Like all other industries, the freight logistics sector must work within the restraints imposed upon it by the Australian Constitution.

The unfortunate by-product of this constitutional reality can often be duplication and delay in achieving the sort of policy reform that industry – and the entire economy – badly needs.

Freight Doesn’t Vote makes a total of 41 specific policy recommendations, dealing with challenges faced by all modes of freight transport, as well as the inefficiencies that are acting to curb growth, and regulations that fail to adequately account for a changing economic environment.

Unless freight movement is given far greater consideration when planning decisions are made, business and consumer

expectations about rapid and efficient delivery of goods will be difficult to meet in the future.

This is particularly true of CBD freight delivery, where competition for road space between passenger and commercial vehicles is already adding to business costs and consumer prices.

Continuing investment in infrastructure that permits deliveries from freight distribution centres to CBDs is critical if we are going to successfully meet our increasing freight task.

Some form of freight-only infrastructure should be considered by governments to improve freight delivery and decrease congestion and emissions in highdemand environments.

This may include the establishment of urban consolidation centres for freight delivery, as well as the adoption of ‘reverse curfews’, which would provide freight vehicles with the right of access to parts of the road at non-peak times, in order to improve efficiency of deliveries.

In its submission, the ALC contends that this is one area where the Federal Government can play a leadership role, by incentivising the incorporation of such measures in urban planning systems, and commissioning a formal review of practices such as curfews that inhibit efficient CBD freight delivery.

Freight Doesn’t Vote also urges the Federal Government to prioritise greater use of technology enhance the efficiency and safety of our freight networks.

This includes assisting small and medium providers with the adoption of global data standards to enhance supply-chain visibility, and moving towards the mandatory use of telematics in heavy vehicles as a means of improving driver safety and

establishing a fairer, more effective model for road pricing.

Blunt instruments such as fuel excise charges and registration fees are no longer raising sufficient revenue to support the road network of a 21st-century economy.

As such, it is imperative that we move to a fairer, more efficient road pricing and investment model, under which users pay according to where and when they travel.

Technological enhancements, such as GPS tracking, now make it easier than ever to monitor vehicle use.

It is time to use these technologies as the basis of a fairer, more responsive approach to road pricing which delivers investment where it is most needed – not where it is most politically expedient.

This measure will undoubtedly produce its fair share of controversy.

In its submission, the ALC recommends that in order to manage that, it will be important to have a respected, independent umpire in charge of making pricing decisions. The ALC suggests that the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) is the most appropriate body.

To ensure its effectiveness as an independent economic regulator for the transport sector, it may be prudent for the ACCC to appoint a specialist Commissioner to deal with transport and logistics issues.

Further, the ACCC should establish a specialist unit to identify regulatory issues in the transport sector, working closely with industry stakeholders and state and local governments to ensure a pricing approach that delivers the right investment outcomes.

Freight Doesn’t Vote does not shy away from recommending initiatives that may prove to be politically challenging in the short term – particularly when it comes to having greater Commonwealth involvement in planning, as well as road pricing and investment reform.

The political challenges associated with pursuing difficult reforms now, however, will be as nothing compared with the political and economic pain that will be the lot of future governments if we fail to get the policy settings right today.

logisticsmagazine.com.au | 11

Cover story

Cyber security Strengthening the weakest link in the supply chain In mid-2017, the launch of two major cyber attacks left companies around the globe reeling. In the wake of the chaos, two cyber security experts talk to Logistics & Materials Handling about the crucial processes large organisations are missing, and what steps they need to take to toughen their resilience against future attacks. Story by Philippa Edwards.

12 | Logistics&MaterialsHandling October/November 2017

Cover story

O

n 12 May 2017, a ransomware program called WannaCry quickly spread across the world, paralysing computer systems and holding data hostage, accompanied by ransom demands for payment by digital currency Bitcoin. The attack affected operations of many small and large organisations, including US courier FedEx, National Health Service hospitals in the UK, and a Nissan manufacturing facility.

In the weeks that followed, there was extensive media coverage as the companies relaunched operations, often restoring data and operating systems from back ups rather than paying the ransom.

A mere seven weeks later, on 27 June 2017,

the world’s organisations would again be at the mercy of a ransomware attack, this one dubbed ‘NotPetya’ by Russian cyber security company Kaspersky Lab, due to its similarities to the Petya malware launched in March 2016. This time, shipping company Maersk Line, FedEx’s TNT Express delivery service, German logistics company DHL, JNPT – India’s largest port and several other logistics operators were among the thousands of victims.

“WannaCry and NotPetya are examples of ransomware,” explains Matthew Warren, Professor of Cyber Security and Deputy Director of the Cyber Security Research at Deakin University.

“Essentially, an organisation gets infected,

usually through the exploitation of a vulnerability in its IT system, which allows for malicious software to be implemented. The ransomware then locks down the computer systems and servers and demands Bitcoin payment to restore access to data.

“It’s as simple as an employee clicking on a link in an email which prompted the computer to download to the organisation’s system.

Once in, it would then try to look around the network to find where the servers are that could be exploited.”

Dr Nalin Asanka Gamagedara Arachchilage is a lecturer and researcher of Cyber Security at the Australian Centre for Cyber Security (ACCS) at the University of New South Wales, logisticsmagazine.com.au | 13

Cover story

based in the Australian Defence Force Academy.

He tells Logistics & Materials Handling that the attackers behind WannaCry and NotPetya were able to successfully infect such a large number of computer systems due to a common vulnerability.

IN CASE OF EMERGENCY If your organisation’s operating system has been compromised, Dr Nalin Asanka Gamagedara Arachchilage, Lecturer of Cyber Security at the Australian Centre for Cyber Security (ACCS) at the University of New South Wales, says there are three key points to remember.

1. Report “The first thing an organisation must do is report the attack to an appropriate agency,” says Nalin. “In Australia, that is the Australian Cyber Security Centre (ACSC).”

2. Don’t pay up “It is unethical to pay the hackers in Bitcoin or otherwise,” says Nalin. “There is no guarantee that after sending the money the files will be released, so organisations are not advised to pay the ransom.

“Paying the attackers would only give more means and more motive for the attackers to continue.”

3. Drop the network “If your organisation has been infected with ransomware, switch any wireless internet connection off,” Nalin says. “The files may not be visible to you due to encryption added by the attackers, but this way the attackers will not be able to view them either, and you can avoid the ransomware spreading further through the network.”

14 | Logistics&MaterialsHandling October/November 2017

“These attacks spread because humans are an organisation’s weakest link,” says Nalin.

“The attackers targeted companies that had not yet upgraded to the latest Windows operating systems, and had not been doing regular patch management – meaning they had not been regularly installing the latest system fixes issued

by Microsoft.”

The motive for each of the attacks was to make the victims’ resources unavailable, encrypting files to prompt them to pay the ransom, Nalin explains.

Matthew adds, “In terms of cyber attacks, there are several different motivations from would-be attackers. For ransomware attacks, the motivation is monetary and also to gain information that can – in theory – then be sold on the dark net, creating an extra income stream for the attackers.”

While it is understood that the most public victims of the attacks avoided paying a ransom, including Maersk Line that has since reported the NotPeyta cyber attack cost it $380 million, Matthew notes that logistics companies in particular must be constantly vigilant against cyber crime.

“The problem for logistics companies – because they operate in real time – is when the operating systems lock down, that instantly has a real-world impact as it affects the organisation’s ability to operate, in terms of receiving orders, tracking orders through the logistics cycle and delivering orders.

“When daily operations are affected, logistics companies have backlogs in the system immediately, which take time to resolve and overcome.”

Spreading the word Cyber security experts and researchers realised after the WannaCry attack that another would likely come to exploit the same or similar weaknesses, having witnessed the chaos caused, notes Nalin.

“We were talking to organisations, asking them to please go and upgrade their operating systems, do patch management, encrypt their files and back up their data, if they hadn’t already.

“Unfortunately, people are not sufficiently motivated to do this. The Australian Centre for Cyber Security is currently investigating why, and our initial findings have shown us that lack of disk space on computer systems is cited by a significant proportion of surveyed participants.

Also, employees are taking their work home on

laptops, tablets and mobile devices, connecting to unsecured Wi-Fi networks, or putting off installing operating system upgrades due to a lack of available data on usage plans.”

Matthew adds that patches for the vulnerabilities exploited by WannaCry and NotPetya were released in the months preceding the attacks.

“It was just a case of patching systems with a patch from Microsoft, but because organisations don’t have automated patch management systems, the attacks exploited these weaknesses,” he says.

“Organisations are aware of cyber security threats and risks, but from an operational perspective they are still having difficulties dealing with it – there is certainly a lack of cyber security maturity in many large organisations as well as small organisations.”

Back to basics “We need to create awareness, education and training around threat perception by individuals in positions of cyber responsibility, and have them spread the message across the community,” says Nalin.

“We need people to stop abusing admin privileges and start creating application whitelists [through which only approved and tested programs can perform certain actions].

To make that happen, we’ll need them to be motivated and well guided.”

He adds that operating systems’ interfaces could be improved, to better communicate security elements of upgrade requests, but he ultimately feels that a total rethink of cyber security training will be needed.

“We need to think about the way we approach training, and how we measure its success,” Nalin says. “If three employees from an organisation go to a training centre, Employee A passes with an 80 per cent score, Employee B passes with 70 per cent and Employee C also passes with 70 per cent – what do these numbers tell us?

“The fact that they all passed does not tell us what they don’t know, we need to see what areas they need further guidance in. If Employee A, Employee B and Employee C each lost points on a different aspect of the test, the organisation may have its bases covered, but if the three employees all lack the same knowledge, the organisation is very vulnerable.”

Nalin adds that training must be tailored both to the needs of the people and the particular needs of the organisation.

Cover story

“Through a gamification approach, we could know beyond Employee A’s 80 per cent score what aspects of the subject he or she needs to grasp better,” he says.

“This information will enable training centres to improve their courses, and assure organisations that the people granted administrative privileges on their operating

systems have the security awareness required to protect against malicious entry attempts.”

Matthew notes that organisations must be decisive and prompt in preparing themselves.

“The first step is for organisations to go back to basics – to carry out comprehensive security reviews to identify their vulnerabilities and develop solutions,” he says. “The Australian

Government is putting forward a concept of cyber resilience – for organisations to be capable of recovering quickly after an attack – but these attacks have revealed that even large organisations are lacking cyber security maturity and falling at the first hurdle.

“Patch management is not something that organisations can afford to do just once per year – it’s one of the most basic steps they can take to protect themselves and as such should be regularly reviewed.”

Matthew adds that due to the high-profile and widespread impact of the WannaCry and NotPetya, there will likely be a further wave of attacks.

“Because organisations’ IT systems are now so complex, there are many way in which they can be exploited,” he says.

“The attackers have seen that they have had a global impact, so now they’re certainly reflecting on what they have done and developing new types of ransomware attacks – I’m afraid ransomware is going to be with us for the foreseeable future, until organisations have reviewed their cyber security strategies and put in solutions that would actually stop this from happening.”

Provid ing 500,00 over 0 of purp sqm ose wareho built using

Artists Impression

Victoria’s Inland Port Solution.

Connecting Dandenong's latest logistics hub, Nexus Industrial, with direct access to the Port of Melbourne via the High Productivity Freight Vehicle endorsed road network and a future "Port Rail Shuttle service" Pre-leasing opportunities now avaiable, contact Owen Smith on 03 9673 1115 or Tristan Anderson on 03 9673 1107

salta.com.au/interport logisticsmagazine.com.au | 15

Supply chain

Future disruption Evolution in technology is helping to make industry processes safer, more productive and traceable. Next year, the inaugural MEGATRANS2018 trade show will provide a platform to showcase and discuss the latest and upcoming disruptors in supply-chain technology.

A

s organisations and industries take advantage of advances in technology designed to increase cost efficiency, productivity, safety, visibility and accountability, the face of supply chain management is changing.

Some of today’s innovations show where the technology is going – telematics, which can enable tracking of fleet location, driver health and driver behaviour, and increasingly sophisticated wearables, such as Glass Enterprise Edition (see page 10), are making data instantly accessible, applicable and traceable.

They also point towards a connected future.

The Internet of Things (IoT), a grand design for both inside and beyond the workplace where devices will monitor and interact with the world around them, is already taking shape. This includes smart city concepts under development that allow vehicles to talk to traffic lights and roads. E-commerce company Amazon has introduced its ‘Amazon Go’ checkout-free retail

16 | Logistics&MaterialsHandling October/November 2017

experience, where shoppers can walk out of its grocery store with their chosen items and have a receipt emailed to them thanks to communication between their smartphone and the store.

The ‘next big things’ – tomorrow’s innovations that will change the way the industry works – may not arrive for another five years, and may not be ubiquitous for a decade or two beyond that – or they may not arrive at all. Without practical industry input, even the most hyped idea may not get the support and design changes needed to get it off the ground.

Industry needs to remain aware of the latest advances, to avail of the benefits, ensure its needs are being addressed and remain on top of new unknowns.

As the recent WannaCry and NotPetya cyber attacks showed (see page 14), with companies collecting more, and better quality, data, their security processes must also evolve.

Robots are also increasingly capable of performing tasks previously carried out by

humans, and as such the role of human workers will evolve, and so too must the approach to training and hiring. Oxford Cold Storage’s Paul Fleizsig told Logistics & Materials Handing in the June/July 2017 issue that the company has launched a automated guided vehicle (AGV) pilot through which robots complete picking processes in a human-free test area. “What you’re doing today probably isn’t what you’ll be doing in six months,” he said. “Automation will eventually take over – I don’t know when, but we’re already talking about driverless trucks and cars, so a driverless forklift in a cold store is not a big ask.”

In the April/May issue, Hermione Parsons and Rose Elphick-Darling of Deakin University’s Centre for Supply Chain and Logistics noted that thanks to robotics, automated vehicles, drones and high-tech mobile devices, humans will become the creators of supply-chain strategy, making decisions that relate to business imperatives. “These are not always about optimisation,” they said. “They may be

Supply chain

more about customisation, which is less able to be automated.” Hermione and Rose added that the skills required by the industry will in turn change. “New skills in analysis, development of advanced applications and the services related to automation…will be needed in logistics and transport services,” they said.

Chain reaction Next year, new trade event MEGATRANS2018 will assemble the industries responsible for keeping Australia’s supply chain running smoothly to showcase the most innovative developments set to disrupt warehousing, logistics, road transport, rail, port, sea and air freight.

Where previously, the industry segments have been operating in isolation, MEGATRANS2018 will bridge the gaps and foster communication, connections and learning.

The show makes its debut 10 to 12 May, 2018, at the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre, in the heart of the one of Australia’s major logistics hubs and the world’s most liveable city – Melbourne.

Connecting the Australian and international supply chain, the three-day expo, delivered in partnership with the Victorian Government, will bring together those who plan, implement

“What you’re doing today probably isn’t what you’ll be doing in six months. Automation will eventually take over – I don’t know when, but we’re already talking about driverless trucks and cars, so a driverless forklift in a cold store is not a big ask.”

Paul Fleizsig Director, Oxford Cold Storage.

and control the efficient and effective forward flow and storage of goods, services and related information between the point of origin and point of consumption.

Four main sections comprise the show’s 30,000m2 of space – Logistics & Materials Handling/Warehousing & Storage; Road Transport, Air, Sea & Rail; and Infrastructure – with an emphasis on technology throughout.

Other features of MEGATRANS2018 include the Global Shippers Forum, the ARTSA Global Leaders’ Summit, the Logistics & Materials Handling Mercury Awards, a Ministerial Breakfast delivered in partnership with the Victorian Government and Transport

Certification Australia’s (TCA) Technology Hub. The Port of Melbourne is a Supporting Sponsor of the show, Enirgi Group and Linde Material Handling are backing the event as Sponsors and DB Schenker is its Logistics Partner.

MEGATRANS2018 is also supported by a range of Association Partners, including: the Australian Logistics Council (ALC); the Australian Peak Shippers Association (APSA); the Australian Road Transport Suppliers Association (ARTSA); the Freight & Trade Alliance (FTA); the International Cargo Handling Coordination Association (ICHCA); the National Transport Commission (NTC); TCA; and the Victorian Transport Association (VTA).

HF RFID antenna with 200mm range and diagnostic LED

IFM

* HF 13.56MHz frequency band * Diagnostic and display LEDs for easy set-up * Communication to the PLC via DTE10x evaluation unit * Connection with rotatable M12 connector for standard cables of up to 20m * Adjustable transmitting power * Extensive range of mounting accessories

Contact us today! 1300 365 088 sales.au@ifm.com - www.ifm.com/au logisticsmagazine.com.au | 17

Intermodal

Full steam ahead

With Australia’s freight task set to rise, and the country’s major cities’ transport links already at capacity, planning of logistics infrastructure has never been more critical. A greenfields development in Melbourne’s southeast will soon help spread the load.

A

ustralia’s 2017 census highlighted a significant demographic shift occurring in the country’s major cities – the population of Melbourne is growing at such a pace that it is expected to soon overtake Sydney as the most populous city. This will likely impact its already congested transport routes, raise demand for e-commerce delivery and result in more rezoning of industrial areas for residential use in the Victorian capital.

Large traders including Woolworths, Bunnings and Aldi – and new market entrants such as Amazon – have started to establish distribution centres (DCs) in Dandenong, in Melbourne’s populous southeast.

Nexus Industrial, a large innovative freight hub being developed by Australian private developer Salta Properties, is quickly taking shape in the Dandenong South area, just 30 minutes’ drive from Melbourne’s population epicentre.

Recent developments include the opening of a high-productivity freight vehicle (HPFV) accessible internal road network and a major new intersection offering direct access to the Western Port Highway.

The key to the 180-hectare freight precinct’s point of difference, according to Salta Properties, is its direct connection to both the Western Port Highway, and its close proximity to Eastlink, which give this site unparalleled access to Victoria’s HPFV network for high-mass and highvolume trucks.

In addition to key road connections, Nexus Industrial – also known as the Dandenong South Inland Port (DSIP), will offer an onsite rail

18 | Logistics&MaterialsHandling October/November 2017

terminal operating frequent rail services to and from the Port of Melbourne.

In late August 2017, the Federal and Victorian Governments green lit the $58 million Port of Melbourne port-rail shuttle project, which had been in limbo since 2014. The shuttle will support the Federal Government’s aim of promoting the use of rail in freight movement, and will operate between the Port of Melbourne and three suburban terminals, one of which is likely to be the DSIP. “All onsite tenants will benefit greatly from the frequent port-rail shuttle services,” says Sam Tarascio, Managing Director, Salta Properties.

“It’s full steam ahead now the governments are backing the shuttle. The services will result in a much-needed step-change in the efficiency of port connectivity, which is under increasing threat from congestion, toll increases and growing road curfews.”

The DSIP will act as an extension of the Port of Melbourne, enabling importers and exporters to move cargo to and from the Port seamlessly, via integrated container tracking systems, high-level security, and continuous ‘under-bond’ movement of cargo. In addition, being part of this purposebuilt inland port precinct will assist tenants in qualifying as an Australian Customs ‘Trusted Trader’, which further enhances the free flow of goods.

The sprawling precinct is already home to Bunnings Warehouse’s Victorian, South Australian and Tasmanian DCs, and the final touches are being put on a gigantic, new state-of-the-art DC for Woolworths, which features 40-metre-high internal racking.

Thanks to the DSIP’s large, low-cost container holding areas, tenants will be able to access containers at any time without incurring costly port storage charges. For exporters, this means containers can be sourced from the on-site empty container yard and packed when needed – Interport Services, the inland port operator, will handle the rest.

“The inland port is most appealing to importers and exporters who value long-term cost stability, low environmental impact and high supply-chain resilience,” adds Sam. “Being able to draw on multiple transport modes and decrease exposure to escalating port storage costs and customsclearance delays, tenants and inland port users will be in an enviable long-term cost position.”

A recent report commissioned by Regional Development Australia independently calculated that cost savings attributable to rail thanks to the DSIP are between 16 to 37 per cent, depending on the type of container (20- or 40-foot) and the empty de-hire location. Over the course of a typical lease, these savings will prove very significant for exporters and importers.

“It is a rare opportunity to be able to plan and develop such a large greenfield industrial site from scratch but Salta is excited to take it on,” says Sam. “With large development lots available, unparalleled multi-mode transport connectivity, future onsite logistics services and employee amenities, the Dandenong South Inland Port is a new benchmark for industrial development in Australia and the perfect alignment of property and logistics.”

Start Training is a Registered Training Organisation (RTO) that provides training for the warehousing and construction industries.

We offer a range of courses including Forklift, EWP, Order Picker and Excavator for both Beginners and Advanced operators.

Start Training are based at 3/1825 Ferntree Gully Road, Ferntree Gully and service all Melbourne metro areas and rural Victoria.

Our facilities include simulated warehouse environments and our courses are taught by industry experienced trainers using a combination of theory and hands on machine time.

We can also conduct training at customer facilities throughout Melbourne and Victoria saving your staff time.

At Start Training we care about your success and offer free retesting on all courses. Our prices are all inclusive of training materials and there are no hidden fees. Our small classes and experienced trainers allow us to work with students and their individual needs to ensure they get the best training possible and walk away as confident operators.

(03) 9756 0244

starttraining.com.au

THE GLOBAL LOGISTICS REVOLUTION MAY 10-12 2018 MELBOURNE CONVENTION & EXHIBITION CENTRE

MEGATRANS2018.COM.AU

Proud Partner

Association Partners

Interview

Reimagining

3PL

Adapting to new commerce styles and platforms has proven challenging for Australia’s traditional retailers and logistics providers, however Linfox is reimagining the potential of third-party logistics.

T

hanks to evolving tracking technology, the rise of omni-channel retail and the visibility of overseas models, Australian logistics providers are witnessing consumer expectations becoming increasingly sophisticated.

Paul Kennedy, Chief Information Officer of pet product and service provider Greencross, recently dispelled the myth that Australia’s demographic spread means its logistics providers can’t offer the kinds of delivery enjoyed in other developed countries, at the Online Retailer conference held in Sydney in July. Instead, he noted, the onus is on logistics companies to get smarter, faster and more organised.

“We like to use excuses – we say Australia’s big, or that it’s not very densely populated,” he said. “Some of those things are true, but two-thirds of Australia’s population live within a day’s drive of Melbourne or Sydney.

“If you have distribution in those cities you should be able to get out to customers within a day – there are things within the retailers’ control, if it can get out of your DC (distribution centre) 22 | Logistics&MaterialsHandling October/November 2017

the day it’s ordered then it has got a lot better chance of getting to customers the next day.

“We need to focus on our internal teams, on order by here, ship it by there, get it to the customer by there.”

Australian supply chain and logistics company Linfox is getting ahead of the curve by helping its clients master the logistics of omni-channel operations.

Logistics & Materials Handling speaks to John Pucek, General Manager – Operations Development at Linfox, to find out how thirdparty logistics (3PL) can move from being a service to a partnership, online retail challenges on the horizon and how the company is building its own capabilities to deliver better.

Q: Consumer expectations for Australia’s delivery networks are constantly changing, especially with the imminent arrival of Amazon, do you think retailers’ fears are well founded?

A: I know that there is a lot of press around – particularly from the various retailers – and I

think they’ll face their own challenges based on what Amazon is offering.

The challenge for traditional operators will be to bend and flex with consumer demand.

From a consumer goods organisation’s point of view, there is still a desire for those organisations to sell where the customers are, whether that be through bricks-and-mortar retailers, eBay or Amazon.

There will always be that desire to be where the customers are, so that’s fine, and that will naturally occur. What the organisations have been looking for is that direct connection to the end-customer, whether it be a business or a consumer.

There’s a very large untapped market out there because it’s not cost effective for these consumer goods organisations to reach out and bring these smaller independent retailers or customers out there on board.

When you add in e-commerce as a tool, it enables a much more cost-effective and direct way to connect with those customers, therefore to grow your customer base and volume.

Interview

It’s about being where the customers are – some of those will be direct relationships and some will be through the marketplaces.

One significant impact I think Amazon will have is in the realm of last-mile delivery. I think there does need to be some changes in the industry in that space as, at the moment, service in the Australian marketplace is really limited to what the last-mile delivery organisations are providing.

I think what will help drive an improved model there will be Amazon acting as a big aggregator, helping the industry move from a traditional one-carrier delivery model to more of a service-based network where the-end business or end-customer is getting a better experience, and those organisations will end up sharing more of the work among themselves.

Q: Linfox’s fulfilment centre in Sydney represents a venture into new territory for the supply chain company, what prompted the move into added-value service?

A: It’s essentially an evolution in our business model prompted by changing consumer expectations.

Linfox still wants to be seen as a high-service organisation in its current markets, but also

now as an organisation that can innovate based on how markets are changing – and as a bit of a leader in that regards, from a 3PL point of view.

We’re hoping to be more so a partner than a 3PL provider – we want to be more integrated to help organisations grow their businesses, and now we’re looking at the other avenues through which they want to grow their business, and how we can support them by investing in the technologies for them.

Like a lot of organisations, we need to develop new products based on where the market’s going. It doesn’t take away from all of our current markets and services – we’re still looking to grow our traditional fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG), resources, retail and industrial focus areas. That is still a core part of the Linfox offering.

This is just another offering in the Linfox suite reflecting how the markets are evolving, particularly around online retailing and omni channel.

The market is moving towards online retailing and omni-channel systems, which is something traditional supply chains can’t necessarily support in a cost-effective way. With competition from retailers – online and bricks-and-mortar – there’s an increasing interest for consumer

goods organisations to have that contact with their end-customer, but for them to fulfil that they’re going to need a supply chain that can do that.

Because of that movement in the market and the growth, we’ve come up and designed a fulfilment operation, and the systems to be able to support that.

Q: What services will the Sydney facility provide?

A: The Linfox Fulfilment Centre is already live.

It is designed to provide fulfilment services to enable consumer goods organisations to deliver direct to retailers and individual customers, letting them offer high-speed delivery and customisable packaging, even for small orders.

It plugs into an e-commerce organisation’s front end and brings the consumer experience into the business-to-business (B2B) environment, with a particular focus on track-and-trace and visibility.

Rather than having a one-to-one relationship between the consumer goods organisation and the carrier, the organisation can choose a suite of services to offer to its businesses consumers or its online customers, and our system takes care of the rest – it does all the scheduling, planning, logisticsmagazine.com.au | 23

Interview

we offer same-day priority parcel lockers.

Through the Linfox auto-management platform, organisations have full visibility of orders including all of the line items, when it was received by us, where it is in the warehouse, all the last-mile delivery milestones, and proof of delivery.

It’s also got a clean room to be able to provide value-added services – things like kitting, retail-ready packing, relabelling and security tagging can be done in-house, reducing cost and turnaround time.

We offer a full reverse-logistics operation, as well, including product evaluation, determination and scrapping – managing the scrapping of consumer electronics products via an e-recycler, for instance.

Q: What has happened behind the scenes to make this happen?

A: We started the project at a strategy level in January 2016, and had board approval in June last year. Then we started implementation and construction of the systems and the physical logistics.

We secured our first customer, consumer electronics company Belkin, in November 2016, went live in March this year and announced our

24 | Logistics&MaterialsHandling October/November 2017

second customer, Sennheiser, recently.

It’s a completely new workforce, including management teams. I’ve drawn the management teams particularly from the consumer electronics space, we wanted to make sure we brought in people that understand this kind of work.

We’re not just targeting consumer electronics, our strategy is to initially offer this to the consumer electronics market, but also health and beauty – cosmetics, perfumes. The service offering suits many industries, but they’re the two current strategic targets.

We’re training the brand new staff management team in high levels of customer service, and also the types of complexities around the multipack environment – where you’re now dealing with lots of different pick and storage technologies – to be able to fulfil orders cost effectively and quickly.

It’s about recruiting the right people with those sorts of skills.

the consumer goods market, an idea that was borne at the same time as the Sydney fulfilment facility.

A company will be able to purchase a fully managed service where we provide the e-commerce platform, a management team and online store management. We will even do all the content management, and it will be integrated into our fulfilment.

So take a small- to medium-sized business, one that trades somewhere between $120 million and $300 million.

Rather than having to invest in its own e-commerce platform, it can get the complete package from us – there’s been considerable interest in the market around that.

Linfox’s e-commerce customers will be able to benefit from an eBay integration, and we’re also more than happy to be available on the Amazon platform as well – because that’s what I think Australia’s retailers need to do.

Q: Alongside the physical fulfilment facility, Linfox also has another exciting offering on its way – what can you tell us at this stage?

A: We’re currently developing our own, enterprise-grade e-commerce solution for

Q: What do you believe it will take for transport operators to be successful in the busy times ahead?

A: First of all, track-and-trace needs to be a priority. Supply chain managers and marketing managers for consumer goods organisations are all looking for that real-time visibility. The ability to track an order right through the supply chain is very valuable, not just in transport, but also for in-bound deliveries, warehousing and the last mile.

Get that right and not only will you enable a reduction in inventory holding, more importantly you will be able to offer the end-customer a better experience as that visibility will help you to be more responsive.

Investment in technology to be able to offer that has got to be one of the top priorities, and I think those that do will be more successful.

Also, you have to be flexible. The market – whether working with a business or a consumer – is demanding a lot more flexibility in how and when they receive their product. One of the key things for any last-mile delivery organisation to think about is how they are going to enable that. To be able to change a delivery after it has already departed will be key, for instance, or to be able to have it delivered at extended times, or in more easily accessible locations. Those that can provide a greater service offering that meets the customer’s needs for when and where will be ahead.

NEWSLETTER SUBSCRIBE TODAY

LOGISTICSMAGAZINE.COM.AU/NEWSLETTER-SIGN-UP/

Packaging

Revolutionising packaging Automated packaging solutions provider Packsize recently brought its on-demand technology down under, and its Australian customers are among the first to experience its most innovative systems yet.

W

hile it may be fresh on the scene in Australia, Packsize is no newcomer to packaging. In fact, the company is responsible for inventing on-demand packaging technology, shares Sean Ledbury, General Manager – Asia Pacific, Packsize.

“Packsize arrived in Australia two years ago, but over the past 18 years we’ve established ourselves in Europe, the US and Asia Pacific,” he says. “Australia is an important market for the company, given its reputation as a market of early adopters – I have found them to be extremely open to technology that improves productivity, visibility and safety.”

Sean joined Packsize as it began its Australian expansion. “My background is in logistics automation,” he says. “For many years I managed logistics automation businesses, so it has been exciting to lead the company as it has brought this unique offering to the Australian market.

Full automation “Packsize is a provider of right-sized packaging solutions, and by far the most experienced and automated,” says Sean. “We have spent years on research and development the deliver such 26 | Logistics&MaterialsHandling October/November 2017

technologies as the X4 – the first automated, custom box-making machine from Packsize. It works by simply inserting corrugated fanfold at one end and a cut, folded, glued and labelled package will emerge from the other end. This compares with other models where manual intervention is required along the way for one or more of these steps.”

One of the first sites in the world to receive the X4 technology was a pharmaceutical manufacturer in Melbourne. “It’s the latest and most automated custom box-making packaging machine available in the market,” he says. “It allows the pharmaceutical company to produce short runs of several different sizes, as and when needed, where before it had to purchase hundreds of different sized boxes.”

The company has already established a local client base, with furniture, kitchen and bathroom cabinetry, logistics, e-commerce and manufacturing companies already using Packsize machines. Over 300,000 boxes have been produced in Australia since its arrival.

“The machines provide real-time data that the customers can access on the Cloud, wherever they are. They can view live reports on individual operator statistics and production output,” Sean shares.

Another benefit of the machines being connected is it enables Packsize to provide a comprehensive service offering, he explains.

“Because our machines are self aware, we receive real-time statistics on maintenance needs,” says Sean. “While we provide the on-demand packaging systems, Packsize also provides full preventative and breakdown maintenance and spare parts at no additional cost to our customers – that’s a real differentiator of our service.”

Full service Sean explains that the relationship between Packsize and its clients is a little different from that of other companies today addressing rightsized packaging.

“Unlike others, we don’t sell our machines,” he says. “There is no capital upfront cost. Instead we free issue the technology and supply the z-fold corrugated cardboard that the customer only pays for as needed.”

This method enables businesses to return a profit within months rather than years, he explains.

“In this day and age, if you can offer a company a reduction in costs, with no capital upfront costs, then that’s a pretty unique business equation,” he

Packaging

“Packsize is a provider of right-sized packaging solutions, and by far the most experienced and automated.”

Packsize’s X4 On Demand Packaging machine, launched in early 2017.

Sean Ledbury General Manager – Asia Pacific, Packsize.

adds. “That’s probably why Packsize is three times larger that any of our competitors – we’re the largest company of this type in the world. We do things quite differently, and customers are assured of a long-term and scalable partnership. We are vested in their success.”

He notes that some other firms have begun to offer leasing of on-demand machines in an effort to compete, though typically they include financing, something that Packsize is not interested in pursuing.

“We own the machines, we don’t finance them, we place them in our customers’ sites and all they need to do is buy the consumables,” he adds. “They don’t incur additional costs due to box inventory and supply chain improvements.”

Waste not Sean explains that on-demand packaging has revolutionised packaging for manufacturers, logistics companies and the environment. “For years, manufacturers dealt with the inconvenience

of purchasing boxes in multiple sizes, which took up space in their facilities, needed to be constantly restocked and rarely offered a proper fit.

“Right-sized packaging offers better protection for goods during shipping, reducing returns due to damage, and also the reduced footprint of each individual package means more can fit in each truck load.

“Packsize is dedicated to supporting processes that reduce the impact of our actions on the environment, such as burning fossil fuels and cutting down trees,” he says. “If you can cut your packaging by 30 per cent, fewer trees need to be cut down for paper, and you can essentially put 30 per cent more product on each truck, meaning fewer trucks on the road.”

Sean notes that Packsize’s machines, maintenance service and results have brought it a loyal global following, and he is excited to see what the company can do for Australia’s industries.

“We stand behind our name, and our technology.”

The iQ Fusion 2’s horizontal outfeed and table give a single operator the ability to transition from box creation to box induction without a significant increase in cycle time.

logisticsmagazine.com.au | 27

Wrapping

Tried and true As the final step on the line for many manufacturing facilities, any downtime for pallet wrapping machines can be disastrous. Load containment system manufacturer Signode is spreading the word about a line of pallet wrapping machines that offers a new level of reliability.

T

hose outside the logistics industry can underestimate the task of delivering prepared products to retail premises and private dwellings. In fact, there are numerous processes and products employed to ensure that goods arrive in pristine condition.

Andre De Wet, Regional Manager – North at Signode tells Logistics & Materials Handling that underinvestment in pallet wrapping equipment will quickly show itself to be a false economy.

“Pallet wrapping equipment is right at the end of the line in a manufacturing facility, so if it fails or slows every single process behind it is limited,” Andre says. “If you can’t get the product out, there’s no point in producing it.”

Design to rely on Andre shares that reliability is often a key factor for companies that approach him for wrapping solutions. “They want to achieve a higher level of reliability, whether to cope with their current demand, or due to increased production necessitating a faster solution,” he shares.

“Very often we go into a facility and see that the company has invested in a machine that is not delivering – at some point in time someone has convinced them that the cheaper alternative will do.”

He notes that a recent commission involved

OCTOPUS MONTH Load containment manufacturer Signode is renaming October ‘Octopus Month’ for a campaign showcasing the Octopus brand and machinery. Signode will promote the stretch wrapper range, celebrating the wrappers’ design features and benefits. Signodeowned stretch wrap manufacturer, Haloila, produces Octopus machines in Finland, and its machines are exclusively distibuted in Australia and New Zealand by Signode.

28 | Logistics&MaterialsHandling October/November 2017

replacing a piece of equipment that was supposed to automatically place a top sheet over the pallets as part of the wrapping process. “It was not capable of placing one single sheet, it just doesn’t work,” he says. When you deal with Haloila machinery, whatever you buy will do what it is supposed to do.”

Haloila, a Finland-based, wholly owned Signode company, has been manufacturing the

Octopus range of stretch wrappers for over 30 years. The company invented the ‘ring wrapper’ concept of product wrapping whereby the pallet remains still and the film carriage rotates around the pallet, keeping the load stable during wrapping, removing all centrifugal forces from the pallet and delivering a tight, unified load.

“We have a range of different Octopus machines, in various sizes to cover different sizes of operation,” Andre adds.

“We can spec a machine to

Wrapping particular needs, by modifying the ring diameter to match the ring size and different rotation speeds and/or dual film application to match required production output.”

Signode is hosting ‘Octopus Month’ in October as a platform to let the industry learn more about the range and its capabilities (see breakout box).

Since arriving in Australia six years ago, Andre has admired the local logistics industry’s dedication to safety in equipment and processes.

“Safety is a big thing in Australia, when I came here I was truly impressed by the attitude to it,” he says. “As such, our equipment is tested rigorously and can help companies to maintain safe environments through features that keep operators away from the machine during operation without hampering production, and our installation includes training of the company’s operators and in-house maintenance staff, so that the equipment can be used safely and properly cared for. Beyond that, we also provide preventative maintenance where our teams come in and service the machinery.”

This maintenance, he adds, ensures that correct methods are followed in looking after the unit and that only original-quality parts are used, extending the life of the machine and maximising machine availability and reliability. “The fact that we have a local presence across Australia and New Zealand also assures that we fully understand the customer’s requirements when setting up the machine’s specifications,” he says.

Shelf ready A developing trend in product packaging is prompting manufacturers to seek out sophisticated wrapping technology, Andre shares.

“Reducing damage to cartons is becoming more and more important now because ‘shelf ready’ products are increasingly popular.

‘Shelf ready’ means the products – anything from spices to chips – are stacked in a carton that is placed on a shelf in the supermarket, Andre explains. The supermarket worker opens the top of the carton and the goods are displayed as packaged in the factory, whereas in the past products would have been delivered in a large box and placed on the shelf individually. In this way, once a carton is empty, is can be removed and another stored behind it brought forward. While it represents a simpler method for shelf stocking, it means the condition of outer packaging used for delivery is all important as it is an integral part of the manufacturer’s marketing effort.

“We just completed a major installation for a company in the food industry that had been experiencing excessive damage to cartons,”

Andre says. “The company told us it wanted to increased its production, to exceed 100 pallets per hour, and improve the handling of carton wrapping, since the pallet wrapping machine it had been using was causing considerable package damage.”

The machine the company was using, he notes, was applying the film to the pallet too tightly, resulting in corruption to the edges of the carton. The company was keen to find a solution that would secure its products to the pallet without damaging its cartons.

Through Signode’s Octopus system, Andre was able to offer a solution that would accurately control the pre-stretch of the film, while regulating ‘lay-on’ force, which means the tightness of the film as it is applied to the pallet.

“These two things work together to keep the pallet stable without damaging the cartons,” he says. “What’s special about the Octopus machines is it can vary the lay-on force within a single wrapping cycle, meaning it can start high and reduce where required, to ensure a securely wrapped pallet and not damage the load.

“Pre-stretch is a term that every stretch wrap manufacturer uses, but the majority of them can’t control it, or only through a not-very-exact process where the results may

OCTOFACE Stretch wrapping machinery manufacturer Haloila, a subsidiary of load containment manufacturer Signode, has developed OctoFACE, a solution that allows the company’s experts to interact with an Octopus machine anywhere in the world over a secure Ethernet connection. “The way the world deals with data and interacts with equipment has changed significantly in recent years,” says Andre de Wet, Regional Manager – North, Signode. “OctoFACE allows our customers to monitor their machines wherever they may be located, allowing access to useful information about the wrapper’s efficiencies and production rates.”

vary, so they don’t know with certainty how they’re stretching their film.”

Andre shares that he takes pride in the performance of Signode’s products and the company’s approach to customer service. “For me personally, I can’t sell something I don’t believe in – it’s very important to me that the equipment can do what we say it is going to do.

“When it comes to a purchasing decision for something as important as a pallet wrapper, reliability and safety should be at the top of any company’s list of required features – it is the crucial final step before the product leaves the building – and Sidnode’s pallet wrapping machinery fits the bill.”

logisticsmagazine.com.au | 29

Containerisation

The cornerstone of

globalisation In the six decades since the birth of containerisation, it has had an extraordinary impact on the world.

A new exhibition from the Australian National Maritime Museum looks to highlight how container shipping has evolved, and how integral it is to modern life.

I

n 1956, as Melbourne ramped up to bring the Olympic Games to the southern hemisphere for the first time, in the US, one man was taking a different tact to bring countries closer together. In April 1956, Malcom McLean – also known as the father of containerisation – launched the first container ship, a converted World War Two tanker, the SS Ideal X. In the years since, container shipping has made global trade and manufacturing affordable on a grand scale.

Container, an Australian National Maritime Museum exhibition arriving in Sydney’s

Darling Harbour in October, will explore the development of containerisation and the impact it has had upon day-to-day life. Curator Mary-Elizabeth Andrews tells Logistics & Materials Handling that in their relatively short history, containers have changed little, though the change they have effected has been significant.

“Standardisation of container size was set pretty early on, in the 1960s,” Mary-Elizabeth says. “So, if you saw the MV Kooringa – the world’s first fully cellular, purpose-built containership, which was constructed in

Newcastle, New South Wales in 1964 – you’d notice that the containers it carried were of a different size to today. Each of the first major players in container shipping had their own sizes: Sea-Land, Matson and Associated Steamships, operators of Kooringa.

“An international standard for container size had been set by the time an Australian port welcomed a foreign container ship – the British SS Encounter Bay – operated by Overseas Containers Limited – in 1969, the moment Australia opened up to international container trade.”

View from the bridge of a container ship in the North Atlantic, photo Adrian Catalin, 2014. Reproduced courtesy: Adrian Catalin.

30 | Logistics&MaterialsHandling October/November 2017

Containerisation

“I think that people completely underestimate the amount of trade that comes in by sea – they think the freight is coming in by plane and the Internet is in the Cloud. In fact, those two cornerstones of globalisation are actually both maritime.”

Mary-Elizabeth Andrews Curator, Australian National Maritime Museum.

Some key design innovations were developed quite early on, she shares, such as the twist lock mechanism that slots into a container’s corner castings, which was developed by Sea-Land in the 1950s.

“The evolution of containerisation since has been incredible,” Mary-Elizabeth says.

“In its early days, containerisation didn’t handle a huge amount of the trade, and now it is dominant in terms of particular commodities. Not only has the number of containers increased exponentially, so too has the number of uses for them, with the growing understanding of how more and more products can be transported by container.”

FAST FACT “Approximately 7.5 million containers move through Australia’s ports each year, and this is set to rise to 20 million within the next 15 to 20 years – even considering a forecast economic slowdown,” shares Mary-Elizabeth Andrews, Curator of the Container exhibition at the Australian National Maritime Museum. “Looking worldwide, in 2015 the world’s top 100 container ports handled 539 million containers – with over half being moved by the top 20 ports – while in 1975, 17 million containers were moved globally.”

Self contained The exhibition will offer a comprehensive view of the history, impact and use of containers, around six key aspects: Ship, Port, Cargo, Build, Ocean and Things. Mary-Elizabeth notes that each will be housed in its own themed container, so that visitors can check out the theme that interests them the most, or visit the whole collection to get a broader view. “‘Ship’ looks at the immediate situation prior to the invention of the container, the story of Malcom McLean and the history of Australia’s shipping industry,” says MaryElizabeth. “‘Port’ shares the story of our ports, and shows visitors how the cargo wharves of Darling Harbour would have looked before containerisation. It will also cover the development of Port Botany, and the growth of ports from the 1970s through to today.”

‘Cargo’ will explore Australia’s history of trade, along with quarantine processes and cold-chain advances that have enabled exotic perishable food items to become mainstays of the Australian diet, while ‘Build’ will look at uses for containers outside of shipping, for example in architecture and art. “I think a lot of people will love to see the amazing things people are doing and making with containers,” says Mary-Elizabeth.

Positioning wool bales in the cargo hold of the Magdalene Vinnen, Samuel J Hood Studio, 1933, ANMM Collection 00035586. Image courtesy: Australian National Maritime Museum.

logisticsmagazine.com.au | 31

Containerisation

‘Ocean’ will explore the impact of containerisation on ocean health, and industry efforts to create sustainable solutions, and ‘Things’ will attempt to ‘bring home’ the importance of containerisation to contemporary life. “‘Things’ is a giant showcase,” shares MaryElizabeth. “We’re reproducing a typical lounge/ dining room, showing visitors where every item has come from, but going beyond the ‘made in’ label to show where every individual component of each item has been sourced from, so people can understand the huge impact of shipping on the way we live today.”

A lasting impression Mary-Elizabeth hopes that the exhibition will open visitors’ eyes to the modern-day comfort made possible by Australia’s container logistics.

“Australia is an island nation, and we’ve always been really dependent on shipping,” she shares.

“Containers bring us 90 per cent of the goods we possess or use in our everyday lives, and have made an extraordinary array of products available to us, at a reasonable price. We have containers to thank for the comfort, variety and

affordability we have become accustomed to.

“I think that people completely underestimate the amount of trade that comes in by sea – they think the freight is coming in by plane and the Internet is in the Cloud. In fact, those two cornerstones of globalisation are actually both maritime – trade is coming in by sea and the Internet in cables under the oceans.”

She notes that the exhibition is primarily aimed at the Australian National Maritime Museum’s knowledge-seeker audience, made up of those who want to know more about the world in which they live, though there’s something for everyone.

“There’s something of contemporary relevance to everyone because we’re all affected by containers, and the way we live our lives wouldn’t be possible without them,” she adds, “In fact, we played around with the idea of ‘imagine this meeting without containers’, though we decided there would probably be no clothes, and no table either.”

Mary-Elizabeth hopes that visitors will take away an understanding of what container shipping does for the nation, and for the world. “I talk to people about this topic and they then come back to me later and say that after our discussion they

DP World Australia container terminal, Port Botany, photo Glenn Duffus, 2015.

Reproduced courtesy: DP World Australia.

32 | Logistics&MaterialsHandling October/November 2017

FAST FACT The Container exhibition will be staged outdoors at the Australian National Maritime Museum in Darling Harbour, Sydney, from October 2017. Entry is free, thanks to the support of its sponsors, including major sponsor NSW Ports.

The exhibition will be housed in six containers, each designed around a different aspect of the impact of containerisation. In mid-2018, the exhibition will set off on a tour of regional New South Wales.

see containers everywhere. I want our visitors to go away from the exhibition appreciating that these very ordinary things, which have been a part of their lives that they have never noticed, are actually very significant – and the container they see on the back of a truck on the freeway is helping to make the world go round.”

PROMOTIONAL FEATURE

logisticsmagazine.com.au

inside OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2017 Reimagining 3PL Smart packaging The evolution of trade Disruptive technology

CYBER SECURITY Strengthening the weakest link in the supply chain

DECEMBER 2017/JANUARY 2018

Weighing Systems The December/January issue of Logistics & Materials Handling will showcase Australia’s key players in weighing systems.

Official Partner

OUR BRAND PROMISES We offer you the best exposure to decision makers, using our industry-leading databases Your content will be written for you by journalists that understand your market

Logistics & Materials Handling is the key connection piece within the Australian supply chain, bringing together those who plan, implement and control the efficient and effective flow and storage of goods.

Get one full-page advert plus one full-page editorial in this special feature for $4,250 plus GST.

Booking deadline: Thursday, 2 November 2017 MATTHEW CAREY Business Development Manager M: 0411 755 432 E: matt.carey@primecreative.com.au

Readership By Job: 39% 28% 16% 6% 6% 5%

Management Director Engineering Technical Senior Positions Operations

Advertorial

To the next

level

In the year since Nino Pala became Managing Director of Linde Material Handling Australia, the company has undergone dynamic changes locally, regionally and as part of the global Kion Group.

K

ion Group is little known in Australia, where its Linde brand has instead carried the corporate banner and carved out a reputation for quality, performance and customer focus.

Already one of the largest global suppliers of forklift trucks, warehouse equipment and related services, the Kion Group late last year became one of the leading global providers of intelligent intralogistics solutions by acquiring Dematic, a best-in-class automation provider and specialist in supply-chain optimisation.

Nino Pala, Managing Director, Linde Material Handling Australia, has drawn on his extensive corporate experience throughout Asia Pacific and North America to lead his team at Linde Material Handling Australia during a period

34 | Logistics&MaterialsHandling October/November 2017

of unprecedented, ongoing business and technological change for the industry.

He explains some of the recent local and global changes and outlines their significance for Linde customers and the industry at large.

Strategic acquisition The acquisition of Dematic by Linde parent company Kion Group in November 2016 marked a pivotal moment in Linde’s history according to Nino. “It provided a unique opportunity for us to expand our leadership of the supply-chain industry,” he says.

“Our parent company is pioneering a new kind of company which will partner with our customers to deliver even more flexible and tailored supply-chain solutions – from forklifts

to fully automated material-handling solutions – to keep their businesses moving.”

As a result of the Dematic acquisition, the Kion Group reorganised its operating units along geographic lines, aligning the Australian business as part of the Asia-Pacific Operating Unit. That organisation has over 500 sales and service locations, with major operations in China, Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia, India, Australia and New Zealand.

Local business impacts Linde is confident it now provides the most comprehensive supply-chain solutions in the local market, representing the only material handling–equipment company in the world to offer customers everything in the warehouse

Advertorial

and factory, Nino shares.

“We are well positioned to help local businesses succeed in a marketplace moving toward increased digitalisation,” says Nino.

“With the Kion Group’s addition of Dematic, we have the innovative solutions and global reach to shape the future of the supply chain in a way no other company can.”

“From my perspective, Linde stands alone with its full suite of material handling solutions for all customers, large and small.”

Renewed focus on customer priorities

“Customers are increasingly seeking very specific offerings that match their material handling–equipment requirements,” he says.

“Linde Australia now meets that challenge by offering clear choices for our customers rather than attempting to apply a one-product-fitsall approach.”

To match words with actions, Linde has recently undergone internal changes to allow it to better anticipate and respond to changing customer priorities, Nino explains.

“We have restructured our operations to place more of a focus on local leadership and accountability, in order to improve the speed of decision making and execution,” he adds, also revealing that Linde has fundamentally changed the way it regards and positions every product in its range.

Nino Pala Managing Director, Linde Material Handling.

Product range realigned “Early this year, Linde Australia introduced a new approach to the solutions it offers,” says Nino. “We’ve categorised products to make choices simpler than ever and to help us provide solutions that meet both operational and commercial requirements. One look at our range will illustrate the scope and differences that Kion is able to offer from a materialhandling perspective.”

He adds that while many Linde customers use their materials-handling equipment as a core element of their business, such as in warehousing, logistics and as an aid to manufacturing, an increasing number does not.

“That’s why we’re now identifying and introducing models for businesses which typically have lower-intensity use of their material-handling equipment, as a support to their operations,” he says. “As an example, think of homewares retailers whose premises combine a showroom and an attached warehouse – a typically lower-intensity forklift environment.”

To complement this new approach, Linde reviewed its entire range and identified three key characteristics and abilities – ‘Value’, ‘Performance’ and ‘Performance Plus’.

Models specifically suited to lower-demand applications were classified in the Value range, those designed for medium-demand applications were categorised as Performance models and models engineered for high-demand applications fall into the Performance Plus category. The company claims its ability to know which is the ideal model for any given

application can potentially save customers thousands of dollars.

This approach is refined further by Linde’s forensic analysis and thorough understanding of the role of each piece of equipment with customer fleets, Nino notes.

“While other equipment suppliers might correctly identify a customer’s business as being a low-, medium- or high-intensity environment, our specialist consultants are experienced in digging much deeper when it comes to equipment requirements,” he says.

“Without doing so it is all too easy to fall into the one-type-fits-all mistake, supplying equipment not really suited to individual roles within a fleet. Frankly that doesn’t serve the customer or supplier well in the long run.

The starting point of Linde’s approach is to recognise that there may be a mixture of low-, medium- and high-demand forklift capability requirements within any given fleet or workplace, he adds – adding this the company’s specialists can then specify precisely the appropriate model for every role, for small businesses as well as large enterprises.

“By adopting this simple approach when discussing materials handling–equipment needs, Linde can suggest solutions more closely aligned to business needs than ever before,” he says. “It’s a new approach only possible and successful because of the strength and breadth of our product range.

“Let’s face it – customers in Australia have a wide choice of material handling–equipment providers. However, from my perspective, Linde stands alone with its full suite of material handling solutions for all customers, large and small.

“Understanding the difference between price and value is important in any decision that we make, but more so when it comes to materialhandling equipment. I believe Linde also gives customers the opportunity to choose a supplier that is a leader in productivity, safety and logisticsmagazine.com.au | 35

Advertorial

and demonstrates it in three dimensions, with fly-arounds and simulations.

Stratos also has the ability to reconfigure proposals to answer ‘what if’ queries by demonstrating the effect of alternative storage layouts, equipment types, labour and equipment levels by operational hours, with and without seasonal variations.

Each solution is optimised to make the best possible use of the most appropriate Linde Materials Handling equipment.

Winning Appliances initially developed a concept for a distribution centre unlike any previously operated in Australia – a 21,000m2 facility with very narrow aisle (Vector Network Analyser, VNA) configuration, served by turret trucks fitted with carton clamps and with a 11.5 metre reach.

Million-dollar savings

efficiency, a company committed to providing the best service within the industry.

New Zealand comes on board Linde Material Handling recently began operations in New Zealand, ramping up support for customers throughout the country.

The move will also reportedly provide further options for existing Australian Linde customers who also have a New Zealand presence and wish to deal with a trans-Tasman supplier.

The power to add value Despite the breadth of its product range and the productivity and whole-of-life cost efficiency of Linde forklifts, it is frequently the ability of the company to add value to strategic partnerships which can make a difference for customers, Nino says, adding that The Winning Group, one of the country’s enduring business success stories, is a case in point. The company transformed itself from a carriage-and-saddlery trade business in 1906 to the online and bricks-and36 | Logistics&MaterialsHandling October/November 2017

mortar powerhouse it is today.

Its ‘Winning Appliances’, ‘Appliances Online’, ‘Big Brown Box’ and ‘Handy Crew’ businesses have been on a strong growth trajectory over the last decade, prompting a decision to create a new national distribution centre in Sydney.

State-of-the-art Stratos warehouse planning and simulation software developed by Linde has helped this high-achieving Australian family company position itself for a second century of success, Nino explains.

The Stratos software allowed The Winning Group to test its distribution centre design concepts in three dimensions instead of two – and produced an optimised outcome, Nino shares.

Stratos takes raw data and then identifies and designs the most cost-effective and efficient storage and handling process to meet nominated business objectives.

It takes base data and develops an optimum design for today, three-year or five-year horizons, then it takes that proposed optimum process

Linde was able to use Stratos to illustrate how the same outcomes could be achieved using just 17,000m2, without any compromises and with a saving approaching $1 million on lease costs over 10 years.

The company was able to provide a conceptual layout as the basis for further discussions just three days after gaining access to The Winning Group’s data.

“This was a project two years in the planning,” says Alan Lewis, Chief Logistics Officer, Winning Appliances, adding that it was important to first understand how the new warehouse could look, how that layout would work and what types of material handling equipment were required.

“That’s where Linde’s Stratos software program with its simulations really helped,” Alan says. It allows you to see, if you like, a day in the life of the operation you are specifying.

“Stratos not only gives you some very clear answers to specific questions, but also presents them in an easily understood manner, even for people whose specialty is not logistics.

“Linde’s Stratos response calculated how many new machines we would need and what that would cost as well as what we could achieve with it. That tool was very useful in helping us to understand what our needs would be in year one, right through to year five.

“The relationship with Linde has been a success, not just because of the Stratos software, but because from the outset they took the time to fully understand who we were, how we operate and where we wanted to progress in the future.”

Cold chain

Cold-chain credentials With the ever-expanding range of fresh produce that requires refrigeration and the ongoing growth of the market for frozen convenience meals and foodstuffs, the demand for refrigerated storage is growing rapidly. Story by David Rubie, Manager Industry Logistics, Dematic.

A

ccording to a recent report by market research firm Markets and Markets, the global cold storage construction market is projected to grow from US$4.6 billion ($5.8 billion) in 2015 to US$10.5 billion ($13 billion) by 2021, at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 14 per cent between 2016 and 2021. This growth is mainly attributed to the growth in the international trade of perishable and processed foods, growing consumer demand for temperature-controlled items, and government support for development of cold stores.

As the distribution network for foodstuffs and healthcare products requiring refrigeration grows, logistics providers are having to expand their operations in the face of rising costs for land, labour and energy. These cost challenges are in turn driving the increased use of space and costefficient automated storage and retrieval systems (ASRSs) in cold-storage environments.

With ASRSs in mind, businesses can review their cold supply-chain networks and identify where they can consolidate refrigerated storage and distribution to reduce total supply chain costs and deliver superior operational capabilities.

Here are 10 ways an ASRS could improve your cold-chain performance today:

1. S maller building footprint with optimised use of the storage cube High-bay ASRS effectively use the available footprint in a distribution centre (DC). With aisles typically requiring less than a third of the space compared to conventional pallet storage systems, an ASRS can significantly reduce the total floorspace required to store a comparable number of pallets, typically by 25 per cent or more, depending on the height of the system.

2. S ignificant ongoing energy savings With ASRSs enabling more pallets to be stored in a smaller cubic area, they reduce ongoing refrigeration energy operating costs. The smaller surface area of ASRS cold stores also reduces the impact of thermal transfer through the walls and roof area, further reducing energy consumption.

There are also limited lighting requirements

5. Occupational health and safety benefits With no operational staff permitted within the ASRS warehouse, safety issues associated with the use of manually operated forklifts and pallet trucks are eliminated.

6. Inventory location accuracy and inventory security

within ASRSs, and no need for large doors to be constantly opening and closing for forklift access, further reducing energy consumption. When evaluating the cost effectiveness of ASRSs in cold stores or freezers, it is important to factor in the continuing rise in energy costs over the system’s anticipated operational lifespan.

3. N o need to work in harsh environments Employee turnover in cold store and freezer environments is typically higher than in conventional warehousing. With all pallet handling within ASRS cold stores and freezers handled automatically, and the use of integrated infeed/outfeed pallet conveyors, operational staff are not required to work in harsh cold store or freezer environments, with stock put-away and retrieval, order fulfilment, load consolidation and shipping taking place in ambient temperatures.

Staff working in freezers are also required to take regular breaks from working in sub-zero conditions, so the use of ASRSs increases productivity and reduces operating costs.

4. R educed ongoing product and equipment damage Eliminating the need for manually operated forklifts removes the risk of accidental damage to products, racks, freezer doors and other equipment.

Accurate, real-time computer control of inventory locations in ASRS cold stores and freezers eliminates stock put-away errors that can occur in manual operations. Furthermore, inventory accuracy is a desirable selling feature for third-party logistics (3PL) coldstorage providers. With ASRSs providing fully automated operation, another benefit is significantly improved inventory security, which greatly reduces the potential for stock pilferage shrinkage.

7. Error-free order picking and FIFO stock rotation Manually staffed cold-storage DCs can experience several picking errors every day.

Accurate inventory location management in ASRSs and first-in, first-out (FIFO) inventory rotation ensures order accuracy and product freshness by eliminating the potential for costlyto-rectify picking errors.

8. Control of ‘quarantined’ products With ASRSs, inventory that is quarantined for whatever reason is electronically locked in and not available for picking.

9. Enhanced product quality Within ASRSs, pallets in cold stores and freezers are optimally spaced, allowing chilled air to circulate adequately to ensure product quality is maintained at all times.

10. Customer service excellence Customers expect accurate orders and even the occasional error can badly damage the coldstorage provider’s reputation and relationship with their customer. ASRSs deliver a higher level of accuracy, ensuring a high level of customer service. logisticsmagazine.com.au | 37

Training

Key to

success

Amidst a backdrop of rising regulatory pressure, StartTraining has championed an individualised approach to teaching forklift skills.

W

hen Founder and Director Glenn Faulkner launched Victoria-based training organisation StartTraining in 2004, he was keen to establish an environment where every student willing to learn could succeed. Thanks to his experience working in warehousing, construction and manufacturing, along with years spent in the vehicle training industry, Glenn was well positioned to deliver courses which would deliver the necessary knowledge in an engaging format.

“StartTraining started as a one-man business,” shares Glenn. “Now we’ve grown to 16 full-time staff, supporting the training of almost 4,000 individuals per year.”

The company first delivered forklift training courses, and its offering has now expanded substantially.

“We predominantly do licensing for the warehousing and construction industries, including high-risk licensing, and are authorised

by WorkSafe and the Victorian Registration and Qualifications Authority to deliver units, test and award licences for operation of boom lifts, order pickers, excavators and more,” says Glenn.

Depth of knowledge Since founding StartTraining, Glenn has witnessed pass requirements becoming significantly more complex, for forklift licences in particular, a trend he suspects is due to increased awareness from society for all workers to have a more in-depth knowledge of how to work safety.

“For companies, it is important that operators have licenses not only to make sure their employees go home safe every day but also to avoid litigation, he says.

The result, Glenn explains, is the theory component of training has increased and become increasingly complicated. “Twenty years ago, the theory test had 26 questions on it and took 20 minutes to complete, now it has 66 and takes almost an hour and a half to two hours.

“This does ensure that students have a depth of knowledge to ensure they operate the machine in a safe manner, though the challenge for Start Training is to make sure that with the increasing theory component we are not compromising practical training time, while still balancing market demands of a two-day course. One way 38 | Logistics&MaterialsHandling October/November 2017

we can achieve this is by having students study the training materials prior to commencing their training.”

He notes that students with literacy difficulties or English as a second, third or fourth language are at a disadvantage nowadays. “Sometimes, we train people that are really good operators, but they struggle to pass the theory side of the licensing process,” he says. “For this reason, we put a lot of effort into making sure our students have the best opportunity to pass, tailoring our approach to the individual’s learning style and needs – this is reflected in our motto – ‘We care about your success’.”

To ensure each trainee receives the attention they need, class sizes are kept to a minimum. “We have no more than six people in each course,” he says. “This allows our trainers to hone in on the personal learning styles of each participant, giving them as much physical time on the equipment as possible. This is important to ensure they have hands-on experience so as to be productive and safe in the workplace.

High-risk licensing courses tend to run for two days, the amount of time employers seem to be prepared to have their workers off site. “We have quite a lot of information to impart in that time, a lot of skills to teach,” says Glenn. “Something we pride ourselves in is the support we provide to individuals that do not pass at the end of the two-day course, providing free extra theory and hands-on training and free retesting so there’s no extra cost to the student to keep pursuing the licence.”

Proactive training Glenn does believe that awareness of workplace health and safety (WHS) obligations is rising. “In the last five years, companies have become more aware of the legal implications of the WHS Act,” he says. “Employers are taking their responsibilities more seriously, with more and more companies having the attitude of ‘not only do we want our operators to be licensed, we also want them operating smart and safe’.”

He adds that a proactive approach to training brings a host of benefits to employers. “Companies have more efficient and productive operators when more time is dedicated for training.

“The old school attitude of getting the operators

on a forklift with minimal training and driving flat out is counterproductive as it leads to situations where stock falls and time must be spent reloading a whole pallet of product, leading to downtime or – in the worst-case scenario – accidents.”

Another way for companies to improve the return they get on training is to increase their involvement in course design, Glenn adds.

“Companies very rarely question what’s in the licencing courses, and we get little feedback from industry on what they would like the course to cover or how it is delivered. This information would allow us to increase the value for each individual company.” He shares that the exception is refresher training, where most companies freely discuss what their requirements are. Due to this, Start Training has developed three distinct types of refresher training including standard, companyspecific and forklift sports, ensuring the company receives the training it needs within its budget.

The company sees a broad range of trainees – everything from industry newcomers to experienced warehouse workers looking to add another tool to their toolbelt – so StartTraining courses must be flexible, fact filled and relevant.

“What’s important for us is that we deliver the best quality course possible, within the time constraints, so that the trainees leave our premises with confidence in their new knowledge and the ability to safely apply what they’ve learnt immediately in an industrial setting,” Glenn says.

SUBSCRIBE TODAY om.au

logisticsmagazine.c

inside OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2017 logisticsmagazine.com.au

Reimagining 3PL Smart packaging e The evolution of trad gy Disruptive technolo

logisticsmagazine.com

inside AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2017

.au

Rethinking security Gender equality The rise of containers Sydney’s logistics shift

Y CYBER SEe CweaUkeRstIT link

inside VOL51 ISS3 JUNE/JULY 2017 Custom packaging Oxford Cold expansion Sendle’s James Chin Moody Introducing MEGATRA NS

Strengthening th in the supply chain

CITY LIMITS

Turning CBD delivery A on C itsOhead MM

ON GROUND

Official Partner

Uniting Australia’s logi

stics industry

Official Partner

Logistics & Materials Handling provides feature-driven content, news and product information specifically targeted to service the information needs of senior and operational managers in the Australian materials handling, logistics and supply chain management industries. We have the latest products and services from manufacturers and suppliers to the LMH industry. We also have feature stories that cover all aspects of LMH – from up-coming trends through to insights as to how you can streamline your processes.

https://logisticsmagazine.com.au

THE POWER TO CHOOSE CHOOSE

VALUE

CHOOSE

PERFORMANCE

CHOOSE

PERFORMANCE PLUS

When it comes to material handling requirements, one size simply doesn’t fit all. That’s why at Linde Material Handling Australia we’re giving you the power of choice. Whether your business requires equipment for low, medium or high demand applications, or even a mix of all three, you now have the power to choose the perfect solution. Talk to your local experts at Linde Material Handling today.

1300 135 463 lindemh.com.au

Powered by