Manufacturing logistics and procurement – April 2020

Developments in Logistics due to CoVid-19
Packaging Europe reports that the European Commission (2.4 MB) has confirmed that the transportation of packaging materials for essential industries such as food and pharmaceuticals will be able to use its “green lanes” essentially fast-tracking the movement of materials.
In the new report (2.4 MB) “COVID-19: Potential impact on the world’s poorest people: A WFP analysis of the economic and food security implications of the pandemic” the UN agency says that global markets for basic cereals are well-supplied and prices are generally low.
A new report (208 kB) from IBM, “COVID-19 and Shattered Supply Chains”, highlights that the pandemic has revealed vulnerabilities in global supply chains, causing unanticipated chaos while emphasising a need for resilience and smarter systems based on AI, automation and blockchain technologies.
In May 2019, CBRE Research explored the relationship between e-commerce grocery growth and cold storage warehouse capacity in its report Food on Demand Series: Cold Storage Logistics Unpacked. The conclusion was then that an additional 75 million to 100 million sq. ft. of freezer/cooler space will be needed. In a recent article CBRE Research looks at how the COVID-19 pandemic is accelerating this trend.
WEF reports that 3D Printing manufacturers are committed to supporting a united front to address shortages and rising demand triggered by COVID-19 to better help efforts that protect the lives of those impacted by this global pandemic.
Research by Supply Chain Media among supply chain decision-makers in Europe shows that, three quarters of the supply chains are negatively impacted by COVID-19.
ISM conducted a member survey focusing on how businesses and supply chains are dealing with COVID-19.

Industry 4.0, Machine learning and IoT
Adem Kulauzovic, from Domino gave a webinar about the Top 10 mistakes when adopting Industry 4.0 concepts. You can follow the webinar after filling in your details.
Operator assistance systems can help to reduce machine downtime in food production and packaging processes. A paper (584 kB) by the Fraunhofer Institute, published in MDPI, investigates how test data for teaching machine learning algorithms can be generated by numerical simulation.
A consortium of High Tech Software Cluster (HTSC) members has been allocated an ITEA3 project focusing on making it possible to continuously improve machines in production through verified and validated software updates.
A survey conducted by Reichelt (in Dutch) among 250 tech decision-makers in the Dutch industrial sector, shows that the Industrial Internet of Things is indispensable for the sector.

Sustainability in Logistics
On 20 February, Malou van der Vegt held a speech entitled ‘Development of a toolbox to support and facilitate the implementation of sustainability in the packaging chain’ as part of her master assignment at the University of Twente. Chairman of the assessment committee was professor Roland ten Klooster who holds the NVC Chair Packaging Design and Management.

Testing of packaging
In partnership with the International Safe Transit Association (ISTA), Specright has launched PackSight, a new online testing platform for ISTA test procedures.

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