Manufacturing logistics and procurement – October 2022

Back-to-basics for third party logistics
Penske Logistics, supply chain professor Dr. C. John Langley and NTT DATA have published the 2023 Annual Third-Party Logistics Study. The report shows that both shippers and 3PLs are going back-to-basics to reset and rebalance supply chains. Both groups have experienced strained shipper-3PL relationships as they address ongoing disruption, strategic misalignments and labour challenges. You can download the report after filling in your details.

Sustainable manufacturing of gravure printing cylinders for flexible packaging
IIT Roorkee researchers found that by switching from engraving rotogravure printing cylinders by electro-mechanical engraving (EME) to laser engraving (LE) the copper and chromium thickness were reduced and that came with a reduction in power consumption and plating time. The study (1.93 MB) entitled ‘Sustainable and green manufacturing of gravure printing cylinder for flexible packaging printing application’ is published in Scientific Reports.

Automation and digital twins in packaging manufacturing
Altair has published a survey (13.89 MB) on the present and future of digital twin technology. The survey examines how the technology is understood, how it is used, why it is used, who is using it and more. Two-thirds of the respondents (67%) expect digital twins to make the need for prototypes and physical testing obsolete within six years.
ASTM’s committee on robotics, automation, and autonomous systems has formed a new subcommittee on grasping and manipulation. This new subcommittee will develop standards that evaluate performance in several major areas of robotic manipulation. The first three task groups of the commission will develop standards for performance of grasping type end-effectors, mobile manipulators, and robotic assembly systems.
A PMMI report addresses the challenges and opportunities for packaging and processing operations. The topics covered are sustainability, workforce, remote access and predictive maintenance. You can download a summary of the report after filling in your details.

European innovation competitiveness
The EC has published the European Innovation Scoreboard 2022 (5.15 MB), revealing that the EU's performance has grown by about 10% since 2015. Sweden continues to be the best performer. Other leaders are Belgium, Denmark, the Netherlands and Finland. Compared to the EU average, global competitors such as Australia, Canada, the Republic of Korea and the United States continue having a performance advantage.
According to a report by McKinsey, the EU needs to catch up with other major regions in several key technologies. Failure to catch up makes Europe vulnerable in all sectors in terms of growth and competitiveness, as well as security and strategic strength. This hampers the EU's resilience in the long run. You can download the report entitled ‘Securing Europe’s competitiveness: Addressing its technology gap’ after registering.

The Pallet Report: State of the US pallet industry
The US market developments in the use of pallets are analysed in the annual Pallet Report by Modern Materials Handling and Peerless Research Group (PRG). The ‘2022 Pallet Market Evaluation’ delves into the current and projected use of pallets in warehouses and fulfilment centres and highlights the key trends taking place in the pallet market right now.
 

NVC members receive this information with all the relevant links in the monthly NVC Members-only Update. If you have any questions, please contact us: info@nvc.nl, +31-(0)182-512411