The UK leader in palletised freight has expanded its fleet after the delivery of two fuel-efficient trucks.
Pall-Ex has taken a two-year lease agreement on two Renault Premium 450 dci 6 tractor units with Allport Truck Centre - which currently supplies and supports all of Pall-Ex's fleet requirements.
The trucks, which are equipped with Opti drive automatic gearboxes, deliver better fuel economy and driver performance. The vehicles have also been branded in the latest Pall-Ex striking livery.
Fraser Macneill, director of operations at Pall-Ex, said: "This latest supply agreement with Allport Truck Centre has delivered the perfect operational solution for Pall-Ex.

"We required a fixed-cost solution to enable full control on cost and to free up management time. Allport Truck Centre proposed a competitive deal with a two-year operating lease and a repair package that delivers fixed reduced operating costs and a better operating performance."

Advanced logistics software from Paragon Software Systems is enabling The Linde Group to optimise routing and scheduling of thousands of gas deliveries across the world. The Linde Group is a world leading gases and engineering company with almost 50,000 employees working in around 100 countries worldwide. In the 2008 financial year it achieved sales of EUR 12.7 billion.

Linde has standardised on using the Paragon solution for daily dynamic routing and transport planning for a wide range of industrial and therapeutic gas customers in its global operations. The software has improved customer service levels particularly with critical deliveries and has enabled operational savings.

Linde uses Paragon to expedite the planning of daily deliveries in Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands and France, with customers placing orders right up to 5pm each afternoon for next day delivery. The system is also currently being implemented in the Czech Republic, Norway, Sweden, Australia and New Zealand, and the company will roll out the system to the USA and Canada soon. Eventually, Linde will use Paragon worldwide for managing deliveries globally and optimising its use of a combined worldwide fleet of 4,500 vehicles.

Paragon replaces several disparate PC-based and manual systems used by individual country operations. Paragon has already removed Linde's reliance on local schedulers and it now operates country-wide planning by one or two experts for each country who are able to take a big picture view of operations with the added benefit of balancing the workflow. The system is installed centrally and accessed via Citrix by schedulers in each country, integrating seamlessly with Linde's SAP enterprise system.

Martyn Stretch, Global Transport Manager for Linde's cylinder business reports that the Paragon system was chosen following an extensive Six Sigma-based selection process that scored available products on ability, reliability and quality of the supplier.

"I have a good knowledge of Paragon following my work with Gist, a logistics division within The Linde Group. For Gist, Paragon had already proven its ability to rapidly plan food deliveries to Marks & Spencer stores and allow the organisation to provide excellent customer service levels. Our gas businesses require a similar quick turnaround of orders into deliveries within a tight timeline. In many cases it is critical that we get urgent supplies to customers. For example, a patient sent home from hospital may require oxygen and equipment that day and we have to deliver what they require when they need it," says Martyn Stretch. "Paragon enables us to work to these tight constraints and ensures that we keep our customer service promises. In addition, Paragon Software Systems has proven to be a reliable, knowledgeable and responsive company, qualities in line with our own customer focus."

ABOUT PARAGON

Paragon Software Systems is a market leader in transport optimisation with over 1,500 systems installed in more than 33 countries worldwide. A pioneer in routing and scheduling, resource management and transport execution with 30 years know-how, the company has an unparalleled track record of successful software implementations. Paragon software reduces transport costs by up to 20 per cent through more efficient deployment of vehicles and drivers.

With global headquarters in Dorking, Surrey, UK, Paragon provides flexible solutions for transport operations ranging from just 10 vehicles at a single site to hundreds of vehicles operating from several sites. Paragon software is used for routing and scheduling optimisation on a daily basis; managing transport resources; rationalising fixed routes; strategic planning and modelling; scheduling home deliveries continuously as orders are being confirmed; and managing the execution of the transport plan in real time using vehicle tracking technology.

Companies already benefiting from Paragon software include the Royal Mail Group, Harrods, Mastercare, CEVA Logistics, Wincanton, DHL Exel, Norbert Dentressangle, Pirelli, Greene King, John Lewis, Argos and Rank Hovis. Paragon is helping these companies to cut transport costs, improve efficiency and raise customer service levels, as well as helping meet strategic business growth objectives.

VeriLocation's brand new wireless temperature monitoring system will make its world debut at this year's Food and Drink Logistics Show on Stand AC040.

Using RFID tagging and wireless temperature probes, Bio-Trak is able to precisely monitor the condition and location of chilled and frozen cargo.

Information from the system is fed back to a live screen that you can monitor from the depot, any computer with internet access or even your smart phone.

The all-new system is completely wireless, allowing temperature probes to be placed wherever you like, with no need for drilling.

And, thanks to VeriLocation's RFID system, you will always be completely confident of exactly which probe is reading which temperature and how that could affect your load.

Perfect for multi-compartment lorries.

MD Andrew Overton said, "We're delighted to be able to launch this new system at the Food and Drink Logistics Show.

"We're confident that this new system will make a significant difference to the working lives of fleet managers shipping temperature sensitive goods. It will allow them to keep tabs on their deliveries and provide their customers with indisputable evidence of the quality of service they are providing.

"Of course, the wireless technology and the subsequent removal of the need to drill into compartment walls will also enable fleet managers to benefit from the same high standards of load monitoring on rented vehicles as they do on vehicles that they own."

The probes will update as often as you wish and the system will sound an alarm if the temperature strays outside the parameters that you set with an accuracy of just 0.1C.

Also incorporated is VeriLocation's GPS-tracking technology, which allows you to keep track of where your vehicle is in real time and through historical reports.

All the information gathered by the system is collated and put into a completely tamper-proof report, providing an indisputable audit trail for you and your customers.

As you'd expect from VeriLocation the system meets all the appropriate standards for food transportation.

VeriLocation has been in GPS tracking and mapping since 1995, and now tracks more than 10,000 devices and vehicles in the UK.

BITO Storage Systems, the UK's leading storage and materials handling equipment company, has launched the 2010 edition of its Product Catalogue. Many new and updated products are featured, as are details on a scheme that delivers significant customer discounts.

More than just a catalogue, this comprehensive product guide to a full range of storage and materials handling products and solutions is now firmly established as a key reference source for industry.

The products featured within the Product Catalogue's 304 pages are made at BITO Group's state-of-the-art plants in Meisenheim, Germany. With the products held in BITO's fully stocked UK warehouse, customers receive fast track delivery on orders, with many products now delivering one week from order or even faster.

The catalogue also includes details of BITO's Order Builder Discount incentive scheme. Recognising that 2010 is likely to be a tough year, BITO is offering significant discounts to help companies gain high quality products while keeping within their budgets. By spending over £500 (excluding VAT) customers gain a 10 per cent discount; over £1000 gives a 15 per cent discount; £2500 will see a 20 per cent discount and by spending over £5000 customers will receive a 25 per cent discount, which amounts to a large saving.

The 2010 Product Guide release coincides with the launch of BITO's new look website which gives visitors direct access to help and advice from the leading European manufacturer of storage and material handling products.

BITO's new look website has two main aspects. The first is an educative section giving system data and solutions for a variety storage and materials handling situations using BITO component products. The other main part of site is a web shop, which allows fast and easy ordering, at any time, from the wide range of BITO products found in the catalogue. The Website also features a product configurator as well as up-to-date news about BITO and its range of products and services.