Logistics professionals wanting to walk the length of an entire supply chain will be able to do precisely that at next year’s CeMAT trade fair in Hannover, Germany (31 May to 3 June). The Innovative Logistics Solutions showcase in Hall 27 will provide an inspirational and informative look at a fully functional supply chain employing all the latest high tech.

Seegrid, the pioneer and leader in vision-based autonomous industrial vehicles, has added the Subway Platform displays to its Supervisor product. The displays are designed to reduce downtime in the supply chain by providing subway-style estimated-time-of-arrival (ETA) projections and data collection capabilities at each station where Seegrid's vision guided vehicles (VGVs) retrieve or deliver materials.

Despite rumours about ‘tolerance’ regarding the SOLAS container weighing rules coming into effect on 1st July, there is little room for manoeuvre for most shippers. Containers which are already at sea on 1st July and need transhipment are the only (deepsea) ones which will be able to avoid being subject to the rules, Keith Bradley, Technical Advisor at the Maritime Coastguard Agency (MCA) told a packed seminar room at Multimodal 2016 last week. (It is already well-known that ro-ro containers on shortsea routes are exempt.)

Working in the sub-zero world of the cold store demands the highest standards of visibility, reliability and comfort. Mitsubishi Forklift Trucks has now developed a brand-new range of cold cabins for its SENSiA reach trucks, which the company says are tailored to work productively and reliably – even in temperatures as low as -35 degrees.

Bekuplast have created the first collapsible bread basket, with what the company claims are remarkable volume saving properties, set to revolutionise the logistics of bread and bakery products in Europe. In a statement, the German company said, “This innovative basket can be rapidly folded giving volume reductions of around 70% when empty, offering potentially enormous savings in logistics as well as space efficiencies during processes within bakeries etc.”

Hy-Dynamix™ has launched a new mobile container weighing solution called Hy-Weigh™, which gives digital readouts within ten minutes at point of packing. The system can weigh containers up to 35 tonnes and uses four corner hydraulic elevation jacks, raising the container in situ and displaying the weight in increments of 50kg via a digital read-out. Designed by engineers at Hy-Dynamix™ parent company Dyer Engineering, which has a 40-year pedigree in the sector, Hy-Weigh is self-contained on its own specially designed pallet, and its control panel allows for individual corner raising and lowering.

LayerMaster, from B&B Attachments, is a new solution for both layer picking and layer splitting loads. It allows a pallet to be quickly broken down or built up by clamping layers, and can be adjusted for a wide range of products including boxed and frozen goods, glass and plastics containers, tinned products and plastic trays. Very versatile, it can lift up to half of a 2400mm high pallet at a time or, alternatively, just a single layer of boxes, thereby enabling the load to be quickly broken down or built up by clamping single or multiple layers. The open centre version is capable of lifting a full height 2400mm load.

JLT Mobile Computers, developer and manufacturer of reliable computers for demanding environments, has entered a partnership with LTS Scale Company, a leading manufacturer of precision mobile scales and weighing systems with headquarters in Ohio. LTS Scale Company will sell the JLT1214P rugged forklift computer as part of their in-motion, legal-for-trade weight scale solution for transportation customers primarily within the Less than Truckload (LTL) shipping segment. By using the weighing systems from LTS with the JLT computers, carriers are able to streamline cross-docking operations while being able to verify and capture additional revenues on cargo shipments that are heavier or bulkier than stated.

Cimcorp, the international group that specializes in robotic material handling, will present its innovative order-picking solution at CeMAT that is the embodiment of the exhibition’s theme this year of Smart Supply Chain Solutions. Based on Cimcorp’s proven, gantry-based robotic technology, the unique system is ideal for order fulfilment and storage in the food & beverage, retail, e-commerce and distribution sectors.