Global news in brief

It was with great sadness that Automotive Logistics News learned of the passing away this week of Subodh Marathe, country head of the Fiat Product Group at Tata Motors.

 

Marathe, who was just 47 years old, suffered a heart attack.

 

He is survived by his wife and two daughters.

 

“We share the grief that the family is going through and join them in their prayers and thoughts for Mr Marathe,” said Prem K Veerma, the CEO of Tata’s vehicle logistics subsidiary, TML Distribution.

 

Marathe was a notable contributor to Automotive Logistics events and magazines, as both a former attendee of Automotive Logistics India conferences and having featured on the cover of Finished Vehicle Logistics magazine in his previous role as head of Marketing Services at Tata’s Passenger Car Business division.

 

We would like to extend our condolences to his family.

 

Norwegian car carrier Partner Shipping will change its name to Siem Car Carriers following its full acquisition by Siem Kapital AS, a subsidiary of Siem Industries, an industrial group operating in the oil and gas service industry, and ocean shipping.

 

Siem Kapital acquired a 50% shareholding in Partner Shipping, based in Norway, in July 2009 and has now reached an agreement to acquire the remainder of the shares from the founding management shareholders with effect from 5 January 2011.

 

Partner Shipping’s managing director, Lars Ingeberg and administrative director, Frode Kirkedam leave the company as part of a general management reorganisation.

 

The company will come under the umbrella of the existing group vehicle transportation activities, which include the ownership of two modern car carriers. The Group car carrier activities, which will then comprise a fleet of five car carriers (two owned and three chartered), has agreed with Praxis Logistics to continue the NAPA Service operating in the Pacific.

 

Bridgestone has signed an early renewal of its agreement with European contract logistics provider Fiege for the handling of more than 10m tyres per year. The new signing extends a 32-year relationship between the two companies that has seen Fiege’s service for the tyremaker grow throughout Europe.

 

“We see the very recent, early contract extension between Bridgestone and us… as proof of the professionalism of our work, and we are delighted about the major trust which one of the leading tyre makers in the world has been extending to us for over 30 years now”, explained Jens Fiege, member of the board of Fiege Stiftung & Co. KG.

 

Besides locations in Hamburg and Lahr in Germany, and Bor in the Czech Republic, which come under the latest signing, Fiege operates logistics centres in two other countries for Bridgestone. Each facility is targets regional distribution and is equipped with modern IT systems with scanner technology that enables a voucher-free and paperless warehouse management for up to 2,000 items per site.

 

The Bor facility handles both national distribution in the Czech Republic as well as playing an important role for European distribution with a high volume of cross-border transport.

 

The average stock at each facility totals around 1.25m tyres.

 

Groupe CAT has rolled out a new geographical location device which means its entire European fleet of truck carriers can be managed in real time from its command centre in Bourg-en-Bresse, eastern France.

 

According to the company it equipped 80 of its truck carriers with the new device in December and now reports that teams based at the command centre can respond in record time to one-off pick-up requests.

 

The company moves approximately 45,000 trucks per year in Europe.

 

“We can now know at any moment the location of the goods being transported, give more reliable notice of pick-up times, and provide real-time information about delivery times,” said Patrick Perrard, key account manager High & Heavy for Groupe CAT.

 

The new tool, which is supplied by French technology provider Rayonnance Technologies, is also reported to further improve pick-up/delivery turnaround times, which means less fuel is used, producing lower CO2 emissions, said the company.

 

NYK subsidiary International Car Operators (ICO) has been awarded ISO 9001, the internationally recognised standard for the quality management of businesses.

 

The company, which offers vessel and terminal handling services, vehicle processing, port agency, customs clearance and forwarding, is a leading stevedoring company for ro-ro cargo in the ports of Antwerp and Zeebrugge.

 

The recognition builds on ICO’s own standard operating procedure and the operational guidelines specified by its manufacturing and shipping customers.

 

Christophe Van Maele, Quality Safety & Security Manager, ICO, said: "To validate our reliability and our security credentials in the international supply chain, we have already attained both International Ship & Port Security (ISPS) and Authorised Economic Operator (AEO) certification.