Peter MacLeod talks exclusively with Siemens’ supply chain guru Alexander Tschentscher about how to develop a logistics landscape with robustness at its core.

As supply chains evolve under pressure from global disruptions, regulatory complexity and technological change, Siemens is pioneering a strategic shift by transforming its culture to build not just resilience, but robustness into its supply chain operations. At the recent DELIVER Europe event in Amsterdam, Alexander Tschentscher, Vice President Supply Chain Excellence and Head of Strategy – Supply Chain & Logistics at Siemens, delivered a compelling keynote that urged logistics professionals to “think strategic.” I followed up with Alexander to explore how his team is shaping Siemens’ future-facing supply chain and how businesses across the sector, particularly those with a strong manufacturing element, can draw from their approach.

Tschentscher’s responsibility can best be described as shaping the supply chain of the future within Siemens’ Smart Infrastructure operational company. As Head of Supply Chain Excellence and Programme Lead for Supply Chain Strategy, he is both the architect and driver of strategic direction across supply chain and logistics. His background is as broad as it is deep: before stepping into his current role, he held responsibility for logistics and procurement within Siemens’ Distribution Systems unit, part of the same Smart Infrastructure business. Earlier appointments in management consulting, commodity management, project management and logistics have shaped a leadership style grounded in cultural transformation and innovation. Creating something new has been a defining theme of his professional journey.

At Siemens, he is now responsible for strategically guiding a community of 4,000 supply chain professionals who move over 400,000 tonnes annually across a network of 160 warehouses serving industries where downtime can mean blackouts… or worse.

Strategy Over Firefighting

“Most supply chain professionals are firefighters,” Tschentscher (pictured, below with Peter MacLeod) tells me over a coffee in the Sustainability Lounge at DELIVER Europe. “They’re excellent at reacting, at solving urgent problems, managing delays, tackling disruptions.”

But can organisations sustain that mode of operation for much longer in today’s geopolitical landscape? From COVID-19 and blocked canals to cyber threats and climate regulations, supply chains are no longer disrupted occasionally, but constantly. The traditional crisis-response playbook is obsolete. What Tschentscher advocates for instead is a shift in mindset: embedding strategic thinking deep into supply chain culture.

At Siemens, that shift is underpinned by a development framework rolled out across its supply chain organisation which is more than just about sending employees on a training course. It’s about recalibrating the organisational DNA. “We created a learning journey,” he explains. “We begin with self-assessment, followed by tailored learning tracks, expert deep-dives, and finally a strategy boot camp that instils a clear understanding of vision, mission, and operational alignment.” The result is that every professional in the chain is empowered to think ahead, not just act fast.

From Resilience to Robustness

The dominant language in supply chain management has shifted toward resilience, a topic that is brought up in almost every conversation I have with a supply chain expert. But Tschentscher challenges this, arguing that resilience, though necessary, is reactive by nature. He offers a more aspirational goal: robustness.

“Resilience is surviving the storm,” he says. “Robustness is building the structure so the storm doesn’t destroy you in the first place.”

This distinction is personal. Alexander, a cancer survivor, likens resilience to enduring chemotherapy: high cost, high sacrifice. Robustness, in contrast, is about preventing recurrence: designing systems that avoid the crisis altogether. Translated into supply chain terms, it means not just preparing for the next disruption, but developing systems that can absorb and adapt without burning out its people.
“We put people under pressure. First it’s urgent, then very urgent, then extremely urgent. Eventually, the pressure becomes unsustainable,” he warns.

Four Forces Shaping the Future

At the heart of Siemens’ strategy are four macro-level forces that are redefining supply chains across industries:

1. Artificial Intelligence (AI): No longer a distant concept, AI is already being applied to processes from forecasting and scheduling to supplier negotiation. But Tschentscher cautions that AI is not a magic wand. “Too often we see AI being used to cover poor data quality or patch up weak processes,” he says. “The real value comes when AI is intentionally embedded into specific value chain elements with clear roles for both humans and machines.”
2. Regulation and Administration: The shift from globalisation to regionalisation has created an era of regulatory complexity. Tschentscher notes that tariffs, for example, are fundamentally reshaping supply chain operations. Companies such as Siemens have had to rethink their global sourcing strategy, pivoting towards localisation in response to political and regulatory demands.
3. Workforce Evolution: Generations X, Y and Z bring new expectations such as flexibility, purpose, and digital fluency. But they’re also hesitant to enter the traditionally high-pressure world of logistics. It’s not just about offering jobs, Tschentscher believes, but redefining what supply chain careers look like and empowering people to work strategically and with purpose.
4. Cascading Sustainability: While ESG was once a top-down initiative, it’s now non-negotiable, often tied to compliance and investment criteria. Sustainability has become more than a mission, it’s a regulatory threshold. Siemens is integrating sustainability directly into its logistics processes, from circularity planning to emissions-reduction in transport and warehousing.

Industrial Supply Chain Under Pressure

Whereas much of the DELIVER Europe event focused on consumer and retail logistics, Siemens’ industrial supply chain brings unique challenges. Its Smart Infrastructure division serves critical industries – power grids, building automation, and energy systems – with typically low- and medium-voltage products. They are typically long-lifecycle and high-stakes products such as switches and control panels for hospitals, factories and nuclear facilities.

This means Siemens can’t just pivot to new suppliers or platforms at will. “We operate in what I call a world of certification,” Tschentscher explains. “If a part is unavailable, we can’t just source another from Temu or Amazon! These components protect systems and lives. We need absolute certainty in quality and compliance.”

This constraint adds complexity, but also highlights the importance of long-term supplier partnerships, supply chain visibility, and robust risk management. AI cannot simply be plugged in. With the experience of Marks & Spencer front-of-mind at the time of the interview, Tschentscher tells me that Siemens uses a dedicated internal layer for generative AI to ensure cybersecurity and compliance, particularly sensitive in industrial applications. “We are careful, yes, but we’re not passive,” he stresses. “We are applying AI, but in a secure way.”

Enablement Culture

For Tschentscher, technology alone is not enough. “We can give people a Formula One car but we don’t always ask whether they have a driving licence,” he quips. Culture, in his view, is the differentiator between implementation and transformation.

This is where Siemens’ investment in education through its “Logiversity” learning tracks and widespread university partnerships pays off. Siemens trains for strategy and decision-making. For the supply chain professionals in this global powerhouse business, it’s not just about knowing the tools, it’s about knowing when and why to use them.

Cultural enablement also means acknowledging human limitations. When Tschentscher travelled to China, for instance, his team encountered regulatory blocks on Western digital tools – such as ChatGPT and Gamma – they’d relied on to deliver work efficiently. “That became a demotivation issue,” he notes. “Performance suffers when your digital toolbox disappears.” Preparing employees for adaptive thinking, not just operational execution, is therefore critical.

A Complex Future

So what does the future look like? For Siemens and for many others in the sector, it’s likely to be a hybrid of human intuition and machine intelligence, enabled by strategic clarity and cultural resilience. “For me, the main topic is to think about your supply chain, the elements you have, and which part of this do you want to integrate the AI long-term,” Tschentscher says. “And if you communicate it openly, I think this is exactly what the workforce must do.”

For other businesses with logistics functions at their heart, the message is clear: don’t wait for the next disruption to redesign your supply chain. Start now. Think strategically. Build a culture where strategic thinking is not the preserve of the boardroom, but a daily habit at every level of the organisation.
Because, as Tschentscher puts it: “If you don’t have a strategy, you’ll become part of someone else’s.”

When an employee at Columbia Records saw the potential offered by mailroom automation, a true success story was born. Fifty years on, OPEX Corporation has bold new ambitions for Europe.

You give your age away if you remember the days of excitedly sending off coins in envelopes to buy items that would arrive at your front door not less than a month later. Those were the days of mailrooms with multiple staff, individually processing and ‘fulfilling’ – as we have nowadays been trained to call it – each customer order.

In that context, imagine how busy the 1970s mailroom at Columbia Records in Indiana must have been. When employee Al Stevens was tasked with finding ways to automate the manual mail processing system as a way of speeding up operations, he discovered an innovative New Jersey-based company called OPEX, which was pioneering equipment to open mail automatically and feed it via conveyor belt to seated workers.

Early Adopter to Owner

A visionary early adopter of the technology, Al Stevens eventually became sales manager at OPEX. Fast forward a few years and he and his wife took a leap of faith on buying the company outright when the opportunity arose.

The rest is history. This year the company celebrates its 50th anniversary, remaining a family-owned and run enterprise and still manufacturing its own equipment within the United States.

With some important additions: OPEX Corporation is now a great deal more than a specialist in document and mail automation, having grown over the last 15 years into a major international provider of warehouse automation systems.

Further growth in the UK and Europe is now a key objective for OPEX Corporation, having appointed Manchester-based Mike Morgan as Business Development Manager EMEA in September last year to cover a broad territory including the UK, Western Europe, the Nordics and Middle East. A Mechanical Engineering graduate with a hinterland in logistics to bring to the table, Mike is excited about the road ahead.

“I like to say OPEX is the biggest brand you’ve never heard of,” he enthuses. The numbers back up his assertion about the company’s reach. It boasts over 1600 employees, and counts more than half of the Fortune 100 companies among its customers, with 345 issued patents to endorse its credentials as a bonafide innovator.

Need-for-speed synergies between document mail automation and warehouse operational needs made the development of technology in the latter a logical move for OPEX, he says.

Speed, Versatility and Flexibility

“All of our technology ultimately derives from the document mail sortation side, and that’s where our understanding of speed comes from,” he explains. “If you look at the throughputs we have achieved for mail opening, the capability numbers are almost scarily high, and that ethos has carried over into our warehouse technology. The original innovations have been adapted to be able to move parcels and bigger items, for ecommerce and similar scenarios. Speed is rooted in the technology.”

A strong example of OPEX postroom automation capability is provided by the Mail Matrix, which can sort a wide variety of envelopes intermixed as well as small parcels to over a thousand sort destinations. There is no need to presort by size, thickness, or any other criteria; items may be dropped on the feed conveyor or via the automated feeder. Highly efficient iBOTs – intelligent wireless robots – facilitate fast and efficient mail sorting, recharging as they go. Each acts independently of the others to ensure the system remains up even if one of the iBOTs needs to be removed for repair.

It is this flexibility and versatility which informs the warehouse automation portfolio, targeting the key areas of storage, retrieval, sorting and fulfilment and with products to optimise operations in all areas.

This year, Mike Morgan is particularly excited by the potential of Sure Sort with Xtract, which builds on the sortation capability of the company’s popular (over 1400 installed worldwide) Sure Sort and Sure Sort X products to compile a package enabling the sorting, retrieval and removal of completed orders.

OPEX Xtract is an optional feature for Sure Sort X that automates the order takeaway process. The Xtract iBOTs retrieve totes of up to 30lb (13.6kg) containing sorted orders before dispensing them into the proper container, including shipping boxes, for downstream processing.

“We’re very excited about this for two reasons,” he explains. “First, no technology out there can do what it can do, so we are the first to market with this kind of technology. We can sort, retrieve and pack orders automatically, taking out multiple steps and operations from the traditional process. Second, it can also be tacked onto any existing system. So if, for instance, you already have a goods to person system, or you deploy manual picking, or you don’t have the space capability or you simply aren’t ready, for whatever reason, to make the investment, Sure Shot with Xtract is a great option for you. In terms of versatility and bang for your buck, this piece of tech is very, very exciting.”

A further differential highlighted by Mike Morgan is that the company is vertically integrated within the US. “All of our manufacturing and shipping is done in-house, from ordering parts to installing on-site with our own OPEX truck,” he says. As part of the international expansion initiative, he does not rule out exploration of a similar supply base within Europe, perhaps allied to working with selected partners in certain territories to help grow the footprint.

His objectives are clear enough. “To have a site in every territory or to get a foothold within a territory. Existing deployment within a territory matters to new customers, it gives them that element of comfort, the confidence that we’re here to stay. We understand that – after all, they are making a massive investment in many cases.”

Values of Care and Integrity

He believes the true ‘magic sauce’ of OPEX is its integrity to its customers, suppliers and staff, which springs from the Christian values of the Stevens family.

“The values of care and integrity really do soak through,” he confirms. “It’s very refreshing to be a part of that.” How do these values manifest themselves for customers?

“In our support of sites, we give everything that we possibly can to help you as a customer be successful. Put it this way: we’d much rather over-support than under-support. We don’t walk away from projects, we’ve never end-of-lifed a machine, and if we want to stop supporting a product for whatever reason, we will be there to help guide you.”

He compares the process to buying a car, another object that you are buying to use every single day. “Yes, you can buy a very cheap car without extensive aftersales support, but it’s much more likely to be regularly out of use to you because it’s in the garage being repaired. The model with the strong aftersales backup will be a much smarter choice in the long run. With our warehouse automation technology, it’s important to remember that you only buy it once, but you are then using it every day for the purpose intended.

“Our customers’ success is our success. I say to them: ‘you’re not just buying equipment, you’re buying us.’”

“Until earlier this year, the UK had no national robotics strategy, which puts the country behind global peers like Germany, the USA, Japan and South Korea. Those countries have paired clear digital transformation roadmaps with SME funding, worker training, and tax incentives, and the results speak for themselves – faster automation adoption and higher productivity.

“SMEs are the backbone of the UK economy, yet between 20,000 and 27,000 SMEs still operate with virtually zero automation in their manufacturing environments. That should be a wake-up call.
 
“The challenge isn’t only financial; it’s cultural. Many SMEs lack exposure to the breadth of automation possibilities and the change management support needed to embrace them. Historically, automation meant huge upfront capital investment that only larger firms could justify. But with Robotics-as-a-Service models pioneered by companies like Locus Robotics, the barrier to entry is lower than ever. Businesses can treat automation like a mobile phone contract, scaling it up or down as their needs change, without being locked into rigid systems.
 
If the UK is serious about boosting productivity, it needs a dual approach: targeted government support for SMEs, and a strong focus on training and digital skills so employees can confidently work alongside robotics. That’s how the UK can make automation a driver of growth and put the UK industry back on the front foot globally.”

When your warehouse is in China but your customers are scattered across multiple continents, the margin for operational error should be close to zero, writes Mykhailo Lymar (pictured, below), CEO of Meest China.

In our case, managing fulfillment at that scale meant building systems that could be trusted to work accurately, at speed, and without constant intervention. That’s why we decided, from day one, to create our own Warehouse Management System (WMS) rather than adapt to someone else’s template.

The challenge: managing a global operation from one location

With our fulfilment centre sitting thousands of miles from most delivery destinations, every stage of the process – from receiving goods to dispatch – had to be visible and controllable in real time. Manual tracking and off-the-shelf software worked fine in the early days, but they quickly became too small for us as the company grew.

It’s a bit like being eight years old and trying to squeeze into last season’s sneakers – you love them, you’ve had your best days riding your bike and playing football in them, but they just don’t fit anymore. You’ve simply outgrown them.

That’s why, from the very beginning, we treated our WMS not as a one-time purchase, but as something that would grow alongside our business. Back in 2015, it handled simple tracking and inventory. Fast-forward a decade, and it’s an ERP-integrated, cloud-powered platform that oversees thousands of SKUs, complex order flows, and customer touchpoints every single day. (If only sneakers could upgrade like that!:)) The difference between then and now really is like moving from a desk calculator to AI: same purpose, vastly different capabilities.

Why we built our own WMS

As our business footprint expanded – more countries, more product categories, different fulfillment models – the logistics puzzle became increasingly complex. We found that most off-the-shelf WMS options were built for a single warehouse type or a narrow set of processes.

Our operation had to handle:
• Transit-focused hubs for fast-moving goods
• Long-term storage facilities for bulk orders
• E-commerce fulfillment centers optimized for high-frequency, low-volume orders

Rather than bending our processes to fit a generic system, we designed a standalone, cloud-enabled WMS tailored specifically for our e-commerce core. This allowed us to integrate seamlessly with ERP systems used by our customers and partners – both in China and overseas – and to scale without being constrained by someone else’s software architecture.

Owning the development process meant we could tweak, upgrade, and stress-test the system under heavy data loads without waiting on external vendors. What about the results? Once advanced modules were in place, the operational gains were concrete:

• 9% lower labour costs through better workflow automation
• 1.5× faster processing speeds after introducing Cubiscan technology for automated dimensioning
• Better cost control by tracking packaging, labour, and time per order – improving both pricing accuracy and resource allocation

Beyond the numbers, the WMS gave us the agility to handle seasonal spikes without the chaos that often comes with rapid scaling.

Key takeaways

If you’re choosing or building a WMS, start with clarity about what your warehouse actually does. Is it about rapid turnover, bulk holding, or last-mile preparation? Map out your operational flow – like drafting an architectural plan – before looking at software. Identify bottlenecks, understand why they happen, and prioritize fixing the 70% of processes that carry most of your workload. Resist the urge to overbuild from the start. The most effective systems grow in layers – adding complexity only when the core processes are already running smoothly. Keep development continuous, not one-and-done, so your operations can adapt to changes in volume, market conditions, or customer expectations.

Bio of the speaker:
Mykhailo Lymar has served as CEO of Meest China since its founding in 2014, leading the company’s mission to make Asian logistics as accessible and seamless as possible for businesses and individuals worldwide. Over more than 10 years at the helm, he has built and guided a diverse global team, establishing operational hubs across Europe and Asia. To truly understand the nuances of Asian logistics, Mykhailo relocated to China for five years, immersing himself in the region’s culture and business practices. With over 20 years of experience in logistics and an Executive MBA, he combines strategic vision with hands-on expertise in cross-border logistics, supply chain optimization, and market expansion.

Staffordshire-based specialist shipping company Robert Wynn and Sons Ltd. has successfully completed a rotor swap for the Paluel Nuclear Power Station transporting a rotor, and its replacement, between France and the Netherlands.

The unique heavy lift ro/ro barge Terra Marique loaded a 236-tonne rotor — carried on a 72-tonne trailer — at Fécamp for onward transport to Rotterdam. Once alongside in Rotterdam, the rotor was lifted off using a shoreside crane and transferred direct to river barge ‘Meander’ for onward delivery.

A second river barge ‘Expecto’, carrying the replacement 220-tonne rotor then arrived and was offloaded by crane onto the quay, before being lifted onto the Terra Marique, where Robert Wynns’ crew lashed and secured the cargo ahead of the return voyage to Fécamp.

The project was not without its challenges. On arrival in Fécamp with the new rotor, a temporary breakdown of the port’s swing bridge prevented the planned transit. To keep the project on schedule, the Terra Marique undertook a nighttime manoeuvre, through the Bassin de Mi-Marée with centimetres of clearance into the Bassin Freycinet.

Carrying out the precise operation in darkness introduced additional navigational and operational challenges, but the vessel and crew completed it successfully before performing the offload the following morning. Once repositioned end-on to the quay, the vessel’s hydraulic roadway and ballast system were configured for a seamless ro/ro discharge of the replacement rotor, ready for onward transport to Paluel Power Station.

Working for Ziegler Group, Robert Wynn & Sons’ engineers and crew coordinated the loading, lifting, and ro/ro elements of the project alongside partners in Rotterdam and Fécamp.

Robert Wynn & Sons General Manager, Andy Manners, commented: “This project showcased not only the versatility of the Terra Marique but the skill and adaptability of all involved. While we have loaded and discharged cargo at Fécamp on many occasions, this was the first time we have navigated the 17.5m wide entrance into Bassin Freycinet in darkness. Navigating under our own power with such tight clearances was a challenge, but one our team met head-on. Our thanks go to our client Ziegler and all our partners for their commitment in ensuring both rotors were delivered safely and on schedule.”

Every good fulfilment strategy now requires automated, right-sized packaging for every product. David Priestman attended a customer innovation day in Umbria, Italy, to see how things should be done.

“There should be no excuses in designing packaging machinery – go beyond limits,” enthused Francesco Ponti (pictured below), the exuberant CEO of CMC Packaging Automation at the company’s annual CID event in delightful Citta di Castello, near Perugia. His company are advocates of utilising fully-automated packaging technology and claim to be the number one in packaging ecommerce machine supplies globally.

CMC is a family company, having been founded by Francesco’s father Giuseppe in 1980. Like the world’s biggest online retailer (who do not need the publicity of being named here!) CMC grew from garage to global in a generation. “We’re in a very good position,” says the open and good-natured Ponti. “We learn from our customers what the market needs and try to make them happy. We are one of the best in R&D and the time-to-market of new product launches. Fit the box around the product and don’t ship air!”

No Fillings

The company has offices in the UK, Germany and Netherlands, as well as 3 further sites in Italy and facilities in the USA in Georgia, North Carolina and Ohio. The Cleveland factory makes cardboard, which helps CMC to control the price of consumable materials supplied to customers and give confidence in the total cost of ownership estimates.

The North American market is huge for CMC, accounting for 58% of revenue, thanks in no small part, I understand, to that other company that started in a garage. It has 600 employees, 600 customers and partners, over 600 patents and more than 3000 systems have been installed so far. Turnover has trebled in the last seven years to €157m. Investment from KKR has enabled this growth, facilitating a succession of new machine launches, roughly one per year.

Optimize Outbound

The newest machines in the range include ‘Genesys’ (with Combo and Compact variants) for dynamic packing of multiple items regardless of shape and size into tote boxes without pre-consolidation; ‘Cartonwrap’ (plus XL and duo versions) for ecommerce 3D packing into unique, optimised cardboard boxes without void fillers; ‘Paper-Pro’ for bagging into perfect-size paper bags; ’Nexus’ for 3PL or retail use alongside AMRs and carousel technology.

‘Box first’ or ‘box last’ is often the choice in packaging and ecommerce operations. ‘Box first’ is for on-demand packing, created for each specific order, used in conjunction with an ASRS or pick-to-light system. ‘Box last’ is a ‘zero touch’ fully-automated operation fed by conveyors from inbound.
DHL Brazil’s Luiz Proenca is managing warehouse operations for customers including Adidas. Migrating from plastic to paper packaging is part of a switch to a ‘circular economy’ approach. Speaking at CID he said, “the challenge for us is in handling wide variations in ecommerce packaging sizes in the same distribution centre, combined with the need for speed and under 24-hour deliveries. Customer experience is important.”

CMC’s Paper-Pro machine has replaced twenty-four manual packing stations in his warehouse. It meets the sustainability targets due to the 100% recyclability of packaging materials. “The machine is fast, with no downtime,” Proenca says. “It’s also easy to operate with a low learning curve. ‘Plug and play’ installation enabled us to connect it to our conveyors in a compact layout. We’ve standardised our parcels, can guarantee the quality of input packaging materials, creating package consistency and reducing void space. Scope, plan, implement, maintain was our mantra.”

Buffer Your Tote

Materials handling system providers like Element Logic are integrating CMC GeneSys machines with ASRS like the AutoStore, plus adding the middleware and software. Ane Furu, VP of Product Management discussed a project for the German lab equipment firm Avantor, in which small parts are stored in the ASRS, then delivered to the pick station. Vary-Totes are used to pack items which are fed into the GeneSys by conveyor.

“It’s a pick and pack process with zero-touch,” she says. “We have halved manually packed box numbers, saving 30,000kg of carbon weight per annum.” The GeneSys is 70% faster than manual operations. “It’s not a question of whether to automate,” Furu adds, “but how. Framing the problem is often more important than solving it. Orchestration is the key.”

Leveraging right-sized packaging is the challenge and Francesco Ponti unveiled new product launches at CID. “Covid caused a boom in ecommerce automation, with big investment,” he told me. “But growth has slowed, there is less greenfield development at the moment, but more brownfield projects to automate DCs. Growth in the sector is 8%, which is still super good!

Entry-Level Solutions

“The problem with brownfield DCs is they’re normally at 80% capacity and can’t stop operations during a transition to new systems. So we adapt to find new solutions for integrators: compact, plug & play and standalone.” Ponti estimates there are 1300 new fulfilment centres built globally per year. These suit advanced packaging automation systems. There are an estimated 15000 brownfield warehouse sites. CMC estimates that 5% of them will be automated in the next 5 years.

CMC has therefore launched new short and compact machines, including the ‘CartonWrap Duo’ (43 sq.m), ‘GeneSys Compact’ (36 sq.m) and ‘GeneSys Prima’ (under 30 sq.m). These create boxes on demand based on customer data and use cardboard flaps to close the lid without a separate lid-fitting process. There is no trimming of waste cardboard needed as it is used as a filler. The flaps act like a spring to close and make the box strong to protect items.

The ‘Super Vertical’ (pictured above) drew special attention. Just 3m x 3m x 3m it is a bagging machine that uses flexible or semi-rigid, padded bags. It will be able to use rigid boxes too shortly. The bag or box size is determined by scanning the item. The machine can fill 500 bags per hour, single or multi-item, label, print and apply to the envelope. This clever product needs just one day to install, can be placed up against a wall or on a mezzanine and is ideal for 3PLs. Two manual packing stations represent the same space as one Super Vertical machine.

“Carton paper, corrugated paper, bubble or pressure-resistant paper are all cheaper than boxes,” Ponti concludes, “so envelopes are the future because couriers are overtaking postal operators and winning the postal market.” Limitless customer opportunities lay ahead.

In the global freight forwarding industry, women occupy fewer than 2% of senior leadership roles — a statistic that has remained stubbornly steady despite years of discussion about diversity. Yet change is gaining momentum, with some of the most compelling examples emerging far from traditional industry hubs, writes Hailey Dreyer of White Cat Studios.

In Cape Town, South Africa, two entrepreneurs are proving that freight forwarding can be both technically precise and human-centered. Co-founders of Titan Tides Taylor Marais and Lorraine Candy have built a reputation for navigating complex trade requirements with precision — while also challenging the perception that logistics must be impersonal or dominated by large corporates.

An Industry in Transition

Freight forwarding thrives on predictability — yet operates where unpredictability is the norm. Geopolitical shifts, port congestion, evolving trade regulations, and climate-related disruptions are part of daily reality for importers and exporters. In South Africa alone, the logistics sector is valued at over R480 billion and grows more complex each year.

Against this backdrop, Marais (above) and Candy (below) are part of a growing group of leaders pushing for operational models that value transparency as much as efficiency. Their approach emphasizes direct client access to decision-makers, agile responses to unforeseen challenges, and a willingness to take on projects that fall outside the volume thresholds of larger forwarders.

Balancing Scale with Service

While many operations focus resources on multinational accounts, smaller businesses, collectors, and individuals often struggle to find expert guidance. Marais and Candy have positioned themselves to fill that gap. They point to the benefits of an “owner-led” model, where senior leaders remain hands-on from planning through delivery. It’s more demanding, but it creates accountability and responsiveness rarely matched by segmented corporate structures.

The Women’s Month Perspective

In a male-dominated sector, visibility matters. Leadership teams like Marais and Candy’s not only contribute operational expertise but also help shift perceptions of who can lead in logistics. This is significant for young women entering the industry, who often lack relatable role models in senior roles.
Their journey reflects a broader truth: diversity in leadership isn’t just representation; it shapes problem-solving, client relationships, and talent development. In logistics — where flexibility and foresight are critical — diversity can be a competitive advantage.

Navigating the Future of Trade

Looking ahead, the co-founders highlight key priorities for the sector:
• Regulatory Harmonisation: Disparate customs systems and inconsistent application of regulations create delays and cost overruns.
• Technology Integration: Real-time visibility tools and predictive analytics are now essential for proactive risk management.
• Sustainability: From packaging to route planning, environmental considerations will shape the next decade.

For Marais and Candy, meeting these challenges requires innovation and discipline. “It’s about building scalable systems without losing the human connection,” they note. “You can’t automate trust — it comes from delivering on your promises, shipment after shipment.”

A Broader Lesson for the Industry

As global supply chains become more interdependent and exposed to disruption, resilience isn’t built on volume alone. It is built on adaptability, knowledge, and maintaining relationships through volatile conditions.

The example set in Cape Town illustrates a model applicable globally: combining operational excellence with direct, transparent engagement. It’s a reminder that freight forwarding is not only about moving goods but also about enabling trade relationships to thrive across borders and through uncertainty.
For an industry seeking to attract new talent, adapt to rapid change, and rebuild trust in a post-pandemic trade environment, stories like this offer more than inspiration — they point to practical pathways for doing things differently.

Tiger Trailers has designed, manufactured, and begun supplying forty-nine new temperature-controlled reefers for Greencore – a leading chilled, frozen, and ambient convenience food supplier to some of the most well-known retail and food service customers in the UK – split across thirty-seven single and twelve dual-temperature vehicles.

The operator has additionally welcomed to its fleet nineteen Greencore-liveried rental trailers from Tiger, comprising fifteen single and four dual-temperature variants, the latter equipped with 1.5-tonne Dhollandia tail-lifts with P-gates, 3-way ramps, and a wanderlead for easier and safer operation. Thomas Stott, Tiger’s Key Account Manager, along with Sales Manager Anna Christie, led the Greencore contract’s close customer collaboration, design and development, which included multiple visits to the two companies’ respective sites.

Adam Chittenden, Network Fleet Manager at Greencore says: “Greencore is proud to award our latest fleet contract to Tiger Trailers. After a competitive bidding process, Tiger stood out for their sharp focus on our needs and their winning mix of innovation, reliability, and sustainability. Their proven durability, low downtime, and responsive support made them the clear choice to help us boost efficiency and reduce disruptions.”

The fridges fitted to the two trailer iterations are Thermo King A400 Advancer single-temp and Thermo King A500 Advancer multi-temp units, and Greencore’s new Tiger trailers sport various eye-catching liveries. Unisto e-Guard Data units are fitted on the rear shutters, and load securing is taken care of by two rows of LoadLok tracks, combined with spring-lock poles.

With the chassis and insulated body supplied by Tiger’s partner in Spain, Lecitrailer, Greencore benefits from a KTL finish, along with comprehensive warranties, for peace of mind.

“It has been a pleasure for Anna and I to work with the Greencore team in designing their new ‘own fleet’ refrigerated trailers in different configurations”, Stott comments.

Christie added: “Our temperature-controlled range is a core, rapidly growing focus, so we’re delighted to introduce chilled Tiger products to another high-profile food service operator.” Chittenden concludes: “This partnership is a key step in future-proofing our fleet and driving greener, smarter logistics. We’re excited for what’s ahead.”

The world’s petrochemical industry is in a time of transition. Facing the worst business downturn in a generation due to overcapacity and the stalled global economy, nearly every major petrochemical producer in Europe is reviewing assets for closure. For an industry navigating the transition away from fossil fuels and managing the trade volatility created by the US government, there is enormous pressure to squeeze as much value from existing assets as possible.

That means, despite the significant performance improvements associated with the development of greenfield sites, there is little justification for this level of capital investment. So how can petrochemical companies achieve more efficiency from existing production sites? Wouter Satijn, Chief Revenue Officer, Joloda Hydraroll Group, explores the value of automated loading in reducing cost and risk and improving agility in the petrochemical market.

Volatility in a Challenging Market

Geopolitical turbulence combined with the pressure of transitioning away from fossil fuels is creating unprecedented uncertainty for petrochemical companies globally. Strategic decisions are required that will influence the profitability of businesses for years, even decades to come. Yet alongside vital decisions regarding future low carbon options and exploring raw material innovation, companies must also urgently review current operational processes.

This is an unpredictable market, inspired not only by changing demand patterns but also a US administration creating volatility over trade and decarbonisation policy. To counter this volatility and safeguard margins, petrochemical companies require new levels of efficiency and productivity as well as operational agility. To date, most investment has been focused on manufacturing productivity gains, leveraging automation and digital transformation to improve operational production processes.

However, investment in improving manufacturing performance is not being fully realised in many cases due to the constraints of existing facilities, especially the inability to add loading docks when it comes to ongoing transportation of petrochemical granules, such as polyethylene (PE), polypropylene (PP) polyethylene terephthalate (PET), polystyrene (PS), and polyvinyl chloride (PVC). With unloading and loading processes still predominantly manual, companies are reliant on a dedicated workforce using forklift trucks to move heavy and dangerous items, including toxic, corrosive, or flammable substances.

Unprofitable Cost Model

Legacy processes using forklift trucks can require 45 minutes or more to load each pallet. As a result, loading docks cannot cope with additional volume, creating both bottlenecks in the enhanced production process and adding safety risks for workers responsible for loading trailers. Additional product throughput, combined with the pressure to manually load ever greater volumes puts pressure on space, raising the risk of accidents, especially with dangerous forklift trucks.

For the vast majority of sites, the existing buildings simply cannot be expanded to add loading docks. And while sites can operate 24×7, using as many as five different shifts, recruiting and retaining these staff remains a serious challenge. Staff shortages continue, while companies are also facing the additional cost of employment.

Furthermore, petrochemical is a high risk industry. From chemical exposure to fire and explosion hazards, as well as the issues created when working in confined spaces, including the chances of puncturing Flexible Intermediate Bulk Containers (FIBCs), the additional risks facing workers in this environment add further complexity and cost to recruitment and retention.

Strategic Drive for Automated Loading

With the move to a greenfield site not an option, petrochemical companies need to make better use of the existing facility. Having enhanced manufacturing processes, the focus has now turned to the enormous loading productivity gains that can be achieved through automated loading.
Replacing existing slow, expensive and high-risk manual loading with automated solutions transforms efficiency, improves worker safety and reduces costs. Trailer loading can be achieved within minutes, with minimal loading staff – and no forklift truck drivers. This improves product throughput, improving end-to-end supply chain performance. The eradication of forklift trucks not only reduces driver costs but also maintenance costs, adding further bottom line benefits.

Critically, automation transforms employee safety. Eradicating the reliance on forklifts avoids human error, cutting the chance of accidents that could lead to exposure to hazardous materials. By minimising the need for employees to handle dangerous loads, companies can both safeguard the workforce and reduce the chance of product damage, with the associated impact on the supply chain. Further cost benefits can be achieved by minimising recruitment requirements: with no need to struggle to recruit skilled forklift drivers, petrochemical companies can instead upskill existing staff to undertake added value activities.

Adding Buffering to Fully Automate

Automation in loading is a strategic move to ensure predictable, high-throughput operations that reduce bottlenecks and maximise asset utilisation. Better control, certainty and reducing the risk of product damage during the loading and unloading processes is transformative. The additional inbound and outbound loading certainty can feed into greater productivity throughout the manufacturing process, ensuring companies maximise the investment in manufacturing digital transformation.

Automatic loading solutions can also include buffering to further optimise outbound material flow. Using buffering, the loading process is executed on a load-by-load basis, automatically taking production unit loads and efficiently preparing optimal truckloads across one or multiple loading bays. Connecting load buffering solutions with any upstream manufacturing or warehouse pallet flow, such as production line pallet conveyors, ASRSs and AGVs, as well as integration to any major ERP or WMS, creates a fully automated approach, with goods automatically and optimally handled directly from production through to load.

Full automation further improves the working environment. In addition to eliminating the risk of injury, the addition of load buffering and end-to-end integration reduces workplace stress and makes an otherwise complex, sometimes unpredictable environment, much easier to manage.

Leveraging Insight to Drive Continuous Improvement

In a volatile petrochemical market, cost management and operational agility are now paramount. Full loading automation improves business agility, adding significant throughput while simplifying loading, enabling petrochemical companies to effectively manage both changes in demand and any evolution within production processes. Furthermore, with the real-time insights delivered by automated loading, petrochemical companies can improve traceability and decision-making, supporting continuous improvements.

Automatic loading is part of broader digital transformation. It delivers long-term value not only in performance, reliability and reduced operating costs, but in creating a foundation for the greater agility and responsiveness required to safely manage market volatility.

Global logistics and customs brokerage provider, CCL, are highlighting the significant opportunities that cross-border logistics can create amidst increasing value in China to UK imports.

In spite of current global market uncertainties and tariff concerns, China – UK trade remains strong. According to the Department of Business & Trade, total UK imports from China amounted to £70.8 billion in the four quarters to the end of Q1 2025 (a 5.4%, £3.7 billion increase compared to the same period in 2024).

With China-UK import value rising, cross-border logistics companies, including CCL, are highlighting the opportunity to capitalise on this momentum and further enhance trade through seamless cross-border logistics and customs clearance.

“The continued resilience of China-UK imports is a clear indicator of market growth, also underscoring the vital role the logistics industry plays in getting goods from A to B. With rising trade value, now is the ideal time for businesses to engage trusted cross-border customs clearance and freight forwarding partners, seizing opportunities in emerging markets while further strengthening global supply chains,” says Stuart Campey, CEO at CCL.

Since 1999, CCL have provided a comprehensive solution for eCommerce retailers and delivery providers seeking to simplify and expedite their shipments into and out of the UK and Eurozone. In line with recent Department of Business & Trade insights, the company is seeing a positive upturn in trade between China and the UK.

“We’re seeing growing demand from Chinese exporters looking for reliable and efficient access to UK markets. Our tailored solutions and customs expertise remove import and export friction, while helping businesses benefit from reliable shipping and a seamless post-purchase experience that keeps customers coming back” adds Campey.

With integrated services, global connections and a strategically located ETSF (External Temporary Storage Facility) warehouse, CCL can provide bespoke logistics solutions for cross-border eCommerce goods entering Europe via air, sea, road and rail.

To further support their Chinese clients and the China-UK supply chain, CCL has established a commercial presence in Shanghai, opening a local office and joining the Shanghai British Chambers of Commerce.

“Our expanded presence in China is a key step in our commitment to global connectivity and trade. At CCL, we’re proud to support internationally trading businesses and we look forward to continuing our contribution towards the trade growth between China and the UK” concludes Campey.