ToolsGroup, a supplier of supply chain and retail planning and optimization software, today announced the appointment of Sean Elliott as its new Chief Executive Officer, effective immediately.

Elliott brings more than two decades of strategic leadership and technical expertise in supply chain software development and leadership to ToolsGroup. Most recently, he served as Co-CEO at Körber Supply Chain Software.

At ToolsGroup, Elliott will focus on accelerating innovation, driving strategic business expansion, and strengthening its partnerships and ecosystem to deliver a best-in-class customer outcome and experience.

“We are thrilled to welcome Sean to ToolsGroup,” said Andrew Zbella, Principal at Accel-KKR and member of the Board of Directors. “His proven leadership, deep technical background and continued commitment to customer-centric innovation make him the ideal leader to lead ToolsGroup into its next chapter of growth and transformation.”

Over his 17-year tenure at Körber Supply Chain Software, Elliott held multiple leadership positions and spearheaded the development of innovative solutions to address the industry’s most complex challenges. Before joining Körber Supply Chain Software, Elliott was the CTO at HighJump, a global supply chain software provider later acquired by Körber.

“I am honoured to join ToolsGroup at this exciting moment in its journey,” said Sean Elliott, CEO of ToolsGroup. “The company has a remarkable heritage as a global leader in supply chain planning and is a pioneer in leveraging data science and AI to improve business performance. Our recent innovations in simulation, scenario planning, and global inventory rebalancing highlight ToolsGroup’s continued commitment to providing category-leading solutions that address our customers’ most significant needs and opportunities. I look forward to collaborating with our talented team to drive our vision and deliver exceptional value to our customers, partners, and stakeholders.”

Zbella added, “We thank Inna Kuznetsova for her leadership over the last three years. In leading ToolsGroup, she made important strides in the company’s journey by creating a customer-centric organization and integrating a global team. We are excited to see what the future holds for ToolsGroup under Sean’s leadership.”

Kuznetsova expressed confidence in the transition, stating, “It has been an incredible honour to lead ToolsGroup through three consecutive years of ARR and profitability growth, business transformation and innovation. I am very proud of what we have achieved together and have full confidence in the executive team’s ability to continue driving the company forward to continued success in the years ahead.”

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Find your Warehouse Rhythm

The British International Freight Association (BIFA) has an exciting new development in its programme of training: all-inclusive access to a range of bitesize eLearning courses. This initiative is designed to provide full trading members with unlimited access to eLearning, giving opportunities for them to upskill their teams, and is all part of the membership fee.

BIFA Bitesize is a suite of eLearning that has been developed as part of BIFA’s ongoing commitment to provide a variety of training options, aimed at enhancing knowledge in areas critical to freight forwarding, customs compliance, and international trade.

The first rendition of BIFA Bitesize content features extracts from the existing BIFA Freight Forwarding and Customs Essentials courses. Some of the key topics include: Preparing to Trade; Incoterms 2020; Inward and Outward Processing; Customs Warehousing; Classification; Returned Goods Relief; Paying HMRC, and Procedure Codes.

Additionally, a brand new CDS Compliance course will be added to the platform very soon. The initial mandatory module, centred around an import home-use declaration, outlines potential consequences of compliance errors. Subsequent modules, which cover a range of regimes, will follow.

These courses have been carefully curated to support both newcomers and experienced professionals in the industry, ensuring that all staff of all members have access to up-to-date and relevant basic training to further support their professional development. It also helps BIFA members to stay ahead in the fast-paced world of international trade and customs compliance, which is evolving constantly.

Carl Hobbis, member services director at BIFA, who has management responsibility for the trade association’s training and development services said: “We believe the inclusion of this eLearning platform as part of the standard membership subscription of full members is a game changing move for a trade association in the sector.

“BIFA Bitesize is accessible via the BIFA member portal at www.bifa.org which provides full details on how to navigate the platform and access the courses. There are no limits on the number of learners per member that can be enrolled, enabling companies of all sizes to provide high-quality, flexible training to their entire teams.”

Steve Parker, director general of BIFA added: “We are always striving to provide exceptional value to our members via a variety of training options. With BIFA Bitesize, we believe we are setting a new benchmark in freight and logistics training. We are excited to see this new service in action and look forward to supporting our members in their continued professional development, which is one of the core services of the trade association.”

For members who prefer more formal qualifications or instructor-led training, BIFA continues to offer its highly regarded BTEC qualifications and a range of trainer-led courses. These options are ideal for those seeking more in-depth, accredited learning experiences.

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BIFA Takes Aim at Felixstowe Following TOS Delays

The rise in Employer National Insurance in the UK is but one factor set to impact ecommerce packaging. What can be done to alleviate the pain? Jo Bradley (pictured below), Business Development Manager at Sparck Technologies suggests a hi-tech panacea.

If distribution and fulfilment operations ever did benefit from ‘cheap’ labour, a series of recent Government announcements has ensured that era is well and truly over. Controlling labour costs through automation is no longer optional – it’s a question of business survival.

In short order, the UK Government has first raised the minimum wage by significantly more than inflation to £12.21 an hour for workers over the age of 21, Employer National Insurance contributions are rising from 13.8% to 15%, and in a further twist, this will now apply to workers on annualised pay of as little as £5,000 rather than the previous £9,100.

That last provision in particular hits the many fulfilment operations that are heavily dependent on seasonal or casual employees to cope with peak in activity. This patten of employment is about to be even further challenged by the extension of a range of workers’ rights to ‘day one’ of employment. Details are as yet obscure, but they certainly aren’t going to reduce employment costs.

The response must lie with automation, but particularly in the current uncertain economic climate, few businesses can afford the investment or business disruption required to go ‘full Amazon’ across activities such as retrieval, order picking and internal transport. These tend to be heavily interdependent, and ‘step by step’ approaches can be problematic.

One area that for many fulfilment operations can be treated as a standalone project, with the prospect of significant reductions in labour requirement, and thus an attractively quick Return on Investment, is that of packing and labelling goods into cartons for transport. Ecommerce operations, in particular, can stand to reap big rewards in terms of savings in labour and material costs, as well as boosting productivity and performance at peak, if the right approach is taken. Our repeated customer experience is that using ‘fit to size’ automation to fold and build boxes around consignments – even of mixed and varied goods – followed by auto sealing, weighing and labelling, can see one or two operators replacing as many as twenty manual packing benches.

But in selecting automated packaging technology businesses shouldn’t focus on labour costs alone. There are other cost pressures looming, and other benefits to be reaped. On costs, the revised Extended Producer Responsibility regulations are about to come into effect. These are complex, involving fees and credit notes and a significant administrative burden, but at heart they involve a levy on the use of packaging materials. Precise rates are yet to be fixed but the Government’s current mid-point estimates are around £190 per tonne for paper and card, and a deliberatively punitive £425 per tonne on plastic packaging materials.

Jo Bradley

This is intended to encourage firms to reduce the use of packaging materials. Fortunately for ecommerce businesses the right form of packaging automation can also provide a highly effective solution to this issue too. Sparck’s ‘fit-to-size’ automated packaging systems not only minimise the use of card used, by tailor-making a box for each individual order, but can also eliminate the need for void fillers which are often plastic based.

Those savings can go straight to the bottom line. But there are other less easily quantifiable but nonetheless real benefits. Well-fitting boxes reduce the incidence of shock or crush damage in transit. They economise on the use of transport space, which can also yield cost savings, on fuel obviously, but also in warehouse labour as there may be fewer roll cages to push around. And right-sizing removes what research consistently shows to be one of consumers’ biggest gripes about e-commerce and home delivery – oversized boxes!

These factors together make a robust case for automation. But as employment costs bite, the labour-saving arithmetic of fit-to-size automation alone will undoubtedly present a fast and sure Return on Investment for many businesses.

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“Fewer DC Workers, But More Skilled Openings” Claims Employment Report

Trump’s outrageous ’emergency’ execuitve order announcement of import tariffs on goods coming from Canada, Mexico and China – the USA’s three biggest trading partners – was not unexpected but still shocking, repulsive and disastrous. His reckless actions, to commence tomorrow, will cause price rises for American consumers, bottlenecks, disruption, red tape and inventory problems, not to mention the negative impact on business confidence and economic growth for the global economy.

Chris Clowes, executive director at global supply chain and logistics consultancy, SCALA, commented:

“The announcement of the US’s incoming trade tariffs on Canadian, Mexican, and Chinese goods, coupled with Trump’s ongoing rhetoric around trading with the EU, is bold. Waging a trade war with four of its biggest trading partners could have negative ramifications for the US. Nearshoring manufacturing to the US will be hard to justify for some companies, given the higher cost base and the expertise and sheer scale of operations that overseas manufacturing has previously provided. And with business challenges come consumer impacts. Rising costs would likely lead to cost-push inflation – meaning the consumer pays more for the goods and services they seek – and dampened purchasing power. For the rest of the world, however, we could see the likes of China, the EU, Canada, and Mexico form a trade alliance. We could also see potential trading opportunities for places like the UK open as countries look for new places to import.”

Chris Clowes, Scala

ASOS’s US Warehouse Decision

Clowes also commented on ASOS’s recent logistics problems:

“The decision by fashion giant ASOS to mothball a large US warehouse, resulting in a £190 million impairment charge, highlights the risks of undertaking large-scale supply chain transformations without iterative planning. Going forward, US customers will receive orders from its automated UK fulfilment centre in Barnsley and a smaller US site. This costly move reflects a substantial investment in long-term infrastructure, which unfortunately failed to align with slower-than-anticipated regional growth. This has been further impacted by fierce competition from the likes of fast-fashion retailers, Shein and Temu.

“The upsides of consolidating stock in the UK are that ASOS can significantly reduce duplicate inventory, lower space requirements, and streamline manufacturing for better inbound delivery. These changes not only reduce costs but also enable a broader range of products to be offered to US customers, potentially increasing sales. However, it will take time for these benefits to materialise due to the significant upfront costs. Moreover, moving fulfilment back to the UK may not lower logistics costs overall – especially as last-mile delivery often tends to be the most expensive element.

“At SCALA, we typically recommend taking a phased approach to this type of warehousing network shift, reducing risks while enabling businesses to adapt more effectively to market conditions. Undertaking centre-of-gravity studies to support strategic warehousing relocation beforehand can have big business benefits; for example, we’ve helped businesses identify savings of up to 30% in recent European projects.”

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Tariffs and Trade Barriers as Top Concern of Supply Chain Leaders

At the international specialist trade fair for intralogistics solutions and process management LogiMAT, NORD DRIVESYSTEMS will present its product portfolio from 11 to 13 March 2025. In Hall
3, Stand 3C41, visitors can find out more about the efficient, reliable and flexible drive solutions from the system supplier’s modular products as well as about further services – while benefitting from the expertise of a drive expert.

Reliable drives with sufficient power are required in intralogistics. The LogiDrive solution space from NORD offers user-friendly and easy-to-integrate drive systems for the post & parcel, airport and warehouse sectors, which are characterised by their low weight and compact installation space. They have all international certifications and can therefore be used worldwide.

LogiDrive variants– Advanced and Basic

LogiDrive Advanced consists of the high-efficiency IE5+ synchronous motor, the NORDAC ON+ and a gear unit from NORD, and was optimised in terms of energy efficiency. The high efficiency over a large speed and load range enables variant reduction for more streamlined processes and reduced administration and warehousing costs, which is particularly of advantage for large systems with numerous drives and which furthermore reduces downtimes.

LogiDrive Basic consists of an IE3 asynchronous motor, the NORDAC ON and a gear unit from NORD. The components are optimally matched and impress with a large adjustment range. This solution mainly focuses on the acquisition costs.

Decentralised drive electronics

The decentralised NORDAC ON/ON+ frequency inverters are characterised by their compact design, full plug-in capability and high reliability. They also offer PLC functionality for drive-related functions (PLC onboard) and an integrated multi-protocol Ethernet interface. PROFINET, EtherCAT and EtherNet/IP can be set via parameters. The inverters are designed for power ranges from 0.37 kW to 3.7 kW. With their plugand-play function, they provide a maintenance-friendly and economical solution for modern production environments. The NORDAC ON is also intended for integration into PROFIsafe and FSoE environments.

The IE5+ synchronous motors with efficiencies of up to 95 % over a wide torque range also provide optimum efficiency in partial load and partial speed ranges. They surpass the highest defined efficiency class and are characterised by their compact, hygienic design in a very small installation space. Available versions are TENV smooth motor, TEFC motor with cooling fins and integrated DuoDrive geared motor with a power range from 0.35 kW to 4 kW. In the second quarter of 2025, NORD will expand its product portfolio with an additional size.

NORD not only supports its customer with energy-efficient and tailor-made drive systems to reduce the total cost of ownership (TCO) but also with services such as the NORD ECO service to analyse existing systems and reveal potential for saving energy.

Keeping an eye on the drive

In addition, NORD released the third version of its Windows parameterisation software. The software tool is the ideal supplementation to the NORDCON MOBILE-APP for smartphones or tablets.
It offers additional functions for setting up and monitoring drives. A customisable dashboard, a contextsensitive help function and a revised oscilloscope support application-specific control of the drive technology.

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Drive Solutions Experience and Expertise