Global focus – September/October 2011
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MM&D MAGAZINE, SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2011 PRINT EDITION:
Panalpina opens Jaipur branch in India
Panalpina has opened a new branch office in the city of Jaipur, India. Jaipur has a large number of companies that export construction material, automotive products, handicrafts, jewellery and carpets.
The Jaipur branch has been opened to meet increased customer demands. The city is being developed as a multiproduct special economic zone (SEZ) with exclusive zones for light engineering, handicraft, gems and jewellery and apparel companies. While Jaipur is recognized as the crafts capital of India with well-established handicrafts, textiles, furniture, gems and jewelry industries, it is also home to many companies in the automotive, electronics and manufactured goods sectors. Panalpina is well-known globally for providing specialized solutions to companies operating in various industries including Telecom, Automotive and Hi-Tech.
New FIATA director general has been selected
FIATA (the international freight forwarders association) has selected Marco Sorgetti to fill the post of director general. On January 1, he will succeed Marco Sangaletti who has managed the FIATA Secretariat for almost 15 years and will retire this year. Sorgetti is currently the director general of CLECAT, FIATA’s sister organization for Europe.
Humanitarian response lab launched
MIT has launched a Humanitarian Response Lab with the mission to meet human needs with more efficient public, non-profit and private supply chains capable of responding to unexpected, large-scale demand. Dr. Jarrod Goentzel is director of the lab, which is located within the MIT Center for Transportation & Logistics.
The lab will carry out research in a number of areas. Initial projects will focus on supply chain performance measurement, transportation procurement, inventory positioning, information management, and decision-making processes. Graduate and undergraduate students, faculty and research staff will work directly with leaders from the United Nations, government and non-government organizations, as well as the private sector to improve the utilization of scarce resources to meet human needs.
There are three primary reasons for launching the lab, said Goentzel. First, the humanitarian sector is beginning to formalize a professional approach to supply chain management, similar to the evolution of private sector supply chains over the past 30 years. Second, the explosive growth in the use of communications technologies such as mobile phones and social media, as well as readily accessible satellite imagery, offers new opportunities to better prioritize and move critical commodities during a crisis. Finally, the humanitarian sector has never been more dynamic and challenging to coordinate thanks to the increasing number of participants at the national, non-government organization (NGO), and individual volunteer levels, and the increasing complexity of global supply networks.
Maersk Line tests new exhaust gas cleaning system
As part of its drive to reduce sulphur emissions from its fleet towards zero, Maersk Line will test a new exhaust gas cleaning system. The advanced scrubbing system is developed by BELCO and designed for installation at Maersk Line and Maersk Tankers vessels. The high efficiency technology is said to be able to cut SOx emissions by more than 97 percent.
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