Done Deals – September 2009

Toronto, Ontario-based Manitoulin Transport has partnered with Elizabeth, New Jersey-headquartered New England Motor Freight (NEMF) to handle one another’s freight on certain routes. As part of the deal—which took effect August 31—Manitoulin now receives all NEMF freight from Buffalo and Albany, New York for delivery to western Canada, Ontario, Quebec and Atlantic Canada. In exchange, NEMF will handle the final delivery of all Manitoulin freight destined for the US northeast.

The Canadian supply chain service provider once known as Progistix Solutions—which has expanded to include several other firms in the past 14 years—has rebranded as the SCI Group Inc. The group is now divided into three supporting brands. The first, Progistix Solutions Inc, is dedicated to specialized service parts logistics for technological and industrial firms. The second, SCI Logistics Inc, provides direct-to-store, business-to-consumer and business-to-business fulfilment services for manufacturers and retailers. The operations of AMG Logistics and Assured Logistics have been merged into this brand. The third, First Team Transport Inc, provides contract and dedicated transportation services for high-value products, as well as general transportation across Canada.

Jungheinrich AG and Mitsubishi Caterpillar Forklift America (MCFA) have inked a new manufacturing and distribution deal for the North American market. Under the agreement, MCFA will be the exclusive distributor of Jungheinrich-branded warehouse products in Canada, the US and Mexico, beginning in 2010. Jungheinrich will design new products for North America to be manufactured by MCFA. It will also supply some Class 1 products for sale under the Cat lift trucks brand and Class 3 products for sale under the Mitsubishi forklift brand. The Cat lift trucks line will now be devoted to sit-down Class 1, 4 and 5 counterbalanced products. The Jungheinrich line will offer narrow-aisle Class 2 and 3 products, as well as select Class 1 models. The range of Mitsubishi forklifts available through North American dealers will not change.

HP has signed on to develop a cloud-based software solution for GS1 Canada. The software will help companies trace and remove potentially harmful food products from the supply chain. Called the GS1 Product Recall Service, the software will run on the HP cloud computing platform for manufacturing, which allows companies to see and share information across the supply chain. It will include instructions about proper handling, disposal and reimbursement to speed up the recall process. It will also include tools to create customized alerts and a traceable security and audit trail to ensure compliance.

Saskatoon, Saskatchewan-based International Road Dynamics Inc (IRD) has signed a $1.7-million extension to its 2006 contract with Alberta Transportation. The company will supply, install and maintain pre-clearance equipment at four additional commercial vehicle inspection and weigh stations located in the province of Alberta. The equipment consists of RFID technology that allows authorized commercial vehicles enrolled in the province’s voluntary Partners In Compliance program to bypass weigh stations. Once the four new systems are installed, IRD will have provided 20 pre-clearance systems at 16 sites across the province.

Montreal, Quebec-based medical products supplier Noveko International Inc has signed a three-year deal with Oakville, Ontario-headquartered McKesson Logistics Solutions (MLS). Under the terms of the agreement, MLS will provide full order-to-cash logistics management services—including order fulfilment, customer invoicing, storage, inventory and transportation management—for Noveko’s surgical masks, respirators and its Azuro hand sanitizers.

Concord, California-headquartered Pacer International, Inc has sold certain assets to Universal Truckload Services Inc and UTS Leasing Inc (UTSI). Pacer agreed to sell trailers owned by Pacer Transport, its specialized heavy-haul trucking operation, as well as customer, contractor and agent lists. UTSI also takes on two rental property leases and equipment leases for tractors and trailers used in the operation.