Shipping Optimization Blog

Monthly News Round-Up: August 2021

Written by Vivian Vy Lam | Sep 2, 2021 5:25:14 PM

We are headed into back to school mode with Labor Day weekend right around the corner. September means a fresh start for many people in the year. Kids are headed back into classes, people are transitioning out of vacation mode and back into work. With that, there will be lots of opportunities for purchases and shipping and we are here to bring you the latest updates with SAP, transportation and global trade. 

 

What’s New with SAP?  

Revlon Selects SAP Software to Drive E-Commerce Acceleration

Revlon as a company saw an increase in e-commerce net sales soar approximately 40% in the last year. By using the RISE with SAP and an AWS infrastructure, Revlon is expecting to increase its digital infrastructure and help to increase their predictions and analytics to help them continue to increase their e-commerce sales 

SAP and League of Legends European Championships (LEC) Bring Live Data to E-Sports Fans

A new partnership has formed between SAP and League of Legends European Championships. This is a brand new form of analytics that will help broadcasters provide more of a detailed analysis to help the fans with the experience. SAP has been working since 2018 to bring more expertise to the LEC tournament. Fans will be able to see increased stats around key game elements that will help make the game experience more enjoyable.   

SAP Acquires SwoopTalent Intellectual Property to Boost Talent Data Intelligence

It was announced this month that SAP has acquired SwoopTalent that will help to further SAP’s vision of human experience management. This acquisition will help SAP help work across multiple systems and scale up. This platform will help to make the transition with HR systems and data much smoother and stronger. It is a great cultural fit and will enable organizations to increase their training for their employees.  

 

What’s New in Transportation & Freight?  

DHL Express Shapes Future for Sustainable Aviation with the Order of First-Ever All-Electric Cargo Planes from Eviation

DHL Express and Eviation, announced that DHL is the first to order twelve fully electric Alice e-cargo planes. The Eviation Alice plane is the world’s fully electric aircraft that helps airlines operate zero-emission fleets for both cargo and passenger planes.  

These planes will require 30 minutes or less to charge per flight hour and have a maximum range of 815 kilometers. These planes can be charged while loading and unloading occurs, which helps the planes maintain a fast delivery schedule. These aircrafts are expected to be delivered in 2024.  

FedEx Outlines Peak Surcharges for Ground, Express that Will Extend into 2022

With another holiday season approaching rapidly, Fedex will increase various surcharges for the peak season starting October 4th. These will be for packages that require additional handling, are oversized or are unauthorized for its ground network. The Fedex company has said that it is to keep service levels high. Customers that are shipping over 25.000 packages on average per week will be changed for residential packages shipped between November 1st and January 16, 2022.  

With Holidays Around the Corner, Walmart Starts Last-Mile Delivery Service

Walmart has recently launched a delivery service for other merchants throughout the United States. This program, called Walmart GoLocal, will dispatch workers from it’s delivery network to merchants’ stores to pick up items and deliver them. This will hopefully help the increased demand that comes with the holiday season. Although no details were given regarding the program’s fee structure, Walmart has said that their delivery service would be “competitively priced’.  

 

What’s New in Global Trade & Logistics?  

Amazon Announces New Robotics Fulfillment Center Plus Five New Delivery Stations in Florida, Bringing Total State Investment to Over $18 Billion

Amazon has just announced that it will be expanding its company in Florida with six new buildings to support operations. One building will be a new robotics fulfillment centre and the other five will be new delivery stations that are expected to bring in more than 2,000 new full-time jobs.  

Amazon has already created more than 52,000 full-time jobs throughout Florida. The Five new delivery stations will help to increase efficiency and delivery for customers.  

WTO Says Record Global Trade in Goods Might Be Nearing a Peak

The World Trade Organization has said that global trade in goods might be hitting a plateau soon. The export order index has slowed down and is providing an indication that the pace of recovery will likely decelerate soon. The WTO has still maintained that Covid-19 “continues to pose the greatest threat to the outlook for trade”.

U.S. Port Problems Reach Worst of Pandemic Amid Crush of Imports

Delays are increasing rapidly as the highest number of ships are waiting to enter the biggest gateway for trade with Asia. Forty-four carriers were anchored in California waiting for unloading and monitoring with average wait days increasing to 7.6 days. Labor shortages are part of the problem and have made for big delays across the supply chain.  

 

What's New with ShipERP?

In August, we provided a myriad of resources and information on freight auditing, freight invoice, and freight audit automation. Have you checked these blogs out?