Menlo Worldwide Logistics, LLC, the third-party logistics (3PL) subsidiary of US-based Con-way Inc. announced recently that it will relocate the regional headquarters of Menlo Worldwide Asia Pacifi c Pte Ltd. from the Airport Logistics Park of Singapore (ALPS) to a new location in Boon Lay Way near Singapore's Jurong Port and the larger Jurong Industrial Estate.

The move will centralise Menlo's regional management, sales and administrative support operations for Singapore and the South Asia region at the larger Boon Lay facility, which the company obtained last year with the acquisition of Cougar Holdings Pte Ltd, the company said.

Menlo continues to operate extensive warehousing, inventory management and distribution facilities for its customers at ALPS as well as other locations in Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand. According to Todd Johnson, vice president, international operations and Menlo's top executive in Singapore, the move will enable the company to unify its local management team.

"As a company grows and evolves, a natural progression is the need for work space improvement," he said. "After a comprehensive review and careful consideration, we determined the relocation of our former office in ALPS to our existing office in Boon Lay Way was in the best long-term interests of our customers and employees".

CEVA Logistics, one of the leading supply chain companies in the world, today announced that it has further strengthened its relations with Numil, producer of baby food and medical nutrition, by signing a multi-year contract in Turkey.

Numil Turkey is a business unit of Groupe Danone, which recently acquired its former parent company Numico. Groupe Danone - a Fortune 500 business - enjoys leading positions in four businesses: fresh dairy products, water, baby nutrition and medical nutrition.

The agreement builds on the existing relationship between CEVA Logistics and Numico in the UK and Indonesia. CEVA Turkey will manage and execute the bonded (warehouse used for the storage of goods until duties or taxes are paid and they are released by customs) and non-bonded warehousing perform value added services and parcel distribution to key accounts. CEVA will provide these services from a new 14.000 square-meter multi-user site in Istanbul.

Apollo LogiSolutions Limited (ALL), a subsidiary of Indian company Apollo International Limited, and Spire Group Limited of Toronto, Canada, have executed a joint venture agreement for US$250 million to construct and operate temperature-controlled warehouses in India. The JV will operate under the name Apollo Everest Kool Solutions.

Apollo said the Indian JV would construct up to 15 temperature-controlled warehouses in India, starting this year. The first two such facilities would be built in Mulund and Panvel.

"Spire Group will work with Apollo LogiSolutions in the design and construction of these facilities," it added.

The GAC Group recently celebrated its 25th Anniversary in Singapore with a commitment to continue growing its operations here.

While GAC Singapore started out as a small shipping agency office in 1983, now has 140 staff at four locations including: a city office; operations centres at Pulau Bukom; Changi International Airport; and a warehouse facility.

Speaking at the recent anniversary celebration GAC Group executive chairman, Björn Engblom said: "Singapore and its world-class port facilities and efficiencies are second to none. Over the past 25 years of our operations in Singapore, GAC has seen the huge investments and massive strides taken by this nation to become a pivotal port and major hub for the world’s shipping and trade services."

"The prudent investment into transportation infrastructure to support global shipping and trade is clearly visible and GAC Singapore is mindful that its 25 years of successful operations is in some way linked to this," he added.

GAC Singapore Managing Director, Ivo Verheyen, added that GAC Singapore will continue to build on its successes by stepping up cross-selling activities and focusing on the oil and gas sectors.

Singapore's continued development as a biomedical hub has led to signifi cant growth in the area of express and logistics services for the healthcare industry. Riding on the industry's growth, TNT Express has announced that its healthcare business has grown eight-fold in the past four years.

The company, which currently dominates over 60 per cent of the outsourced R&D logistics for the life science industry, revealed that its healthcare business grew by 68 per cent in 2007, making it the fastest growth sector for the international express integrator in Singapore.

The growth is most pronounced in specialist sectors such as Clinical Express. "Clinical Express saw the largest growth in our healthcare business.

TNT is the market leader in Clinical Express services ¨C a specialist form of express services which provides the right packaging, transportation and customs regulatory requirements to meet the specific needs of clinical trials," said Damien Tan, managing director, TNT Singapore. "TNT was among the pioneers in this sector, and we continually invest in infrastructure, solutions and services for the industry," TNT operates the largest life science- focused regional distribution centre (RDC) in the world in Singapore and the 65,500 square feet facility was opened in 2007 after an investment of more than S$8 million.

"The regional distribution centre model is a key growth trend among the healthcare industry. Increasingly, we see many more customers conducting feasibility studies to have their Distribution Centres in Asia. With the Life Sciences Express Hub and the dedicated network infrastructure for the healthcare industry, we have demonstrated to customers the high level of quality assurance and regulatory compliance we can provide for their specific needs. Th is has been crucial in attracting more industry players to establish their base in Singapore and leverage the country's well-established infrastructural connectivity with any destination in the world," said Tan.

"The healthcare sector in Singapore and Asia has seen unprecedented growth in recent years," according to Tan. "As businesses start to expand their operations and services throughout the region, it is inevitable that they look for means to streamline their operations and increase their speed to market.

The success of TNT's Life Sciences Express Hub in Singapore, and the continued growth of the healthcare sector for TNT is a clear indication that Singapore has a key role to play in the evolution of the industry in the region."

Middle East-based global logistics provider Agility has formed a strategic alliance with Industriaplex Inc, a US B2B service provider, through the acquisition of a 10.8 per cent equity stake in the company.

Industriaplex provides global sourcing, equipment distribution, and facility services. With customers located largely in the US, Canada, Kuwait and China and from the retail, food service, grocery and manufacturing sectors, the company has over 100 employees and offices in Atlanta, Carson (California), Hong Kong and Shanghai.

"The alliance is designed to provide various logistics services to Industriaplex customers while Agility can offer Industriaplex's sourcing services to its existing global customer base," explained Agility.

GAC Logistics (UK) Ltd has opened a new, purpose-built 3PL logistics facility at East Midlands Airport in Castle Donington, Derbyshire. The move from previous premises trebles the company's floor space and will enable GAC Logistics to off er enhanced 3PL (third party logistics), warehousing and distribution services.

"This impressive new facility will enable GAC Logistics to better serve our customers' growing 3PL and warehousing requirements," said Dennis Mead, GAC Logistics UK's Managing Director.

"Th e move is the first step in GAC UK's strategy to leverage our global expertise to provide specialised services for the fast moving consumer goods (FMCG), pharmaceutical, textile and entertainment industries ¨C among others."

GAC's new East Midlands Airport facility is located at the East Midlands Distribution Centre (EMDC), a 140 acre rail connected national distribution.

DHL Aviation has boosted the status of Northern Spain¡¯s Vitoria International Airport to one of its main subhubs in Europe with an increase in the number of operations.

Starting from April, Valencia, Malaga and Seville will be new destinations, increasing the number of its weekly operations to a total of 125. Th is boost in services helps place Vitoria as a strategic centre for cargo operations in Spain, Portugal and southeastern France.

The five sub-hubs of Vitoria, East Midlands Airport, Bergamo (Italy), Brussels (Belgium) and Copenhagen (Denmark), distribute all DHL¡¯s Europe-bound goods, with Leipzig/Halle being the main hub in Europe.

Swiss logistics provider, Panalpina is now offering its customers a new service linking its worldwide network with Latin America.

The company has launched a new service called Palmair which taps its Miami gateway into Latin America.

Panalpina will off er a direct transhipment concept for destinations in Latin America in cooperation with its longstanding partner Centurion Air Cargo.

The maiden flight took place on 6 April, 2008.

Miami serves as both Centurion Air Cargo's base as well as Panalpina's gateway to Latin America for freight originating from Europe, Asia and North America.

With the new concept, the two companies establish a link between the Latin American connections of Centurion and Panalpina's European road feeder network with its hub in Luxembourg. Th is set-up enables Panalpina total control of the entire cargo flow from origin to destination, the company said.

The main destinations served through the new service are Bogota, Medellin, Barranquilla (all in Columbia), Caracas (Venezuela), Lima (Peru) and Manaus (Brazil) amongst others.

Global logistics player Kuehne + Nagel has announced a new contract to manage the distribution of food on behalf of Whitbread plc, the UK's largest hotel and restaurant group.

Whitbread, which manages the number one brand in hotels, restaurants and coffee shops, including Premier Inn, Brewers Fayre, Beefeater, and Costa has taken the decision to fully outsource its food logistics activities to Kuehne + Nagel in a new fi ve-year contract.

Th e operation, which is expected to handle over 20 million cases of chilled and ambient products per annum, will be based at a new national distribution centre in Wellingborough.