Pepsico UK has launched new green logistics initiatives, including the replacement of diesel with Hydrogenated Vegetable Fuel (HVO) in over 3,000 journeys per year.

Pepsico, a multinational conglomerate which owns brands including Pepsi, Doritos, and Quaker Oats, will begin using vegetable oil as a replacement for diesel in routes along its distribution network.

Trucks travelling between the Quaker Oat mill in Cupar, Scotland, and the Walkers headquarters in Leicester will now run using the more sustainable fuel option.

Pepsico claims that ‘every mile powered by HVO will have 80% less Greenhouse Gas emissions when compared with conventional diesel’.

Furthermore, the company is introducing more electric vehicles to distribute 40,000 pallets worth of goods.

Using sustainable fuel and electric vehicles contribute to Pepsico’s plans to reach net zero emissions by 2040.

Peckham-based logistics company Trans UK has joined the Pall-Ex Group- a pallet distribution company that transports pallets nationally and internationally.

This follows Trans UK’s decision to join the Fortec Distribution network in September, Fortec being a subsidiary of the Pall-Ex Group. The company will now facilitate pallet deliveries around London on behalf of both Fortec and Pall-Ex.

By joining these networks, Trans UK now has access to over 160 independent haulage companies across the UK.

Paul Wilson, Sales Director at Trans UK said: “We decided to join Pall-Ex Group because of the brilliant reputation they have built across the UK for offering a quality service, something that is very important to us.”

Craig Chapman, Head of Pall-Ex’s network for the South, explained the reasons behind the partnership, saying: “As existing members of a parcel network, Trans UK were looking to diversify and take on a pallet distribution operation which exactly mirrored our requirements.”

At Robotics and Automation 2022, Solwr will offer attendees exclusive insights into the Norwegian company’s range of software and automation solutions for warehouses and factories.

With offices in Ålesund, Oslo and Trondheim, Solwr specialises in enterprise resource planning (ERP) software, integrations, automation and robotics that support logistics organisations across the trade industry to ensure their operations remain modern and efficient.

A number of the company’s solutions will be on display at the exhibition, presented via a combination of videos and images, with Solwr technical experts on hand to offer key insights into the technologies and their range of applications.

Among the innovations visitors can learn about is Sort, a sortation solution for reusable packing, such as pallets. It has been developed to sort pallets on both type and quality requirements, with a mechanical and software framework – designed for easy adaptation – to handle other items.

According to Solwr, Sort is area efficient, scalable with an organisation’s needs and can be delivered with a standard capacity of 400 pallets an hour.

Also set to be showcased is Solwr’s Grab solution, which, as attendees to the exhibition in November will learn, is an autonomous pick-and-place robot for order picking of SKUs in warehouses.

Reportedly demanding little-to-no infrastructural changes, Grab is said to be well-suited for reducing both operational costs and HSE issues related to heavy and/or repetitive work.

IntraLogisteX is a free exhibition and conference, taking place on the 28th & 29th March 2023, at the NEC Birmingham. IntraLogisteX is your chance to see an unmissable showcase of the latest and best in intralogistics!

IntraLogisteX is for logistics professionals who are looking for solutions to their current and future challenges, from the latest materials handling technologies to full-scale warehouse automation options. This event is designed for end-user practitioner logistics professionals only….

Meet 140+ industry-leading exhibitors to discover the latest in Storage, Warehouse Automation, Robotics, IT & Software, Materials Handling, Packaging and more… Discover how the latest technology can be applied to your operations to provide massive improvements in productivity and accuracy.

Alongside the exhibition, the IntraLogisteX Conference offers visitors practical insight on technological innovations, so you can get the real-world insight you need. This free learning opportunity means you can hear directly from the minds behind the latest technology. Listen to industry leaders as they share their insights and give real world examples of how they have automated their own, and their customers’ operations.

You also get the opportunity to create new business relationships, with those same industry as you! All of our visitors are qualified professionals, so you will get to meet senior-level decision makers from the biggest companies! Companies that have registered for IntraLogisteX 2023 includes…

What’s more, IntraLogisteX 2023 will be co-located with Robotics and Automation 2023!

Robotics and Automation launched in 2017 at Milton Keynes Arena. With its huge growth in its first few years it too moved first to Hall 1 at the Coventry Building Society Arena and then went on to occupy both Halls 1 and 2. There is a synergy between both IntraLogisteX and Robotics and Automation and though the visitor crossover is actually very low, with the increasing amount of automation in warehousing and the increased interest in everything robotic, it makes sense for us to have these two shows happening at the same time at the same venue.

The net effect of having both IntraLogisteX 2023 and Robotics and Automation 2023 taking place at the same time and at the same venue gives both shows an immediate gain in terms of numbers of qualified professionals attending the show!

What’s more, having IntraLogisteX 2023 and Robotics and Automation 2023 take place on March 28th & 29th 2023 means that both shows will not only have room to grow, but it means we can organise truly industry-best conferences for both exhibitions with the subsequent increase in quality, qualified professionals to both events.

See the obvious benefits:

• Great location with more facilities
• A comprehensive multi-theatre conference programme
• Co-locating with Robotics and Automation 2023
• Combined attendance of over 4,000 visitors
• The same ticket for more than twice the show!

IntraLogisteX 2023 is set to be our biggest and best show yet! Don’t miss this opportunity, where all the companies you need to talk to are gathered in one venue… There’s no way better way of doing business than meeting face-to-face! Get more value from your interactions with potential suppliers and ensure they really understand your organisation’s complex needs.

In 2015, Akabo Media, organisers of IntraLogisteX, took the decision to merge the three Logistics Link shows into one, brand-new event and locate it in Hall 2 of, what was then called, the Ricoh Arena (Coventry Building Society Arena today). Thus IntraLogisteX was born.

Akabo Media took that decision following feedback from the market as a way of bringing a better show to the industry – both buyer and supplier. Over the years the show moved from Hall 2 to Hall 1 and, in March 2022, occupied both Halls 1 and 2 having sold out in both of the past two years. This has inevitably led to a squeeze on space for the show and meant that the organisers weren’t able to offer the industry some of the features and additional dimensions they wanted to bring and that are expected of shows, plus, of course, not everyone who wanted to exhibit could do so.

Consequently, Akabo Media are moving IntraLogisteX 2023 to the NEC in Birmingham. The dates remain the same – March 28th & 29th 2023, the prices remain the same and the organisers expect exhibitors and floorplan will also be very similar – except that they are able to now introduce additional conference facilities.

The history of other exhibitions making a similar move suggests that this will not only increase the range and flexibility of services offer both to exhibitors and visitors to the show – e.g. better transport links, parking and onsite facilities – but also lead to increased attendee numbers.

What’s more, having IntraLogisteX 2023 take place at the NEC means that the show has room to grow and host sector-leading conferences, driving an increase in quality, qualified professionals visiting the event.

At this year’s Robotics and Automation exhibition, RARUK Automation will focus on easy automation solutions to suit different needs and budgets, irrespective of company size or level of automation experience.

As visitors to the Coventry Building Society Arena on 01-02 November 2022 will discover, solutions on show will extend from flexible, plug-and-play cobots that can be quickly integrated to boost productivity or eliminate repetitive tasks through to dedicated, application-specific systems for upscaling the manufacturing process.

Universal Robot (UR) six-axis collaborative robot arms will be featured in all four main stand displays that respectively demonstrate automated feeding and sorting, machine tending, screwdriving, and sanding.

A key element of the first automation example is FlexiBowl, RARUK Automation’s automatic bulk parts feeder, that allows families of parts to be fed into the assembly process regardless of their shape, fragility, material composition, weight and surface characteristics.

FlexiBowl now has a specific URCap, a platform upon which shortcuts can be introduced that enable Universal Robots to work with accessories on many different tasks. The new FlexiBowl URCap connects the feeder and the UR controller, enabling applications to be set-up via the UR Teach Pendant.

Automation solutions from RARUK Automation are designed to give manufacturers uncomplicated and inexpensive means to automate common tasks and boost productivity. For example, its latest introduction – the Robotiq Machine Tending Solution – is designed to make it viable for SMEs to introduce automatic parts loading in two-to-three hours.

The solution, which visitors will see it in action at the show, can be applied to any brand or type of CNC machine without modification. Instead of hard-wiring the machine, as is required with conventional automation, non-invasive modules manage communication with the machine’s interface, greatly reducing deployment time.

Furthermore, URCaps plug-and-play allows the Robotiq package to be integrated with a choice of Universal Robot arm, also available from RARUK Automation.

Also on display from RARUK at the UK’s largest exhibition dedicated to robotics and automation technologies will be the Robotiq Screwdriving kit, which enables this otherwise dull and repetitive yet crucial manual process to be automated quickly, thereby ensuring the quality and durability of the end product.

Comprising all the elements needed to convert a Universal Robot into a highly productive screwdriving cell, the cobot-based solution is extremely compact and can be easily set-up on a bench top, if required.

Completing the application-specific demonstrations is automated surface finishing, which increases both quality as well as productivity. The Robotiq Surface finishing kit is suitable for use on a range of different materials including wood, plastic, metal, fibreglass, solid surfaces and carbon fibre.

In combination with the Universal Robot cobot, the system can be customised for woodworking applications, for example, auto-programming of sanding and/or polishing paths for complex parts, to ensure consistent surface finishes for each product.