Stories and news concerning logistics including warehousing, transportation and all means of fulfillment and supply chain.

Wincore staying put at Staunton plant

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After a great deal of planning and research, Wincore has decided to stay put in our Route 47 facilities. That means that there will be no Wincore plant in Davisville for the foreseeable future. It’s not the greatest news, but the decision was made with a great deal of thought, and it was the right decision. It demonstrates why planning and research is so important. Moving would have been the wrong thing for them to do based on all the data and projections. Above all else, we want them to survive and thrive.

The (Davisville) facilities will continue to be used for 3PL activities. I am personally excited that we are planning to go green with them. Among the things we are investigating are electric forklifts and solar panels. I know “going green” is just a buzzphrase, but I love the idea and have a personal interest in technology. Perhaps the cost-benefit for solar isn’t quite there for our region, but we have a lot of roof space and I can tell you that there is a lot of energy up on that roof. Try walking on it in mid-day without a bottle of water. It seems to me like allowing that heat to dissipate away is just a waste. Like Elon Musk said: “I could either watch it happen or be a part of it”. I want to be part of it. So does Nick (my son and the company VP).

Similar facility with Solar panels covering the roof.

What’s Next for the Logistics Industry?

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Last month, orders for big rigs hit a record high. The trucking companies are beefing up their fleets to meet the increasing freight demand. Now, with the unemployment rates at an all-time low and going lower, and the resulting increase in labor rates, finding qualified drivers has become tougher than it has ever been. That, coupled with the current weight and length regulations as well as the bottlenecks of our highway infrastructure, what can the trucking industry do to meet the new overwhelming demand? More truck orders just aren’t going to be enough in the future. This makes me wonder what disruptive technologies and processes will be born to cope with these problems. Let’s look at a couple other economic and political stresses have stimulated innovation in other areas of industry and life.

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