Multimodal 2012 is springboard for new ideas in logistics

Multimodal 2012, the UK’s only annual event focused on the transport and logistics industries, is proving to be a springboard for a host of new ideas, products and services to help improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the logistics industry.
 
The show takes place at Birmingham’s National Exhibition Centre on 1st to 3rd May. So far over 200 exhibitors have signed up to take stands – many are returning yet again to the highly regarded exhibition, and over 50 companies are exhibiting at the show for the first time.
 
Some sophisticated software for tracing and tracking cargo is being exhibited at the show by Fargo Systems, a leading software provider to the intermodal transport industry. Its product range includes TOPS -the UK’s de-facto standard container transport management system, which covers a whole range of distribution, full-load and network logistics. Is sister product, TOPS…on the go – is a completely integrated mobile telematics system for smartphones, tablets, and PDAs with GPS tracking, job order despatch, electronic proof-of-deliveries, defect reporting and other admin tasks.
 
Two systems for route planning are being showcased at Multimodal 2012 by Southampton-based Integrated Skills Limited (ISL), a specialist provider of software and environmental consultancy. ISL’s logistics and optimisation products reduce fleet size, mileage, and planning time, and maximise efficiency. Their WinRoute software can be used for routes ranging from FTL to multi-drop distribution route (150+) collections or deliveries, and RouteSmart™ software is for organisations with high volumes of collections or deliveries, door-to-door, and street-by-street.
 
Leading provider of Customs and freight software Impatex will once again be offering free iPads to any company signing up for its NetFreight system at Multimodal 2012. NetFreight is Impatex’s browser-based, combined freight forwarding and Customs processing system. NetFreight has recently undergone its largest up-grade to-date, with many new features and improvements. Originally intended as a system for the smaller forwarder, NetFreight has successfully proven itself with multi-branch and multi-national forwarders too. The system is now in service with almost 100 customers in the UK, the USA and – most recently – Spain.
 
Two companies will be using Multimodal 2012 to mark important anniversaries. Spaciotempo UK, which supplies temporary warehouse storage buildings and loading canopies to a host of household industry names across the UK, will mark 40 years in the business when it appears on stand 255 at the show.
 
Established in 1972, the company was originally known as Tempastor and started out by supplying one building a month. Forty years later, the company has reached a whole new level and now supplies hundreds of temporary buildings each year. Spaciotempo is pioneering buildings supplied as turnkey packages – complete with solid flooring, temperature control, lighting, secure doors and windows, as well as an eco-friendly thermo-inflated roof.
 
Humber-based Clugston Distribution Services will be celebrating 75 years in business at Multimodal 2012 this year. The company offers both total and partial supply chain solutions, including specialist distribution, storage and inventory management for general haulage, cement powder and bulk food ingredients. Over the course of the last six months, the company has announced investments of nearly £1.4M, including 17 Renault Premium tractor units and eight new curtain sided trailers, as well as four new 44 tonne tankers as part of its expansion into the fuels distribution market. 
 
Multimodal 2012’s organiser Robert Jervis expressed his satisfaction at the industry’s support for the event: “Multimodal is now in its fifth year, and the fact that we get so many exhibitors returning to the show, and a good number of new exhibitors every year, demonstrates the effectiveness of Multimodal as a platform for promoting new products as well as existing businesses. It also highlights the fact that the UK and Ireland still have a dynamic and growing logistics industry, which has overcome recession by becoming fitter and more efficient”.

Source: Multimodal