Category Archives: Gemini News

Jul 29
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Gemini Shippers Group Launches Container Analytics Dashboard

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Gemini Shippers Group, one of the largest shipper’s associations operating in the United States, today launched their container analytics dashboard.  The dashboard, which is free for member companies to use, provides users with a host of easy to use metrics, KPI and reporting features to allow shippers to view all of their shipments across all of their Gemini carriers from one location.  The interactive dashboard allows users a host of drill down and export capabilities to help facilitate detailed learning and data sharing. Commenting on the launch, Ken O’Brien, COO of Gemini Shippers Group said, “We continue to build on the capabilities of our web based member portal to bring new functionality to our member companies.  We believe these value added services will continue to differentiate Gemini as the leading shipper’s association in North America and continue to provide our members with a competitive advantage as they move along the path of digitization of their supply chains”.

About Gemini Shippers

Gemini Shippers Group, one of the largest shippers associations in the United States, has been serving its members for nearly 100 years.  The group includes Gemini Shippers Association and the Fashion Accessories Shippers Association (FASA).  Gemini offers member companies access to competitive global ocean freight contracts, long term rates and space allocations by signing global contracts with a wide variety of top tier ocean carriers. For more information on Gemini Shippers Group please contact us at:info@geminishippers.com or (212) 947-3424  or visit our website at www.geminishippers.com

Jul 13
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The Digital Supply Chain – Where are you on the path toward digitization?

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This week, Gemini Shippers Group and our partners at Allport Cargo Services USA, attended the GT Nexus Bridges Conference in New York City.   The conference brings together supply chain executives from the world’s largest companies across retail, manufacturing, logistics, and technology to discuss emerging supply chain trends. The theme of the digitization of the supply chain, and how companies can embark on a digital supply chain strategy emerged as a key driver for many supply chain leaders at this year’s event.

Many acknowledge that there is benefit to transforming supply chains to be more digital, but it is clear that many companies are early in this transformation process. Based on a survey of supply chain leaders, seventy-five percent of companies stated they believed that a digital transformation was important and seventy percent stated that they had begun this process.  At the same time, a significant amount of work is still required to achieve this as thirty-three present of those in the survey stated they were dissatisfied with their progress thus far.  Survey results tallied that forty-eight percent of transactions were still being handled manually via phone, fax and email.  Results also revealed that only fifteen percent of the overall supply chain data is accessible in a unified format and location.

With so much supply chain data available, how do shippers make sense of it all and begin to use technology as an enabler in their supply chain while at the same time continue to manage the day to day needs of moving product?

The theme of the creation of a bimodal supply chain emerged as a possible avenue shippers consider as they move down the path of digitization.  Coined by the Gartner Group, a Bimodal strategy is the practice of managing two separate but coherent styles of work: one focused on predictability; the other on exploration.  Shippers moving towards a digital supply chain using a Bimodal strategy can allow for both the continuous improvement and operational excellence requirements of running the business to be combined with the future state of exploration of new technologies.

The first part of the strategy’s focus involves using the company’s existing data and infrastructure to further improve operational performance and efficiency.  In our work with shippers at Gemini Shippers Group, we think about the use of shippers’ rate and operational data to improve pricing, carrier choices, visibility and analytics.  Using companies existing data assets, a company can move toward a more digital supply chain while gaining near term wins in performance.

The second part of the Bimodal strategy involves using technology in more experimental ways.  Shippers today can think of these as innovative changes that will significantly move the needle providing competitive advantage and differentiation from their competitors.  Shippers today should be thinking about predictive analytics, machine learning, big data technologies and the Internet of Things as areas of exploratory technology that can aid their supply chain transformation.

To move your supply chain forward it is key to have the right partners as well as a Bimodal plan to deal with both short term operational and long term exploratory goals.  As our partner Tom Beckett, Vice President of Allport Cargo Services, said in one of the session, “It is important not to try to leapfrog technology inside the supply chain faster than the shipper’s team can socialize it”.  Movement towards a digital supply chain is imperative to firms looking to the future but it needs to be driven by the business unit, supported by the technology team, and encompass a holistic view of the entire supply chain and the associated processes required to move product from manufacturing to market.

By Sara Mayes

CEO/President

Jul 13
0

News Alert – China Factory Shutdowns tied to G20 Summit

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On September 4-5 , 2016 world leaders will come together in Hangzhou China to attend the G20 Summit.  This week Chinese authorities have announced that they will mandate the closure  of as many as 600 Shanghai area textile factories starting in August to prepare for the G20 Summit.

The Closure of these factories is being planned to reduce the chronic pollution in the region ahead of the G20 Summit. According to the China Institute of Public and Environmental Affairs, Zhejiang province of which Hangzhou is the capital contains almost fifty percent of the country’s textile dyeing facilities.  It is also anticipated that other industries and factories in the areas will face similar closures.

We will continue to work with our carrier partners to gauge the impact to their services and encourage members to discuss these closures and their effect on your supply chains with your factories and origin providers.  We will continue to deliver updates on the situation, as we learn more.

Jul 11
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Gemini Shippers Group Continues to Engage the Federal Maritime Commission to Work Towards Reform on Pier Pass

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Chairmen Cordero, Commissioner Dye

Good morning,

We were disappointed to learn that the WCMTOA group made the decision to increase the TMF fee this summer.  Based on feedback from our member companies, we continue to believe that the original benefits of pier pass have been surpassed by the negative unintended consequences of pier pass.  Through our own investigations and based on what we have learned while participating on the FMC Supply Chain team we see  the Pier Pass as a contributor to the inefficiency in the west coast ports and one of the key drivers for the lack of duel transaction moves.

While we do believe it was beneficial when it was first started we believe that there is a need for a revised pier pass 2.0 that can leverage new technology and help to promote efficiency in the west coast ports.  We see this as a critical step more important than passing on increased fees to shippers.

We hope the FMC can continue to challenge the port operators to revise pier pass to bring increased value to shippers in aiding productivity and ease congestion, vs. the current trend of continued fee escalation without any improvement in service.

 

NEWS FLASH: L.A./Long Beach terminal operators to increase Traffic Mitigation Fee

Terminal operators at the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach announced an increase to the Traffic Mitigation Fee, which is collected on cargo moving through terminals during peak hours.

BY CHRIS DUPIN |SATURDAY, JULY 09, 2016

Marine terminal operators at the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach revealed Friday they will increase the Traffic Mitigation Fee (TMF), which is charged to shippers moving cargo through terminals during the day.
The 13 terminals, members of the West Coast Marine Terminal Operators Agreement (WCMTOA), will increase the fee by 1.9 percent effective Aug. 8, from $69.17 per TEU to $70.49 per TEU, or $140.98 per FEU.
Under the so-called PierPass “OffPeak” program, which began in 2005, the TMF funds are used to subsidize operations at the terminals at night and on weekends when no TMF is collected.
The fee on daytime cargo moves and uncharged nighttime moves has provided an incentive for shippers to shift about half the cargo moving through the two ports to do so at night, relieving highway congestion and pollution.
In mid 2012, WCMTOA said it began adjusting the fee annually “to reflect increases in labor costs based on Pacific Maritime Association maritime labor cost figures.” The Pacific Maritime Association negotiates and administers maritime labor agreements with the International Longshore and Warehouse Union.
WCMTOA said PierPass does not make money from the TMF and the fee only offsets part of the cost of operating terminals at night.
“According to an analysis by maritime industry consultants SC Analytics, the costs incurred by the terminals to operate the OffPeak shifts in 2015 totaled $236.2 million,” WCMTOA said. “During the year, the terminals received $168.9 million from the Traffic Mitigation Fee, offsetting only part of the OffPeak program’s costs.”
Mario Cordero, the chairman of the Federal Maritime Commission, toldAmerican Shipper earlier this year that his agency is studying the Pier Pass program because of complaints from the shipper community.
The fee was originally $50 per TEU and was increased in August 2011 for the first time to $60 per TEU. WCMTOA then decided to adjust the fee in smaller increments annually.
Cordero said he agrees PierPass has met its goals of reducing traffic during the day, but said there is a need to examine whether the program has maximized its potential and if ports in Southern California or other parts of the country need to move toward operating 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

Jul 01
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Gemini Shippers Group Unveils SOLAS Weight Input Portal

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New York – July 1, 2016

Gemini Shippers Group, one of the leading shippers associations operating in the United States today, announced the launch of its SOLAS input portal.  The portal allows members a single location to send SOLAS weight messages to a host of carrier partners. The service, offered free of charge, gives shippers a platform to enter weight information for transmission to carriers and provides an email confirmation of transmittance to the carrier.  Member companies will receive record of the transmission on their custom homepage.

Speaking of the launch, Sara Mayes President and CEO of the association commented, “We are pleased to be able to offer this service to shippers without cost.  We know that many shippers face significant challenges in their supply chain and we are pleased to be able to offer this portal for companies to use an as a one stop shop for sending their SOLAS weight into to their carrier partners”.

Gemini Shippers Group continues to expand the service offerings for its member companies.  Ken O’Brien, COO of the group commented, “We are committed to providing our member companies a host of value added services above and beyond our strong ocean freight procurement. We continue to have a strong focus on IT investment and the creation of tools and analytic solutions to help our member run their supply chains more efficiently”.   Head of IT, Jonathan Shorts, commented, “we will continue to add carriers to the SOLAS input tool as they are ready to integrate with our infrastructure and will be rolling our further enhancements for our members in the coming months. In phase one of the project we will launch 15 carriers over the 4th of July weekend”.

About Gemini Shippers Group:
Gemini Shippers Group, one of the largest shippers associations in the United States, has been serving its members for nearly 100 years.  The group includes Gemini Shippers Association and the Fashion Accessories Shippers Association (FASA).  Gemini offers member companies access to competitive global ocean freight contracts, long term rates and space allocations by signing global contracts with a wide variety of top tier ocean carriers. For more information on Gemini Shippers Group please contact us at: info@geminishippers.com or (212) 947-3424, or please view our website at www.geminishippers.com.

 

Jun 30
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COSCO A.P.B.: BNSF Derailment in Panhandle TX

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Web
Booking		 Tracking &
Tracing		 Sailing
Schedule		 Vessel
Particulars		 Coscon
Website		 NAOC Contact List Long Beach Service Center Contact List
Gemini Shippers Group received this announcement from Cosco today. 
COSCO Announces:– BNSF Derailment in Panhandle TXDear Valued Customer,

On Tuesday June 28, 2016 at 08:25 a.m. Central Time, BN received a preliminary report that S-LACLPC1-26 and Q-CHISBD6-27 were involved in a derailment near Panhandle, TX, approximately 27 miles East of Amarillo TX. The estimated time for opening the main track has not been determined.

BNSF Load and Ride Solutions are currently on site in Panhandle TX. Assessments of impacted units will be available beginning this afternoon and customers will be advised accordingly.

BNSF will continue to provide additional information as it becomes available and the shipping community will be advised as well. Customers may experience cargo delays between 36 to 48 hours.

For any additional questions please contact your COSCO sales representative, our North American Operations Center (NAOC) at 1-866-830-2550 or our Long Beach, CA Service Center at 1-866-502-6726.

Thank you for being a valued customer.

We appreciate your business and continued support.

COSCO Container Lines Americas, Inc.
COSCO Container Lines Americas, Inc.
North America Operation Center
15600 John F. Kennedy Blvd. Suite 400
Houston, TX 77032
Tel: 866 830 2550

 

Jun 27
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Video: Panama Canal Expansion Construction in 2 Minute Time-Lapse – gCaptain

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It’s been nearly nine years and more than $5 billion in the making, but the Panama Canal Expansion is finally open.

To mark the occasion, the people over at EarthCam have released a 5-year time-lapse video showing construction of the Third Set of Locks (aka the new “Neopanamax” locks) at the center of the historic project. The time-lapse used EarthCam’s robotic construction cameras capturing HD images from more than 140 angles and resulting in over a terabyte of image data that was then hand-edited down to this 2 minute video.

Video: Panama Canal Expansion Construction in 2 Minute Time-Lapse

The largest of its kind since the Canal’s original construction, the $5.25 billion expansion will allow ships more than 2.5 times the size of the current limit to pass through the waterway, effectively doubling its capacity and opening up new markets for shipping lines, American farmers, and producers of liquefied natural gas, a new segment altogether for the Canal.

Jun 08
0

The Evolution of the Panama Canal

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By Sara Mayes, President and CEO Gemini Shippers Group

On June 26th, the container vessel Andronikos operated by China COSCO Shipping will make the first transit through the expanded Panama Canal.  The ship, with a maximum capacity of 9,400 TEU, will be almost twice as large as the largest ships currently able to transit the canal.

The expansion work on the canal started in September of 2007 and was slated to be completed by 2014 to roughly coincide with the canals 100th anniversary, but construction delays and problems with the canals contractors delayed start the start of operations of the expanded canal until this summer.

The enlargement of the canal encompasses a number of significant construction projects, including the building of a new third set of locks, a new Pacific Access Channel, improved navigation channels, improvement and dredging of navigational channels and improvements to the canal’s water supply.  At a cost of 5.3 billion dollars, the expansion cost will represent a sum of 14 times the initial $375 million spent by the United States when the canal was constructed in 1913.

The new canal with its larger locks will double the canal’s capacity, allowing ships of up to 14,000 TEU to transit, versus a maximum of 4,000 to 5,000 TEU today.   To achieve this increase in capacity, new locks were constructed with larger dimensions of 1400 feet long and 180 feet wide and 60 feet deep.  The current locks are 1000 feet long and 106 feet wide.

This increase in capacity will have a significant effect on the economy of Panama and on global maritime trade. For Panama, the canal, which today takes in almost two billion dollars in fees each year, has secured a strong future in international trade which will remain a large driver in the Panamanian economy.  For the almost 14,000 ships which cross the canal each year, the canal represents a significant cost savings versus the long route around South America.  For the nearly 3,000 containerships transiting the canal and the shipping lines that operate them, the expanded canal offers the opportunity to expand ship sizes bringing increased cost efficiently to their shipper customers. For US importers this expansion will lead to new deployments of East Coast all water services, changing the economics of cargo flows from Asia to US markets.

While maybe not as dramatic as the canal’s opening in 1913, this new phase of expansion is for sure an industry changing event rivaling the largest changes in marine transportation we have seen in our generation.

Jun 03
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Gemini will speak at the FDRA’s Sourcing Intelligence Summit 2016

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FDRA’s Sourcing Summit is a one day event hosted at The New York Stock Exchange on Tuesday, July 19, 2016. This year we will cover social compliance trends, sourcing, and production issues around the world.

Ken O’Brien, Chief Operating Officer, Gemini Shippers Group will speak on supply chain and logistics. Today a good supply chain is designed to deal with changes in supply and demand efficiently and to respond to external disruptions seamlessly.  Picking dependable logistics partners, sharing information among your partners and having a strong forecasting and inventory management system in place are all important when developing your supply chain.

The FDRA invites everyone to join them the evening prior to the summit at Wolverine Worldwide for a rooftop reception for cocktails and networking.

Hope to see you there!

May 25
0

AAFA America Image Awards

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AFFA Awards

Gemini Shippers group joined our partners at the AAFA celebrating the America Image Awards in New York last night.

This year’s American Image Awards honorees included Joseph Abboud; BBC International LLC; Shinola Detroit; Christian Siriano; and Iris Apfel.

The American Image Awards draws hundreds of apparel and footwear executives, industry influencers, fashion icons, and celebrities to its red carpet event. For the second year in a row, the Gala event benefited Mercy Ships, a global organization committed to providing the world’s impoverished with free basic healthcare and life-changing medical surgeries.  Check them out at: https://www.mercyships.org/ .

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