RWI, an asset-based 3PL specializing in temperature-controlled transportation, recently conducted a survey of shippers with cold supply chains to better understand their needs and challenges. Chris Taylor, director of sales and marketing, discusses the results.

The average container freight rates from Asia to North Europe continues to drop, to $2,352 per 40-foot container and to $1,359 per 20-foot, as of tracking on May 24, according to Xeneta, a sea freight price comparison service. Due to overcapacity and various types of economic turmoil in the market, the market index for 40-foot containers has taken a massive dip with it being down 52 percent from May 2012.

Shipping along the Arctic northern sea route is set to grow more than 30-fold over the next eight years and could account for a quarter of the cargo traffic between Europe and Asia by 2030.

When the molds used to manufacture aluminum engine blocks are built, visibility into the entire assembly process can help ensure that any defects are caught before the finished block is shipped to a customer. With that in mind, automotive components manufacturer Nemak has automated its work-in-process (WIP) tracking, with a radio frequency identification system supplied by Balluff Inc. that writes sensor data from automation equipment to ensure that any defects in the mold are caught before molten aluminum is poured into it.