Wincanton has generated £150m cash by re-structuring some of its debt. The company says the funds raised are being used to “refinance existing bank facilities and to position the company to take advantage of the opportunities for continued future growth.”

Kuehne & Nagel has completed the acquisition of ACR Logistics for Euro 440m. With more than 40,000 employees in more than 100 countries, it now ranks among the top five global service providers in contract logistics.

One of the key considerations is whether to adopt a goods-to-man or man-to-goods strategy – the former involving automated equipment like carousels and mini-load systems,

Born out of the old NHS Supplies organisation, NHS Logistics is tasked with supplying a huge range of products to hospitals around the country.

Since September the landscape of the European third party logistics market has changed dramatically.

Thales UK has been awarded a £880,000 contract by Fowler Welch Coolchain to equip its fleet of 750 refrigerated trailers with a satellite tracking and temperature monitoring system. The system is due to be fully operational in January 2006.

The UK arm of Beiersdorf, the producer of brands like Nivea and Elastoplast, has gone live with a major wireless RF solution at its UK distribution centre.

Microlise, the supply chain systems integrator, has been selected to deliver a multi-million pound contract which will streamline the transport and delivery operations for the Co-operative Group.

Power Freight has launched QuickShip, a tool to streamline shipping operations. QuickShip interfaces with Oracle, SAP or similar databases, providing automatic airwaybill assignments, PODs, and real-time tracking and fulfilment.

Carrefour is to use the GOLD supply chain management software from global retail solutions provider, Aldata, in its 179 hypermarkets throughout France.