#reverse logistics services

[reidtransportationgroup]

Delivering Excellence: The Impact of Logistics Transportation on Jacksonville Industries

Logistics transportation plays a pivotal role in shaping the landscape of industries in Jacksonville, Florida, by ensuring the efficient movement of goods and services. The city's strategic location, supported by robust transportation infrastructure including ports, railways, and highways, enables businesses to thrive and compete on a regional and global scale. Manufacturing industries benefit from timely deliveries of raw materials and efficient distribution of finished products, while e-commerce businesses rely on logistics for seamless order fulfillment and last-mile deliveries. The agricultural sector leverages logistics networks to reach broader markets and deliver fresh produce. Moreover, the growth of the logistics sector contributes significantly to job creation and economic development in Jacksonville, reinforcing its position as a key logistics hub in the Southeast. As technology advances, logistics and transportation services in Jacksonville, Florida, are undergoing significant transformations.

[shadowfaxnews]

Nykaa, Licious amp up quick commerce game as consumers demand instant gratification

Beauty retailer Nykaa has launched a 10-minute delivery pilot in Borivali, Mumbai, as the rapid growth of quick commerce starts disrupting multiple product categories, pushing vertical players to find ways to drastically speed up deliveries.

Direct-to-consumer meat brand Licious is piloting deliveries of ready-to-eat food items in certain locations in Gurgaon in about 15 minutes though its promise remains half-an-hour delivery, while top fashion platform Myntra is piloting a 4-hour delivery plan in four cities, including New Delhi and Bengaluru.

Delivering instant gratification is clearly the need of the hour.

Nykaa’s quick commerce testing comes at a time when beauty has emerged as one of the top grossing categories on rapid delivery platforms such as Blinkit, Zepto, Swiggy Instamart and BigBasket’s BB Now.

The Mumbai-based beauty retailer is expected to add more pin codes in Mumbai for 10-minute delivery.

It plans to undertake a major update on its platform to launch the service in more locations, people aware of the matter told ET.

It is likely to have a separate brand name as well, they said.

“Certain low-priced items such as kajal pens, foundations or daily-use skincare items are finding traction on quick commerce…and platforms such as Nykaa stand to lose,” a senior quick commerce executive told ET. “Same goes for other categories such as fashion, home decor…where more vertical platforms will do quick deliveries.”

The CEO of a top quick commerce player said beauty in select stock keeping units (SKUs) are seeing one of the fastest growth rates among the new-to-quick commerce segments.

Industry executives, however, said that while horizontal quick commerce platforms such as Blinkit and Zepto are likely to retain a stronghold in grocery deliveries, there is a play in quick commerce for vertical platforms with a wide range of SKUs and deep supply-side relationships.

An email sent to Nykaa didn’t elicit any response until press time Tuesday. Licious also did not comment.

The Bengaluru-headquartered online meat shop “has been conducting one-to-two-hour deliveries in major markets and often delivering ahead of the promised time,” a person aware of the matter said. “In Gurgaon, there is a new experiment to reduce the time even further based on the density of orders,” the person added.

These developments come at a time when large horizontal e-tailers are firming up their quick commerce play. While Flipkart has launched its 10-minute delivery service Minutes in Bengaluru, Delhi-NCR and Mumbai, Amazon is working on its Q-commerce offering, ET has reported earlier.

Last week, Swiggy started the 10-minute food delivery service Bolt, and it is understood that its rival Zomato is planning to bring back a 10-minute food delivery option for certain items, too, in partnership with top cafes and quick service restaurants.

ET had reported earlier that even logistics players such as Delhivery, Shadowfax, Ecom Express and Xpressbees are entering the quick commerce space.

Also Read | Tiger Global conducts due diligence of Zepto dark stores as it eyes quick commerce

Beauty and the quick beast

Nykaa initially plans to take about 5% of its total SKUs to the quick commerce offering as it sees certain kinds of products being ordered for quick delivery, people cited above said.

Multiple industry executives told ET that several brands — depending on the category — are increasingly moving to same-day delivery in top metros, underscoring the changing nature of delivery expectations from consumers.

“This is what’s leading to the dynamic changes. You don’t want to wait for a basic kajal for two days. These products are selling fast and consumers want them instantly,” a senior quick commerce executive said.

Nykaa has been offering same-day delivery for orders placed before 12 pm and next-day deliveries are done for orders after 12 pm in four metros.

“For Nykaa, they already see about 10–15% of orders in the top four metro cities being delivered the same day while 85–90% of the orders get delivered by the next day,” a person aware of the numbers said.

A recent note from JP Morgan said Nykaa’s premium portfolio is growing the fastest. “Nykaa sees no major impact from increasing proliferation of quick commerce on account of its skew towards more beauty products (80–85% mix) and tier-II+ cities (66% contribution). Nevertheless, Nykaa aims to enhance same day/next day order delivery rate to 65% of orders in top 12 cities and 60% of the orders from top 110 cities through higher efficiency of its supply chain network and expects no major investment in the initiative,” the report said.

In August, Varun Alagh, cofounder and CEO of direct-to-consumer beauty and personal care brand Mamaearth, had said during the company’s analyst call that quick commerce was the fastest growing sub-segment within its online commerce channel. He had pointed out that quick commerce sales — most of which were coming from top 10 cities — contribute over 10% of the company’s online revenue.

Beyond instant gratification

Quick commerce along with highly competitive new brands is speeding up the premiumisation trend in the country, CLSA said in a recent note.

“We agree that quick commerce will accelerate premiumisation, but note the competitive intensity in premium categories is even higher than in standard categories, especially as new entrants are likely to target higher gross margin categories. This is especially evident in categories such as premium personal care, beauty, premium foods and premium home care, where competitive intensity from new entrants is the highest,” the brokerage said in the note dated September 24.

During the ET Startup Awards 2024 ceremony held on October 5, a panel discussion chaired by Infosys chairman Nandan Nilekani threw light on the rise of instant gratification in Indian consumption.

During the course of the discussion, Zepto cofounder and CEO Aadit Palicha said the rise of quick commerce was on account of factors beyond just instant gratification.

“When you look at why quick commerce is working in India, it’s largely because we’ve been able to cater to ‘small ticket multiple times a week’ use case that is unique to Indian commerce,” Palicha said. “If you go to the West, for example, it’s precisely the opposite — it (grocery shopping) is large baskets one or two times a month. The average frequency of transactions in India on grocery household essentials is 2.2 times a week… In the US it’s 2.4 times a month.

[dahnaylogistics]

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[unicargo]

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[logisticscompanyinbangalore]

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[syndrossi]

So I have another "what if" prompt that is very out of left field. Jon gets brought back as his 14 year old self in the 8 year old body (same as Rhaegar) only he's not the only version of himself that the got Summerhalled. They managed to grab 19 year old war vet Jon who is transported into the actual conception child Rhea and Daemon would have had. Rhaegal and Ghost come with (he doesn't get an emotional support twin so he gets 2 service pets to compensate). He's the one who stops in and saves the twins and inadvertently helps sell Daemon's fiction that the twins are true born because he is literally an older version of Jon.

This ask predates Restoration AU, I think, which is funny because it's sort of a reverse Restoration AU? Two Jons but in Resonant era, and one of them the same age as Winterfell!Jon in Restoration, while the other is the nineteen-year-old vet version.

I don't think the math quite works out for 19-year-old Jon to be the consummation baby of Daemon and Rhea's marriage unless he's a few years younger in the Dance era, and Daemon wouldn't have abandoned a trueborn son (nor would early marriage Rhea have hidden him). Maybe it works if he's 14, aka born 3 years into Daemon's marriage with Rhea, when she was much more embittered against him, though again we have to handwave that Rhea was willing to hide an actual trueborn son when Jaehaerys himself was still alive!

The logistics of Rhaegal suddenly appearing in the world would certainly be...interesting. Vet!Jon would have to be pretty clever with his explanation there! Once the Volantis shenanigans are known to him, maybe he can claim that he was kidnapped by them as a child and only recently escaped/returned to Westeros.

[jozor-johai]

Assuming that Arya ends up back at Winterfell at some point—which does not necessarily have to be the case—how will she get there? Here I’m proposing two ideas, based on possible predicted “next steps” for Arya’s character.

1. The Jeyne/Arya Mirror Idea

In the TWOW Theon preview, we see Stannis send Justin Massey on a mission: first to Castle Black to deliver “Arya” to Lord Commander Jon Snow (ostensibly fulfilling his promise to retrieve Jon’s half-sister), then to Eastwatch to depart for Braavos. In Braavos, Justin is to collect the Iron Bank’s loan and use it to hire a reputable sellsword company to return to Westeros with.

We the readers know that Jon is dead, however, and the current situation at the Wall is hard to predict. Without Jon to return “Arya” to, it raises the question of what Justin Massey will do with the girl. The Northern Lords have a vested interest in Arya’s sustained safety, so Justin cannot endanger Jeyne. If Jon is no longer there to receive her, and if the Wall has become embroiled in Night’s Watch/Free Folk conflict, it may not appear safe to leave “Arya” at the Wall after all.

Of course, much of this speculation is solely in service of the sheer fun of this possibility: what if Justin Massey ends up bringing Jeyne Poole to Braavos? If that were the case, then we could get the delightful irony of Arya, with her identity hidden, hearing of “Arya” visiting the city. Even better, we could see Jeyne Poole-impersonating-Arya interact with Arya-impersonating-someone-else.

Another benefit here is that Justin Massey’s return trip to Eastwatch (with a sellsword company) might be one way that Arya catches a return trip back to Westeros—even in disguise, perhaps Arya returns to the North via Eastwatch, to mirror Jeyne’s theoretical trajectory out of the continent.

That arc might look like this, with a focus on how the two girl’s trajectories might be the inverse of one anothers’. Of course, much of this relies on layers of speculation; this is all being proposed for the direct purpose of being able to create a scenario where Jeyne’s journey as Arya is somehow the reverse of Arya’s future journeys as not-Arya.

2. The Arya-Sansa-Catelyn Journey

However, that’s hardly the most direct route from Braavos to Westeros, and it’s certainly possible (and even likely) that Arya’s journey might not be related to Jeyne’s at all, even if Jeyne has taken Arya’s identity for the moment.

Perhaps instead Arya’s journey from Braavos will tie more directly to the storylines of her sister and mother.

If Arya lands at Gulltown, she could potentially cross paths with Alayne Stone on her path through the Vale, which could be interesting. Through Alayne and the Corbrays, we are constantly being reminded of the importance of Gulltown as a port for Westeros, and Lord Corbray’s merchant marriage might have been introduced as a way to tie either Braavos or the Iron Bank to Gulltown specifically through trade or commerce.

Then, assuming Arya needs to return to Winterfell, she will be forced to travel through the Neck… where Lady Stoneheart is. I’m not personally a particular supporter of the idea that Arya will (or should) kill Lady Stoneheart, but in any instance it would be narratively interesting to Arya cross her path.

In fact, this trajectory makes an arc that is both logistically sound and provides a real narrative journey from Arya to Winterfell. On this path, Arya-who-is-not-Arya could cross paths with Sansa-who-is-not-Sansa and then Catelyn-who-is-not-Catelyn, all in one smooth arc home from Braavos, shown here:

Of course, neither of these things could happen. This is just a couple of possibilities, and how they would logistically work.

[trainsinanime]

tell me about french train headlights

They're all the same! Or at least they were, from the mid-1950s to about the early 1990s. They all look like this:

Okay, some context for why I find this interesting. Suppose you see a picture of a train, especially one made in the second half of the 20th century, and you want to know where the train is from. The key trick to telling this at a glance is having a bit of autism, but more specifically, the headlights.

In Europe, all major and many minor countries used to have their own government-owned railroad and their own train-building industry, which would build trains to the specifications of their railroad company. There has always been some exporting going on, but for the most part, the trains you'd find in Germany, France, Switzerland, Austria and so on would be all completely different. This has changed drastically over the past 20ish years.

One thing about this old model is that railroad companies would standardise certain parts within their fleets, especially small parts that need servicing and replacing every now and then. It saves on how many different types of spare parts you need to have.

Headlights are the most notable among these by far: Every train needs to have some of them. All trains have basically the same requirements for their headlights, no matter how fast or slow or whatever they are. Before LEDs, you needed to service the headlights regularly to replace the light bulbs. Also they are glass parts at the front of a fast moving vehicle, they can get damaged, so spare parts logistics are an issue. And most importantly, we as railfans can easily see them. So you get something like this:

As a result, basically all railroad companies in post-war Europe standardised their head- and taillights for all or most of their trains. And all of them had completely different ideas. Fundamentally, all of them agreed that you need white headlights and red taillights, and since modern trains are easily reversible, you put both of them next to each other.

But do you make the white and red lights the same size (West Germany, Netherlands) or different sizes (Austria, East Germany)? Are they separate things, or do you combine them into one assembly (UK, Switzerland)? Do you make them anything approaching normal sized or gigantic (Poland)? Maybe I'll do an overview post over these later, but I don't have enough pictures in my library right now and I'd have to scour Wikipedia for them later.

The French headlight design shown here is in many ways just one of many, but also interesting in its own right: The actual lenses for red and white are the same size, but the white headlight gets this huge lens assembly that makes it look much more prominent. You can clearly see that different French designers had very different ideas about whether you align the center-lines (most of them), or the bottom of the lens assembly. Why is the headlight lens so big, and what are the metal tabs around the bottom half of the circle? I have no clue. My guess is to put some coloured glass panes in, but I have no idea why you'd need that. Also, note that the red taillight classically has a fresnel lens, that's unique as far as I can tell.

I've taken all these pictures in the Cité du Train, the big central French railroad museum in Mulhouse. (That's why I was posting about traveling to Basel early this weekend. Mulhouse is actually really close to Basel, and going via Switzerland is the most practical—and most scenic—route for me) The oldest locomotive I could find with these headlights was CC-7107:

During high speed trails in the early 1950s, this locomotive reached a speed of 326 km/h (203 mph). That made it only second best behind the other locomotive at the trials, BB-9004:

This one reached 331 km/h (206 mph), a world record that would not be beaten for a long time. The difference was nothing to do with technical performance. Instead, both locomotives melted their pantograph, the part on top that touches the overhead line to get power, at around 320 km/h (200 mph). BB-9004 had a second one that it could lift up to continue accelerating, while CC-7107 only had the one. For a long time, SNCF pretended that both locomotives had reached 331 km/h, to protect the reputation of both manufacturers.

What's notable for our purposes is that BB-9004 has different headlights. As far as I can tell, these seem to be an earlier standard design, also found e.g. on the CC-65001 diesel locomotive:

And even on steam locomotives, like this class 141 R:

So CC-7107 lost on the high speed world record, but it was the way of the future when it came to headlights. These headlights then started cropping up everywhere. From the detail pictures I've shown you above, we have e.g. Le Petit Gris (the small grey one, an EMU for suburban services in Paris):

A CC-6500, dressed up with a nameplate for the express train it was hauling. Fun fact: One locomotive of this type (not this one) was used in the US for a while, as Amtrak was trying out new electric locomotives to use. They weren't happy with it and bought a Swedish one instead, mostly because this locomotive's suspension did not work well with the American track quality.

A Z 2200, a diesel railcar for rural lines designed to be cheap first, second and third.

A BB-26000, which feels altogether way to new to be in this museum.

It's from the 1980s, so I guess the first are reaching retirement age. But at the same time: The train I took from Basel to Mulhouse was still pulled by one of these BB-26000.

Other favourites include the BB-25600 with its rare diagonal light arrangement:

Or the really terribly lit gas turbine train RTG, which puts the headlight on stalks:

Fun fact: Amtrak did end up buying a few these. They didn't use the same white headlights (although they did use the same stalks), but they did use the same fresnel lens red taillights.

And the headlights went all the way up to the top. To the TGV. Only these headlights aren't very aerodynamic, so for their high-speed train, SNCF decided to cover them up.

As far as I can tell, SNCF used these headlights in the TGVs up to the Réseau series, including the Eurostar. That meant that they're also found, though behind faded glass, on the TGV Atlantique 325 in the outdoor area. Number 325 is notable because it was involved in another high speed trial, and reached 515.3 km/h (320.3 mph) on May 18th, 1990.

That was a world record, of course; in fact only the French ever exceeded 500 km/h on conventional railroads. So these headlights did get their world record after all. They didn't get to keep it for long, though. In 2007, a newer TGV reached 574.8 km/h (357.2 mph). That one is still in service, though, and it was equipped with newer LED headlights. I think it's highly unlikely that this record will be broken anytime soon, but if anyone does, I wouldn't be surprised if it were the French again, they like that sort of stuff.

Some final odds an ends with the headlights, though: Here's CC-40101, which isn't actually relevant, I just like the way it looks.

Designed for service in France, Belgium, the Netherlands and Germany, with four different voltages and four different train control systems, and that with mid-1960s technology. It wasn't quite as successful as hoped, and in service it only ever reached Belgium, but still, look at that design. The front is supposed to evoke an athlete, a sprinter about to start, but this type of design has instead become known as "Nez cassé", broken nose.

BB-9291 shows a rare early version without red tail lights at all. Someone thought they were saving money.

This small work train has a free-standing version of the headlight, which shows us how deep it really is. Apparently, the French headlight is actually not that deep, and isn't that a nice summary for this post?

And a personal favourite of mine, I even bought a T-Shirt with it on it, the Z 600:

The design, in particular the side windows (recessed instead of flush, no outside visible gasket) says Swiss, the headlight and SNCF logo says French, it's narrow gauge and it has a third rail to provide power. Just all around a weird little train, for the weird little line known as the Mont-Blanc Express from France via Switzerland to the bottom of the Mont-Blanc mountain. The train was built in Switzerland, experts of building small trains for mountains, but for the French part of that rail line, so it got French headlights.

Headlights with exporting is a fun topic in its own right. Do you keep the headlights from the country of origin, or demand your own? You will find both approaches. Both Portugal and the Netherlands bought very similar electric locomotives from France. Portugal has French headlights, the Netherlands insisted on (less interesting) dutch ones.

These days, of course, you will still find these headlights, but they're getting rarer. They stopped being used in new trains around the mid-1990s. What's more, the ones you do find, like on this MI-84 in Paris, probably don't have the fresnel lens taillight anymore. Instead, those were replaced with LEDs.

LED lights for railroads make a lot of sense. They last forever and require less power. And since most railroads have standardised their head- and taillights, you just need to design one replacement light for most of France, and then keep building that one until SNCF stops giving you money.

(Since we're showing a picture from Paris, a quick note: These headlights were never used on passenger-carrying trains for the Paris metro. However, some work trains do have them.)

These days, standard headlights are completely gone. LEDs don't need a lot of replacing, and they give you much more freedom to do things like shapes and patterns and designs. Also, we don't have the "one country, one railroad, one rail industry" pattern anymore. Instead now we have multi-national rail conglomerates. Alstom is technically French, but arguably just as much German, ever since they bought Bombardier's rail division, nominally Canadian. Stadler is Swiss, except for the stuff they build in Germany or Poland or Belarus or Hungary or…, and some of their most interesting products right now are built and designed in Spain.

The end result of that is this:

That's a company I saw at a trade fair (Innotrans, Berlin, 2022) that makes LED train headlights, and specifically they make… all of them? Okay, I'm exaggerating, but this is a great picture to drive a European rail fan insane as they try to assign the different headlights to different trains. You get Stuttgart trams, German (and Turkish) high speed trains, lots and lots of Swiss stuff. Nothing specifically French that I could tell, but at least the German high speed train regularly travels to Paris.

The standard headlights, or their LED variants, were still in use for work trains until fairly recently. There are not that many companies that make rail grinders or ballast tampers, and those tend to just use whatever headlight their customer tells them to. But these days they go for shaped LED headlights as well, because they're just better, and because thanks to European standardisation, a headlight approved in one country can (generally) be used in all European countries.

(All pictures © me, feel free to use them under CC-BY-SA 3.0 DE if you want)

[pontevoix]

headcanon : shoko ieiri & alcohol consumption habits inspired by who drinks whiskey in their coffee at work sent by @deiikara

she misuses alcohol. it is a habit, & it is not so much of a temptation.

she thinks of social nights at izakayas as a type of celebration, as a moment for community, as something for which to be grateful. it is a type of play-pretend to drink with friends, to imagine that the world can still long enough to toast glasses.

she thinks of intimate nights. vulnerability a farce & commiseration not-quite shared over a split bottle. sometimes wine-red kisses & promises never made. shared cups of coffee in the morning. people like her don’t see the point in honest conversation, sometimes. so it’s shared experiences instead. it’s comforting, she supposes. it’s a catharsis, she supposes.

she thinks of haggard nights. work attire cast aside & socked feet & vacuuming her apartment to make up for the fact that it’s been empty for the last week. she doesn’t bother with coasters when a beer bottle weeps on the coffee table. sometimes she mixes whiskey in coffee instead.

coffee comes to her as instinct. it’s soothing to her to start the day with coffee. it’s soothing to her to finish the day with coffee too.

in truth, she likes the flavor of whiskey in coffee. she likes the flavor of whiskey, likes the way it bites & overtakes the burnt taste of the instant coffee she buys from the store. when she drinks , she’s usually at home — or else she’s finished her shift as she sits on the steps of one of her offices in the city, nursing a paper cup between her hands.

she misuses alcohol. it is a habit, & it is not so much of a temptation.

it is punctuation to days that feel like they never end.

nota bene. she doesn’t drink when she works, but she supposes she has had alcohol in her system when she has worked. finishing a shift always feels more like an imaginary construct than it does a logistical reality. if she’s done for the day, it’s still possible that someone may require her services — that the next day’s work may start sooner rather than later.

regardless, it doesn’t make much difference. in more trying moments, she can use reversed cursed technique to identify alcohol as a toxin & filter it away.

she’s good at sorting through pieces of herself like that.

[soapver4]

Global Fashion Police Mayhem

Media Format Bubble: Screen creatives representing their nations compete for the most brutal honesty in an omnibus series as each team produces an episode of television storytelling projecting how climate-destructive consumerist forces at the grassroots level of those societies will transform swathes of them into underwater, desertified or disease-ravaged dystopias dreamful characters longing for ages like ours and before in the distant future struggle to survive in.

That searing, potentially cathartic candor is a draw of Korean screen works (Parasite, Squid Game, Stranger and countless more on capitalism and/or corruption), another source of influence for this globalized TV adaptation of the novel New York 2140, but underrecognized by any international journalists and opinionators who still give the impression that Korean dramas are all about heart-fluttering romances. It also earns Germany respect as the European industrial powerhouse works hard at perpetual self-dissection of its World War II atrocities through condemnatory memorials and in-depth school curricula. Yet countries seeking to replicate Korean or German soft power do not always have faith in the value of putting aside their pride. In less emotive discourses, even, we could construe unflinching honesty as problem identification and confirmation, the cornerstone for solutions to suboptimality (read: societal ills). Unrelenting logic furnishes its own solution when stakeholders refuse homework.

Notice, however, that neither political nor industrial attitudes are the main theme here. This is not to absolve governments and corporations of their responsibilities for global warming. Rather, the motivation is to shine light on the less discussed issue of the culpability of the everyday person, who suffers from but also partakes in crowd pressure and opinion-making that ripple all the way up the highest echelons of the political and business worlds. To pin a hundred percent of the blame on feckless or greedy powerholders is easy, and there is little indication that public indictment of them will overall abate with time across the globe. To face our own flaws is challenging, which is why the honesty championed in the improbable series would be admirable and endearing.

The truth is, we are enforcers of greenhouse gas emissions whenever we perpetuate resource-intensive mechanisms that are but need not be integral to the status signaling, relationship cultivation or emotional homeostasis that keep societies running and lives afloat. These mechanisms include celebrating materialism, judging people for their luxury standards and fashionability, and upholding gifting practices detached from recipients' actual needs. Until technological advances, circular economy efforts and environmental policies progress and align sufficiently to reverse climate change, the redundant industrial production processes involved in the consequent effort to feel better about ourselves or secure societal acceptance are hurting the health and welfare of global citizens through well-known exacerbation of phenomena like heatwaves, severe floods and loss of homes and livelihoods. Here, the point is not whether those interventions will ever accomplish the reversal but the number of lives impaired or cut short in the meantime. Before desirable top-down decisions adequately arrive amid the inadequacy of alternate routes to the same material goals, we, the vaunted free market most capable of gauging demand, must change the goals ourselves.

Surplus labor and consumer finances freed up from non-essential consumption and the associated production, logistical and retail processes can be redirected to the various understaffed and sometimes underpaid services for managing personal and societal health:

Conflict management and mediation outside of the legal ecosystem

Counselling (career, emotional, financial, physical health, relationship, etc.)

Diversity exposure (across multiple dimensions and on an interpersonal level, not merely though cultural consumption)

Education (including cultivation of civil habits and tolerance and closer attention to holistic development through small, intimate classes)

Meditation classes and spaces

Other mindfulness exercises

Nursing

Psychiatric care

Social work

The key is to shift to an economy of inner calm and embraced interconnectedness that meets and forestalls psychological needs directly through non-material means.

There are three major risks with this economy: pricing, creativity loss and diminished career diversity. However, they are not inevitable or non-mitigable. Though surges in supply and demand of the services may not align well with each other and with income effect to keep equilibrium prices affordable for populations, this is an issue that warrants care and robust economic modeling, not outright aversion to the idea. Creativity and career diversity otherwise attainable through product design and marketing roles can be generated from within the services by coming up with electrifying variants of and marketing campaigns for the services to appeal to unwilling job candidates and clients, such as people who believe meditation is a yawner and therapy is for the weak. Think: A lobby where waiting therapy clients shoot pawpaw coffee guns at striking phrases like "Taxed Slavehood Underworld Rejected" and "O Never-ending Spiral of Bills" on a pristine wall.

While manufacturing, transportation and retail employees who are good only with hands-on work may not find suitable positions as readily, there are still opportunities in the broader economy, which has to explore new solutions to tackle energy crises and extreme temperatures. Urban heat management, for example, is an exciting area where career builders can flex their technical skills through green spaces cultivation, a myriad of cooling technologies (e.g. fog system, heat pumps, AI-driven climate controllers) and more sophisticated, adaptive architectural elements (e.g. dynamic shading panels, water-filled glass). Reskilling, a hot keyword in recent times, can aid them along. In the event some individuals simply have a passion or restricted skillset that cannot be expanded, a call has to be made between fulfilling the dreams of a subset of society and safeguarding the physical survival of the entire society, with the possibility of financial assistance for helpless individuals.

In short, the state of the world is increasingly compelling us to decide whether we should continue to party on as tangled linen in our global dance of "laundromacy," where esteem and bonds are smooshed out of fragile objects rather than built upon the ageless beauty of pure feelings and confident self and interpersonal knowledge.

[usafphantom2]

Lockheed endorses new engines for the F-35, even after USAF suspends this update

Fernando Valduga By Fernando Valduga 06/23/23/23 - 09:55am Military

Lockheed Martin, manufacturer of the F-35, thinks that the Pentagon should reverse course and seek the more expensive but technologically advanced Adaptive Engine Transition Program (AETP) for future versions of the fighter, instead of the more incremental upgrade of the F135 engine core chosen by the U.S. Air Force in its 2024 Budget.

A Lockheed Martin official said the manufacturer is ready to “support and continue to work with the U.S. government on capacity and performance upgrades, including an engine upgrade, which best meets its requirements for the F-35 in the coming decades.”

However, AETP engines – each developed by GE Aerospace and Pratt & Whitney – will provide more power and cooling capacity than Pratt & Whitney's Engine Core Upgrade (ECU), “which is needed as we modernize the F-35 beyond Block 4,” the spokesman said.

It is the first time that the main contractor of the F-35 has evaluated the ongoing debate on how to provide the necessary increase in power and cooling for the Block 4 version of the stealth fighter. The government grants contracts for the F135 engine separately from the structure of the F-35, and the engine is supplied to Lockheed as government-supplied equipment.

In an evaluation of the F135 released in May, the Office of Government Responsibility (GAO) stated that "the cooling system is overloaded, requiring the engine to operate beyond its design parameters. The extra heat is increasing engine wear, reducing its service life and adding $38 billion in maintenance costs."

The GAO also urged the F-35 Joint Program Office to build a better business case to upgrade the F-35 engine, although it agreed that the ECU is the least expensive and least risky approach.

The Lockheed employee noted that the F-35 fleet should serve by 2070, "which will require more updates". To stay ahead of the projected threats, "the F-35 will need even greater capacity, readiness, range and thrust, which will require an updated engine".

Greg Ulmer, executive vice president of aeronautics at Lockheed, told Breaking Defense in an interview at the Paris Air Show that he thinks it is "myopic" of the government to abandon the AETP option when it will not only provide greater power and cooling for Block 4 of the fighter, but also for future versions.

"I think there are elements within the Pentagon speaking in the sense that there will be a Block 5 and a Block 6, and there will be other considerations in the future," Ulmer said.

Pentagon officials said that the choice of the ECU was motivated by its lower development cost and the fact that a new engine would force the creation of a new logistics train. But the cost suggested by Ulmer should be less important than dealing with threats and major power and cooling upgrades will probably be needed in the future anyway.

Neither Ulmer nor the Lockheed spokesman endorsed a specific AETP engine for the F-35.

Under AETP, a technology development effort administered by the U.S. Air Force, GE Aerospace developed the XA100 and Pratt developed the XA101, both using third-flow bypass airflow to develop engines that would be more efficient in both on-demand thrust and cruise.

However, Pratt successfully advocated an upgrade of the engine core to its F135 engine, which would slightly improve the performance of the F-35, but not to the extent that an AETP engine would. The two AETP engines offer about 30% more range than the current F135 engine of the F-35, along with approximately 20% more acceleration and twice the cooling power.

On the other hand, an AETP engine would probably not fit in the F-35B STOVL (Short Takeoff/Vertical Landing) version of the fighter, which means that the U.S. Air Force would have to pay the cost of a new engine alone.

In budget briefings earlier this year, USAF Secretary Frank Kendall said he was disappointed with the choice of ECU, but agreed that it was the best for the Department of Defense in general, noting that "you can't do everything you want".

The choice of the ECU instead of an AETP option effectively gave Pratt a continuous monopoly on the work of the F-35 engine.

However, the U.S. Air Force maintained the AETP development program, as the service said it will provide the base capacity for the Next Generation Air Dominance (NGAD) fighter. The new engine development effort is called the Next Generation Advanced Propulsion (NGAP) program.

The chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, Rep. Mike Rogers (Republican of Alabama), added $588 million to AETP as part of his marking for the National Defense Authorization Act of 2024, in order to preserve the F-35 engine options.

In a statement, Pratt & Whitney said that AETP is now “a technology program that will power the sixth-generation hunting platforms”. He criticized Lockheed's comments, saying that the F-35 manufacturer “wants to put an unproven adaptive engine into a single-engine jet fighter, regardless of the large cost and significant delay in delivering critical capabilities to the combatant at a time of urgent need.”

Lockheed's push for AETP “undermines the decision of the Department of Defense to move forward with the upgrade of the F135 engine core, a decision that has been studied, validated, sent and fully funded in the government budget,” said a Pratt spokesman.

“Block 5 does not exist as a defined set of resources at this time,” the spokesman added. “But regardless of which block we are discussing, the F135 ECU paired with an updated PTMS [thermal and power management system] can provide 80 kilowatts or more of cooling power for the F-35, which will exceed all power and cooling needs for the F-35 during the life of the program.”

In its own statement, GE said that adaptive engines “represent the future of combat engines that will power the air force in the coming decades”. GE worked with Lockheed "to ensure that our engine is optimized for the needs of its platform today and in the future. The continuity of AETP ensures that this technology can be matured to completion, establishing a usable model for future needs and programs".

The Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies, in an upcoming report, says that AETP offers “a much more aggressive solution” to the growing power and cooling needs of the F-35.

“Congress is reassessing the issue,” said retired Lieutenant General David Deptula, dean of the Mitchell Institute. "It's an incredibly difficult choice, with Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall commenting: 'If we had the opportunity to reconsider this, I think it would be something I would like to have another chance.'"

Source: Air Force & Space Magazine

Tags: Military AviationF-35 Lightning IIGeneral ElectricLockheed MartinPratt and WhitneyUSAF - United States Air Force / U.S. Air Force

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Fernando Valduga

Fernando Valduga

Aviation photographer and pilot since 1992, has participated in several events and air operations, such as Cruzex, AirVenture, Daytona Airshow and FIDAE. He has works published in specialized aviation magazines in Brazil and abroad. Uses Canon equipment during his photographic work around the world of aviation.

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The Importance of Effective Container Management Services

Effective container management services play a pivotal role in the seamless functioning of global supply chains, contributing significantly to the efficiency and competitiveness of businesses. These services are instrumental in optimizing inventory and space utilization, ensuring that containers are loaded strategically to maximize capacity and minimize the risk of damage. The resulting cost savings are substantial, as efficient container management reduces storage costs, demurrage charges, and other delays-related expenses. Enhanced visibility and real-time tracking capabilities empower businesses with the knowledge to monitor container movements throughout the supply chain, facilitating proactive decision-making and minimizing disruptions. Furthermore, streamlined container operations lead to reduced turnaround times, enabling faster shipping and improved overall supply chain efficiency. Compliance with international regulations, minimizing environmental impact, and mitigating risks through secure handling protocols are additional benefits that underscore the crucial importance of effective container management services in jacksonville, fl today's complex and interconnected global trade landscape.

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E-commerce companies race to offer Same-Day, Next-Day Delivery

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In February this year, the company rolled out same-day and next-day deliveries in India’s top 10 metro cities.

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“Based on sales, the category with the highest demand has been electronics, especially mobile phones, and the second highest is fashion,” Chandra added.

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CriticaLog Logistics Company is a service provider based in Bangalore, India. They offer a range of logistics services to meet the needs of businesses in various industries. Some of the key services provided by CriticaLog include:

Shipping Services: CriticaLog specializes in shipping services, which involve the transportation of goods from one location to another. They manage the entire shipping process, including packaging, documentation, customs clearance, and delivery. Whether it's domestic or international shipping, CriticaLog ensures the smooth movement of goods.

Special Handling Services: CriticaLog understands that certain goods require special handling due to their nature or fragility. They provide specialized solutions for handling sensitive or delicate items, such as medical equipment, electronics, perishable goods, and hazardous materials. Their trained professionals ensure proper packaging, storage, and transportation of such items to minimize the risk of damage or mishandling.

Fulfillment Services: CriticaLog offers fulfillment services to help businesses manage their inventory and order processing efficiently. They provide warehousing facilities, inventory management, order fulfillment, pick and pack services, and returns management. By outsourcing these functions to CriticaLog, businesses can focus on core operations while ensuring smooth order fulfillment.

API Integration: CriticaLog understands the importance of seamless integration with various systems and platforms. They offer API (Application Programming Interface) integration services to connect their logistics solutions with their clients' existing software systems. This integration enables streamlined data exchange, real-time tracking, automated order processing, and improved visibility across the supply chain.

CriticaLog Logistics Company aims to provide reliable, efficient, and cost-effective logistics solutions to their clients. By offering shipping services, special handling services, fulfillment services, and API integration, they cater to the diverse needs of businesses seeking logistics support in Bangalore and beyond.

2. DHL: DHL is a global logistics company with a strong presence in Bangalore. They offer a wide range of logistics services, including freight transportation, warehousing, supply chain management, and e-commerce solutions.

3. FedEx: FedEx is another prominent logistics company operating in Bangalore. They provide international courier services, express delivery, freight forwarding, and logistics solutions for businesses of all sizes.

4. Blue Dart: Blue Dart is a leading logistics company in India, with a significant presence in Bangalore. They specialize in domestic and international courier services, cargo transportation, and integrated logistics solutions.

5. Gati: Gati is a renowned logistics and supply chain management company based in Bangalore. They offer a comprehensive range of services, including express distribution, e-commerce logistics, cold chain logistics, and warehousing.

6. Xpressbees: Xpressbees is an emerging logistics company in Bangalore, primarily focusing on e-commerce logistics. They provide services such as last-mile delivery, reverse logistics, and warehousing for e-commerce businesses.

7. Delhivery: Delhivery is one of the largest logistics and supply chain services providers in India, operating in Bangalore as well. They offer end-to-end logistics solutions, including express parcel transportation, fulfilment services, and e-commerce logistics.

These are just a few examples of logistics companies in Bangalore. It's always recommended to conduct further research and consider specific requirements before choosing a logistics partner.