Powers International CEO to Participate on the Advisory Board of the SMART-CM Consortium
International Transportation Security Firm Invited to Sit on Advisory Board to Smart Container Management Transportation Consortium of the European Commission’s FP7 Initiative
With offices in Belmont, North Carolina, and Greenville, South Carolina, Powers International announced on April 16, 2009 that its CEO, Ed Harrison has been invited to participate on the Advisory Board of the Smart Container Supply Chain Management (SMART-CM) Consortium proposing major research for the European Union. The EU’s research program is entitled the Seventh Framework Programme (FP7). The FP7 is an EU-level program of the European Commission designed to bundle all research-related EU initiatives together under a common roof, playing a crucial role in reaching the goals of growth, competitiveness and employment through research involving global door-to-door container transport management, using ubiquitous track & trace technologies. Its purpose to develop a service platform capable of :
•A single window approach, to achieve interoperability of Container Security Technologies;
•Handling of events within the container transport chain, to enable minimization of processes’ duration & cost and improvement of chain planning;
•Continuous control of containers, to accomplish high level chain security;
•Efficient exchange of information among the industrial actors and between industry and the customs authorities, based on authorization policies, to increase supply chain visibility; and
•Working with existing initiatives such as that of AEO and the Green Lanes implementation, to achieve faster throughput in transport corridors.
•The invitation was made by the Centre of Research and technology Hellas/Hellenic Institute of Transport” (CERTH/HIT) which is currently coordinating the proposal preparation. “It would be a great honour if Powers International could join this "SMART-CM Advisory Board," said Professor G.A.Giannopoulos, Head, Hellenic Institute of Transport, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki.
Powers International is an international transportation security firm with a worldwide patent on container security. Ed Harrison, Powers International CEO, said that his company has agreed to participate. “This invitation reflects the level of confidence that major participants in the global container world have in the expertise, vision, and technical competence that Powers International offers in the container security field.”
According to Professor Giannopoulos, the purpose of the research is to find the best way “to overhaul the complete container transport door-to-door chain on a worldwide basis, so that it is more efficient, market driven and competitive, secure, and energy and environmentally friendly.” Early indications show the management of the project will be done by a group of three organizations: Centre of Research and technology Hellas/Hellenic Institute of Transport” (CERTH/HIT) as Administrative manager; DHL Global Forwarding as Technical coordinator; and the Institute of Management and Logistics of the Fraunhofer (FhG) Institute, as quality Control manager. Members of the consortium are major world players in container Transport such as COSCO Lines, DHL, and Khune&Nagel/Proodos, as well as technology providers, equipment manufacturers, Customs authorities, major Associations promoting intermodal transport and relevant issues, and, of course, major research institutes.
The role of the Advisory Group, which consists of organizations and selected firms and individuals with known expertise and status in this field, will be to meet and review the progress and results of the project and to discuss and give advice on strategic directions of the work, priorities and focus of the demonstrations and applications of the technological as well as business and organizational concepts that will be studied in the project in addition to provide strategic guidance to the consortium and ultimately to the European Union.
Media Contacts: Ed Harrison (864 271 9123) / Jim Giermanski (704 825 4741)
On the WEB: www.powersintlinc.com