Wallenius Wilhelmsen Issues Call For Innovative Ideas To Curtail The Spread Of Stink Bugs In Cargo
Wallenius Wilhelmsen, in partnership with Ogilvy Consulting and humble ventures, today announced the launch of the BioSecurity Challenge. Wallenius Wilhelmsen is seeking input to help inform a challenge that will identify solutions for the identification and treatment of stink bugs and other invasive species. Input and submission of ideas will be considered until mid-February 2020.
The brown marmorated stink bug was accidentally introduced to much of the world through its native Japan, Korea, and China. These stink bugs and other invasive species have negatively impacted global agriculture, supply chain, and shipping with no universal solution in sight. Invasive species, in the United States alone, cost more than $120 billion in damages each year.
“We are super excited to launch this global challenge to help address a real problem, not just for Wallenius Wilhelmsen, but for the whole industry. With the help of Ogilvy and Humble, we hope to engage global innovators to identify viable innovative solutions” says Alex Conjour, VP of Port and Cargo at Wallenius Wilhelmsen.
Countries have taken various approaches when implementing regulations to control the spread of invasive species. But, ultimately, the cost of these regulations impact the commercial shipping industry. For example, in Australia/New Zealand, the countries have been doubling down on regulations and policies, which has led to zero-tolerance enforcement of the new regulations. These new policies have resulted in shippers having to invest in new technologies and processes due to the stink bug.
Economically, this invasive pest has devastating impacts on agriculture, logistics, and shipping ports. Authorities require mandatory pre-treatment of cargo originating from or transiting above a specified period from specific risk countries. Carefully vetting of cargo potentially harboring stink bugs can be cumbersome and costly in diversion costs, fueling, and retreatment. This provides an unprecedented opportunity to explore innovative and impactful solutions for shipping contamination-free cargo.
“Sustainable eradication sounds like an oxymoron, but it defines the innovative solutions we need to combat the spread of invasive species like the stink bug. We are looking for help to fortify the supply chain against bio-security risk with a targeted environmentally friendly treatment solution for RoRo cargo,” says Alex Conjour, VP of Port and Cargo at Wallenius Wilhelmsen.
The challenge calls on innovators from a variety of fields such as academia, startups, venture capital, shipping, logistics and transportation, local and national governments, large enterprise organizations, agriculture, biology, and entomology.
By the middle of February, we will have assessed all of the submissions, input, and feedback. We will share our initial learnings on the BioSecurity Challenge website. The finalists will present to judges who will then select their innovative solutions and decide on the next stage gate. Phase 2 of the challenge will officially launch in March 2020.
For more information about collaborating to identify solutions for the identification of stink bugs and submitting your idea, visit BioSecurityChallenge.com.
About Wallenius Wilhelmsen
We are Wallenius Wilhelmsen, a market leader in RoRo shipping and vehicle logistics, managing the distribution of cars, trucks, rolling equipment and breakbulk to customers all over the world.
We are 9,500 dedicated employees in 29 countries worldwide, headquartered in Oslo, Norway. Our main brands are Wallenius Wilhelmsen Ocean, Wallenius Wilhelmsen Solutions, EUKOR, ARC, and Armacup.
We operate around 130 vessels servicing 15 trade routes to six continents, together with a global inland distribution network, 120 processing centers, and 11 marine terminals. Our purpose is to build sustainable supply chains, imagining new, more sustainable solutions for the changing world of mobility and transport on land and sea. Our goal is a zero-emission full-lifecycle supply chain for vehicles; working in partnership with customers and business partners we can get there.
The world will keep surprising us, and we will take an active role in defining the future of logistics.
About Ogilvy
We are the global strategy and innovation arm of the world’s greatest creative network, The Ogilvy Group.
At Ogilvy Consulting, we believe in the power of brand, customer experience, data and technology to transform businesses, and drive growth. In an era of great fragmentation, brands are the connective tissue for complex organizations and global economies.
Strong customer-centric brands are proven to increase shareholder value and to drive market share, revenues and profits — future-proofing business performance.
About humble ventures
Humble Ventures is an inclusive alternative to venture capital.
We are a venture development firm that accelerates growth for tech-enabled startups in partnership with established organizations and investors.
We focus on diverse entrepreneurs that are solving problems for the fastest growing demographic segments. We believe that diverse entrepreneurs provide opportunities for disproportionate returns and represent the markets of the future.
