SUPPLY CHAIN
FourKites | September 01, 2021
FourKites®, the world’s leading real-time supply chain visibility platform, has released powerful new capabilities designed to help shippers, carriers and forwarders more quickly and easily collaborate to increase end customer satisfaction, reduce supply chain costs and increase on-time delivery performance. With ever-increasing demand, supply chain visibility has become table stakes for modern supply chains, and seamless connection and communication between carriers and shippers has never been more important. FourKites’ combination of swift carrier connections, powerful collaboration tools and the industry’s highest-quality real-time logistics data provides shippers and their forwarder/carrier partners with robust assurances of rapid, frictionless implementation and faster time to value.
Instant Messenger, now with extended capabilities that allow shippers to chat directly with forwarders and carriers, gives supply chain partners the ability to view and share important information and resolve issues together, in real time. Without leaving the FourKites platform, track-and-trace and dispatch workers, drivers and warehouse personnel can view the critical information that affects shipments and deliveries — all in one single interface. Users can share documents, photographs and notes for any given load, as well as form online workgroups and control access as needed.
CarrierLink®, the industry’s most downloaded visibility app for drivers, now includes improved turn-by-turn navigation for better route optimisation; mobile check-in; and new capabilities for updating appointment times, adding notes to loads and uploading paperwork. It also features enhanced capabilities for viewing fuel stops, weigh stations, location ratings and amenities along routes.
"We have hundreds of carriers within our network, from the courier side to the truckload side. When it comes to onboarding, FourKites has been fantastic,” said Josh Dolan, VP of Global Logistics, Cardinal Health. “They've done a phenomenal job working with carriers through the process and helping us fill the gap with new technologies that simplify and speed up onboarding, and enhance communication between Cardinal Health and our partners."
The German multinational Bayer saves time while increasing customer satisfaction thanks to FourKites’ supply chain visibility platform. The impact has already been so strong that the company has made visibility an essential part of its long term strategy.
“Every day, our carriers automatically share location data with our FourKites platform on hundreds of loads throughout Europe,” says Edmund Jager, Head of Distribution EMEA at Bayer. “We are able to track our products minute by minute and, in real time, pass on detailed arrival times to our customers. This means the distributors we supply always know their stock situation and end customers can depend on us to get them the seeds and crop protection they need, when they need them. We look forward to onboarding more carriers and so strengthen our customer-centric approach.”
In addition, FourKites recently announced its industry-first Tracking Quality Guarantee, which establishes the highest standards in supply chain data, guaranteeing real-time visibility and predictive intelligence into a minimum of 90% of customers’ shipments — end-to-end and across every mode and geography. This differentiated approach gives supply chain partners the collaborative opportunities and network effects they need to improve customer satisfaction and optimise their supply chain performance.
“As the first mover and leading innovator in real-time visibility and supply chain management solutions, FourKites is committed to helping shippers, forwarders and carriers achieve end-to-end supply chain visibility faster, and with assurances of the highest-quality tracking in the industry,” said FourKites founder and CEO Mathew Elenjickal. “We are excited to make these powerful new capabilities available to the community to enable greater collaboration and communication, and ultimately, value.”
About FourKites
FourKites® is the #1 supply chain visibility platform in the world, extending visibility beyond transportation into yards, warehouses, stores and beyond. Tracking more than 2 million shipments daily across road, rail, ocean, air, parcel and courier, and reaching 176 countries, FourKites combines real-time data and powerful machine learning to help companies digitise their end-to-end supply chains. More than 600 of the world’s most recognised brands — including 9 of the top-10 CPG and 18 of the top-20 food and beverage companies — trust FourKites to transform their business and create more agile, efficient and sustainable supply chains.
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SOFTWARE AND TECHNOLOGY
TransImpact | September 08, 2021
TransImpact announces the launch of its new Parcel Spend Intelligence software developed to help shippers improve visibility and make better decisions about the billions of parcels shipped each year. Parcel Spend Intelligence analyzes the data that inundates logistics systems and converts it into meaningful dashboards and actionable insights that empower shippers to lower costs, gain control of their carrier relationships, and delight customers.
A feature unique to Parcel Spend Intelligence is customizable Alerts. Users receive an email notifying them of issues such as address corrections, overmax packages, dimensional billing, and other surcharges and accessorials imposed by the carriers. With one click, users can drill into the problem directly and take action. Alerts can be set for KPIs or any other metric contained in the shipping data.
"We've been working towards being able to offer shippers a tool this flexible and powerful for a long time," said Norm Pollock, TransImpact's Chief Technology Officer. "The carrier invoices are complicated, and our team of experts has spent years understanding all of the fields, how they relate, and which are relevant for analysis. By loading the data into our tool, a client gains flexibility to look at data in multiple ways and then take action based on that factual insight."
TransImpact will offer hands-on demonstrations of Parcel Spend Intelligence at the Parcel Forum trade show, September 14–16, 2021.
About TransImpact
TransImpact is an industry leader in the development and application of end-to-end technology-based solutions that optimize supply chain operations, create dramatic efficiencies, and transform the business performance of customers. Formerly known as Transportation Impact, the company now serves over 1,000 customers and manages over a billion dollars in logistics spend. Through expert industry knowledge, an unrivalled service ethic, and intelligent insights we champion our customers' success and help them pioneer future-focused, innovative strategies that keep them ahead. We pride ourselves on creating value for our customers—and in the process, turning them into raving fans.
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SUPPLY CHAIN
Beacon | October 04, 2021
Beacon, the digital supply chain and freight platform, has raised over $50 million in its Series B round, led by Northstar.vc. Upper90 also participated as a new investor. The fresh capital will be used to grow the team, continue the development of Beacon's technology and expand into new markets.
Since completing its Series A in early 2020, Beacon has experienced hyper growth as a result of surging customer demand. Revenue has grown 12x in the last 12 months, while the team has increased from 24 to 180, including expansion into Asia with a new office in Hong Kong.
Existing investors also participated in the Series B round, including Jeff Bezos, the founder and executive chair of Amazon, Marc Benioff, founder, chairman and CEO of Salesforce, as well as leading US venture capital firms 8VC and Expa.
The digital transformation of logistics, and supply chains more broadly, had begun before the onset of COVID-19, but the pandemic has accelerated this evolution. The continuing shift to online retail, combined with sky-high freight rates and consumer demand for faster, more reliable delivery times, has placed extraordinary pressure on businesses and their supply chains. One of the most effective ways for businesses to compete in this new environment is with full, digital visibility of their supply chains and logistics operations.
Beacon co-founder and CEO Fraser Robinson said: "We are extremely pleased with the progress to date, and this latest round of investment, from some of the leading names in business and technology, is an endorsement of our strategy and rapid growth.
We established Beacon to transform how businesses manage their supply chain and logistics operations. Since then, the COVID-19 pandemic has brought into the spotlight the importance of resilient, reliable, and transparent global supply chains, which has only served to reinforce the need for our technology and service.
We have seen high levels of demand throughout the pandemic, and in the last year we have significantly grown our team, product and geographical presence in order to meet this demand, while providing first-class customer service. These new funds will enable us to further accelerate growth by continuing to invest in our people and platform so that we can continue our mission to revolutionise the global supply chain."
Amir Karimpour, Managing Partner at Northstar.vc, said: "At Northstar, we back technologies that have the potential to alter the trajectory of their respective industries, and Beacon's game-changing platform has the potential to transform supply chains globally. We are excited to partner with Beacon's world class team as they continue to expand and create value for their customers."
Beacon is an integrated digital supply chain and freight platform, whose mission is to help businesses optimise their supply chains with end-to-end visibility, payments, and insights. The company offers a full range of services, including global ocean, air and road freight, customs clearance, insurance, reporting, data insights and supply chain finance, all accessed and managed in a single platform. From bookings to order management and live tracking, Beacon's secure cloud-based software connects the key players and milestones in customers' supply chains to provide a central combined view, and actionable insights. Beacon was founded in 2018 by CEO Fraser Robinson and COO Dmitri Izmailov, both former Uber executives.
About Beacon
Beacon is an integrated digital supply chain and freight platform, whose mission is to help businesses optimise their supply chains with end-to-end visibility, payments, and insights. The company offers a full range of services, including global ocean, air and road freight, customs clearance, insurance and supply chain finance, all accessed and managed in a single platform.
From bookings to order management and live tracking, Beacon's secure cloud-based software connects the key players and milestones in customers' supply chains to provide a central combined view, and actionable insights.
The company was founded in 2018 by CEO Fraser Robinson and COO Dmitri Izmailov, former Uber executives, creating a management team with deep expertise in logistics, technology, finance and hyper-growth. Beacon is headquartered in London and also has an office in Hong Kong.
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