Software and Technology
Locus Robotics | October 17, 2023
Locus Robotics, the market leader in autonomous mobile robots (AMR) for fulfillment warehouses, today announced the appointments of Kian Sin Ng as General Manager, APAC, and Joel Collins as Chief Legal Officer. These executives join Locus Robotics' leadership team as the company continues expanding globally to serve growing customer demand.
Kian Sin Ng brings over two decades of experience leading teams and optimizing supply chain operations across Asia Pacific. As GM of APAC, he will oversee Locus's strategic growth and customer success in the region. Previously, Kian held senior positions with DHL Supply Chain and Singapore Post, driving innovation in warehouse automation and logistics.
As Chief Legal Officer, Joel Collins will lead Locus's global legal operations. Collins has served as the Chief Legal Officer/General Counsel of both private and public companies. Previously, he was Chief Legal Officer at Benefitfocus, and Chief Legal Officer & SVP of Business Development at Quick Base.
"Kian and Joel both have outstanding track records leading high-performing teams and advising companies during growth phases," said Rick Faulk, CEO of Locus Robotics. "Their expertise will be invaluable as we continue expanding our market-leading robotics solutions to help customers across the globe transform their warehouse and fulfillment operations."
The appointments follow a year of record growth for Locus Robotics, including Locus reaching an industry-first 2 billion pick milestone and the expansion to over 230 sites worldwide. Locus solutions drives massive productivity gains, labor reductions, and cost savings at leading brands across retail, ecommerce, logistics, healthcare, and industrial channels.
"We are delighted to welcome Kian Sin and Joel to the Locus team," said Denis Niezgoda, vice president, EMEA & APAC of Locus Robotics. "Their extensive experience and proven leadership capabilities will help us to continue to drive our company's growth and success around the world as a global leader in supply chain solutions."
About Locus Robotics
Locus Robotics is the world leader in revolutionary, enterprise-level, warehouse automation solution, incorporating powerful and intelligent autonomous mobile robots (AMRs) that operate collaboratively with human workers to dramatically improve product movement and productivity 2–3X. Named to the Inc. 500 three years in a row, and winning over 25 industry and technology awards, the Locus solution dramatically increases order fulfillment productivity, lowers operational costs, and improves workplace quality, safety, and ergonomics for workers.
Supporting more than 100+ of the world's top brands and deployed at 250+ sites around the world, Locus Robotics enables retailers, 3PLs and specialty warehouses to efficiently meet and exceed the increasingly complex and demanding requirements of today's fulfillment environments.
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Supply Chain
PR Newswire | October 06, 2023
Noodle.ai is thrilled to announce the addition of supply chain veteran and thought leader Trevor Miles joining Noodle.ai's mission to create a world without waste. Trevor's expertise in supply chain extends the depth of Noodle.ai supply chain focus and complements leading data science in their supply chain A.I. products.
"I joined Noodle.ai because the team has created products that solve the most pressing problems facing Supply Chain professionals. Everyday supply chains operate with uncertain demand, and uncertain supply. We must move to probabilistic planning systems that exploit the uncertainties to help us all make better bets and tailor risks. Existing deterministic planning systems ignore uncertainty and therefore generate hopelessly optimistic plans and give you no understanding of the risks associated with the plan." said Trevor Milles.
An Unparalleled Infusion of Expertise
"Trevor brings an unprecedented supply chain depth of domain knowledge and technical acumen to Noodle.ai," says Stephen Pratt, CEO of Noodle.ai. "He exemplifies the transformative, intelligent, and efficient solutions our company aims to deliver to business executives who are tired of the same old systems using the same old math."
The Dynamic Legacy of Trevor Miles
Trevor Miles cultivated a career that defies the traditional limits of supply chain management. Trevor, known for his eclectic blend of theoretical and practical skills, states, "I've always sought to challenge the status quo, looking for opportunities to innovate and improve existing systems." He continues, "I have long advocated for a change in approach to Supply Chain Planning based on the need to re-think the basic APICS definitions of siloed processes both horizontally - Buy, Make, Move, Store, Sell, Return - and vertically - Strategic, Tactical, Operational, and Execution. Much of this is captured in the terms Concurrent Planning and Network Planner which I coined while at Kinaxis."
Noodle.ai and Trevor: A Symbiotic Partnership
Both Trevor and Noodle.ai share a vision for the future of AI in supply chain management. Tim Krug, CRO of Noodle.ai, elaborates: "Trevor brings a refreshing, disruptive approach to solving age-old problems. Whether we like it or not, everyday supply chain decisions are bets because they have uncertain outcomes with significant financial consequences. The fatal flaw of all current planning systems', deterministic math, leads executives to make bad bets that create economic and environmental waste. I'm excited about the role Trevor will play as we look to help the industry take advantage of modern data science, compute power and the power of probabilities to make better bets, conquer waste, and boost profit.
Looking Forward: The Journey Begins
Influenced by Noodle.ai's culture of open dialogue and innovative projects, Trevor envisions a "industry transformation from AI-driven demand and supply predictions, proactive supply chain risk management, and generative AI based supply plan corrections." Trevor states, "What Noodle.ai offers me is the opportunity to explore the next evolution of planning technology.
In my career in and around the supply chain I've seen game-changing technology demonstrated twice. The first was at Kinaxis when I saw the power of in-seconds what-if simulations across demand and supply which enabled concurrent planning and network planning. The second was seeing Noodle.ai's applications of predictive and generative AI. What struck me as I evaluated the opportunity with Noodle.ai is that Supply Chain Executives don't have to wait to benefit from all the generative AI hype ushered in by ChatGPT. I was frustrated by the lack of practical applications of AI and the gap between what technology vendors have been communicating and what can actually be delivered. But, with Noodle.ai the opportunity is here to disrupt legacy supply chain processes we all know do not work and are reinforced by siloed systems. Noodle.ai has figured out how to get started solving the fatal flaw of every current planning system that forces you to pursue certainty and creates a plan that isn't feasible and never gets executed.
About Noodle.ai
Noodle.ai is a system of intelligence that supercharges your current planning and transaction systems with the power of probabilities. Unlike traditional systems that rely on fixed rules and simplified assumptions, Noodle.ai uses cutting-edge AI/ML technology to conquer variability and improve your decision-making process. With risk-adjusted recommendations and automated workflows, you'll achieve unprecedented productivity, service levels, and cost savings in your supply chain.
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Supply Chain
FourKites | September 11, 2023
FourKites, a renowned leader in supply chain visibility solutions, has unveiled a groundbreaking innovation with the launch of Fin AI, a natural language interface. FourKites is ushering in a new era of supply chain visibility and decision-making. This cutting-edge technology is designed to empower supply chain professionals by surfacing invaluable insights, identifying optimization opportunities, and automating critical tasks. The launch signifies a pivotal step in addressing the prevalent issue of data silos and transforming supply chain management from a reactive to a proactive paradigm.
Leveraging the power of generative artificial intelligence, Fin AI offers users an intuitive natural language interface, enabling them to assess the impact of disruptive events, diagnose tracking anomalies, and access product guidance seamlessly across the FourKites suite. This transformative solution aims to elevate real-time, data-driven decision-making in supply chain management.
With its extensive capabilities and access to a vast supply chain data network, the company is well-positioned to continue driving innovation in the industry. FourKites provides even more value to its customers by tracking over 3 million shipments daily and providing a wealth of supply chain data, including estimated arrival times and miles tracked. Fin AI's potential extends beyond insights into optimizing labor, transportation, and inventory to automating various workflows, providing a comprehensive solution for supply chain management. The announcement of Fin AI at Visibility 2023, attended by supply chain leaders from renowned brands worldwide, highlights the company's commitment to shaping the future of supply chain visibility and efficiency.
Mathew Elenjickal, FourKites Founder and CEO, commented,
FourKites is proud to be building at the leading edge of supply chain data and AI. With Fin AI, we are giving our customers greater depth and breadth of actionable insights across their supply chains, further empowering them to focus on information and decisions that will move their businesses forward. Over time, automation through Fin AI will act as a direct extension of the capabilities of those who use it.
[Source – Business Wire]
Brett Frankenberg, Senior Vice President, Technology, Process, & Systems at Coca-Cola Consolidated, emphasized that the most significant advantage for logistics professionals is the ability to streamline time-consuming processes and harness data for quicker, more informed choices. He noted that FourKites' introduction of Fin AI makes a wealth of data readily accessible to users, enabling them to prioritize more valuable responsibilities and initiate proactive transformations within their supply chains.
About FourKites
FourKites, a leading global supply chain visibility platform, is renowned for its expertise in extending visibility throughout the supply chain, encompassing yards, warehouses, retail locations, and beyond. With a daily tracking capacity exceeding 3 million shipments, spanning road, rail, ocean, air, parcel, and last-mile deliveries, FourKites operates in over 200 countries and territories worldwide. The company leverages real-time data and advanced machine learning techniques to enable organizations to digitize their end-to-end supply chain operations. Trusted by over 1,200 of the world's most prominent brands, including nine of the top-10 Consumer Packaged Goods (CPG) and 18 of the top-20 food and beverage companies, FourKites empowers businesses to achieve greater agility, efficiency, and sustainability within their supply chains.
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Supply Chain
Business Wire | October 31, 2023
Just in time for the peak holiday shopping season, Sendle has bolstered its delivery network in Canada with the opening of more than 300 drop-off locations in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA), Montreal, and Vancouver. Canadian small businesses that choose to ship with Sendle now have the ultimate flexibility and choice when it comes to parcel delivery – they can either drop off their parcels where and when it’s convenient for them or have them picked up at their door.
With over 500% growth in those using the drop off parcel service since Sendle launched drop-off locations in Toronto this summer, it’s clear that small businesses want choice. And, unlike Canada Post, there are no extra charges, no hidden costs, and no minimum delivery spend requirements for those that use Sendle; small businesses simply get the lowest parcel delivery prices in Canada and convenient drop-off or pick-up delivery options that meet their needs. As Lauren Helstab, Sendle’s country manager for Canada, notes, “You have to pay more for flexibility with Canada Post, but not with Sendle.”
As a company that prioritizes the needs of small business, Sendle listens when its customers request new features. A drop-off option was the second most requested feature by small businesses behind cross-border delivery, a service that Sendle launched in April this year. Adding conveniently located drop-off locations complements Sendle’s door-to-door parcel delivery service, giving small business owners flexibility for those times when they are on the move, to suit their business hours, or if it’s simply their preference. The convenient drop off locations include spots that operate 24/7 such as retail and convenience stores, providing even greater flexibility when small businesses are pressed for time.
Sendle works fast to help small businesses save time and money. “We recently launched our Peak Relief program as a way to support Canadian small businesses this holiday season. We lowered all our rates – which now start from $6.65 – and committed to no peak surcharges for the remainder of 2023 while Canada Post increased their rates by more than 3%,” says Helstab. “At Sendle, we see a bright future for small businesses when they have access to a service that understands their needs and provides flexible and convenient delivery options for time-poor business owners that don't break the bank. The opening of our new drop-off locations is another way we are enabling small business owners to choose when and how they ship to their customers.”
“As Sendle continues to expand our network and service in Canada, small businesses can count on us to provide the most cost-effective, tailored parcel delivery services, ensuring their unique needs are met," adds Helstab. “For this year’s peak delivery season, we encourage small businesses across the country to stop settling for the status quo. At a time when costs have skyrocketed, Sendle is putting small businesses first by providing an affordable service that delivers conveniently flexible options without any added expense.”
About Sendle
Sendle levels the playing field for small businesses by offering simple, affordable shipping across Canada and across the border to the U.S., with no hidden fees, subscriptions, or warehousing required. Merchants simply purchase a label and their parcels can be picked up from their front door. Sendle is also the first 100% carbon neutral shipping carrier in Canada and is a Certified B Corporation and Climate Neutral Certified. The company was founded in Australia in 2014 and is headquartered in Sydney, Australia; Seattle, Washington; and Toronto, Canada.
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