When it comes to logistics technology, the pace of innovation has never been faster. In recent years, the market has been inundated by waves of cool new tech tools, all promising to help users enhance their operations and cope with today’s myriad supply chain challenges.
But that ever-expanding array of offerings can make it difficult to separate the wheat from the chaff—technology that’s the real deal versus technology that’s just “vaporware,” meaning products that don’t live up to their hype and may even still be in the conceptual stage.
One way to cut through the confusion is to check out the entries for the “3 V’s of Supply Chain Innovation Awards,” an annual competition held by the Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals (CSCMP). This competition, which is hosted by DC Velocity’s sister publication, Supply Chain Xchange, and supply chain visionary and 3 V’s framework creator Art Mesher, recognizes companies that have parlayed the 3 V’s—“embracing variability, harnessing visibility, and competing with velocity”—into business success and advanced the practice of supply chain management. Awards are presented in two categories: the “Business Innovation Award,” which recognizes more established businesses, and the “Best Overall Innovative Startup/Early Stage Award,” which recognizes newer companies.
The judging for this year’s competition—the second annual contest—took place at CSCMP’s EDGE Supply Chain Conference & Exhibition in September, where the three finalists for each award presented their innovations via a fast-paced “elevator pitch.” (To watch a video of the presentations, visit the Supply Chain Xchange website.)
What follows is a brief look at the six companies that made the competition’s final round and the latest updates on their achievements:
Arkestro: This San Francisco-based firm offers a predictive procurement orchestration solution that uses machine learning (ML) and behavioral science to revolutionize sourcing, eliminating the need for outdated manual tools like pivot tables and for labor-intensive negotiations. Instead, procurement teams can process quotes and secure optimal supplier agreements at a speed and accuracy that would be impossible to achieve manually, the firm says.
The company recently joined the Amazon Web Services (AWS) Partner Network (APN), which it says will help it reach its goal of elevating procurement from a cost center to a strategic growth engine.
AutoScheduler.AI: This Austin, Texas-based company offers a predictive warehouse optimization platform that integrates with a user’s existing warehouse management system (WMS) and “accelerates” its ability to resolve problems like dock schedule conflicts, inefficient workforce allocation, poor on-time/in-full (OTIF) performance, and excessive intra-campus moves.
“We’re here to make the warehouse sexy,” the firm says on its website. “With our deep background in building machine learning solutions, everything delivered by the AutoScheduler team is designed to provide value by learning your challenges, environment, and best practices.” Privately funded up until this summer, the company recently secured venture capital funding that it will use to accelerate its growth and enhance its technologies.
Davinci Micro Fulfillment: Located in Bound Brook, New Jersey, Davinci operates a “microfulfillment as a service” platform that helps users expedite inventory turnover while reducing operating expenses by leveraging what it calls the “4 Ps of global distribution”—product, placement, price, and promotion. The firm operates a network of microfulfillment centers across the U.S., offering services that include front-end merchandising and network optimization.
Within the past year, the company raised seed funding to help enhance its technology capabilities.
Flying Ship: Headquartered in Leesburg, Virginia, Flying Ship has designed an unmanned, low-flying “ground-effect maritime craft” that moves freight over the ocean in coastal regions. Although the Flying Ship looks like a small aircraft or large drone, it is classified as a maritime vessel because it does not leave the air cushion over the waves, similar to a hovercraft.
The first-generation models are 30 feet long, electrically powered, and semi-autonomous. They can dock at existing marinas, beaches, and boat ramps to deliver goods, providing service that the company describes as faster than boats and cheaper than air. The firm says the next-generation models will be fully autonomous.
Flying Ship, which was honored with the Best Overall Startup Award in this year’s 3 V’s competition, is currently preparing to fly demo missions with the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL).
Perfect Planner: Based in Alpharetta, Georgia, Perfect Planner operates a cloud-based platform that’s designed to streamline the material planning and replenishment process. The technology collects, organizes, and analyzes data from a business’s material requirements planning (MRP) system to create daily “to-do lists” for material planners/buyers, with the “to-dos” ranked in order of criticality. The solution also uses advanced analytics to “understand” and address inventory shortages and surpluses.
Perfect Planner was honored with the Business Innovation Award in this year’s 3 V’s competition.
ProvisionAi: Located in Franklin, Tennessee, ProvisionAi has developed load optimization software that helps consumer packaged goods (CPG) companies move their freight with fewer trucks, thereby cutting their transportation costs. The firm says its flagship offering is an automatic order optimization (AutoO2) system that bolts onto a company’s existing enterprise resource planning (ERP) or WMS platform and guides larger orders through execution, ensuring that what is planned is actually loaded on the truck. The firm’s CEO and founder, Tom Moore, was recognized as a 2024 Rainmaker by this magazine.
