E2Open acquires INTTRA in move to expand its supply chain data network with ocean container capacity visibility
Combined platforms will also grow E2Open's customer base of large shippers by adding INTTRA's market of freight forwarders and smaller retailers and manufacturers, firms say.
Ben Ames has spent 20 years as a journalist since starting out as a daily newspaper reporter in Pennsylvania in 1995. From 1999 forward, he has focused on business and technology reporting for a number of trade journals, beginning when he joined Design News and Modern Materials Handling magazines. Ames is author of the trail guide "Hiking Massachusetts" and is a graduate of the Columbia School of Journalism.
Supply chain planning software vendor E2open Inc. is continuing to consolidate its position in the logistics tech field with yet another acquisition—its fifth since 2016—announcing today that it has bought the ocean shipping networkprovider INTTRA Inc. in a move to expand its network of supply chain data, visibility, and decision-making tools.
INTTRA, with headquarters in Parsippany, N.J., is a software and information provider that supports an ocean carrier and shipper network. Founded in 2001 by a consortium of ocean carriers, INTTRA has created a global, neutral, multi-carrier network across 177 countries with more than 35,000 active shippers, 60 carriers, and 150 integrations with transportation management and port system software partners, the firm says. In 2017, INTTRA acquired the Belgian firm Avantida in a move to extend those ocean movements into land-based activities and address container reuse and repositioning for ocean carriers, transport companies, terminals, depots, and others.
Austin, Texas-based E2open said combining that network with its own platform will create a broad system that strengthens connections and streamlines information flow between manufacturers, suppliers, shipping service providers, ocean carriers, and other global trade partners.
Terms of the deal were not disclosed. The transaction is expected to close by the end of 2018, pending federal regulatory approval for anti-trust issues.
Following completion of the deal, INTTRA will operate as its own business unit, focused on the freight forwarder, third party logistics (3PL) provider, and ocean carrier communities, while E2Open retains its focus on serving large shippers and beneficial cargo owners (BCOs), E2Open CEO Michael Farlekas said in an interview.
By expanding the range of supply chain data stored natively on its cloud-based platform, E2Open expects to be able to offer its clients improved visibility over freight and inventory movement, as well as enhanced decision-making processes through its forecasting, planning, and collaboration tools, he said.
That approach is also expected to help E2Open gain access to new market sectors, including the freight forwarder community and the smaller sized shippers that make up one-third of the freight booked through INTTRA's platform, Farlekas said. In comparison, E2Open's current customer base is focused squarely on tier-one brands and the largest shippers in each sector, he said.
The purchase was the latest move by E2open, which has been on an aggressive buying spree in the sector, most recently acquiring the transportation management system (TMS) provider Cloud Logistics, as well as channel data management (CDM) platform provider Zyme, business process software provider Steelwedge Software Inc., and demand-forecasting tool vendor Terra Technology.
Those assets will now join INTTRA in falling under E2open's single umbrella as a cloud-based provider of networked supply chain solutions, the company said. "The combination provides value to all stakeholders - manufacturers, logistics service providers, freight forwarders and ocean carriers," Farlekas said in a release. "We aim to bridge the gap between manufacturing and logistics with execution capabilities on a unified platform with real-time end-to-end visibility. Shippers will be able to better leverage ocean shipping efficiency, ocean carriers will be able to improve customer experience, and freight-forwarders will be more effective in multi-modal and integrated logistics operations to help grow their respective businesses."
According to E2Open, the combined companies will offer deep integrations with logistics service providers (LSPs), from third-party, fourth-party, freight forwarders, non-vessel owning common carriers (NVOCCs), and carriers servicing all modes of transportation - air, road, rail and ocean.
Supply chain planning (SCP) leaders working on transformation efforts are focused on two major high-impact technology trends, including composite AI and supply chain data governance, according to a study from Gartner, Inc.
"SCP leaders are in the process of developing transformation roadmaps that will prioritize delivering on advanced decision intelligence and automated decision making," Eva Dawkins, Director Analyst in Gartner’s Supply Chain practice, said in a release. "Composite AI, which is the combined application of different AI techniques to improve learning efficiency, will drive the optimization and automation of many planning activities at scale, while supply chain data governance is the foundational key for digital transformation.”
Their pursuit of those roadmaps is often complicated by frequent disruptions and the rapid pace of technological innovation. But Gartner says those leaders can accelerate the realized value of technology investments by facilitating a shift from IT-led to business-led digital leadership, with SCP leaders taking ownership of multidisciplinary teams to advance business operations, channels and products.
“A sound data governance strategy supports advanced technologies, such as composite AI, while also facilitating collaboration throughout the supply chain technology ecosystem,” said Dawkins. “Without attention to data governance, SCP leaders will likely struggle to achieve their expected ROI on key technology investments.”
The British logistics robot vendor Dexory this week said it has raised $80 million in venture funding to support an expansion of its artificial intelligence (AI) powered features, grow its global team, and accelerate the deployment of its autonomous robots.
A “significant focus” continues to be on expanding across the U.S. market, where Dexory is live with customers in seven states and last month opened a U.S. headquarters in Nashville. The Series B will also enhance development and production facilities at its UK headquarters, the firm said.
The “series B” funding round was led by DTCP, with participation from Latitude Ventures, Wave-X and Bootstrap Europe, along with existing investors Atomico, Lakestar, Capnamic, and several angels from the logistics industry. With the close of the round, Dexory has now raised $120 million over the past three years.
Dexory says its product, DexoryView, provides real-time visibility across warehouses of any size through its autonomous mobile robots and AI. The rolling bots use sensor and image data and continuous data collection to perform rapid warehouse scans and create digital twins of warehouse spaces, allowing for optimized performance and future scenario simulations.
Originally announced in September, the move will allow Deutsche Bahn to “fully focus on restructuring the rail infrastructure in Germany and providing climate-friendly passenger and freight transport operations in Germany and Europe,” Werner Gatzer, Chairman of the DB Supervisory Board, said in a release.
For its purchase price, DSV gains an organization with around 72,700 employees at over 1,850 locations. The new owner says it plans to investment around one billion euros in coming years to promote additional growth in German operations. Together, DSV and Schenker will have a combined workforce of approximately 147,000 employees in more than 90 countries, earning pro forma revenue of approximately $43.3 billion (based on 2023 numbers), DSV said.
After removing that unit, Deutsche Bahn retains its core business called the “Systemverbund Bahn,” which includes passenger transport activities in Germany, rail freight activities, operational service units, and railroad infrastructure companies. The DB Group, headquartered in Berlin, employs around 340,000 people.
“We have set clear goals to structurally modernize Deutsche Bahn in the areas of infrastructure, operations and profitability and focus on the core business. The proceeds from the sale will significantly reduce DB’s debt and thus make an important contribution to the financial stability of the DB Group. At the same time, DB Schenker will gain a strong strategic owner in DSV,” Deutsche Bahn CEO Richard Lutz said in a release.
Transportation industry veteran Anne Reinke will become president & CEO of trade group the Intermodal Association of North America (IANA) at the end of the year, stepping into the position from her previous post leading third party logistics (3PL) trade group the Transportation Intermediaries Association (TIA), both organizations said today.
Meanwhile, TIA today announced that insider Christopher Burroughs would fill Reinke’s shoes as president & CEO. Burroughs has been with TIA for 13 years, most recently as its vice president of Government Affairs for the past six years, during which time he oversaw all legislative and regulatory efforts before Congress and the federal agencies.
Before her four years leading TIA, Reinke spent two years as Deputy Assistant Secretary with the U.S. Department of Transportation and 16 years with CSX Corporation.
Serious inland flooding and widespread power outages are likely to sweep across Florida and other Southeast states in coming days with the arrival of Hurricane Helene, which is now predicted to make landfall Thursday evening along Florida’s northwest coast as a major hurricane, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).
While the most catastrophic landfall impact is expected in the sparsely-population Big Bend area of Florida, it’s not only sea-front cities that are at risk. Since Helene is an “unusually large storm,” its flooding, rainfall, and high winds won’t be limited only to the Gulf Coast, but are expected to travel hundreds of miles inland, the weather service said. Heavy rainfall is expected to begin in the region even before the storm comes ashore, and the wet conditions will continue to move northward into the southern Appalachians region through Friday, dumping storm total rainfall amounts of up to 18 inches. Specifically, the major flood risk includes the urban areas around Tallahassee, metro Atlanta, and western North Carolina.
In addition to its human toll, the storm could exert serious business impacts, according to the supply chain mapping and monitoring firm Resilinc. Those will be largely triggered by significant flooding, which could halt oil operations, force mandatory evacuations, restrict ports, and disrupt air traffic.
While the storm’s track is currently forecast to miss the critical ports of Miami and New Orleans, it could still hurt operations throughout the Southeast agricultural belt, which produces products like soybeans, cotton, peanuts, corn, and tobacco, according to Everstream Analytics.
That widespread footprint could also hinder supply chain and logistics flows along stretches of interstate highways I-10 and I-75 and on regional rail lines operated by Norfolk Southern and CSX. And Hurricane Helene could also likely impact business operations by unleashing power outages, deep flooding, and wind damage in northern Florida portions of Georgia, Everstream Analytics said.
Before the storm had even touched Florida soil, recovery efforts were already being launched by humanitarian aid group the American Logistics Aid Network (ALAN). In a statement on Wednesday, the group said it is urging residents in the storm's path across the Southeast to heed evacuation notices and safety advisories, and reminding members of the logistics community that their post-storm help could be needed soon. The group will continue to update its Disaster Micro-Site with Hurricane Helene resources and with requests for donated logistics assistance, most of which will start arriving within 24 to 72 hours after the storm’s initial landfall, ALAN said.