Franklin, TN – April 25, 2023 – ProvisionAI is now the only provider of a patented, optimized replenishment transportation scheduling solution. The patent, “Managing Optimization of a Network Flow,” is a proven way to optimize the cost and service of a deployment transportation network. The patent was issued for ProvisionAI’s LevelLoad solution.
“We are excited to be rewarded with this patent as LevelLoad has saved millions in warehouse and transportation costs while improving customer service for clients,” says Thomas A. Moore, Founder and CEO of ProvisionAI. “It has solved the problem defined by a VP of Transportation, ‘We deploy, at a premium cost, product that may not be needed, from sites that may struggle to ship it to and sites that may not be able to receive it.’ The combination of holistic network optimization, smart early tendering, and load-size maximization has reduced supply-chain volatility and cut costs. My hat is off to our team of practical data scientists and logisticians who bridged the gap between planning and execution. Now clients’ deployment plans work.”
The patent, in typical legal fashion, reads, “A method, system, and/or computer usable program product for managing optimization of a transportation network system including identifying a set of terms for transportation between a set of origins and a set of destinations during a set of time periods, prioritizing each of the set of items, utilization a set of network constraints and costs, utilizing a set of loading constraints for a set of transportation units, the loading constraints limiting the quantity and placement of items for each transportation unit, optimizing a quantity of the set of transportation units for transporting the set of items between the set of origins and the set of destinations during the set of time periods based on the prioritization of each of the set of items, the network constraints and costs, and the loading constraints for each transportation units, and adjusting the optimized quantity of transportation units to a discrete quantity based on the prioritization of each of the set of items and the network constraints and costs.”
The patent claims:
• Identifies a set of deployment transportation lanes based on each product's prioritization, network constraints, costs, and loading constraints for each truck.
• Adjusts the optimized quantity of transportation units based on a discrete quantity of available transport units.
• Creates network rewards and penalties for transporting items during time periods other than the identified specific time periods.
• Simulates loading of the transportation units with a set of items in accordance with the loading constraints.
• Identifies which of the optimized quantity of transportation units must be committed for utilization.
ProvisionAI's innovative solution harnesses the power of demand and supply-planning systems and combines transportation data with the overall network's constraints. It performs daily optimization and generates a globally optimized replenishment transportation schedule, recommending early trucking capacity reservations across the entire network. To achieve this seamless flow, ProvisionAI employs standard operations research techniques and reinforcement learning—a cutting-edge AI approach—that effectively reduces transportation and warehouse costs.
By addressing demand fluctuations, ProvisionAI's solution streamlines the product flow on each lane from day to day. It carefully assesses supply-plan requirements and previously tendered truck capacity, then intelligently loads containers to ensure that the highest priority items are shipped first. This approach creates a smooth, optimized flow of products throughout the supply chain.
About ProvisionAI
ProvisionAI provides global manufacturers with a transportation scheduling solution featuring optimized, capacity-constrained replenishment. LevelLoad, the flagship offering, attains long-term transportation planning objectives despite the realities of supply chain network constraints. The results include fuller loads, higher use of preferred freight carriers, and overall lower costs. Clients save millions by tendering loads early to reserve preferred carriers, filling truckloads optimally to minimize wasted capacity, improving customer order fulfillment, and ratcheting down costs. The patented technology was developed over five years by a team of logistics optimization experts that studied shippers like Unilever, Baxter, P&G, and Kimberly-Clark. For more information, visit www.provisionai.com.
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 U.S. manufacturing sector has become an engine of new job creation over the past four years, thanks to a combination of federal incentives and mega-trends like nearshoring and the clean energy boom, according to the industrial real estate firm Savills.
While those manufacturing announcements have softened slightly from their 2022 high point, they remain historically elevated. And the sector’s growth outlook remains strong, regardless of the results of the November U.S. presidential election, the company said in its September “Savills Manufacturing Report.”
From 2021 to 2024, over 995,000 new U.S. manufacturing jobs were announced, with two thirds in advanced sectors like electric vehicles (EVs) and batteries, semiconductors, clean energy, and biomanufacturing. After peaking at 350,000 news jobs in 2022, the growth pace has slowed, with 2024 expected to see just over half that number.
But the ingredients are in place to sustain the hot temperature of American manufacturing expansion in 2025 and beyond, the company said. According to Savills, that’s because the U.S. manufacturing revival is fueled by $910 billion in federal incentives—including the Inflation Reduction Act, CHIPS and Science Act, and Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act—much of which has not yet been spent. Domestic production is also expected to be boosted by new tariffs, including a planned rise in semiconductor tariffs to 50% in 2025 and an increase in tariffs on Chinese EVs from 25% to 100%.
Certain geographical regions will see greater manufacturing growth than others, since just eight states account for 47% of new manufacturing jobs and over 6.3 billion square feet of industrial space, with 197 million more square feet under development. They are: Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Ohio, North Carolina, South Carolina, Texas, and Tennessee.
Across the border, Mexico’s manufacturing sector has also seen “revolutionary” growth driven by nearshoring strategies targeting U.S. markets and offering lower-cost labor, with a workforce that is now even cheaper than in China. Over the past four years, that country has launched 27 new plants, each creating over 500 jobs. Unlike the U.S. focus on tech manufacturing, Mexico focuses on traditional sectors such as automative parts, appliances, and consumer goods.
Looking at the future, the U.S. manufacturing sector’s growth outlook remains strong, regardless of the results of November’s presidential election, Savills said. That’s because both candidates favor protectionist trade policies, and since significant change to federal incentives would require a single party to control both the legislative and executive branches. Rather than relying on changes in political leadership, future growth of U.S. manufacturing now hinges on finding affordable, reliable power amid increasing competition between manufacturing sites and data centers, Savills said.
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.