The 10 Most Innovative Automotive Tech Solution Providers 2018

2019 | Volume-8 | Issue-5

www.insightssuccess.com COMPANY OF THE MONTH

Renee Krug, CEO, GlobalTranz

10

The

Best

LOGISTICS Tech Solution Providers 2019

Jason R. Ziegler President/CEO

MACGREGOR Setting the Standard for Logistics Technology Partners

Editor’s Desk 2019 | Volume-8 | Issue-5

www.insightssuccess.com COMPANY OF THE MONTH

Renee Krug, CEO, GlobalTranz

10

The

Best

LOGISTICS Tech Solution Providers 2019

Jason R. Ziegler President/CEO

MACGREGOR Setting the Standard for Logistics Technology Partners

The Beaming Future of Logistics

I

t’s the glorifying age of technology and digital disruptions; redefining and rejuvenating every sphere of our lives. With the help of technology, new paths towards a successful and easier life have been opened up. And almost every business has adopted these disruptions, except for a few.

The logistics industry has been going through massive and rapid evolution with latest technological innovations lately. Like all other fields, the adoption of digital disruption has become inevitable for the logistics industry also. In recent years, the industry has started to digitize and redefine its entire business model. This is mainly because of the customer’s increasing demand.

According to the World Economic Forum, between 2019 and 2015 there are $1.5 trillion worth in value for logistics operators and an additional $2.4 trillion in benefits for the company following the digital transformation of the industry.

It’s obvious that the logistics sector has introduced digital innovations at a slower pace than other industries which may entail enormous risks, which, if ignored, could potentially be catastrophic even for the largest players in the sector.

A recent survey by the World Economic Forum has pointed out the top five arenas that would be at the centre of the digital transformation for the logistics

industry. They are: (1) the use of Big Data; (2) the creation of digital platforms that allow daily deliveries to every part of the world; (3) new delivery capabilities through technologies such as digitalized, self-driving trucks and drones; (4) the adoption of circular economic methods reducing consumption and emissions; and (5) Sharing of logistics infrastructures.

The smart implementation of such trends must provide the logistics industry a new height of growth. We’ve approached a few such companies which are working towards digitizing the entire industry.

On the Cover of this issue, we’ve depicted the successful journey of MacGregor Partners. Founded in 2012, MacGregor sought to provide the JDA/RedPrairie community with a different breed of implementation partner – a partner willing to do whatever it took to ensure successful deployments of warehouse management systems (WMS) and warehouse labor management systems (WLM), and who was also focused on the long-term success and sustainability of the client’s solution.

Following the Cover Story, we’ve the Company of the Month, GlobalTranz which was founded in 2003 with a vision to deliver innovative technology to the Less-Than-Truckload (LTL) space that would allow shippers unprecedented visibility, options, flexibility and control over their LTL transportation. GlobalTranz combined ground-breaking technology with exceptional LTL rates and a rapidly-growing network of freight agents.

We interviewed SAFR Removals who is offering efficient freight solutions. Bradley Moore is the Founder and CEO of SAFR Removals, one of the more well-known logistics company in South Africa.

The list continues with Freightgate who started with internet-based Track & Trace and expanded the offerings from Tariffs into a fully functional global Logistics Cloud Platform.

Founded in 2011, Ubimax is the global market leader for Enterprise Wearable Computing and Augmented Reality Solutions. As a one-stop-shop, Ubimax provides an all-in-one solution-- Augmented Reality software, Wearable Computing devices, configuration and deployment services, as well as support.

While flipping through, don’t forget to have a look at Tech-Trend: 5 Key Logistics Trends in 2019.

Hope this edition will help you to get some precious information about the industry.

Happy Reading!

MacGregor Setting the Standard for Logistics Technology Partners

C O V E R S T O R Y

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Offering Efficient Freight Solutions

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Freightgate Inc.

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32 Ubimax

Revolutionizing Global Enterprises with Wearable Computing and AR

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Your Cargo, Our Care

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SAFR Removals

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Delivering Ground-breaking Logistics Technology Solutions

COMPANY OF THE MONTH

GlobalTranz

INTERVIEW WITH INSIGHTS SUCCESS

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Tech-Trend 5 Key Logistics Trends in 2019

Editor-in-Chief Pooja M. Bansal Senior Editor Anish Miller Managing Editor Upama Goswami Contributing Editors Suhel, Ryan Visualiser David King Art & Design Head Amol Kamble Art & Design Assistant Priyanka Rajage Co-designer Paul Belin Art & Picture Editor Asha Bange Business Development Manager Jennifer Winget Marketing Manager Mary D’souza Business Development Executives Sherin, Jayashree Sales Executives Alice, Dan, Misty Technical Head Jacob Smile Assistant Technical Head Pratiksha Patil Technical Consultants Amar, David, Robert Digital Marketing Manager Alina Sege Assistant Digital Marketing Manager Prashant Chevale SME-SMO Executives Gemson, Uma Research Analyst Eric Smith Circulation Manager Tanaji sales@insightssuccess.com

August, 2019 Corporate Ofce Insights Success Media Tech LLC 555 Metro Place North, Suite 100, Dublin, OH 43017, United States Phone - (614)-602-1754 Email: info@insightssuccess.com For Subscription: www.insightssuccess.com

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MacGregor Setting the Standard for Logistics Technology Partners

We are a logistics technology partner that enables our client base to execute more efďŹ ciently and differentiate within their sales cycle.

Cover Story

Jason R. Ziegler President/CEO

“

W

here did the name ‘MacGregor’ come from?” is a question that Jason Ziegler, President and owner at MacGregor Partners, loves to answer. The moniker comes from a draft house in Cary, North Carolina where ownership met as they formed the company.

Ziegler elaborates with a smile, “We looked for a name that was unique and new but didn’t feel pretentious – the way we wanted our company to operate. After several meetings where we failed to agree on the right name for our new venture, we decided to adopt the name of the draft house we met at ‘MacGregor’ and tack on ‘Partners’ to reinforce our desire to focus on longstanding partnerships with our clients.”

According to Ziegler, this focus on “partnership” is the core reason why MacGregor Partners came into existence in the first place, “We didn’t want to be just another vendor to our clients, we wanted to become partners with our clients.” While the company today is known more informally as MacGregor, the focus on partnership is still as important today as it was in 2012.

Founded in 2012, MacGregor sought to provide the

JDA/RedPrairie community with a different breed of implementation partner – a partner willing to do whatever it took to ensure successful deployments of warehouse management systems (WMS) and warehouse labor management systems (WLM), and who was also focused on the long-term success and sustainability of the client’s solution.

Using this model MacGregor quickly proved themselves to be one of the preeminent JDA integrators in the industry.

Since 2012, MacGregor has grown from a JDA integrator to a much larger organization with a focus on solving the supply chain technology needs of its clients, further distinguishing itself from its competitors.

Ziegler attributes this distinction to the diverse group of more than 80 employees who have joined MacGregor since 2012.

“Many of our employees have worked inside 3PLs like DHL, Genco, DSC, APL, and XPO, and they bring experience in supply chain technology like WMS, MRP, WCS, WES, integration, analytics, transportation, and

automation. With that robust experience pool, we’re able to bring insight and expertise to every facet of a problem. We’re able to address the problem from every angle which leads to quick and efficient solutions for our clients, which typically has not been done within the supply chain industry,” contends Ziegler.

This methodology coupled with the continued success of its JDA consultancy has landed MacGregor on the Inc. Magazine’s “Inc. 5000” list of fastest-growing private organizations in America the last three years. For MacGregor, success all comes back to the value-added to their logistics and 3PL clients.

“We’ve expanded our services to better serve a wider range of clients and pride ourselves on being the technology partners for both established and growing 3PL’s. We’re driving the competitive edge and success in the execution and sales cycles of our 3PL partners,” says Ziegler.

focuses on the marriage between technology, automation, and the operation. IWS works to eliminate what folks at MacGregor refer to as “ROI Drift”.

“ROI drift is the all too common practice of vendors overpromising within the sales cycle and underdelivering against those promises during implementation. The vision of our IWS practice is to eliminate ROI Drift from the supply chain industry and our client base. We want every big capital investment our clients make to be a ‘safe’ bet,” states Ziegler.

This expansion in offerings comes from MacGregor’s dedication to actively listen to their logistics and 3PL clients, hear the day-to-day challenges and major pain points, and then develop solutions to help their clients solve those problems.

“Our client base brings the challenges and we bring the technical expertise necessary to find operations-centric solutions to those challenges,” states Ziegler.

MacGregor’s Services MacGregor continues to evolve and has expanded its supply chain software consultancy to support multiple WMS, WLM, and TMS packages while providing “24x7x365” onshore support to every application, integration, and piece of hardware they deploy.

Toolbox & Folio – Supply Chain SaaS Products As MacGregor began to address specific needs for its clients, it invested in an R&D team responsible for building SaaS solutions to solve the problems they kept seeing pop-up across their client base.

Through deep partnerships with some of the best automation and autonomous mobile robot (AMR) vendors, MacGregor can bring additional technology resources to their clients.

MacGregor’s highly successful SaaS products focus on two main problem areas – Supply chain analytics and the digital transformation of supply chain paper-based workflows.

Their ‘Intelligent Warehouse Services’ (IWS) offering

Most in the supply chain and 3PL companies recognize the future of the industry lies in the power of analytics, but many of MacGregor’s clients were dissatisfied with the deployment and results they were getting from their analytics platforms. Why was it so hard to implement analytics successfully?

The MacGregor team realized that most analytics systems rely heavily on the aesthetic appeal of their dashboard visualizations, but the real magic and success of an analytics deployment is in the harmonization of data across multiple systems combined with the domain expertise necessary to weave that data into a clear output that drives precise behavior across an organization.

Not only is Toolbox a powerful tool inside a 3PL, but it has evolved into a powerful sales tool for 3PLs to win more business.

MacGregor developed Toolbox, a turnkey analytics platform built for the supply chain, to solve those problems.

“Our 3PL client base used a multitude of systems within their distribution network to record, process and analyze disparate data. Each system could offer one small window into the productivity and profitability of our clients’ businesses, but they did not provide a holistic view of what was going on inside those businesses dayto-day. Without that holistic view, our clients could not easily or quickly adapt and adjust their operations. We built Toolbox to provide that vital holistic view for one of the largest and most sophisticated 3PLs, so we know how effective this tool can be. Our Toolbox clients can see across their networks and make changes that have a material impact on their cost to serve and profitability,” Ziegler stated confidently.

MacGregor’s Toolbox deployments focus on predictive alerts and signals that drive behavior change across a multitude of pain points including, labor planning with an aim to reduce overtime spend; drawing causation between facility layout, facility capacity, process, and productivity; inventory mix, facility design, order mix and cube; and, the relationship between the contract and spot market to reduce transportation spend.

“The beauty of Toolbox is its turnkey package that can be deployed across a complex multi-system network with ease and speed while providing the flexibility of selfservice to iterate and grow as the business needs change and evolve. Toolbox revolutionizes the way the supply chain and 3PLs access and harness their data to improve their business,” states Ziegler.

“Toolbox provides 3PLs with a unique mobile visibility offering that can be leveraged to win competitive deals.

The ability to share data with clients and provide realtime visibility offers a unique level of comfort to a client and helps showcase a 3PLs focus on technology and data-driven decision making. 3PLs using Toolbox can demonstrate to their potential customers the value of network-wide visibility and predictive alerts about macro market conditions and allow them to make adjustments and avoid negative impacts to their business,” states Ziegler.

For their second flagship SaaS product, MacGregor turned to solve another industry-wide headache inspired by visiting client warehouses.

In every client warehouse the team visited, they would inevitably come across an aisle meant for saleable product that was being wasted on paper storage.

Wouldn’t it be better for their clients, if they could reclaim that aisle and use it to store product instead of non-revenue generating paper? That got the team at MacGregor thinking.

Not only is storing paper wasteful in terms of space and risky to store vital documents in a physical location, but the real impact on cost-to-serve comes from the labor associated with managing, moving, and touching that paper. MacGregor developed Folio to tackle the immense volume of paper generated, managed, and stored by 3PLs and supply chain organizations.

The team wanted to try and quantify the true cost of the paper status quo and aside from the obvious costs of printing and storage, there was significant hidden labor associated with physically managing the paper workflow.

Folio reduces or eliminates the paper handling labor spend by automating the workflows and movement of paper.

Folio easily captures documents and automatically groups and stores them, cutting out the manual filing process. From there, Folio automates each additional workflow, from signature capture to final approval, to streamline the process and provide instant visibility.

“Our clients have materially reduced the labor and risk associated with manual paper management while improving enterprise visibility to documents across their business and with their customers,” states Ziegler.

Folio has several unique use cases for 3PLs and their clients: • Folio provides a 3PL’s customers with an intuitive mobile framework to search for their documents themselves, improving the productivity of multiple departments across a 3PL and the overall customer experience.

• Folio allows operators to capture images real-time and link them to the rest of the documents for that specific action. For example, pictures of a loaded trailer can now be captured and linked to all the shipping documents so that in the event of damage or a claims dispute, a facility has the documentation necessary to prove they are not liable.

• Folio’s flexible workflow automation platform allows gate agents to clear the gate faster with digital signature capture, and documents with complex workflows like QA become incredibly efficient and safe as no signature, document, approval, or process is ever missed.

• Like Toolbox, Folio becomes a value-add for 3PLs within their sales cycle. Showcasing Folio’s ability to streamline paper-based workflows and provide clients with real-time instant access to documents is unique within the industry and provides a powerful sales differentiator.

“With how competitive and thin margins are in the 3PL space, we view the use of Toolbox and Folio in the sales cycle as a mechanism to move the negotiation closer to a sale based on value, not just margin,” states Ziegler.

MacGregor’s Employee & Knowledge Focus MacGregor’s leadership team recognizes that to continue to solve the challenges their clients face, the company must stay abreast of technology trends and macro conditions while working to attract and retain the best employees. The MacGregor leadership team is steadfast in their belief that their employees are the best resource to protect the current market position of the company and enable future growth.

To foster this inquisitive, client-first culture, MacGregor promotes continued education in the form of supply chain councils, tradeshows, technology events, speaking engagements, and internal presentations many of which they host in their Milwaukee office.

These events and opportunities help employees grow and learn more about technology trends, supply chain fundamentals, and the areas of growth the industry is

excited about. These learnings, lessons, and ideas then make it back to the whole MacGregor team, benefiting both the organization and its clients.

“With regards to the logistics industry, we pride ourselves on being true technology experts in our field.

Whether this means providing AI and machine learning use cases, knowing how blockchain fits into today’s supply chain, or figuring out how best to weave together distribution and transportation data to materially lower transport costs, we have real-world experience that we love to share and turn into something useful for our clients to move their businesses forward,” notes Ziegler.

MacGregor’s Future MacGregor continues to experience roughly 50% growth year over year, which speaks to the unique value they provide their clients. In looking to the future, MacGregor will continue to focus on R&D and investment in the transportation technology space as their clients battle transportation cost volatility. MacGregor also hopes to

work with clients interested in focusing on emerging technology to shape the future of the industry.

“To remain competitive in today’s business world, organizations need to stay in front of the fast-changing landscape of their supply chain partners, vendors, and customer needs. They need a committed technology partner to ensure they don’t get lost or left behind, and that’s what we want to be for our clients. MacGregor is committed to being a logistics technology partner focused on moving the industry forward for tomorrow, while enabling the sales and operational successes of our clients today,” affirms Ziegler.

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GlobalTranz

Delivering Ground-breaking Logistics Technology Solutions

T

he GlobalTranz Vision GlobalTranz was founded in 2003 with a vision to deliver innovative technology to the Less-ThanTruckload (LTL) space that would allow shippers unprecedented visibility, options, flexibility and control over their LTL transportation. GlobalTranz combined ground-breaking technology with exceptional LTL rates and a rapidly-growing network of freight agents. Since 2003, GlobalTranz has rapidly expanded into a leading logistics technology company and award-winning provider of multimodal transportation services and solutions.

Exclusive Services, Solutions and Products The combination of transformative technology, exceptionally low rates, a robust agent network, and great service led to rapid growth which continues to the present.

Today, GlobalTranz is a $1.4B organization, with 11 offices throughout North America, including a regional office in Monterrey, Mexico. The company offers GTZconnectTM, the award-winning next-generation Transportation Management System (TMS) that connects shippers with carriers, logistics service providers (LSPs) and GlobalTranz’s suite of logistics services. GlobalTranz’s logistis platform leverages the power of predictive analytics and matches shipper demand and carrier capacity so shippers and LSPs can make better business decisions across the simplest to the most complex supply chains. The company provides complete multimodal services, from small parcel to project logistics and everything in between, including LTL, truckload, expedite, intermodal, crossborder transportation and international air and ocean shipping.

Additionally, GlobalTranz provides consultative Managed Transportation Services (MTS) that allow its clients to focus on growing their business while utilizing their team of experts to manage their freight. Whether a shipper wants to outsource all of their logistics operations or just a specific segment of their transportation needs, the GlobalTranz team works as an extension of the client’s team to design the right solution to fit their organization’s needs and goals.

The dynamic GlobalTranz team also works as a partner to provide supply chain planning, day-to-day execution and strategic recommendations to reduce their freight costs,

16

improve operational processes and deliver a competitive advantage.

Proven Leadership As Chief Executive Officer of GlobalTranz, Renee Krug brings tremendous leadership skills, domain knowledge and 30+ years of multi-discipline experience that drive the overall strategy and direction of the company. She is an action-oriented executive who drives meaningful initiatives that create success. Prior to becoming the company’s CEO, she served as the company’s CFO from 2014-2018, where she helped drive GlobalTranz’s record growth and position as a market leading transportation management solutions and technology company. Before joining GlobalTranz, Renee was CFO of Clear Channel Outdoor and VP of finance at Swift Transportation. Earlier in her career, she held a variety of leadership roles at Honeywell in technology, operations, sales and Six Sigma process improvement.

“In today’s logistics technology landscape, it’s not enough to simply offer a robust Transportation Management System that captures shipment-level data. That is table stakes. The real differentiator is the ability to provide a control tower view of a shipper’s entire transportation network, and to leverage data, machine learning, and AI to provide predictive analytics which create true business intelligence, drives real-time business decision-making, and provides shippers with a competitive and operative advantage,” remarked Renee.

Innovative Logistics Technology GlobalTranz has invested heavily in its talented people and technology, currently employing more than 140 full-time developers focused solely on building innovative new products to serve the needs of shippers, carriers and LSPs. In addition to GTZconnectTM, its award-winning TMS platform, GlobalTranz has developed GTZampTM (automated movement planning) which combines a variety of predictive analytics capabilities to deliver next generation Digital Freight Matching (DFM) services that differentiate GlobalTranz from its competitors while also providing shippers with insights they can translate into action:

|August 2019|

Company Of The Month

“

Our sustained organic growth, strategic acquisitions, and the continued release of new technology products will allow us to continue to outpace many of our competitors in customer expansion, financial growth and advanced technology leadership in 2019. These are exciting times for GlobalTranz.

“

-Renee Krug CEO

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Load Affinity analysis identifies shipments that are wellsuited to be combined into a multi-movement route.

Carrier Match functionality algorithmically matches loads with the best carriers based on a host of factors, including volume covered, on-time performance, cost, bounce and roll percentages, and seasonality.

Cost Prediction Model predicts lane level costs based on a wide variety of features, including historical costs and current market conditions, in order to ensure that GlobalTranz maximizes savings for customers by securing the lowest possible rate.

Load To Truck Forecasting is a predictive analytics tool that leverages leading indicators to predict capacity availability in order to maximize service while minimizing cost.

Think Globally, Act Locally Thinking globally isn’t just lip service for GlobalTranz—it’s in the organization’s name itself. The GlobalTranz team cares deeply about making the world a better place. That’s why they’ve created CORE, a group dedicated to organizing ways for GlobalTranz’s employees to give back. CORE is comprised of three teams: Green Team– The Green Team focuses on the environmental impact of the company’s day to day business and community support to lessen its carbon footprint on the environment.

TruBlu Team– The TruBlu Team focuses on corporate culture and values, as well as health, education, and engagement for all GlobalTranz employees.

Red Team – The Red Team focuses on service and citizenship. The Red team organizes philanthropic and charitable events to help GlobalTranz’s team members give back to the community.

Comprehensive Services & Solutions GlobalTranz offers a full spectrum of TMS technology, multimodal transportation services, Managed Transportation Services, and value-added supply chain solutions including: • • • • • •

White glove in-store/in-home delivery Final mile delivery Retail compliance programs Drop trailer programs High Value/High Risk Cargo solutions Warehousing/cross-docking and more

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This holistic approach allows GlobalTranz to provide technology, services, and solutions that grow with the clients as their business grows.

For the shippers whom GlobalTranz serves, each day brings a new hurdle to overcome. That’s why its team of dedicated logistics experts works so hard to develop the technology, multimodal services and solutions shippers need to succeed.

In the past two years, the team has greatly expanded the technology offering, particularly with the release of the new GTZcommandTM, as well as enhanced business intelligence and predictive analytics capabilities. In addition, through acquisition and strategic partnerships, the company now offers more modal capabilities and solutions than ever before.

Harnessing AI and IoT The logistics industry is in the midst of tremendous technological change, and GlobalTranz is leading the way with cutting-edge solutions. Technologies such as the Internet of Things, autonomous vehicles, electric vehicles, AI, machine learning, blockchain, etc. are poised to make significant impacts on our day-to-day lives, the logistics industry and the economy overall. At their root, many of these innovations boil down to how to better leverage data to create business intelligence. There is a huge opportunity for those organizations that embrace these new technologies in order to provide their customers with a better, more seamless experience. GlobalTranz developed GTZconnectTM to serve the needs of shippers of all sizes, and continues to enhance the platform with new features, including AI and machine learning. Leveraging these technologies allows GlobalTranz to deliver predictive analytics that empower shippers to make more informed, real-time business decisions.

Future Prospects “2019 has been the “Year of Technology” at GlobalTranz, and we continue to develop and release cutting-edge technology that shippers, brokers, freight agents and carriers use to manage and optimize their transportation and logistics. In addition, we are aggressively pursuing acquisitions that will benefit our customer base by allowing us to offer additional modal solutions and services,” said Renee.

Advice for New Entrants from the CEO “The transportation and logistics space has always been an arena for innovation and entrepreneurship- that’s how GlobalTranz started. My advice for entrepreneurs looking to enter the industry is to be very clear on focusing on a specific problem they are looking to solve, and then to develop the absolute best solutions they can.”

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SAFR REMOVALS OFFERING EFFICIENT FREIGHT SOLUTIONS

Bradley Moore Founder and CEO

B

radley Moore is the Founder and CEO of SAFR Removals, one of the more well-known logistics company in South Africa. In an interview with Insights Success, Bradley shared some valuable viewpoints about the Logistics Industry. He also has also elucidated on how his company is experimenting and innovating different ideas that are transforming the industry.

• What is the present scenario of Logistics Tech Solution industry from your point of view?

We still have much to do to enhance efficiencies within Logistics Tech Solution space. The logistics technology is there but 20

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Interview with Insights Success the knowledge, training and coordinative functions for this technology aren’t maximizing the solutions that are available. The logistical playing ground has too many players that are all preoccupied with their own limited focus and survivals instead of combining their resources, clients’ needs and truck space management for more efficiency, and therefore cost savings. A more simplistic business infrastructure can be initiated with the Logistics Tech solutions. However, it needs a human element to integrate and coordinate all viable platforms with the logistics players. We believe the human element is necessary for manipulating the Tech functionality into the logistics arena.

• Would you like to enlighten us about your mission, vision, philosophies you follow, and the future goals?

As the Founder & CEO of JHB Removals, I am set about testing a business philosophy and increasing efficiency by implementing IoT and improving the coordination with co-players within the transport industry.

The philosophy was to collect and coordinate with co-industry players who share a passion to deliver quality customer service and use our collective market intelligence to effectively represent local removal and storage service needs. This market intelligence would not only enhance all role players to source new business opportunities, but it would also provide logistical efficiency whereby each team can concentrate on specific regions within the provinces.

This would eliminate diesel wastage, travelling time and grappling with unnecessary traffic which contributes so much inefficiency to logistical service delivery.

The SAFR Group (PTY) Ltd management philosophy is based on carefully selected staff and teams that are selfdriven and have a natural instinct to provide the best possible communication and service delivery to our clients.

Each team and person are their own authority without being policed and motivated. The rewards are reflected in the results of their own work.

• Brief us about your company and its inception story.

Cape Removals (https://www.caperemovals.co.za/) Cape Removals was incepted in October 2012, Cape Town, Western Province, South Africa.

The regionally focused furniture removal & storage business was founded with the objective of providing a collective brand that would represent 4 to 6 independent removal teams which all had the same service delivery commitments but lacked technology integration and regional brand identity.

The business model was extremely well received by the localized removal teams in The Western Cape. We coordinated and provided a platform to launch The 1st leg of our national strategy in 2012 and launched Cape Removals business in 2012.

The success of Cape Removals and its formula was duplicated in other key regions within South Africa which included Johannesburg, Pretoria, and Durban in the Gauteng & KwaZulu-Natal regions respectively.

JHB Removals (https://www.jhbremovals.co.za/) Johannesburg and Pretoria, as regions, are essentially the financial zones which drive South Africa’s economy and our localized business JHB Removals was born with the same business model and formula, hoping to reap the same results that Cape Removals had. JHB Removals’ localized formula was extremely well received and the progression to KwaZulu-Natal followed naturally and easily.

DBN Moving Company (https://www.dbnmovingcompany.co.za/) DBN Moving Company was launched in Durban, KwaZulu-Natal in 2017, to connect the logistical dots for a starting national infrastructure and to expand our selection of services which now facilitates a national furniture removal service.

“

We are bringing together localized teams and services from all corners of South Africa.

“

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SAFR GROUP (PTY) Ltd (https://www.furnitureremovalssa.co.za/) SAFR GROUP (PTY) Ltd was born in 2019 with the purpose of providing a coordinative hub for us and our partners with the objective of maximizing logistical efficiency, Increasing our reach and optimizing customer service at ground level. SAFR Group has found a purpose in bringing together localized teams and services from all corners of South Africa.

SAFR Group (PTY) LTD will consolidate its position before reaching out internationally.

• What kind of ‘out-of-the-box’ strategies does your company follow to differ from your competitors?

SAFR’s out-of-the-box strategy is to coordinate ourselves and localized role players into an efficient machine. This starts with leadership managing, communicating and re-emphasizing our common goals in providing the best possible service at the best possible price. Working towards service excellence and professionalism are key aspirations for us.

• How does your organization contribute to the Company Social Responsibility cause?

We are a young company with our resources being reinvested into our business to ensure we all have job security first and foremost. We are now expanding on this and we are ensuring that our own staff and their children’s dignity and social status are enhanced and uplifted to healthy levels. Besides looking after our own, we provide financial support to community sports initiatives for children as well as animal rescue and rehabilitation.

• How do you diversify your offerings so as to benefit your customers?

Removal Costing, personal goods security and protection are the primary focuses for us and our clients. The training and selection of our staff are obvious attention areas for us but we still continually search for strategic dedicated employees, share load transportation, technology options as well as supporting services like packing, crating, protective wrapping and packaging material. Personal goods and their safety are emotionally and sentimentally attached to our clients and therefore we strive to provide innovative protective options for our clients.

ultimately reduce trucks and time on the road but still facilitate logistical collecting and delivering of all furniture to our clients’ depots, offices, and houses.

We are pro diesel phase out and we maintain our objective of diesel efficiency by using less diesel and ultimately no diesel at all. We aim to be the leader in Electric adaption and the 1st in South Africa and Australia to do so.

• With the massive advancements in technology such as IoT, Autonomous Vehicles, AI, Electric Vehicles, and more what are the opportunities and challenges evolving with it?

Opportunities for AI, IoT, and Electric trucking is massively exciting for us. The intelligence and analytics derived will enhance our ability to eliminate inefficiencies, reduce human error, enable management & clients to be proactive and be more directly involved.

This is an area that SAFR Group is aspiring to prepare and incept as quickly as possible.

Our challenges will be to develop the expertise to implement and manage all AI and the IoT. • What can be expected from your company in the near future?

To provide and populate an interactive service for our clients and selected contractors to communicate directly on an efficient logistical transporting platform per region, per district, nationally and internationally.

• Any advice for the budding entrepreneurs in the industry?

Opportunity and entry into our industry have never been easier nor more exciting. The Logistics offers so many areas of expertise which can and should be independent with a very little capital cost of entry. The Logistics industry was a very capital intensive industry with the need to have trucks and supporting infrastructure to provide a complete service to their clients.

The playing field has changed drastically and it’s becoming increasingly easier for an entrepreneur to enter the logistics market from a large variety of expertise channels.

• From the beginning till today, list out the toughest difficulties you’ve faced and lessons you’ve learned from them? What is the effect of the current Diesel phase-out plans proposed by many countries on your company?

Our difficulty is primarily coordinating an efficient share load space utilization with clients and our own schedules to minimize the empty spaces being wasted. We are aspiring to 22

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Freightgate Inc. Your Cargo, Our Care

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oday, companies are searching for more fully integrated logistics solutions. They demand full tracking of their shipments from the factory to the final destination using one platform. They also want to be able to arrange the shipments across all modes and to be notified of delays as soon as it becomes apparent that a delay is inevitable. This allows the company to make alternative arrangements to re-route shipments if necessary, while fully weighing the costs of doing so.

deploy technology to find smarter ways to solve today’s and tomorrow’s supply chain challenges.

Extraordinary Customer Oriented Approach Freightgate has a professional team of “out-of-the-box” thinkers with in-depth experience. They orchestrate solutions to customer needs using the global-by-design platform. Freightgate sets itself apart from the rest by pairing their technology platform with deep industry experience.

Freightgate started with internet-based Track & Trace and expanded the offerings from Tariffs into a fully functional global Logistics Cloud Platform. Now, the Freightgate Logistics Cloud platform spans: Multimodal Transportation Management, Rates, Schedules, Global Visibility, PO Management, Compliance, Analytics and Work-Flows. The company has a lively ecosystem across partners, carriers and modes. Freightgate strives to provide innovative logistics solutions, fostering global collaboration and productivity.

“Every process is under investigation and if we can do something better, we’ll discuss it and act accordingly. This is where the customers have the biggest advantage. They present their ‘current state’ and sometimes ‘ideal state’ processes. Freightgate comes up with multiple ways to get there. It is this challenge that is born out of the dialogue and collaboration with our customer that fuels the creative thought process and leads to mutual success,” asserts Martin.

Architect behind Freightgate

Inspiring Journey of Freightgate

Martin Hubert is the CEO of Freightgate. He has more than 30 years of experience providing IT solutions to the logistics industry. He began his career in 1994, by founding a company that focused on providing track and trace capability over the internet through establishing EDI capabilities with carriers. Martin then founded Freightgate in 2000, with a vision to improve the IT environment for logistics companies and shippers.

Freightgate started as a centrally hosted collaboration platform to share shipment information by using the thennascent internet as a backbone. Getting people to share this vision early on has had its challenges, but grit and perseverance paid off. Adding functionality driven by a fusion of Freightgate’s vision and customer demand has been a fun ride that the company hopes to continue.

Martin’s core value is the passion for innovation and neverending improvements. He strives to provide innovative logistics solutions, fostering global collaboration and productivity, while building a highly configurable platform with a global-by-design philosophy. Martin will continue to

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Team Freightgate’s Viewpoints on Massive Advancements in Technology The team believes that opportunities with IoT and AI are to reduce the impact of delays in shipments before they become major disruptions and have severe economic

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We strive for excellence and continuously improve our services based on customer requirements and recommendations.

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consequences. AI can also be used in supply chain planning, looking for ways to improve the supply chain processes overall. The challenges with IoT devices are to find signals to send the data. With AI, it’s having the resources to develop your AI capabilities and the data with which to work. You typically need very large data sets, you have to observe the decision-making process, and have to create algorithms that can incorporate that decision-making process plus all the variables and make better decisions.

Team Freightgate thinks that with Autonomous Vehicles, the opportunity is to improve operational efficiency and routing and lower costs. The challenges come from the regulatory and liability perspectives. With Electric Vehicles, the opportunity is to lower carbon emissions and perhaps even fleet maintenance costs. The challenges will be the range of such vehicles. Can you create batteries that offer enough range to keep a driver on the road during his permissible hours? How often will the batteries have to be replaced? What are the costs of charging and maintaining batteries versus fuelling and maintaining engines?

Martin Hubert, CEO

knowledge and ever expanding/growing services to better assist the needs of its customers in the logistic industry.

Martin’s advice for the Budding Entrepreneurs “The Cloud TMS market is very volatile and needs constant innovation, so listen to what the market is telling you.”

Future Roadmap of Freightgate Freightgate is exploring strategic partnerships and working with its customers on new product development initiatives.

Freightgate will take continued pride in sharing its

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Key LOGISTICS

5TRENDS

in 2019

Green Logis cs With a sustainable motif to decrease the environmental burden of transportation and supply chains, the industry is turning to green logistics.

Beneď€ ts : Stronger company reputation : Lowered supply chain cost : Increased process and product innovation, generating additional revenue streams : Increased customer loyalty

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|August 2019|

Tech-Trend

Digital Logis cs Digitization in the ď€ eld of logistics has become obvious everywhere in the business processes administration, operations and contracting. Digitalization in logistics is about divising completely new business processes and models, including integrations across the value chain.

Beneď€ ts : : : : : : : : : :

New product development Innovations Newer sources of revenue A more dynamic, secure, and interactive supply chain Improved access to real-time data and information Improved decision-making Efď€ cient processes and operations Increased control, visibility and collaboration Enhanced responsiveness to market conditions Faster planning and execution capabilities, and many more.

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Supply Chain Collabora on: Companies using innovative digital solutions to collaborate effectively across the supply chain are seeing huge benets.

Benets : Cost reductions : Lower carbon footprint : Increased forecast accuracy : Reduction in inventories : Improved SLAs for delivery accuracy : Reduction in administrative workforce

Elas c Logis cs A new concept in the logistics environment, Elastic logistics refers to the ability to expand and shrink logistics capabilities to align with any given situation within a logistics operation.

Elastic logistics enables companies to provide on-time deliveries while keeping their costs down – despite the rise in demand.

Benets : Enhancement of customer experience : Adding real-time supply chain visibility : Connecting all business processes : Providing agility and scalability

B2B to B2B2C B2B2C is the latest new business model trend, where transparency, exibility, sustainability, and efciency are the key factors. With the evolution of e-commerce and the implementation of new business model, the logistics industry has reached a new height of greater customer satisfaction.

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|August 2019|

Revolutionizing Global Enterprises with Wearable Computing and AR

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ounded in 2011, Ubimax is the global market leader for Enterprise Wearable Computing and Augmented Reality Solutions. As a one-stopshop, Ubimax provides an all-in-one solution-Augmented Reality software, Wearable Computing devices, configuration and deployment services, as well as support. The company has built up a very strong partner ecosystem with more than 250 enterprises around the globe and operates from offices in Germany, the US and Mexico.

We approached the renowned CEO, Dr. Hendrik Witt for an interview about the glorious and successful journey of Ubimax throughout: Q: Brief us about your company, its inception, and journey.

A: Our company started out like a fair number of startups: A bunch of people having spent some years in strategy and management consulting with a joint vision working on their business idea in a small room almost around the clock. But we know what we were working on was worth it: Improving industrial processes with the help of wearables and augmented reality, enhancing deskless workers, so they can reach their full potential.

Q: Tell us about the Founder/CEO of your company, his ambitions, and philosophy.

A: Before Ubimax, I was working in the field of wearable computing already. My background of now more than 15 years in wearable technology for enterprises, does not only consist of PhD from the University of Bremen and Georgia Tech, where I was working with the wearables pioneer Thad Starner, but also from being the Co-Head in the EU-funded research

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project ‘wear IT at work’. From then on it was the goal to mature the technology to be able to meet the market’s needs and make it profitable. Ubimax’s roots lie in a strong team of the three founders Percy Stocker, Jan Junker and Dr. Hendrik Witt. We met during our strategy and management consulting time and realized they had fun working together and pursuing the same ideals.

Shortly after the founding, Ubimax became the global market leader for industrial augmented reality-based wearable computing solutions creating digital tools for real world problems. While Percy has taken over as President of Ubimax Inc. in the US, Jan is leading the commercial activities as CCO and I have taken over the role of CEO. Q: What is the present scenario of Logistics Tech Solution industry from your point of view?

A: Right now, the fear of automation erasing jobs in logistics is omnipresent. We are here to shift that fear into opportunity. Yes, digitized working environments optimize processes in warehouses but the human factor cannot be underestimated. Aspects like intuition and flexibility are bound to people. Globally, 80% of this human workforce are deskless workers. In digitization over the last decade, this majority of workers has been forgotten. They are often still working with paper lists or cumbersome stationary computers. And if software solutions are provided, they frequently have complex requirements or are just not user-friendly. For us, it is all about empowering these frontline workers with the tools they need to maximize their abilities. This also means that companies implementing the innovative technologies are way more likely to achieve their efficiency and quality improvement goals in an even shorter amount of time.

|August 2019|

We help frontline workers focus on what they are really good at: real-world physical tasks, not complex and timeconsuming computer prompts.

Dr. Hendrik Witt CEO

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Q: What kind of ‘out-of-the-box’ strategies your company is following to differ from the competitors?

A: With Ubimax Frontline, we have created the world’s first fully integrated end-to-end enterprise platform for wearable computing. Designed around the four award winning AR solutions xPick for intralogistics, xMake for manufacturing and quality assurance, xInspect for field service and xAssist for remote service, we are able to support deskless workers in their daily tasks alongside the entire value chain. Our software works intuitively without complex requirements. So, workers are not distracted from their actual tasks and can work more productively while it increases their workplace safety and ergonomics at the same time. With Ubimax Frontline we create an innovative and digitized working environment for hands-on workers. It is like Microsoft office – only for the blue-collar worker. The goal is that companies, processes and the workers can benefit from our solutions likewise.

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Q: How does your organization contribute to the Company Social Responsibility cause?

A: Social responsibility for us is all about people. After all, connecting people with and through technology - this is what Ubimax stands for. That is why we not only support deskless workers all around the globe but we also put the human being with all his qualities and experiences in the foreground in our own company. We see internationality and cultural diversity as opportunities. Our team consists of 17 different nations with 15 different languages. Without our diverse team, it would not have been possible to become the world market leader in such a short time. Our clients are large corporations operating on an international scale. Only with our diverse team, in which intercultural exchange is a given, we are an attractive partner for the international market. Diversity thus provides us with a real competitive advantage and drives us forward.

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Q: How do you diversify your offerings so as to benefit your customers?

A: We are a company that listens. We found, the more we are ready to learn from the productive use of our platform, the better our solutions become. A lot of the features found within our software are either based on concrete customer wishes or derived from challenges being solved in productive usage. We do not think that creating new technology only because it is feasible but it does not have a productive value is advantageous for anyone. With every new feature we want to meet real industry challenges. So far, we can rely on 250 customer projects. The experience gained from these is a valuable source for new ideas on how to adapt our software even more precisely to our customers’ needs. This way, we grow as a company with every new challenge, with every new project with every new customer.

Q: From the beginning till today, list out toughest difficulties you faced and lessons you have learned from them? What is the effect of the current Diesel phase-out plans proposed by many countries on your company?

A: The Diesel phase out plans and other environmental challenges are actually a big opportunity for us. Our main goal is optimizing industrial and logistical processes along the entire value chain. That reduces not only generally costs but also specifically the need for resources of any kind. Through optimizing logistics, we are driving lean processes forward which helps to reduce transportation and storing efforts. With our remote assistance solutions traveling for problem solving becomes obsolete in a lot of cases – again a great chance in times of environmental challenges. Also, our solutions support the construct of a paperless factory by providing all needed information digitally right in front of the worker’s eye.

Q: With the massive advancements in technology such as IoT, Autonomous Vehicles, AI, Electric Vehicles, and more what are the opportunities and challenges evolving with it?

A: At Ubimax we have recognized these opportunities long ago. Features like IoT components are integrated into our platform as well as AI features like image recognition for recognizing picked items for example.

With the help of wearables, data collection has become easier than ever before. The analysis of that accumulated |August 2019|

data offers a precise base for profound decisions.

Through the mobile devices the connectivity is maximized, too. That way, a powerful collaboration between humans and machines – the so-called Internet of Humans - is achieved. With our solutions we are augmenting the workforce’s intelligence. One challenge that we are facing is the acceptance of the technology among workers. All provided advantages can sometimes not trump ethical concerns like data security or surveillance at the workplace. We at Ubimax have implemented features like a recording symbol when the camera is started remotely. The worker is then informed that his supervisor is watching. These steps seem small but they are powerful tools for increasing workers’ autonomy.

Q: What can be expected from your company in the near future?

A: For us, the future is an augmented workforce. We want to achieve this not only through wearable computing and augmented reality but through this combination enhanced through artificial intelligence.

That is what we call augmented intelligence. Driving industry and logistics forward with next-level technologies and providing real added value with digital processes. While artificial intelligence offers an array of advantages on the business side it also empowers frontline workers by supporting healthy working environments and making information even more easily accessible. That way we create a win-win situation for all involved stakeholders.

Q: Any advice for the budding entrepreneurs in the industry?

A: We believe that after mobile and smart phone era the next computing decade belongs to wearable devices. In the last years, the market has developed rapidly and continues to grow up to an estimated market value of 35 billion by 2023. Thus, the field is offering plenty of opportunity for new companies with good ideas. The most important aspect for us is not to lose the focus on the workforce. After all, they are the ones to use the technology on a daily basis. With that in mind, we are looking forward to new faces entering the market driving the industry forward together.

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