Innovation Test Track Competition
• Venturi, Mike Alvarez, president. Huntsville, Alabama.
Winner wants to help manufacturers avoid unnecessary parts purchases that can add up to millions of dollars TEXT BY: CARLA CALDWELL // PHOTOS: LYNSEY WEATHERSPOON
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he winner of the 2018 Innovation Test Track competition is AUTIT, an Atlanta-based startup that uses artificial intelligence to help manufacturers accurately predict inventory needs and avoid buying excess inventory. Stocking more parts — just in case the parts are needed — does not make a company more valuable, it wastes capital, according to Paul J. Noble, founder and CEO of AUTIT. The company prefers the just-intime approach to manage purchases, Noble says. AUTIT uses data to avoid overstocking inventory, which reduces working capital within the supply chain. For the typical Fortune 1000 manufacturing company that can equate to $40 million-$60 million in savings, the company says.
The Innovation Test Track contest is held each year during the SAC. Companies with a new technology, innovative products or services that could benefit the automotive industry are invited to enter. Contestants are asked to describe the unique aspects of their product or service, to provide a description of a customer’s problem the technology or service could solve, and to describe any competitors or potential future competitors. If there are competitors, contestants are asked to describe how their technology, product or service compares. The contest received 18 entries that were narrowed to AUTIT and three more finalists: • Cognosos. Steve Robb, CEO. Atlanta • ActionPLAN. Bob Hooper, president. Ontario, Canada
50 | Southern Automotive Alliance / DECEMBER/JANUARY 2019
During the conference, contestants were invited onto the main stage to make a quick pitch to a panel of judges who have a background in innovation. The contest awards the first-place winner $2,500, a two-page advertisement in Southern Automotive Alliance magazine and follow-up pitch opportunities with each judge. The runner-up receives a full-page advertisement in the magazine and a pitch opportunity with one judge. At least three of the four finalists had follow-up discussions with OEMs and Tier 1 companies, says Mike Stonecipher, organizer and emcee of the 2018 contest and senior project manager for the Georgia Manufacturing Extension Partnership (GaMEP), a unit of Georgia Tech’s Enterprise Innovation Institute. “Each of the finalists are technology leaders and demonstrate the passion required to make transportation and manufacturing innovative, safe and exciting. It was an honor for me to organize and emcee the event,” Stonecipher says. The judges’ scoring sheets show they liked all the finalists, he adds. “All of the finalists were good. The judges thought AUTIT met a need in the industry that had not been easily solvable,” Stonecipher says. n
Each of the finalists are technology leaders and demonstrate the passion required to make transportation and manufacturing innovative, safe and exciting. It was an honor for me to organize and emcee the event.— Mike Stonecipher, senior
project manager for the Georgia Manufacturing Extension Partnership (GaMEP), a unit of Georgia Tech’s Enterprise Innovation Institute.