CH Robinson has teamed up with Microsoft to digitally transform supply chains of the future by enabling real-time visibility.
Navisphere — CH Robinson’sglobal multimodal transportation managementplatform — will now leverage Microsoft’s Azure IoT Central tointegrate IoT device monitoring that measures factors such as temperature, shock, tilt, humidity, light and pressure in shipments.
This will give customers an even more detailed level of intelligence about goods as they move through the supply chain.
“The pace of change we’re seeing in the supply-chain industry today is unparalleled. Being able to quickly scale and adapt our technology is what helps give our customers a competitive advantage,” said Chris O’Brien, chief commercial officer at CH Robinson.
“As we continue to invest and enhance our technology built by and for supply-chain experts, we look to partner with other best-in-class companies that bring the most value to our customers.
“Through Microsoft’s Azure cloud platform, we gain more scalability, premier data security and increased application speed, which benefit our customers and carriers around the world.”
CH Robinson said the alliance would make it even easier to scale and develop new solutions to provide the world’s largest shipperswith greater supply-chain efficiency, real-time insights and visibility.
“We are committed to providing customers with a trusted, easy-to-use platform so they can build seamless, smart and secure solutions regardless of where they are on their IoT journey,” said Sam George, corporate vice president, Azure IoT, Microsoft.
“We’re thrilled to collaborate with CH Robinson as it transforms the supply-chain industry by leveraging our Microsoft Azure and Azure IoT solutions.”
CH Robinson and Microsoft have worked together for many years. Navisphereis currently used acrossMicrosoft’s global supply chain, giving the company real-time visibility into inventory, at rest or in motion anywhere in the world.
In addition, in collaboration with Microsoft, CH Robinson built Navisphere Vision, a global real-time visibility product that leverages Azure IoT solutions, machine learning and predictive analytics to assess potential disruptions across supply chains.
Through CH Robinson’s TMC division and Navisphere Vision, Microsoftis driving innovations in its own supply chain to provide more predictability and proactive decision-making to its various business groups.
“The supply chain of the future is smarter, less volatile and can be navigated with a new level of visibility thanks to the power of this relationship,” said Jordan Kass, president of Managed Services at CH Robinson.
“Through this collaboration, our customers receive a greater competitive edge, as well as industry-leading insights and expertise.”
In addition to CH Robinson’s innovation on Azure, the company is also leveraging Dynamics 365 and Power BI to streamline its customer relationship management (CRM) platform, supporting CH Robinson’s commitment to customer centricity from small business to the world’s largest shippers.
As part of its relationship with Microsoft, CH Robinson will integrate its real-time pricing, execution and transportation management tools into Dynamics 365, making these digitally-driven logistics capabilities available to Microsoft customers.
