Earlier this morning I was thinking about something different, yet interesting to discuss in the intro paragraph of this week in logistics news. Then it occurred to me, why not talk about what I want to discuss? So I will. I will use this paragraph as an inquiry for my own selfish interests. I am looking for good quality beer crafted to remove gluten. Omission used to be my go-to option, but they recently changed their selection to only low calorie options. Two Brothers Prairie Path is great, but is only available in the mid-western US. Also Geary’s Ixnay is great, but only available in Maine. Sometimes brewers use the enzyme to break down gluten in beer (brewer’s Clarex) but don’t advertise it. They simply use it for clarity purposes. Please let me know if there are beers brewed to remove gluten that I am unfamiliar with. It would be great to expand my options (creiser@arcweb.com). That will be all for my self-serving public service announcement. And now on to this week’s logistics news.
Rockwell Automation signs agreement to acquire Clearpath Robotics
Logility Acquires AI Pioneer Garvis
Mujin Secures $85M in Funding to Accelerate Intelligent Robotic Automation
Walmart pays $3.5B to increase stake in India’s Flipkart
H-E-B opens its biggest e-commerce fulfillment center ever
NRF Announces Acquisition of Reverse Logistics Association
Rockwell Automation announced it has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Ontario, Canada-based Clearpath Robotics. Clearpath and its OTTO Motors Division offer various autonomous mobile robots (AMRs), including larger format AMRs capable of automating the handling of heavier loads. Rockwell Automation predicted the acquisition will “supercharge” its lead in bringing what it calls the “Connected Enterprise” to life by harnessing AMR data. Transporting parts and materials to assembly lines and between manufacturing cells is one of the industry’s most complex and inefficient tasks, often resulting in production bottlenecks, Rockwell Automation noted. Data from Rockwell’s offerings and OTTO Motors’ AMRs will be harnessed in artificial intelligence-powered Software as a Service information management applications, such as those by Rockwell’s Plex and Fiix businesses.
Logility, a provider of prescriptive supply chain planning solutions, announced it has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Garvis, a visionary SaaS startup founded in Antwerp, Belgium that combines large language models with AI-native demand forecasting. Garvis designed from the ground up an AI-first forecasting solution now called DemandAI+. Fusing Generative AI with machine learning algorithms, DemandAI+ creates a modern, more inclusive, and intuitive planning paradigm that quickly digitizes supply chain relationships and exposes that data to any stakeholder across the organization. DemandAI+, built for the cloud, will be embedded into the Logility® Digital Supply Chain Platform as the solution for demand forecasting.
Mujin, a provider of intelligent robotics for manufacturing, logistics, and supply chain operations, has successfully raised $85 million in its Series C funding round. Mujin aims to enhance the accessibility of its revolutionary intelligent robotics platform, the MujinController, to integrators and end users, empowering them to develop new, advanced automation applications and drive further innovation. At the heart of Mujin’s product line is the company’s universal MujinController platform, which transforms industrial robots from any manufacturer into intelligent machines capable of automating a wide variety of applications across manufacturing and logistics, with additional applications to come in the future.
Walmart has spent $3.5 billion this year to acquire shares from certain Flipkart stakeholders and resolve liabilities with some PhonePe shareholders, illustrating just how aggressively it’s betting on India at a time when its chief global rival Amazon is scaling back on its expenditures in the South Asian market. The $3.5 billion spending took place in the first six months of 2023, Walmart disclosed for the first time in an SEC filing. Walmart’s ownership in Flipkart now stands at about 80%. Walmart, which also owns majority of PhonePe and has spent over $20 billion on the two businesses, is ramping up its investment in the Indian e-commerce and payment platforms at a time when many other companies, including Amazon, have scaled back on their expenditures.
H-E-B on Wednesday announced the opening of its newest and largest e-commerce fulfillment center, located about 30 miles west of Houston in Katy, Texas. The 100,000-square-foot fulfillment center is about twice the size of similar facilities and will satisfy curbside and home delivery orders across the Houston area, the grocer said. The new center will employ more than 300 part-time and full-time workers. The facility in Katy is H-E-B’s seventh e-commerce fulfillment center opened since 2018. The Texas grocer said it intends to open an unspecified number of additional facilities across the state by the end of next year. H-E-B operates about 50 stores in the Houston area and more than 420 supermarkets overall.
The National Retail Federation (NRF) today announced its acquisition of the Reverse Logistics Association (RLA), a global trade association for the returns and reverse industry. The announcement was made during the RLA Leadership Summit in Atlanta and is part of NRF’s unrivaled commitment to support sustainable practices throughout the retail industry. “NRF has a long history of convening supply chain professionals to collaborate and develop resources that improve the retail industry. Retailers understand the importance of sustainability practices and the environmental, economic, social and consumer benefits that accompany them,” NRF President and CEO Matthew Shay said. “As consumer demand for sustainable offerings continues to increase, RLA’s reverse logistics expertise will help our members to ‘close the loop’ and accelerate the emergence of the circular economy.”
That’s all folks. Have a great weekend and enjoy this week’s video, One Bourbon, One Scotch, One Beer, by George Thorogood.
One Bourbon, One Scotch, One Beer – YouTube
The post This Week in Logistics News (September 2 – 8) appeared first on Logistics Viewpoints.