This posting in Yahoo Finance announces a partnership between Pepper+Fuchs, a German industrial sensor manufacturer, and o9, a 2009 mature tech startup based in Dallas, Texas that specializes in powering digital transformations of integrated planning and operations.
This is an example of yet another developing trend of the past few years that has somewhat exploded due to the pandemic, given COVID’s deleterious effect on supply chain stability. So the accelerated transformation of the multiple processes related to supply chain managements can be added to the other automation trends receiving a boost in this strange year.
‘Improving visibility and consistency within the entire supply chain is an important part of Pepperl+Fuchs’ Digital IBP Strategy. By leveraging the o9 platform, Pepperl+Fuchs will construct a digital twin of its business network, integrating multiple internal and external data sources. This allows Pepperl+Fuchs to conduct what-if scenario analyses and improve decision-making across every node in the supply chain by modeling its network, capacities, lead times, and other supply parameters….Pepperl+Fuchs chose o9 as its partner on this digital transformation journey because o9 provides an integrated end-to-end platform that delivers fast time-to-value and long-term flexibility. This dynamic structure is integral in supporting the evolving needs of a business. The o9 platform will give Pepperl+Fuchs the ability to eliminate various manual tasks, enabling its employees to focus more on value-adding activities.’
Once again we refer you back to our CEP Outlook for 2021, where a major theme across banking is collaboration, but indeed this holds true across just about every industrial sector given the ongoing advances in high tech solutions. There are no deal details provided, but the o9 platform allows for continuous improvement of decision making processes across sales, supply chain, product innovation, and integrated business planning.
The posting mentions AI as empowering latest improvements, which likely means the incorporation of RPA and machine learning into the mix. This type of technology adoption was the subject of several sessions at both the recently concluded Sibos and AFP remote events. It’s no real surprise why AI-related startups have received generally high VC investments during the past five years.
‘Tobias Bloecher (Director Global Supply Chain Management at Pepperl+Fuchs) says, “After a thorough vendor evaluation, o9 Solutions significantly stood out from a technology point of view, but also from a process and people point of view. With o9’s technology, we aim to bring all planning and decision-making processes together on a highly advanced, intuitive AI-powered, and cloud-native platform. o9 is a partner that does not accept the status quo; they gently push us toward best-in-class, and we believe we have the amazing opportunity to leapfrog with their technology in the coming years as an essential pillar in our ‘Supply Chain Excellence’ program.” ‘
Overview by Steve Murphy, Director, Commercial and Enterprise Payments Advisory Service at Mercator Advisory Group
