The Supply Chain Matters blog features our August 23, 2019 Edition of This Week in Supply Chain Management Tech, a brief synopsis of noteworthy supply chain management focused technology news which we believe would be of specific interest to our global-based blog readership.
This has been a rather active period since our last update Edition published two weeks ago. 
Included in this edition are highlights related to noteworthy announcements and/or developments related to:
UPS Ventures and TuSimple
Descartes and BestTransport
TrueCommerce Integration with WooCommerce
GreyOrange
Rizing LLC and Transcend Spatial Solutions
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UPS Ventures Invests in Self-Driving Start-Up TuSimple
UPS Ventures, the venture capital arm of United Parcel Service has acquired a minority stake in self-driving startup TuSimple, Inc. According to published reports, the investment is an extension of a $95 million Series D funding round that began in February, led by China firm Sina Corp., along with Hong Kong investment firm Composite Capital Management. The company is reportedly valued at just over $1 billion and expects to have commercial driverless initiated by late 2020.
Founded in 2015, TuSimple is developing technology that allows shipping companies to operate self-driving, Class 8 commercial vehicles that typically include three or more axles. This technology provider has offices in both the United States and China.
The company indicates that its self-driving technology could cut transportation costs by upwards of 30 percent.
The UPS partnership reportedly began in March of this year, with trial runs of truckloads of freight, controlled by software, with an actual driver as standby, traveling between Phoenix and Tucson Arizona. The United States Postal Service has also been involved in a two-week pilot test of a run between Phoenix Arizona and Dallas Texas.
Added Note to Readers– Supply Chain Matters will feature our This Week in Supply Chain Tech highlight series as announcements warrant.
Descartes Systems Group Acquires BestTransport
Descartes Systems Group has announced that it has acquired BestTransport.com, Inc. (BestTransport), a Cloud-based transportation management system (TMS) provider focused on flatbed-intensive manufacturers and distributors.
The acquisition involved a transaction of $11.2 million, net of working capital, satisfied from Descartes’ existing line of credit.
Headquartered in Columbus Ohio, BestTransport reportedly offers a full TMS suite of applications support from contract rate management through to load building, shipment execution and freight payment, with extensive capabilities for flatbed transportation moves. The software provider serves shippers and carriers throughout North America and Europe.
Plans call for combining BestTransport’s platform with the Descartes Global Logistics Network, offering additional support capabilities such as Descartes MacroPoint Visibility and Capacity Matching.
This latest Descartes acquisition follows the June acquisition of STEPcom, a B2B supply chain integration network based in Switzerland for upwards of $19.6 million, along with the May $21 million acquisition of New Zealand based Core Transport Technologies Limited, an electronic transportation network providing global commercial air carriers and ground handlers with shipment scanning and tracking support.
TrueCommerce Indicates Integration with WooCommerce
B2B trading partner integration technology platform provider TrueCommerce has announced technical integration with WooCommerce, an open-source, customizable eCommerce platform available to businesses worldwide.
According to the announcement, the new Cloud-based platform allows e-merchants to automatically transfer key order data between their WooCommerce storefront and an array of popular business systems, as well as consolidate multiple sales channels on one platform. The integration is an extension of TrueCommerce Foundry, a broad set of commerce services and applications that connect customers, suppliers, channels and other trading partners.
The integration reportedly allows users to, among other needs, consolidate multiple sales channels like traditional EDI, Drop Ship, Marketplace and online orders from one provider and automatically transmit order information to third-part logistics (3PL) providers.
GreyOrange Partners with Eight Warehouse Technical Services Providers
GreyOrange, a software and robotics company that leverages artificial intelligence  and machine learning to optimize supply chains, formally announced partnerships with eight warehouse industry leaders in the United States. They include: Avik Services, Bricz, Hy-Tek, Info-Sun, McCombs-Wall, S&H Systems, TREW and UST Global, which each will join forces with GreyOrange to help sell, deploy and service GreyOrange technology.
The company’s application platform, GreyMatter, reportedly orchestrates robots, people, promises and inventory to continuously adapt and accelerate accurate fulfillment in distribution centers and warehouses.
The company’s growth has been fueled in the past year by Mithril Capital, co-founded by Peter Thiel and Ajay Royan, which led a $140 million investment in GreyOrange that also included participation from Blume Ventures, Mitsubishi, Flipkart and Project Verte. This funding has enabled GreyOrange to expand operations in the U.S. to include a research and development lab in Boston and the buildout of U.S. headquarters in the Atlanta tech corridor to lead manufacturing, delivery and operations.
GreyOrange will work to provide its partners with business, technical, sales and marketing resources to enable them to grow their business and better support customers.
GreyOrange additional announced that Jeff Cashman has joined the company as Senior Vice President and Global Chief Operations Officer. Cashman brings more than 30 years of supply chain technology experience to the company, most recently as the CEO of Ally Commerce, an e-commerce service provider for brand manufacturers.
Rizing LLC Announces Acquisition of Transcend Spatial Systems
Stamford Connecticut based Rizing, LLC, a privately held global SAP® functional and technical firm, announced the acquisition of Transcend Spatial Solutions, a Geographic Information System (GIS) services and solutions company founded in 2010 and headquartered in Charlotte, N.C.
Rizing is the parent company of Vesta Partners, an SAP EAM services firm, N SPRO, an SAP for Retail services firm and Rizing HCM, an SAP SuccessFactors Gold Partner.
Transcend’s expertise with GIS and LiDAR technology will reportedly integrate with Rizing’s SAP® enterprise asset management capabilities across industry verticals. The company’s technology leverages location data originating from field data collection, LiDAR point clouds, and satellite imagery to build custom applications that allow for data visualization and monitoring of assets. Transcend’s products reportedly increase the value of location data by adding integration, validation, reporting and visualization capabilities. This provider has been focused primarily on the transportation and telecommunications industries, supporting over 25 State Departments of Transportation (DOTs).
The combined companies will reportedly allow growth into new markets and augment products and services for existing and new clients.
This concludes our latest edition of This Week in Supply Chain Management Tech.
An Added Note to Readers– Supply Chain Matters will feature our This Week in Supply Chain Tech highlight series periodically as announcements warrant, which has been frequent of-late.
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