Microsoft Alliance Targets Real-Time Visibility for Supply Chains

Microsoft and C.H. Robinson recently partnered to transform supply chains of the future and enable real-time visibility for C.H. Robinson customers.

To meet the demands of evolving global supply chains, the companies will combine C.H. Robinson’s Navisphere and Microsoft Azure and Azure IoT, which monitors measures such as temperature, shock, tilt, humidity, light, and pressure. ­

The effort will provide customers with improved insights on goods as they move through the supply chain.

Navisphere is a global TMS technology platform that provides a virtual network, connecting people, customers, and service providers across all regions, and enabling improved processes, greater visibility to shipments, and comprehensive business intelligence, C.H. Robinson officials said in a separate article.

“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,” Sam George, corporate vice president, Azure IoT, Microsoft, said in a statement.

“We’re thrilled to collaborate with C.H. Robinson as it transforms the supply-chain industry by leveraging our Microsoft Azure and Azure IoT solutions,” he added.

The collaboration furthers C.H. Robinson and Microsoft’s previous partnership and builds on Navisphere Vision, a global real-time visibility product that leverages Azure IoT solutions, machine learning, and predictive analytics to quickly scale and adapt technology.

This helps guide customers and assess potential disruptions across supply chains.

Together, C.H. Robinson and Microsoft will work with nearly 250 companiesto enhance scale-up and develop new solutions to provide the world’s largest shippers with “greater supply-chain efficiency, real-time insights and visibility.”

“The pace of change we’re seeing in the supply-chain industry today is unparalleled, ” said Chris O’Brien, chief commercial officer, C.H. Robinson.“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.”

Additionally, C.H. Robinson is also leveraging Dynamics 365 and Power BI to streamline its customer relationship management (CRM) platform, which will focus small businesses connected to the world’s largest shippers.

As part of the new collaboration, the company will integrate its real-time pricing, execution and transportation management tools into Dynamics 365 to make these digitally driven logistics capabilities available to Microsoft customers,  officials noted.

“The supply chain of the future is smarter, less volatile and can be navigated with a new level of visibility,”. said Jordan Kass, president of managed services at C.H. Robinson.