Maersk's Digital Transformation Shifts To Warehousing

A.P. Møller – Maersk has not been shy about its ambition to become a global digital logistics integrator. The container shipping giant has been busy investing in startups, digital forwarding, blockchain, data management and freight brokerages over the last two years. It also has consolidated Damco's supply chain offering and its various regional shipping companies under the Maersk Line brand.

Now, in what Maersk describes as its "ongoing focus on digital technologies that simplify customers' increasingly complex supply chains," the spotlight has turned to its global warehousing and distribution services which are to be boosted by the deployment of JDA Software Inc.'s Warehouse Management solutions.

According to Maersk, the addition of JDA's cloud-based solutions will expand the range and flexibility of its delivery services from existing "strategically located" warehouses by improving efficiency while lowering inventory costs. 

Maersk will initially deploy JDA Warehouse Management in Gothenburg, Sweden, and in the U.S. in Newark, NJ, and Santa Fe, NM, in Q4 this year. These sites will be used to build a template for rollout across Maersk warehouse facilities worldwide.

Maersk was unable to disclose the size of the investment or the scope of its global warehouse facilities to be upgraded before this article was published.

Maersk believes that its investment in digital solutions will help get inventory to the right location even when dealing with multiple suppliers and carriers, improving on-time performance by, for example, "coordinating the schedules of several carriers to adapt to real-world disruptions such as adverse weather" and simplifying complex transactions between different players and sites.

"‘Digital' is no longer just a buzzword. Today it is unlocking tremendous value for our logistics and warehouse customers in terms of simplification and better performance," said Henning Goldman, global head of warehousing and distribution for Maersk.

He said JDA's expertise and innovative solutions offered competitive advantages. "The addition of these exciting solutions to our portfolio is going to help Maersk continue offering our customers truly unique end-to-end solutions."

FreightWaves articles by Mike

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