Early Winners in Supply Chain Automation

Supply Chain Automation Starters

In the early days of ShipHawk, investors hadn’t yet realized the immense opportunity to fundamentally change transportation and logistics through technology. There weren’t many startups, and there were very few investments. Much of the conversation was that there hadn’t been much of a change since “we ditched the horse and buggy for a truck.”

Fast forward to today, and technology is definitely disrupting the supply chain. Trucks are easier to access for booking. Vehicle locations are more accessible for shipment tracking. Freight is easier to manage. And it is far easier to get this data into a platform—like a shopping cart, ERP or CRM—where business decisions are made. Here are a few companies we believe are making a significant impact on the logistics industry:

Cargomatic is changing the way local trucks are accessed. With its Uber-style app, shippers can post a load and immediately find a nearby truck.
FreightOS has brought freight forwarding into the future by providing a platform that brings fully landed international costs online.
Freightview has revolutionized LTL quoting by consolidating disparate data into one dashboard.
Haven is helping ocean carriers sell capacity while automating the purchase process.
On-demand providers such as Deliv, Postmates, Roadie and others have agents running around major cities conducting on-demand pickups and deliveries for consumers.
Shippohas aggregated all those pesky parcel APIs into a single, easy-to-access extension on your favorite eCommerce platform.
Veritread is a heavy haul marketplace that connects shippers with carriers who have specialized equipment.
And of course, ShipHawk where we are providing retailers the ultimate cart-to-customer experience: giving them access to the best fully landed prices in real-time, an automated back-end process and visibility through the entire experience.

These are just a few of the a steadily growing group of solutions that are using technology to fundamentally change the supply chain. New entrants are announced weekly and it will be interesting to see which ones are able to establish and maintain a dominant position. Regardless of who they are, consumers and retailers will both benefit by this disruption to the antiquated supply chain and logistics space.