C.H. Robinson and Microsoft partner up for real-time supply chain visibility initiative

A collaboration announced today between two titans in their respective industries— Minneapolis, Minn.-based global logistics services provider and freight forwarder C.H. Robinson, and technology giant Microsoft—has a sharp focus on enabling real-time visibility for C.H. Robinson’s shipper customers, as well as meeting changing global supply chain demands.

The companies said the path to enabling real-time visibility is through the meshing of C.H. Robinson’s flagship technology platform, called Navisphere, its single global technology platform, which provides end-to-end visibility, consistent business processes, and strategy-driven business intelligence on a global basis and is used by CHRW employees, customers, and service providers to manage transportation and sourcing activities globally, and Microsoft Azure, a cloud computing service and Azure IoT, a collection of Microsoft-managed cloud services that connect, monitor and control billions of IoT assets.

C.H. Robinson and Microsoft officials explained that Robinson’s Navisphere will leverage Microsoft’s Azure IoT Central, in order to integrate IoT device monitoring that measures factors like temperature, shock, tilt, humidity, light and pressure in shipments to provide shippers with a very detailed intelligence level about goods moving through their supply chains.

What’s more, the companies said that on a collaborative basis they work with a number of Fortune 250 shippers, which provides an easier path for shippers to scale and develop new supply chain solutions, in order to give them increased supply chain efficiency, real-time insights, and visibility. And the companies are also leveraging this partnership through C.H. Robinson’s TMC division and Navisphere Vision, coupled with Microsoft focusing on its own supply chain innovations, with an eye on increasing predictability and making proactive business decisions for its business groups.

“We are committed to providing customers a trusted, easy-to-use platform so they can build seamless, smart and secure solutions regardless of where they are on their IoT journey,” said Sam George, corporate vice president, Azure IoT, Microsoft, 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.”

In an interview Jordan Kass, President of Managed Services at C.H. Robinson, whom oversees the company’s TMC division, said that the alliance between C.H. Robinson and Microsoft evolved as a natural extension of their relationship that goes back five years, when TMC, a division of C.H. Robinson, started working with Microsoft to support its journey to enhance visibility, customer service, and operational efficiencies throughout their global supply chain. 

“We successfully implemented Navisphere, our global multimodal transportation management system, across Microsoft’s global supply chain, giving Microsoft industry leading reliability, efficiency and real-time visibility to all inventory, at rest or in motion, anywhere in the world,” Kass explained. “As a pioneer in the technology industry, Microsoft understands and recognizes innovation, connectivity, and best in class capabilities. Their decision to utilize Navisphere… speaks to our ability to drive growth, innovation, and solutions for customers. Together, we’re combining our capabilities with theirs to make it even easier to scale and develop new digital solutions and services to provide shippers around the world with greater supply chain efficiency, real time insights and visibility.”

In terms of the benefits of this collaboration for C.H. Robinson’s shipper customers, Kass pointed to the pace of change his company is seeing in the supply chain industry, which he called unparalleled. And he added that being able to quickly scale and adapt C.H. Robinson’s technology is what helps give its customers a competitive advantage. 

“As C.H. Robinson continues to invest and enhance our technology that is built by and for supply chain experts, we look to align with other best-in-class companies and products that bring the most value to our customers,” he said. “That is why this alliance is important for current and future customers. Through Microsoft’s Azure cloud platform, we gain scalability, premier data security, and increased application speed for the benefit of our customers and carriers around the world.  And, by pairing the power of our transportation management system, Navisphere, and Microsoft’s cloud platform, Azure, we make real-time global visibility possible and our customers receive a greater competitive edge through more automated, predictive, and resilient global supply chains.” 

Kass also noted that the net result, of this collaboration, is a platform that allows supply chain outcomes at scale and with speed.  These digital capabilities, he said, include IoT device connectivity to help proactively detect theft or damage, as well as machine learning and artificial intelligence to help predict supply chain disruptions before they occur.

This announcement marks the second time in recent months Microsoft has been part of a supply chain technology collaboration. In May, it partnered up for a multiyear collaboration with FedEx, with an emphasis on meshing their respective key elements, including the FedEx global digital and logistics network, with Microsoft’s intelligent cloud power.