Darren O’Connor, Director of Solution Delivery at Körber speaks to MHD about why Körber is the best in supply chain and explains what the software automation company will showcase at CeMAT 2023.
Körber offers its customers the unique ability to partner with a single company to meet all its supply chain technology needs.
Whether a company is looking for a WMS capable of scaling to meet demand now and in the future, AMR solutions to boost productivity and help overcome labour challenges, simulation software to identify concerns or plan new warehouses, or an OMS to help manage the surge in e-commerce orders, Körber can help.
All of its technology connects to allow complete visibility throughout the supply chain, from the orders coming in, to the trucks being loaded.
Körber values the concept of partnership and wants to work with its customers to find the right solution – or set of solutions – for their unique operations. It understands supply chain is not a “one-size-fits-all” industry, and what works for one company mightn’t work for the next.
It’s part of the reason Körber has put together the product portfolio it has. Körber wants to provide its customers options to create the supply chain technology stack that solves the challenges they’re facing today and enable them to handle the problems that may arise in the future.
SHOWCASING SOLUTIONS AT TRADE SHOWS
Körber is returning to CeMAT 2023 and is excited to show the new capabilities and solutions added to its portfolio.
“We haven’t been at a trade show in New South Wales in a long time,” says Darren O’Connor, Director of Solution Delivery at Körber.
“I think many potential customers aren’t aware of what we have to offer, and CeMAT provides us the perfect opportunity to demonstrate our new solutions. Körber consultants and experts can speak to attendees and explain how these solutions can solve their complex supply chain problems.”
“Attendees can have a hands-on experience with our technology so they can understand what it does. They can pick some swag, and use our virtual reality headset, which is gamified and loaded with a scoring and leaders’ board.”
In the past few years, Körber has talked to many customers on issues such as rising consumer demands, labour shortages, and unforeseen economic challenges, and it notes it has multiple solutions to help businesses tackle these problems.
“We have an order management s*stem that can route orders around,” explains Darren. “When you have a spike in demand in one place, then that potentially means that you don’t have to worry about fulfilling out of a single DC. You can instead move the demand around a bit, and that is a huge benefit for ensuring their sales are met.”
“There’s a lot of customer advocacy that goes inside Körber and its technology platforms. Often, customers are looking for a point of difference in how their processing works. The ability to adapt something and provide a level of new capability and new process for them is a strong point on our technology stacks. It also means they can see things they might not have seen or foreseen during the initial stages of a project.”
Körber anticipates a significant rise in companies seeking visibility throughout their supply chain and having a technology stack that is well-integrated is key.
USING ROBOTS AS A SERVICE
One of the things that makes Körber so unique in the market is its ability to truly provide end-to-end technology to its customers.
It has everything from a best-of-breed WMS, which was recently named in the Leaders Quadrant of the 2023 Gartner Magic Quadrant for Warehouse Management S*stems, to all the additional technologies it takes to run the supply chain, like OMS, TSO, AMR, Simulation and Voice.
This year, it also launched its industry leading UCS, which allows customers to orchestrate movement of their people and technology in a single solution.
“You can come to us, ask us to design for you a solution that all of the systems are sitting inside that we will supply,” says Darren. “And many customers are looking for that one place to go.”
Körber’s Robotics as a Service (RaaS) program allows its customers to purchase AMRs from any of its robotics partners “as-a-service”, rather than having to budget for a single, large capital expenditure.
This allows operations to put together the AMR fleet that is right for their business at the time, but also expand to include different AMR vendors or increase the AMRs on site as the operations needs change.
This becomes especially critical during peak seasons, as operations can leverage this flexibility to help manage the increased demand and help ease the stress of finding and retaining temporary workers.
“RaaS is about avoiding the big CAPEX upfront and understanding how robots can improve a business’s operations,” notes Darren. “They don’t have a latent capacity problem like some other companies’ automation solutions.”
DEALING WITH PEAK PERIODS
Körber has built a company around understanding the needs of its customers and enabling them to address those needs in the way that’s right for their business
This allows Körber’s customers to make changes to screens and processes to accommodate their unique business needs, without impacting their ability to upgrade their system and receive support from its team.
As it continues to develop products and expand its technology offerings, it’s focusing on giving its customers the control they need to run their business, with the confidence that it’s behind them every step of the way.
It recently invested in its Service & Delivery Organisation (SDO), taking advantage of new technologies that will help it better serve its customers, and do it proactively. It understands the supply chain is a critical part of every business and will ensure it’s running smoothly – especially during times of stress – which it says is of the highest importance.
“Our product technology roadmaps are built around understanding customers and addressing their needs,” explains Darren. “Our platform separates out the business logic and runtime. This means we can change to screens and processes to accommodate their needs without having to upgrade their systems.
“We are investing in our SDO organisation and taking advantage of new technologies that service it and our global operations. We understand the supply chain is critical to running it, and particularly during stress peak processing periods.
Visit Körber at CeMAT, Booth E29 to discover how it can help optimise your supply chain operations.
For more information on Körber, click here.