FedEx and FourKites Announce Alliance to Make Supply Chains Work Smarter

Rhea-AI Summary

FedEx has announced a strategic investment in FourKites to advance global supply chain visibility through a new platform called FourKites X.

FourKites’ system currently supports 2.5 million shipments daily, integrating insights from FedEx's extensive network, which operates over 16.5 million shipments globally.

The collaboration aims to offer enhanced reliability, data-driven insights, and improved supply chain efficiency for large shippers and logistics providers, addressing challenges posed by global disruptions.

Positive

• Strategic investment in FourKites enhances FedEx's supply chain visibility capabilities.
• FourKites X integrates data from FedEx, supporting over 16.5 million shipments daily.
• The alliance aims to mitigate supply chain challenges and unlock growth opportunities.

Negative

• None.

FedEx makes a strategic investment in FourKites, which FourKites will leverage to develop FourKites X to help transform global supply chains with volumes of data insights from both companies’ networks

AMSTERDAM--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- FedEx Corp. (NYSE: FDX) and supply chain visibility company FourKites today announced a strategic alliance that will provide businesses with new, more robust real-time visibility capabilities to help solve their most pervasive supply chain challenges, become more efficient, and unlock new growth opportunities. Events like the COVID-19 pandemic, ongoing geopolitical issues, port congestion, and other global disruptions have revealed the complexities in keeping interconnected supply chains around the world up and running. FedEx and FourKites are collaborating to make supply chains smarter by bringing comprehensive and highly granular visibility into multi-modal and multi-carrier operations with the deep network and rich insights of their combined networks.

FedEx and FourKites Announce Alliance to Make Supply Chains Work Smarter (Graphic: Business Wire)

FourKites’ real-time visibility platform has integrated intelligence at every point of the supply chain, and currently supports 2.5 million shipments a day, connecting the supply chains of 50% of Fortune 500 companies. Through this collaboration, FourKites will be using its machine learning and artificial intelligence capabilities with data insights from the FedEx network – which reaches more than 220 countries and territories, linking more than 99 percent of the world’s GDP, through more than 16.5 million shipments daily – to create a new end-to-end supply chain intelligence platform called FourKites X. FourKites X will provide tools and insights to help large shippers and logistics providers mitigate the impacts of sustained challenges via a suite of offerings ranging from dynamic planning and pre-shipment, to enhanced visibility and proactive alerts, to supply chain optimisation insights.

To support this alliance and the launch of FourKites X, FedEx has made a strategic investment in FourKites.

“This is an exciting collaboration between two industry leaders and innovators coming together to unlock new opportunities for our customers,” said Sriram Krishnasamy, CEO, FedEx Dataworks. “If the last two years have taught us anything, it’s that companies need to work together in order to work smarter and faster. Our collaboration with FourKites creates a data ecosystem that will deliver a new level of predictability and visibility to help businesses build smarter supply chains in today’s unpredictable and complex business environment.”

“We are excited to announce this groundbreaking platform and strategic collaboration with FedEx,” said Mathew Elenjickal, FourKites Founder & CEO. “Our organisations share an unwavering commitment to customer success through strategic innovation. Together, we are working to pave the future of global supply chains, built on a foundation of data and machine learning to deliver new value to those global supply chains.”

FourKites X – A Complete Picture of Global Supply Chain Operations

FedEx Dataworks, a business unit in FedEx focused on making supply chains smarter through a powerful data science approach and machine learning capabilities, will support FourKites’ development of the new platform, FourKites X, that will help give customers deeper actionable insights, more accurate ETAs, and more intelligent supply chains to reduce supply chain volatility, and improve top-line growth.

The platform is being designed to help large shippers and logistics providers identify areas of opportunity, such as:

• How chief supply chain officers can improve planning to address empty shelves and manufacturing slowdowns
• How companies can use data to turn supply chain crises into chances to improve the customer experience
• How chief financial officers can optimise supply chains for growth and efficiency

“When it comes to supply chain data, more is always better," said Steve Banker, Vice President, Supply Chain Services, at ARC Advisory Group. “The collaboration between FourKites and FedEx is exceptional in both the volume of data that it will aggregate, and in the degree to which it could improve predicted times of arrival, planning and more. FourKites X can be a big step forward for this market."

Customers of FourKites X will be able to integrate the platform with existing systems, and they will be able to receive new capabilities in a modular way with support from data engineers, data scientists and user experience experts. The FourKites X solution will include pre-built applications and an intuitive dashboard, which will allow customers to unlock things like pre-shipment weather advisories and supply chain insights.

To learn more about FourKites X, click here.

About FedEx Corp.

FedEx Corp. (NYSE: FDX) provides customers and businesses worldwide with a broad portfolio of transportation, e-commerce, and business services. With annual revenue of $92 billion, the company offers integrated business solutions through operating companies competing collectively, operating collaboratively, and innovating digitally under the respected FedEx brand. Consistently ranked among the world’s most admired and trusted employers, FedEx inspires its nearly 550,000 employees to remain focused on safety, the highest ethical and professional standards, and the needs of their customers and communities. FedEx is committed to connecting people and possibilities around the world responsibly and resourcefully, with a goal to achieve carbon-neutral operations by 2040. To learn more, please visit fedex.com/about.

About FourKites^®

Leading global supply chain visibility platform FourKites^® extends visibility beyond transportation into yards, warehouses, stores and beyond. Tracking more than 2.5 million shipments daily across road, rail, ocean, air, parcel and courier, and reaching more than 200 countries, FourKites combines real-time data and powerful machine learning to help companies digitise their end-to-end supply chains. More than 1,000 of the world’s most recognised brands — including 9 of the top-10 CPG and 18 of the top-20 food and beverage companies — trust FourKites to transform their business and create more agile, efficient and sustainable supply chains. To learn more, visit www.fourkites.com. 

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220621005906/en/

Scott Johnston

European PR Director, FourKites

+31 62 147 8442

scott.johnston@fourkites.com

Source: FourKites

FAQ

What is FourKites X and how does it benefit FedEx (FDX)?

FourKites X is a new supply chain intelligence platform developed through FedEx's strategic investment in FourKites, aimed at enhancing visibility and efficiency across supply chains.

When was the FedEx (FDX) investment in FourKites announced?

The investment and strategic alliance between FedEx and FourKites were announced in June 2022.

How many shipments does FourKites currently support?

FourKites supports approximately 2.5 million shipments daily, connecting the supply chains of many Fortune 500 companies.

What global challenges does the FedEx (FDX) and FourKites collaboration address?

The collaboration addresses issues like COVID-19 disruptions, geopolitical factors, and port congestion by providing better visibility and efficiency in supply chain operations.