US transportation company CH Robinson has formed an alliance with Microsoft to transform the supply chain digitally. The collaboration will integrate CH Robinson’s Navisphere and Microsoft Azure cloud technologies.
 
The aim is to make real-time visibility possible in supply chains and accelerate innovation in transportation.
 
 “The pace of change we’re seeing in the supply-chain industry today is unparalleled,” said Chris O’Brien, chief commercial officer of Minnesota-based CH Robinson. “Being able to quickly scale and adapt our technology is what helps give our customers a competitive advantage. As we continue to invest and enhance our technology built by and for supply-chain experts, we look to partner with other best-in-class companies that bring the most value to our customers. Through Microsoft’s Azure cloud platform, we gain more scalability, premier data security and increased application speed, which benefit our customers and carriers around the world.”
 
Through this collaboration, Navisphere will leverage Azure IoT Central to integrate IoT device monitoring that measures factors such as temperature, shock, tilt, humidity, light and pressure in shipments to give customers a more detailed level of intelligence about goods as they move through the supply chain.
 
Together, CH Robinson and Microsoft work with many of the Fortune 250 companies, which means this alliance makes it easier to scale and develop services to provide the world’s largest shippers with supply-chain efficiency, real-time insights and visibility.
 
“We are committed to providing customers with 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 at Microsoft. “We’re thrilled to collaborate with CH Robinson as it transforms the supply-chain industry by leveraging our Microsoft Azure and Azure IoT.”
 
The collaboration builds on CH Robinson and Microsoft’s history of working together. In collaboration with Microsoft, CH Robinson built Navisphere Vision, a real-time visibility product that leverages Azure IoT, machine learning and predictive analytics to assess potential disruptions across supply chains.
 
Through CH Robinson’s TMC division and Navisphere Vision, Microsoft is driving innovations in its own supply chain to provide more predictability and proactive decision-making to its various business groups.
 
“The supply chain of the future is smarter, less volatile and can be navigated with a new level of visibility thanks to the power of this relationship,” said Jordan Kass, president of managed services at CH Robinson. “Through this collaboration, our customers receive a greater competitive edge, as well as industry-leading insights and expertise.”
 
In addition to CH Robinson’s innovation on Azure, the company is also leveraging Dynamics 365 and Power BI to streamline its customer relationship management platform. As part of its relationship with Microsoft, CH Robinson will integrate its real-time pricing, execution and transportation management tools into Dynamics 365, making these digitally driven logistics capabilities available to Microsoft customers.