We recently joined Zebra Technologies’ Chief Technology Officer Tom Bianculli to discuss Zebra Ventures’ investment in FourKites and how the two companies will collaborate to change how organizations manage their supply chains.
Zebra Ventures is the strategic investment arm of Zebra Technologies, extending Zebra’s vision of empowering enterprise customers with a performance edge. Zebra Ventures participated in FourKites’ recent Series D growth financing, driven by a shared vision of a more streamlined, advanced supply chain fueled by comprehensive data. Zebra brings a suite of hardware, mobile solutions, and wearable technology that improve how product is moved through the supply chain. Tom shared how combining Zebra’s data with FourKites’ technology will shape the future supply chain.
Q: How do you see the supply chain transforming?
A: After a generation of linear supply chain movement, the supply chain of the future will be a living, breathing network, constantly adapting to changing situations. We see the investment in FourKites as an opportunity to combine the analytics and data that we each have to help our employees and customers make better decisions. Zebra’s excited by the new technology in development and the opportunity to implement real-time insights that drive decisions and action.
Q: How do you envision Zebra’s collaborating with FourKites?
A: By joining forces with FourKites, we can help customers optimize their inventory, labor and assets. We’re impressed with FourKites’ unparalleled ability to connect global supply chains. As FourKites is the world’s largest network of interconnected shippers, we’re inspired by how the FourKites platform quickly answers three critical supply chain questions: where’s my inventory, where’s my shipment and when will it arrive?
Zebra focuses more on identifying and understanding contextual information around product assets as they move through the supply chain, so we envision combining our insights with FourKites’ to provide customers with a unified view at the asset level and the transportation level as well. Combining our unique datasets will be instrumental in creating supply chain solutions that provide true end-to-end, tangible visibility.
“The most exciting aspect is how we co-innovate together to leverage the combination of our data sets and analytics insights to bring entirely new levels of optimization for our customers.”
– Tom Bianculli, Chief Technology Officer, Zebra Technologies
Q: What’s Zebra’s plan for the future?
A: Over the last seven years, we’ve been creating what we call enterprise asset intelligence, meaning every asset and worker is visible, connected and well-utilized. The investment in FourKites is the next step in realizing that vision so that workers can make better decisions and provide customers with better service. The result of these efforts means keeping valuable product conditions — like vaccine temperatures — monitored throughout the journey while expanding in-transit visibility. It’s never been more important across industries to be thinking about how organizations can improve their supply chain.
Through our investment and collaboration with FourKites, we’re excited to help supply chain teams move more efficiently, all at the touch of the finger.
Watch Tom’s entire interview here:
