Pioneering Solutions for a Changing World

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Körber's Vision Transforms Industries Worldwide, Propelling the Future of Commerce

In an era defined by automation and digitalization, industries across the globe are undergoing profound transformations. The quest for heightened integrity, visibility, speed, and resilience within supply chains is challenging professionals in organizations of all sizes to push the boundaries of conventional capabilities.

Internationally recognized, the Körber Group is renowned for translating ambitious concepts into customer triumphs, reshaping the technological terrain. Headquartered in Hamburg, Germany, Körber is actively expanding its ecosystems to tackle the evolving challenges of our world. By harnessing innovation and value creation through strategic ecosystem partnerships, they deliver groundbreaking solutions, services, and products. This approach, focused on combining expertise with diverse industry players, results in holistic end-to-end solutions that are transforming businesses and industries, enhancing efficiency, sustainability, and resilience in an ever-changing global economy.

They offer a comprehensive array of top-tier supply chain solutions tailored to accommodate a company's size, business strategy, and growth aspirations. As a result, the world’s largest companies trust Körber’s seamlessly integrated automation and software solutions encompassing automation, voice technology, robotics, materials handling, and cutting-edge software, complemented by Körber's exceptional proficiency in professional services and systems integration, ensuring a seamless harmonization of all components.

Körber's imaginative, forward-thinking approach extends across diverse industries such as automotive, bakery, cold chain, fast-moving consumer goods, food and beverage, internet retail and e-commerce, transportation, manufacturing, pharmaceuticals, and life sciences. With thousands of successful projects under their belt, each tailored to unique industry needs, they continue to drive progress.

A cornerstone of Körber's strategy involves amalgamating global expertise with local presence, allowing them to bring the most ingenious ideas, cutting-edge processes, technology, and implementation expertise from around the world directly to customers, irrespective of their geographic location.

As a comprehensive supply chain solutions provider, Körber strives to unravel the intricate web of critical challenges that significantly influence commerce flow and their customers' success. While their innovations are groundbreaking, their central focus remains on addressing fundamental business imperatives: enhancing efficiency, productivity, reliability, safety, and cost-effectiveness.

Technology with a human touch

Chris Beaty

Listening acts as the catalyst fueling Körber's most profound strength: innovation. Their end-to-end services provide complete integration and execution programs, applying creative solutions to reduce costs and alleviate pain points through automation. Chris Beaty, Senior Director of Business Development Parcel Logistics in North America for the Körber Business Area Supply Chain emphasizes their innovation leadership, stating, "We are well ahead of the curve when it comes to finding automated solutions for our customers."

Austin Power, General Manager Automation in North America for the Körber Business Area Supply Chain, underscored the importance of customer feedback in product development. “You must continuously invest in innovation, and you can't do that in a vacuum. You must listen to the customers and see where the market is moving. You must understand their needs, and then you need to invest internally in developing these products, these solutions, whether it's software, hardware, or AI solutions and you have to be able to do that quickly.”

Körber brings together complex control networks, equipment, and software with various engineering disciplines that interpret data from a customer's operation, which is essential to developing appropriately mapped solutions. “That's something I love about Körber and our integration capability,” Power said. “We absolutely have the ability to act as an extension of your business. At the same time, we are not beholden to force your solution into our product portfolio, and that's a very, very important differentiator.”

Austin Power

Körber’s SAP Consulting unit in North America focuses on the design, configuration, implementation, and customization of third-party warehouse management systems as well as yard and transportation management systems. This division not only provides supply chain consulting and professional services but has also developed its own unique software products. The catalysts for new product development included federal regulations surrounding the serialization of inventory, and Fortune 100 customers needing adaptive software to program modern functionality into aging systems.

“We enhance and optimize supporting software that facilitates the functions warehouse operators want and develop solutions specific to their needs. Sometimes we accomplish this by customizing third-party warehouse software itself or augmenting their existing solution with software our developers have created,” explained Steve Markham, EVP of SAP Consulting in North America for the Körber Business Area Supply Chain. “One of the things we pride ourselves on is our ability to provide our customers with tools that have enabled them to make their own developments and make their own changes. If they have the capacity and the personnel to do that, then we advise them and support them in their own journey.”

Steve Markham

Optimizing warehouse management systems helps customers thrive in a changing world characterized by tight labor markets and high turnover rates. Markham emphasized how right-sizing WMS enhances training, morale, and efficiency, ultimately benefiting businesses.

In addition to labor optimization, visibility, accuracy, and speed are critical drivers of change across various industries. Control of the supply chain, from raw material to final delivery, is paramount, as high inventory levels can negatively affect the bottom line.

“The visibility of that supply chain ultimately rolls to last-mile delivery,” said David Hawkins, Director of Business Development Parcel Logistics in North America for the Körber Business Area Supply Chain. “That delivery mechanism and all of the other factors associated with it have to be environmentally sustaining. Visibility is vital for tracking, tracing, delivering, and confirming deliveries — a critical driver in the current market.”

Körber is heavily investing in robotics, focusing on innovative applications of robotic arms and enhancements to automated vehicles and autonomous mobile robots. According to Power, "Mobile robotics will continue to evolve, and robotic case picking and robotic each picking are set to become warehousing mainstays."

David Hawkins

A particularly exciting advancement is the VarioPick robotic arm, capable of multiple operations, supported by an AI vision system. Hawkins highlighted the differentiating factor, stating, "Our vision system sets us apart. It's not just the one particular widget that somebody may make; it's combining those elements together and presenting that to the customer for their automation concepts."

The VarioPick solution integrates mechanical automation for picking and pulling products into a broader digitalization strategy across Körber’s product line and solutions. Predictive maintenance technology, essential for reducing downtime and boosting operational efficiencies, is embedded within their offerings.

As Beaty put it, "We've merged our digitalization strategy with AI technologies at the product level, seamlessly incorporating them into our mechanical solutions." He added, "When you choose Körber, you're not just purchasing a top-notch mechanical component; you're investing in a complete automation solution for your business."

Recognizing the stringent regulatory requirements in industries like cold chain, food and beverage, and pharmaceuticals, Körber has become a trusted partner in compliance. Markham stated, "We collaborate directly and indirectly with some of the world's largest pharmaceutical companies, and this involves extensive governance and specific audits within their industry, where our expertise is essential." He added, "We adapt to our customers’ corporate governance, and provide them with the necessary guidance and expertise to assure their supply chains are compliant with global regulations. For instance, the pharmaceutical supply chain is particularly complex due to the international laws designed to protect it from counterfeit inventory. We have the field experience and the tools to solve this complexity.”

One of Körber's pioneering endeavors involves the serialization and monitoring of individual items as they traverse the supply chain, from their initial stages to their assembly into pallets, utilization, and even disassembly. To illustrate, federal drug safety regulations in the United States necessitate the tracking of every medication dose from its inception to final delivery. Körber plays a vital role in serializing these items across the supply chain. As Markham pointed out, "We make a substantial impact in the pharmaceutical sector for our clients." Notably, this serialization capability is versatile and applicable across various industries, such as food and beverage and third-party logistics.

Across the world, each day, the teams at Körber harness their entrepreneurial spirit and ambitions to enhance both communities and businesses. At the heart of the company lies the fundamental mission of ensuring the safe and unhindered flow of commerce. Körber's commitment to upholding integrity, visibility, and resilience exemplifies just one facet of Körber's dedication to shaping a fresh vision for better lives.