German supply chain services group Körber has rolled out a new partner program, launched its Unified Control System for warehouses, and announced an Asia-focused distribution agreement with Attabotics, as the firm continues to develop the next-generation supply chain following its €1.15bn takeover of Siemens’ parcel logistics business earlier this year.
The new partner programme, called Evolve, caters to advisory, implementation and sales partners, according to Körber, and will help the firm expand the global reach of its supply chain software solutions.
Evolve will further increase Körber’s global capacity by leveraging certified partners for service delivery and drive incremental revenue through re-sell and co-sell. The program offers three levels of partnership, with increasing degrees of partner collaboration and co-creation in the booming supply chain market.
According to the firm, Evolve will address small and growing partners, as well as global system integrators and consultancies to further improve Körber’s one platform approach, which covers a range of tech including warehouse management and control, order management, voice, simulation and robotics.
“Körber is already the trusted supply chain software partner for thousands of organizations worldwide,” said Chad Collins, CEO Software, Körber Business Area Supply Chain. “Our partner program Evolve adds another significant level to our efforts to grant even more organizations access to an unrivalled depth of solutions. Together, we empower businesses worldwide to conquer supply chain complexities.”
3D robotics
One of Körber’s partners is 3D robotics supply chain company Attabotics. As part of a new distribution agreement signed earlier this month, Körber will provide companies across the Asia Pacific region with integrated logistics systems equipped with Attabotics’ patented storage structure and robotic shuttles that “save warehouse space by at least 85%,” the company noted.
Attabotics provides a robotic warehousing and fulfilment system that condenses typical warehouse aisles into a single, vertical storage structure. The company specialises in 3D robotic shuttles that travel both horizontally and vertically, unlike ground-based autonomous mobile robots and automated guided vehicles.
Win Thian Chai, CEO of Körber Supply Chain Asia, said: “Attabotics is a fast-growing, technology-focused supply chain company, and we are very pleased to expand our partnership with them to include Asia, where businesses are increasingly automating their picking and order processing processes. Establishing a deeper relationship with Attabotics helps us to continue paving the way towards a future where every manufacturer has a flexible, reliable, and efficient automated warehouse system.”
Unified Control System
Alongside its new partner programme and distribution agreement, Körber has also unveiled its new Unified Control System (UCS), which has been developed to “optimise end-to-end material flows.”
UCS provides a single, vendor-neutral solution for configuring and managing a depth of technologies in the warehouse including AMR, voice, and mixed portfolios of material handling equipment.
Sean Elliott, EVP and CTO Software at Körber Supply Chain said: “Supply chain executives consistently name software, hardware and technology integration as one of their top five challenges. The unique capabilities of Körber’s UCS enable tailored deployments and streamline upgrades of an array of warehouse technologies – all in one place – to best support operations. This results in increased throughput, improved ROI and reduced system cost.”
The UCS leverages warehouse management system (WMS) data to analyse inventory and resource availability and automatically allocates tasks to AMRs, people or material handling equipment, based on their suitability, destination and current workload.
General availability of the UCS will be the first quarter of 2023.
