The future will be data-driven
Smartlog: "The future will be data-driven and we must exploit its power in logistics systems”
The Urretxu-based company has implemented its smart intralogistics solutions in concerns like Hola Moda (H&M), Coca Cola, Loewe, Elkar and Postquam, and in just six years has opened subsidiaries in several Latin American countries and in Dubai.
Smartlog was founded in 2016 in Urretxu (Gipuzkoa province), with an international vocation and innovation in its DNA, as a company to take automation of intralogistics processes to the next level by combining technologies like total connectivity, big data, artificial intelligence and machine learning. In just six years and with a workforce of 45 people it has automated distribution centres and warehouses for major concerns like Coca Cola, Loewe, Hola Moda (set up to handle H&M franchise stores in Central America), IMCA in Costa Rica, Interagrovial (sole authorised representative of the John Deere brand in Uruguay and Argentina), and Elkar, in the Basque Country; as well as setting up subsidiaries in Panama, Uruguay, Peru and Dubai.
“Today’s constantly-changing scenario is pushing those responsible for the supply chain to seek solutions to enable them to be more competitive, and to run warehouses in a flexible, scalable way and focus on making deliveries local and ever faster, more personalised and via a range of channels (e-commerce, omnichannel retail, microfulfillment and so on),” stresses Xabier Zubizarreta, CEO of Smartlog Group. “And in this context, automation of logistics processes, distribution centres and warehouses is vital,” he adds.
For this reason Smartlog is able to construct smart intralogistics solutions by putting together different automated systems to meet the operating needs of the client’s business. Like this, not only can companies make the best use of space, but also manage to speed up their order preparation and sorting processes, cut operating costs and, in short, “boost productivity in an efficient, high-quality way,” says Zubizarreta.
Smartlog does all this while keeping a close eye on emerging technologies in order to add them to its catalogue; the CEO puts it like this: “We orient our solutions towards mobile robotics and include technologies like total connectivity, Big Data, Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning to go even further. The future will be data-driven and the key to exploiting the power of data lies in the combination of the management system and intelligence built into logistics process automation systems.
One of its products is the warehouse management software Galys, recently implemented at IMCA in Costa Rica, a major company representing world-leading brands in the Dominican Republic and Jamaica. “Monitoring based on the exploitation of data, AI and machine learning enables this software, like our own system for facility monitoring and predictive management, to learn from the operation of all automated processes, proposing improvements, planning maintenance tasks, recommending new configurations and predicting new scenarios. Like this we manage to anticipate the future and supply total solutions, as well as making the whole supply chain smart,” states Zubizarreta.
Its Autostore robotics solution, which makes it possible to meet all order preparation needs in e-commerce and omnichannel strategies, has also been implemented in different firms at international level. This is the case of Hola Moda, set up to handle H&M franchise stores in Central America, Interagrovial, the sole authorised representative of the John Deere brand in Uruguay and Argentina and cosmetics brand Postquam, among many others.
Close to the client
Smartlog is aimed at highly varied sectors ranging from retail, fashion and cosmetics to healthcare, pharmaceuticals, food, industrial goods, electronics, logistics operations and aeronautics, working in e-commerce and/or omnichannel environments. In each of these sectors we support our clients through every stage in the life cycle of the logistics project, from data and needs analysis through to subsequent monitoring, maintenance and constant optimisation.
To provide the best possible service the Urretxu-based form opts for a strategy of attending to markets locally. “We want to be there wherever our services are required and act locally in a proactive way. In fact, we have a procedure of constant analysis of markets that might fit into our strategy of internationalisation. Like this we have managed to expand into Central and South America, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt and Saudi Arabia,” assures Zubizarreta.
Its strategy for the future continues in the same direction. “We want to consolidate our leading position in the countries where we currently work, and activate expansion into new markets like, perhaps, Colombia.” To do this it has the strategic support of a supplier of warehouse management systems, digitalisation firm Dinaiz and Smart Health Logistics, specialising in logistics for healthcare centres and hospitals. These three recent additions to the group “strengthen our technological positioning and enable us to roll out our strategy for the future,” concludes the CEO.
Backing the international plans of Basque companies is one of the aims of the SPRI Group which, through the Basque internationalisation agency Basque Trade and Investment, offers all its resources and support including Elkartu, Gauzatu and the BEINT and Global Training grants in a single place.