Keelvar Launches Intelligent Sourcing Bot for Air Freight Procurement

Keelvar, the leading global provider of intelligent sourcing automation for procurement teams, today announced the launch of its new AI-powered air freight sourcing automation solution. The new bot – which was built specifically to solve the complexities and capacity challenges associated with air freight logistics – elevates Keelvar’s Sourcing Optimizer product to manage and offload up to 90% of tactical sourcing processes.

Several of Keelvar’s blue-chip customers have already deployed the solution and have run nearly 100 bot-assisted air freight sourcing events over the last several months. The air freight bot is the second in Keelvar’s Logistics Botline, following the recently announced ocean freight automation solution.

Developed as a no-code solution to work alongside procurement teams, Keelvar’s AI-enabled bots can set up and launch sourcing events within minutes, enabling buyers to be more agile and respond faster to market changes. Its artificial intelligence learns and improves over time, resulting in smarter decisions, faster awards and better outcomes.

“The air freight market has been disrupted to its core. Capacity is down, demand is up and change is constant,” said Alan Holland, founder and CEO of Keelvar. “Our new sourcing bot enables buyers to overcome this complexity by reacting more intelligently and with greater speed – two traits that are critical to supply chain resilience and performance.”

Dramatic drops in air cargo capacity, which is down 22% year-on-year, combined with stronger than typical demand, have made sourcing air freight more complex than ever. Adding to the dilemma, ocean freight transport capacity – which is responsible for 90% of goods distribution worldwide – also decreased, resulting in more buyers turning to air for distribution.

This has led many shippers to discontinue contract rates and force buyers to spot bid via “mini tenders” to secure capacity. Keelvar’s automated bots work 24 hours a day to immediately react to new spot bids or mini tender requests and execute the lane bidding process, resulting in faster awards, better decision making, improved traceability, and overall efficiency and time savings. Buyers still retain control and approval of these events and key decision points in the process, including award decisions.

Bot-automated tasks can include initiating events with carriers; collecting and validating bid data; communicating deadlines and reminders; analyzing bid data against award preferences; and recommending optimal award decisions. Through the use of AI, the bots will learn from repetitive processes and buyer preferences over time to further increase efficiency and improve outcomes.

To learn more about Keelvar’s air freight sourcing automation solution, visit www.keelvar.com/intelligent-sourcing-automation.

About Keelvar

Keelvar is moving procurement forward with its best-in-breed software for intelligent sourcing optimization and automation, designed for easy adoption, scale, and productivity. Keelvar’s SaaS-based products utilize artificial intelligence, machine learning, and category expertise to deliver purpose-built solutions that are delivering results for blue-chip global companies. Customers including Siemens, Logitech, Samsung, Coca-Cola, Novartis, DSV, Grupo Nutresa, Western Digital, and more are turning to Keelvar to advance their strategic sourcing journey spanning logistics, direct materials, and indirect spends. That momentum has resulted in Keelvar receiving $18 million in Series A funding in June 2020 and steady growth of its team worldwide, with headquarters in Cork, Ireland. Visit www.keelvar.com for more information.

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