FourKites Acquires European Supply Chain Visibility Leader NIC-place

Chennai : FourKites®, the world’s leading real-time supply chain visibility platform, announced its acquisition of NIC GmbH (NIC-place), a leading European supply chain visibility provider. FourKites’ and NIC-place’s combined over-the-road, rail and ocean carrier networks creates the largest multimodal carrier network in Europe. This will bring global shippers the most comprehensive end-to-end global supply chain visibility platform. The acquisition will also accelerate the adoption of secure real-time visibility solutions specifically designed for carriers. Moreover, it shortens the time to value for shippers with complex, multimodal carrier networks.

 

With its Engineering headquarters in Chennai, FourKites pioneered real-time supply chain visibility in 2014, and has since built the world’s largest platform to track shipments across every mode of transportation, including road, rail, ocean, air, parcel, and courier. The company has expanded beyond transportation visibility and is now the most comprehensive end-to-end supply chain visibility platform on the market, providing total transparency — down to the SKU level — into yards, warehouses, retail stores and beyond.

 

NIC-place is the market leader in supply chain visibility software solutions specifically designed for transport companies, carriers, and logistics service providers. With its proprietary Data Control Center (DCC), NIC-place provides carriers with a flexible and secure way to share supply chain data with customers. At the same time, carriers keep complete control of their business, their network and their data. NIC-place was founded in 2016 and is headquartered in Germany. Thousands of companies, such as Kuehne+Nagel, H. Essers, Unterer, Quehenberger and Frigotrans rely on NIC-place to track and monitor millions of shipments every year.

 

Commenting on the acquisition, Mr. Mathew Elenjickal, Founder and CEO of FourKites, said: “NIC-place has the market’s only visibility solution for carriers, the most advanced rail tracking capabilities in Europe, and unrivalled expertise in high-value and temperature-controlled transport. This acquisition creates a strong carrier- and shipper-centric expertise that will accelerate end-to-end visibility and provide new solutions tailored to our customers’ unique needs.”

 

Pete Jendras, founder and managing director of NIC-place, said “We are delighted to be partnering with FourKites, a pioneer and market leader in real-time supply chain transportation visibility, and a pioneer in innovation and end-to-end multimodal coverage. We share our vision of prioritizing data security and integrity, making it easy for carriers to collaborate with their supply chain partners. We look forward to extending the combined benefit of NIC-place’s leading carrier solutions with the largest global real-time visibility network in the world.”

 

As a FourKites company, NIC-place will continue to focus on carrier-specific solutions, while leveraging FourKites’ leading shipper network, global scale and R&D engine to accelerate the pace of innovation. The two companies will retain the NIC-place name and will retain the NIC-place office in Germany to expand their teams and operations.

 

Advanced capabilities of NIC-place:

Data Privacy and Security: NIC-place’s Data Control Center (DCC) adheres to some of the most stringent data privacy regulations regarding the General Data Protection Regulation. These laws allow carriers to have complete control over their data and with whom they share it.

 

Easy integration with any real-time visibility provider: NIC-place’s DCC is the only solution with standardized interfaces to all open real-time visibility platforms, unifying all data types from multiple telematics systems of different manufacturers and modes of transport. Carriers using DCC have a simple centralized hub for all visibility data.

 

Temperature control and high-value shipments: NIC-place is the market leader for tracking temperature-controlled and high-value shipments, such as pharmaceuticals, fresh and frozen products, and electronics. The largest European group of refrigerated logistics companies utilizes the NIC-place platform to better serve their customers and ensure the delivery of critical goods at the highest quality.

 

Comprehensive and optimized rail coverage: NIC-place tracks the largest European rail network, a capability that is becoming increasingly important as many companies move more cargo to rail in the face of ongoing maritime challenges. The company’s advanced monitoring tracks wagons, train compositions, points of interest and transports for efficient use, smooth processes and better planning.

 

Rainer Linke of European carrier Unterer Logistics said: “We’re excited to see these two market leaders joining forces,” says European Carrier Rainer Linke, Unterer Logistics. “With their shared commitment to secure, carrier-controlled data sharing, collaboration and ongoing innovation, we are excited about the value this union will bring to the broader European logistics community.”

 

 

FourKites’ acquisition of NIC-place comes on the heels of record growth for both companies as they address the challenges fueled by the ongoing global supply chain crisis. In 2021, FourKites saw 148% growth in European shipment volume, doubled the number of new European customers, grew its carrier network 35% and saw 110% growth in European carriers on FourKites’ Premier Carrier List. FourKites plans for an aggressive expansion in the Asia Pacific (APAC) region with investment in resources, talent and strategic partnerships. There is terrific momentum in the Asia-Pacific region in 2021 and have close to about 50% growth in the carrier network.

FourKites will demonstrate the NIC-place solution and the value it brings to carriers and shippers in a live webinar on Wednesday, February 16th.