Panasonic has announced that it has agreed to acquire Blue Yonder, the leading end-to-end, digital fulfillment platform provider.
Panasonic will purchase the remaining 80% of shares (for $5.6 billion) of Blue Yonder, adding to the 20% which Panasonic acquired in July 2020.
The need for more intelligent, autonomous and edge-aware supply chains has been dramatically heightened by the COVID-19 pandemic, the rise of e-commerce and the proliferation of data.
This acquisition strengthens Panasonic’s portfolio and accelerates the companies’ shared Autonomous Supply Chain mission, empowering customers to optimise their supply chains using the combined power of AI/ML and IoT and edge devices.
By unifying supply, demand and commerce solutions with IoT and edge technologies, companies can better utilize predictive business insights to pivot their operations in real-time.
Combining Panasonic’s strength in industrial engineering, IoT and edge technologies with Blue Yonder’s AI/ML-driven supply chain and commerce solutions greatly intensifies the customer value of Blue Yonder’s leading digital fulfillment platform.
Together, Panasonic and Blue Yonder will deliver a unique competitive advantage for customers to drive more automation and actionable, real-time business insights that reduce waste and improve operations, while creating a more sustainable world.
Blue Yonder is a supply chain industry leader, providing an end-to-end platform driven by AI/ML that serves as a “system of intelligence” for its global retail, manufacturing and logistics customers. Its cloud-based LuminateTM platform seamlessly manages all nodes of the supply chain across planning, execution and commerce on one unified platform.
This acquisition enhances Panasonic’s own digital transformation and customer-centric focus.
On April 1, 2022, the Panasonic Group will shift to a holding company system concentrating management resources on strategic businesses in key areas such as providing supply chain innovation and automation.
Panasonic CEO Yuki Kusumi stated, “I’m extremely happy to welcome Blue Yonder and its associates to the Panasonic Group. Both companies have the same mission to support customers’ frontline operations and we have a high affinity in our corporate cultures. By merging the two companies, we would like to realize a world where waste is autonomously eliminated from all supply chain operations and the cycle of sustainable improvement continues. There are still many such losses and stagnation in supply chain operations, so through the drastic reduction of wasted labor and resources, we would like to provide better ways of working, and contribute to customers’ management reform and also to the realization of a sustainable society by carefully using limited global resources. I am confident that by combining the power of Blue Yonder and Panasonic, we can create innovation in global supply chains.”
Girish Rishi, CEO of Blue Yonder stated, “I am thrilled to announce that Blue Yonder is joining Panasonic. This association came about as a result of three years of working together, first with Panasonic as a Blue Yonder customer and thereafter as joint venture partner. We have developed mutual trust and have a shared vision for an Autonomous Supply Chain that delivers a better life and a better world. As the essential platform for essential times, we are relentlessly focused in fulfilling our customers’ potential.”