To stay competitive and relevant, companies need to stay up to date to date with technological developments. As part of our Digital Ecosystem cornerstone, however, our IT experts test technologies that push the boundaries of innovation. With Max Visibility, powered by Chorus’ smart labels, we have been giving each package a voice in a way that nobody has done before.
On June 26, 1974, a pack of chewing gum in an Ohio supermarket changed supply chains forever, as it became the first item to be successfully scanned with a barcode. Today, barcodes are crucial for logistics. Within Kuehne+Nagel alone, millions of barcodes are scanned every day.
Can we imagine our lives without them? That’s the vision of our innovation team with Max Visibility. The team successfully piloted Max Visibility in 2024, delivering real-time and predictive insights about the location and condition of road freight shipments — without barcodes and scanning. It has been made possible through a partnership with Chorus, a project from X, the Moonshot Factory (Alphabet’s innovation arm). Suresh Vishnubhatla, the CEO of Chorus, says, “We combine our radical new technologies with Kuehne+Nagel’s 135 years of expertise in freight forwarding and logistics. We’re excited about the transformative solutions our technology unlocks with them.”
A normal label, but make it smart
Chorus’ innovation is a printable smart label that harvests the power of artificial intelligence (AI). It houses a battery and sensors that collect relevant data, such as temperature and location. Real magic happens when this data is transmitted. The label connects seamlessly through Bluetooth, communicating with nearby devices — smartphones, warehouse scanners, PCs, and Wi-Fi access points.
Kuehne+Nagel first trialed Max Visibility with sports equipment destined for the Parisian flagship store of retailer Lepape. In the spring of 2024 at a warehouse in Pluguffan, France, the first label was peeled, applied to a pallet, and paired with the Max Visibility platform before it was loaded onto a truck. Then the pallet’s exact location was tracked in real-time, all the way to the store.
While many visibility solutions focus on reducing time spent on track-and-trace conversations, Max Visibility goes beyond. “Its real value lies in the efficiency gains driven by automation and in enabling proactive decision-making through AI,” says Alireza Nemati, Global Head of Road Logistics Innovation.
The move from reactive to proactive supply chain management is certainly the way forward. But will barcodes remain a part of the equation? Research shows that smart labels are likely to replace barcodes in certain logistics applications. Our collaboration with Chorus demonstrates that the technology to support this transition is available, though it is still in the early stages of maturity. However, imagine the profound transformation this would bring to supply chains at a large scale, making them faster, smarter, and more efficient than ever before.
Learn more about our solution for Lepape