Accenture Acquires Trancom’s Supply Chain Automation Solutions

Global IT consulting giant Accenture has wrapped up a deal to acquire logistics and warehouse management tech solutions from Japanese firm Trancom, gaining wider access to several deep-pocketed manufacturing firms in the world’s third-largest economy.

As per the agreement, around 190 engineers from Trancom, specializing in cloud-based logistics systems and optimizing warehouse operations with IoT and sensor technology, will join Accenture.

Analysts say the acquisition beefs up Accenture’s Industry X offerings to logistics and manufacturing firms.

Trancom’s solutions automate numerous supply chain management functions that allow manufacturing firms to reduce their reliance on human labor to a great extent.

In other words, the solutions, which use AI and predictive analytics, streamline logistics and delivery planning, to help manufacturers to gain a clear insight into warehouse operations.

Automation technologies of this kind are widely sought-after in Japan, where the aging population has left fewer people willing or able to work on assembly lines.

“We’re seeing significant demand from clients to help them automate manual processes in factories and warehouses,” said Tatsuya Nakayabu, senior managing director and lead for Accenture Industry X in Japan. “By combining assets from Trancom ITS with our AI and robotics capabilities, we can drive more value from these processes for clients and help them become more sustainable.”

This is Accenture’s second acquisition in Japan in the past year following its purchase of DI Square, a product lifecycle management and application lifecycle management capabilities provider.

Recent acquisitions Accenture has made for Industry X in other markets include asset performance management consultancy T.A. Cook (Germany), systems integrator for Hexagon’s Infor EAM solutions Advoco (US), international engineering consulting and services firm umlaut, operations technology provider Electro 80 (Australia), and industrial robotics and automation services provider Pollux (Brazil).