ArcBest partners with NVIDIA to improve supply chain management

On the same day NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang announced in a broadly-watched speech new AI (artificial intelligence) “omniverse” products and services, Fort Smith-based ArcBest said it is a first-mover in using an NVIDIA product to create efficiencies in the supply chain.

According to ArcBest, the company announced Monday (March 18) that it will use the NVIDIA Isaac Perceptor “to improve safety and efficiency in material-handling processes across warehouses, distribution centers and manufacturing facilities.” ArcBest declined to disclose a cost for the NVIDIA system.

ArcBest, a shipping and logistics company and the parent company of ABF Freight, will use the NVIDIA system in its Vaux Smart Autonomy system it unveiled on Feb. 13.

The new ArcBest system is marketed as reducing materials handling in warehouses, distribution centers and other facilities from “an hours-long process to mere minutes.” The Vaux systems combine “autonomous mobile robot (AMR) forklifts and reach trucks, intelligent software and remote teleoperation capabilities to autonomously handle materials movement within warehouses, distribution centers and manufacturing facilities — all while keeping humans in the loop.” The company said it invests $175 million annually in technology and innovation designed to improve supply chain systems.

According to Arcbest, the Perceptor system “brings 3D-surround perception, enabling a robot to better recognize objects, track human motion, and make informed decisions that guide its path for safer, more flexible, and more efficient operations.”

“Today’s material handling environment can be incredibly complex, with variability in the facility and products. Customers have expressed a need for greater efficiency and improved safety,” Michael Newcity, chief innovation officer of ArcBest and president of ArcBest Technologies, said in a statement. “Our shift from 3D LiDAR sensors to visual AI technology is part of our continual progress and another step towards addressing these challenges. This advanced technology is not being used by any other robotics company in the logistics space, making our solution truly leading edge.”

Perceptor is not fully adopted. ArcBest is testing the system in “customer use case applications” before broad implementation.

Part of Huang’s Monday speech in San Jose, Calif., focused on “omniverse” AI products that he said will change almost everything about how the world works. Some analysts have likened it to a new industrial revolution.

“AI is powering change in every industry. From generative AI and speech recognition to medical imaging and improved supply chain management, AI is providing enterprises the compute power, tools, and algorithms their teams need to do their life’s work,” NVIDIA noted on its website.

Huang said the new software, driven by new NVIDIA chips, will “eliminate workflow waste & reduce errors,” among many other benefits.

CNBC’s Jim Cramer said Monday that NVIDIA and its AI products will revolutionize business processes around the world.

“The sum of all that Nvidia’s doing will indeed create the next industrial revolution because Nvidia’s about the speed with which we can arrive at smarter, better answers,” Cramer said in this report posted by CNBC.

ArcBest shares (NASDAQ: ARCB) closed Monday at $125.23, down $3.32. During the past 52 weeks, the share price has ranged between $149.89 and $82.18.