Platform operator InstaFreight (Berlin) was presented with the Smart Supply Chain Solution Award 2018 for an integrated solution that harnesses intelligent matching algorithms to help both shippers and freight companies drive down their logistics costs. InstaFreight acts as a digital freight forwarding company for B2B customers, enabling fast and easy freight transport management. The company was founded in 2016 and now has 60 employees at three locations in Germany.

parcelLab’s submission for the Smart Solution Award focused on improving the ecommerce customer experience during post-checkout. parcelLab offers real-time monitoring of each individual order for personal, individual, and emotional customer communications supported by machine learning. The white-label solution lets online retailers design their post-checkout customer relationships around their unique wishes and needs. Founded in 2015, the company has offices in Munich, London, and Paris and partnerships with more than 350 retailers in 38 countries.

3D printing has established itself as a recognized manufacturing technology. Now, the ground-breaking technology faces its next hurdle: 3D parts on demand, as Schubert Additive Solutions (SAS) offers through its part-streaming platform Partbox, will revolutionize not only parts manufacturing but supply chains and storage as well. Electronic design data can be retrieved from a digital warehouse and produced anywhere in the world within seconds. The young company, a spin-off of Gerhard Schubert GmbH Verpackungsmaschinen (Crailsheim, Germany), enables such access to vetted, manufacturer-certified printing data. Anyone, anywhere can now independently produce formatting parts, replacement parts, and wear-and-tear parts in batches of any size through a genuine “click & print” model. All you need is a commercial filament 3D printer and Partbox, which offers direct and secure LTE access to the digital warehouse. SAS provides further support with a portfolio of consulting services covering all aspects of additive manufacturing, with an in-house library of over 120,000 3D-printed parts.