The rebranding has stemmed from Kewill’s acquisition of cloud-based TMS provider LeanLogistics last year and focuses the company on joint global trade networks and associated tools.
The global supply chain management software provider Kewill said Monday it has rebranded itself as BluJay Solutions in the wake of its 2016 acquisition of transportation management solutions provider LeanLogistics.
The two companies said the rebranding was done to launch a new chapter in which the joint company will focus on solutions that enable smoother flows of global trade, rather than on their constituent tools like transportation management system (TMS) or warehouse management system (WMS) software.
“This is not about TMS or WMS, it’s about global trade,” Doug Surrett, chief product strategist at BluJay Solutions, said in a briefing with American Shipper. “TMS and WMS have to fit in how we address global trade.”
Prior to the rebrand, Kewill was predominantly known as a solutions provider to freight forwarders and shippers with global footprints across a range of activities, including WMS, customs documentation and yard management. It is also one of a few providers globally that has developed its own parcel management system.
LeanLogistics was known primarily for its cloud-based TMS and associated managed services.
“Kewill meant different things to different people,” Surrett said. “It frankly held us back. We wanted to redefine ourselves to the market, internally and externally, and focus on a single unified global culture.”
Surrett said the two companies have been merging capabilities the past few months to focus on a global trade network model that will allow all customers and their customers’ logistics, transportation, and supplier partners to benefit from the whole of the network.
“It’s no longer just about multi-modal, omni-channel and booking tools,” BluJay CEO Doug Braun said in a statement. “We’re moving toward a new era of business where global trade shifts to the forefront, and supply chain becomes today’s battleground.”
The company said its new approach will allow customers to “manage goods and services across an integrated Global Trade Network; rapidly onboard services, carriers, customers and business units; and actively collaborate with trade participants to expedite trade logistics.”
For instance, BluJay will act as a facilitator of ways for its customers to connect with each other through the company’s “significant” shipper and forwarder networks. One way that might work is through what Surrett called “macro-optimization,” where BluJay might be able to identify collaborative opportunities within its customer and partner network.
“Optimization is typically constrained by the size of the shipper,” he said. “If there is 4 to 5 percent of their network that is suboptimal, the only way to get rid of that is to macro-optimize. Give us your 4 to 5 percent you can’t make better, and we’ll make it better through our network.”
Another example is allowing its concentration of customers in the Chicago region to pool their parcel volume to enable zone skipping.
“Many by themselves are not big enough to do zone skipping,” Surrett said. “But combined, we can do that.”
The company has 7,500 customers and estimates that network has 40,000 partners and suppliers across a mix of verticals. The company works in some capacity with 24 of the top 25 freight forwarders, and has strong shipper concentrations in areas like food, chemical and high tech.
From an overall standpoint, the goal of the company is not to become a 3PL but to empower various service providers with products, execution services and a deeper network from which to draw, the company told American Shipper.
The rebrand and refocus weren’t done solely with Amazon in mind, but Surrett noted that threat and opportunity is in the minds of most shippers and logistics service providers these days.
“BluJay will never compete with Amazon,” he said. “But the world needs a lot of these other options that are having a hard time competing with Amazon. We want to bring a level playing field and a network that they could never build on their own.”
BluJay will offer five renamed product categories under its new Global Trade Network (GTN) realignment: transportation management (including a forwarder-focused version); warehouse management; compliance management; commerce; and control tower.
The rebranding won’t impact any existing customer agreements, but the company did note some administrative issues tied to the name change may take time to finish.
“Some changes have been initiated but take longer to complete, while others are scheduled for a post-launch phase,” BluJay said. “Examples of updates that will take longer to implement include: branding within our software, updating some of our systems, and translating materials into additional languages. The legal process of changing our name is in progress, but the timelines for completion vary by country; we will provide the necessary notifications to customers, partners, suppliers, vendors, and authorities, as the process is completed.”
Kewill, LeanLogistics rebrand as BluJay Solutions
