Panasonic Corporation has recently announced that it has acquired Blue Yonder, an end-to-end, digital fulfillment platform provider. Panasonic will purchase the remaining 80% of shares of Blue Yonder, adding to the 20% which Panasonic acquired in July 2020. An agreement to purchase the remaining shares of Blue Yonder was reached this week between Panasonic and the existing shareholders New Mountain Capital and funds managed by Blackstone.
This acquisition aligns with Panasonic’s Autonomous Supply Chain mission, encouraging customers to optimize their supply chains using the combined power of AI/ML and IoT and edge devices. By unifying supply, demand and commerce solutions with IoT and edge technologies, companies can utilize predictive business insights to pivot their operationhttps://admin-supplychainbrain.epublishing.com/admin/article/general/xml#s in real-time.
Combining Panasonic’s experience in industrial engineering, IoT and edge technologies with Blue Yonder’s AI/ML-driven supply chain and commerce solutions will enhance Blue Yonder’s digital fulfillment platform. The end-to-end platform driven by AI/ML serves as a “system of intelligence” for its global retail, manufacturing and logistics customers. Furthermore, Blue Yonder’s cloud-based LuminateTM platform manages all nodes of the supply chain across planning, execution and commerce on one unified platform.
Yasuyuki Higuchi is the CEO of Panasonic’s Connected Solutions Company (to become Panasonic Connect Co., Ltd. on April 1, 2022). Blue Yonder CEO Girish Rishi and the extended leadership team will join the new organization and the Blue Yonder brand will be retained and business will function within the Panasonic Connected Solutions Company umbrella.
“I’m extremely happy to welcome Blue Yonder and its associates to the Panasonic Group. Both companies have the same mission to support customers’ frontline operations and we have a high affinity in our corporate cultures,” said Yuki Kusumi, CEO of Panasonic. “By merging the two companies, we would like to realize a world where waste is autonomously eliminated from all supply chain operations and the cycle of sustainable improvement continues. There are still many such losses and stagnation in supply chain operations, so through the drastic reduction of wasted labor and resources, we would like to provide better ways of working, and contribute to customers’ management reform and also to the realization of a sustainable society by carefully using limited global resources.”
“I am thrilled to announce that Blue Yonder is joining Panasonic. This association came about as a result of three years of working together, first with Panasonic as a Blue Yonder customer and thereafter as joint venture partner,” said Girish Rishi, CEO of Blue Yonder. “We have developed mutual trust and have a shared vision for an Autonomous Supply Chain that delivers a better life and a better world. As the essential platform for essential times, we are relentlessly focused in fulfilling our customers’ potential.”
About Panasonic
Panasonic Corporation is a global leader developing innovative technologies and solutions for wide-ranging applications in the consumer electronics, housing, automotive, and B2B sectors. The company, which celebrated its 100th anniversary in 2018, operates 528 subsidiaries and 72 associated companies worldwide and reported consolidated net sales of 7.49 trillion yen for the year ended March 31, 2020. Committed to pursuing new value through collaborative innovation, the company uses its technologies to create a better life and a better world for customers.
