Start-ups selected to join Wincanton’s W² Labs programme

Wincanton, a leading supply chain partner for UK business, has announced the five finalists from around the world to take part in its 2022 W² Labs programme. Those selected following the recent Pitch Day will receive mentorship from Wincanton’s Senior Management Team, with the chance to trial their solution in a live environment.

First launched in 2017, the W² Labs programme is open to early-stage businesses who are invited to pitch proposals which use digitalisation to drive change across supply chains. The programme is designed to accelerate innovation, discover emerging ideas and tackle some of the industry’s toughest challenges and is an example of Wincanton’s ambition to deliver truly innovative supply chain solutions.

This year’s programme invited 15 start-ups to pitch with a range of forward looking technologies and solutions in the following areas:

• Digital Fulfilment: solutions to revolutionise modern-day fulfilment
• Environment, social and governance (ESG): long-term sustainable supply chain solutions
• Wildcard: technology and robotics to transform supply chains

As decided by the judging panel, the final 5 are:

Find & Order (digital fulfilment): Find & Order, based in France, uses its interactive mapping editor and algorithms to optimise picking operations in warehouses and stores, achieving increased product collection efficiency of up to 20%.

Nomagic (digital fulfilment): Nomagic, based in Poland, provides smart pick and place robots to eliminate labour intensive tasks in eCommerce and retail warehouses, while reducing cost per pick.

Automedi (ESG): Automedi, based in Manchester, UK, makes functional products and services out of waste plastics, cutting out up to 98% of the CO2 of conventional supply chains by radically reducing the energy needed to manufacture and transport goods long haul.

Navflex Inc (Wildcard – technology and robotics): Navflex, based in the US, has developed technology that autonomously loads and unloads any trailer, container or box truck with plug-and-play autonomous mobile robot (AMR) technology that do not require infrastructure changes. The US-based business promises to increase safety and productivity while reducing product damage.

Pick8ship Technology AG (Wildcard – technology and robotics): Pick8ship Technology AG, based in Switzerland, has developed a robotics fulfilment solution for managing storage, picking, sorting and shipping, using a single, fast, modular system. The technology reduces operating costs by 40-60%. Read more:

Paul Durkin, Chief Customer and Innovation Officer at Wincanton, and member of the judging panel, commented: “This year’s event was one of Wincanton’s most compelling W² Pitch Days to date. We saw a broad range of ideas and innovations which made judging the competition an exciting challenging.

“This was the first time we’ve hosted the event at our new W² Innovation Centre in The WEB, Wincanton’s eFulfilment centre in Rockingham. We were thrilled to host participants, customers and colleagues both in-person and remotely, making this year’s event a truly hybrid and inclusive experience.

“We look forward to collaborating with the start-ups, supporting them as they develop innovative supply chain solutions for the future.”

This year’s W² Labs is delivered in partnership with global corporation innovation specialist, L Marks.