C-suite Interview with Paccurate’s James Malley: The golden age of supply chain technology

James Malley, CEO and Co-Founder, Paccurate

MMH: What is your number one takeaway from MODEX 2024?

Malley: We’re entering a golden age of supply chain technology, where cutting-edge hardware and software enable shippers to imagine new ways of doing business. MODEX did a really good job of putting that on full display in Atlanta. A show of this size is a lot to take in, but I consistently saw only excitement from shippers and solutions providers throughout the week.

I was also thrilled to see how MHI is supporting startups. Between the pitch competition and speaking opportunities, the community had easy access to the latest and greatest. The startup area was very well trafficked, which isn’t always the case at tradeshows. That’s a testament to the show organizers and the people who attended.

MMH: What are some of the key market trends from your perspective?

Malley: Robots are the new normal, particularly AMR and G2P solutions. Shippers are spoiled for choice when it comes to robotics vendors, and they’re smarter about finding the right solution for their needs. We also saw shippers grappling with the impact of robotics, what it meant for the rest of their operation and where they would go from here. As an example, with these solutions implemented, the picking step is no longer the efficiency bottleneck it used to be, even a few short years ago—so where’s the bottleneck now? For many it seems to be pack-out.

MMH: How is your responding to these market trends?

Malley: We provide software that optimizes packaging and packing. Our response to the rapid adoption of automation has been to form new partnerships and integrations that make it easier for shippers to quickly optimize 3D space, inside and outside of the box. A thriving ecosystem of partners has proven to be a very effective way to bring our solutions to market, and it makes it much easier for customers to go live. These partners include warehouse management systems (WMS), on-demand packaging, dimensioning, and robotics—many of which we highlighted at MODEX, including Cubiscan and Packsize.