SaaS WMS vendor JASCI Software acquires NextShift Robotics

JASCI Software, a provider of software-as-a service (SaaS)- based warehouse management system (WMS) software, announced today it has acquired NextShift Robotics, a autonomous warehouse robotics company based in Lowell MA.

NextShift will operate as JASCI Robotics, focused on innovating warehousing and logistics. A purchase price was not disclosed.

Scarcity of available warehouse labor along with the massive growth of ecommerce is fueling robotics in logistics, JASCI noted. ABI Research is estimating 4 million robots being deployed in over 50,000 warehouses by 2025 to meet market demands. Gartner is forecasting over 50% of warehouses will have invested in robotics by 2025 to augment labor.

“JASCI is uniquely positioned to help customers reach their goals by offering a complete solution—software and robotics hardware in a single platform – without complex integrations and coding projects,” said Daniel Napoli, CTO and Co- Founder of JASCI Software. “We bring an entirely new way of delivering flexibility, speed, efficiency and accuracy to match the service levels required in today’s commerce.”

Mary Ellen Sparrow, CEO and Co-founder of Nextshift Robotics, will be joining the new company as a co-founder. Sparrow is the co-author of many robotic patents. The NextShift patent portfolio contains 8 robotic patents, with three unique patents and one patent family containing five additional patents.

By incorporating LIDAR and cameras, the Nextshift autonomous robot has pinpoint accuracy in its movements along with a mapping/traffic management system, according to JASCI. Hundreds of robots can navigate the warehouse simultaneously with efficiency and safety alongside humans and material handling equipment. JASCI provides the ability to task and orchestrate all of this in real-time leveraging its SmartTask workflow technology.

“We are innovating the logistics industry by addressing labor shortages, staff turnover, fulfillment speed, inventory accuracy and even pandemic viruses,” said Craig Wilensky, CEO & Co-Founder of JASCI Software. “The ability to smartly orchestrate people, robotics and material handling automation in real-time from a single platform, eliminates silos of complicated technology that were previously needed.”

JASCI’s SaaS cloud native architecture leverages Oracle’s autonomous cloud for growth and scaling businesses globally.

“Robotics as a service (RaaS) is on our radar, as it can provide attractive ROI’s and quick payback for companies looking to invest in this technology, without having to commit to a big capital investment,” added Mark Rechan, CFO of JASCI Software.