Summary of Innovation
Pontem is the world’s first patented Warehouse Control System designed for end-users to break away from proprietary systems and forced relationships in order to take control of their warehouse operations via open architecture automated solutions. Traditionally, WCS offerings have been bare bones programs sold to customers as a “black box” while acting as a cash cow to the vendors – forcing a sticky relationship in addition to locking in mandatory recurring costs. Currently, the Retail/Ecommerce Industry has dozens of “Off the Shelf” WMS solutions available to end-users and integrators. Similarly, there are readily available open architecture PLC and SCADA systems. Yet, there has been no similar solution for a WCS middleware- until Pontem. What makes Pontem revolutionary is its open architecture design which empowers warehouse operators, maintenance personnel, and engineers to have full control and transparency in their buildings and operations, allowing them to utilize internal resources or support from multiple vendors, rather than being constrained to one black-box proprietary middleware vendor. This leads to better overall support and performance of their supply chain network.
The open architecture design of Pontem enables straightforward integration, even into highly complex or outdated WMS, WES, and ERP platforms as well as hardware applications, including Programmable Logic Controllers (PLC), Industrial PCs (IPC), Robot Controllers, enhancing the return on investment for each application. Unlike traditional proprietary black-box WCS software, Pontem acts as more than a configurable API “traffic-cop,” controlling all the way down to the hardware level. This gives the end-user the ability to self-configure hardware and parameter changes via its easy-to-use user interface, providing freedom to respond to the ever-changing demands of the industry and explore different hardware options to optimize their supply chain.
Innovation Statement
Pontem is the world’s first patented open architecture Warehouse Control System solution removing the traditional unspoken “paywall” between the end-user and configuration of their own supply chain MHE. Pontem’s self-configurable, black-box-busting design is allowing stakeholders to take control of their warehouse destiny by offering unmatched visibility, control, and a hardware/software-agnostic middleware solution.
Applicability
Pontem open architecture WCS allows end-users to reclaim control of their supply chain destiny by commoditizing traditional black box middleware offerings.
| Posted Date | 1/22/24 |
| Contact | Eli Williams |
| Contact Email | eli[at]fidusglobal.com |
| Category | Best IT Innovation |