Logistics AI

Supply chain AI that plans ahead, not just reacts.

We build AI systems for 3PLs, retailers, and manufacturers that optimise routes, forecast demand, prevent maintenance failures, and reduce overstock - integrated with the systems your operations team already uses.

Discuss your logistics AI project

88%

demand forecast accuracy at 14-day horizon

$4.2M

overstock reduction for a 3PL operator

48–72h

advance notice on predicted maintenance failures

What we build

Route Optimisation

Multi-stop route planning with time windows, vehicle constraints, and live traffic. Reduces fuel cost and delivery time simultaneously. Handles 1K–100K+ stops per day.

Demand Forecasting

SKU-level demand forecasting at 88% accuracy for 14-day horizons. Integrates promotional calendars, seasonality, and external signals into a unified time-series pipeline.

Predictive Maintenance

Sensor data from vehicles and equipment processed through anomaly detection models. Maintenance alerts surfaced 48–72 hours before predicted failure.

Inventory Intelligence

Reorder point optimisation, safety stock calculation, and overstock risk scoring - connected to your WMS or ERP for closed-loop inventory management.

The supply chain data challenge

Logistics AI is harder than it looks. Here is why - and what we do before we write a single model.

Real-time data streams

Telematics, GPS, order events, and sensor feeds arriving at sub-second intervals from fleets, warehouses, and suppliers - requiring streaming ingestion architecture, not batch.

External signals at scale

Demand forecasting accuracy requires weather, holiday, event, and economic signals integrated in real time. Sourcing, normalising, and updating these signals is a data engineering problem, not just a modelling problem.

Multiple systems of record

Most logistics operations have a WMS, TMS, ERP, and carrier API - each with different schemas, latencies, and reliability. AI built on top of fragmented data is fragile. We fix the data layer first.

Route optimisation

Inputs

Delivery stops with address & time window

Vehicle type, capacity, and start location

Driver shift constraints

Live traffic and road conditions

Priority orders and SLA flags

Outputs

Optimised route per vehicle

ETA per stop with confidence range

Load plan and vehicle assignment

Re-routing triggers on live events

Integration with TMS / driver app

Algorithm selection

VRP (Vehicle Routing Problem)

Exact solver for small fleets (< 50 vehicles). Optimal solution, high compute cost.

Metaheuristic (OR-Tools, LKH)

Near-optimal solution for large fleets in seconds. Google OR-Tools as default. LKH for extreme scale.

ML-augmented routing

Historical route performance fed back into routing parameters. Learns local patterns keyword solvers miss (traffic, access restrictions).

Demand forecasting

Internal signals

Historical sales by SKU

Price & promotion history

Customer order patterns

Returns and cancellations

External signals

Weather forecast

Holiday & event calendar

Economic indicators

Competitor price signals

Accuracy target: 88% MAPE at SKU level, 14-day horizon. Model: Ensemble of LightGBM, Prophet, and LSTM, with automatic model selection per SKU based on data characteristics. Outputs integrated with ERP reorder triggers and WMS safety stock parameters.

Predictive maintenance

Unplanned downtime costs 3–5× more than planned maintenance. Here is how we catch failures before they happen.

1

Sensor ingestion

Vibration, temperature, pressure, and RPM sensors ingested via MQTT or OPC-UA. 1,000–100,000 readings/second per asset.

2

Anomaly detection

Isolation Forest and LSTM autoencoder models run on streaming data. Deviation from learned normal behaviour triggers anomaly score.

3

Maintenance scheduling

Predicted failure window mapped to maintenance slot. Priority score calculated from failure probability × downtime cost × part availability.

Case Study - Logistics AI

"Demand forecasting at 88% accuracy - $4.2M overstock reduction for a 3PL operator."

Ensemble forecasting model across 28,000 SKUs for a US third-party logistics provider. External signals: weather, holiday calendar, economic index. Integrated with Manhattan WMS for automated reorder triggers.

Impact comparison

What changes when logistics runs on AI

Capability

Traditional operations

With StartxLabs AI

Demand forecasting

Weekly spreadsheet-based review, 60–70% accuracy

88% MAPE accuracy at SKU level, 14-day rolling horizon

Route planning

Dispatcher-driven, 2–3 hours per day, local knowledge dependent

Sub-minute optimisation across 100K+ stops with live rerouting

Maintenance scheduling

Calendar-based service intervals; unplanned breakdowns common

48–72h advance failure prediction from sensor telemetry

Inventory replenishment

Fixed reorder points; manual safety stock review quarterly

Dynamic reorder thresholds updated daily from demand signals

Last-mile visibility

End-of-day status updates; customer calls for ETA

Real-time ETA per stop with customer notification automation

Return on investment

Estimated impact for a mid-size 3PL

Overstock & carrying cost

Before

$6.8M annual overstock write-off

After

$2.6M - 62% reduction via SKU-level demand AI

~$4.2M saved

Fleet fuel & route cost

Before

Avg. 28% empty miles; manual routing

After

12% empty miles; AI route optimisation across 600 vehicles

~$1.1M saved

Unplanned maintenance

Before

14 unplanned breakdowns per quarter, avg. $38K cost each

After

3 unplanned breakdowns per quarter post-predictive maintenance

~$418K saved

Labour - demand planning

Before

8 FTE demand planners working weekly cycles

After

3 FTE analysts overseeing AI model outputs and exceptions

~$540K saved

Figures based on an anonymised client engagement. Actual results vary by fleet size, SKU count, and existing process maturity.

Client perspective

“We went from a 3-day inventory review cycle to a daily automated signal. Overstock write-offs dropped by $4.2M in the first year - with the same planning team.”

VP

VP of Operations

US Third-Party Logistics Provider, 28,000 SKUs

Integration & trust

Built to fit your operations stack

WMS integrations

Manhattan WMS, Blue Yonder, SAP EWM, and custom warehouse management systems via REST or EDI.

TMS integrations

Oracle TMS, MercuryGate, and carrier API connections for real-time shipment data and rerouting.

ERP connectivity

SAP S/4HANA, Oracle NetSuite, and Microsoft Dynamics 365 for closed-loop inventory and procurement.

Telematics platforms

Samsara, Geotab, and custom OBD integrations for vehicle sensor data ingestion and fleet telemetry.

Cloud infrastructure

AWS, Azure, and GCP deployments. Multi-region for latency-sensitive last-mile applications.

Data security

SOC 2 Type II aligned practices. All data encrypted in transit and at rest. PII isolation by customer.

Ready to build your
next digital product?

Whether you have a detailed specification or just an early idea - we'll help you scope it, challenge the assumptions, and deliver it on time. No pitch decks. Straight to the point.

What happens next

1

Send us a message

Tell us what you're building or what's broken.

2

Discovery call (30 min)

We ask hard questions. You get honest answers.

3

Scoped proposal

Clear deliverables, timeline, and team in 48 hours.

Contact Us

Tell us about
your project

Whether you have a detailed brief or just an early idea, we will help you scope it, challenge it, and ship it.

  • Agentic AI development and multi-agent systems
  • Generative AI consulting and LLM integration
  • RAG development and custom model deployment
  • Data engineering, MLOps and custom software
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