Supply chain systems design and integration firm Fortna Inc. is hiring additional data scientists to join its research and development team as it builds out its ability to optimize warehouse fulfillment for its clients using intelligent software, the firm said today.
The new employees will join an existing squad of programmers and PhD-level researchers in the Atlanta-based company’s “Science and Technology Center for Innovation,” which is a virtual department devoted to decreasing the amount of warehouse space required for mechanization, a company spokesperson said.
The size of the company’s new investment was not disclosed.
By crafting more advanced software, Fortna plans to improve the automation required to carry out increased throughput, preserve speed and accuracy, and shrink the footprint required for those fulfillment operations, the company said.
“Today’s distribution centers are extremely complex and may store millions of SKUs while processing thousands of orders of varying configurations,” Marc Austin, Fortna’s chief solutions officer, said in a release. “Allocating the right work to the right people at the right time to maximize efficiency exceeds human cognitive abilities. At the heart of these operations is sophisticated software that syncs the automation, robotics, and people to increase fulfillment speed and efficiency while relieving labor pressure.”
The growing team will be led by Russ Meller, principal scientist, and report to Austin. “Fortna’s Science and Technology Center for Innovation is tasked with solving some of the most complex challenges in distribution today, using science, modeling, and research to drive faster and more cost-efficient fulfillment,” Meller said. “We are bridging the gap between ‘what is’ and ‘what is possible’.”
