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Perfect Planner, Flying Ship walk away with second annual 3 V’s Awards

A man with his hands in his pockets stands next to a model that looks like an aircraft.

Flying Ship CEO Bill Peterson poses with a model of his unmanned ground-effect maritime cargo craft.

Susan Lougee

Award program recognizes those companies who have created innovative technology solutions that are enhancing supply chain visibility and velocity while helping companies respond to variability.

Susan Lacefield
By Susan LacefieldOct 01, 2024
Susan Lacefield
Susan Lacefield has been working for supply chain publications since 1999. Before joining DC VELOCITY, she was an associate editor for Supply Chain Management Review and wrote for Logistics Management magazine. She holds a master's degree in English.
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Perfect Planner, a cloud-based platform designed to streamline the material planning and replenishment process, and Flying Ship, an unmanned ground-effect maritime cargo craft, took home the second annual “3 V’s of Supply Chain Innovation Awards” tonight at the Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals (CSCMP) annual EDGE Conference in Nashville, Tennessee.

This awards contest is hosted by Supply Chain Xchange and 3 V’s framework creator and supply chain visionary Art Mesher. It serves to recognize those companies that have created technology or automation solutions that exemplify Mesher’s 3 V’s framework of “embracing variability, harnessing visibility, and competing with velocity.”

Business Innovation Award

Three men pose with a crystal clock award.

Art Mesher (left), creator of the 3 V's Framework, and Rick Blasgen (right), former CSCMP President and CEO, present Thomas Beil (center), CEO of Perfect Planner, with the 3 V's Business Innovation Award.

Susan Lacefield

Perfect Planner won the 3 V’s Business Innovation Award for its software solution that uses artificial intelligence to automatically generate daily "to-do lists" for material planners/buyers. All the “to-do’s” are ranked in order of criticality. The solution also uses advanced analytics to understand and address inventory shortages and surpluses.

The two other finalists for the Business Innovation Award were AutoScheduler AI, a predictive warehouse optimization platform, and Davinci Micro Fulfillment, which provides a micro fulfillment service out of a network for small distribution centers across the United States.

Best Overall Startup Award

Flying Ship was awarded the Best Overall Startup Award. The company has designed an unmanned flying ground-effect maritime vessel. Although the Flying Ship looks like a small aircraft or large drone, it is classified as a maritime vessel because it does not leave the air cushion over the waves, similar to a hovercraft.

According to Flying Ship CEO Bill Peterson, the craft is 75% less expensive than a traditional aircraft and “faster than anything on water.” The prototype has a wingspan of 6.5 feet and can be scaled up to deliver 10,000 pounds of freight to “anywhere with a coastline” using autonomous systems.

The other startup finalist included Arkestro, a predictive procurement orchestration solution, and Provision AI, an optimized replenishment and transportation scheduling solution.

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