In what was the ultimate movie cliffhanger, the main protagonists in the 1969 classic The Italian Job, found the bus they were traveling in precariously perched over the edge of a cliff. Whether they survived or careened down the steep drop was left up to the movie goer to decide.
Well I am happy to say that we did not come to the same impasse in selecting our winners in the 2014 Year in the Life of an eProcurement Start-up series. That’s right winners.
Now before you say that I took the easy way out by selecting co-winners Scout and Freightos, hear me out.
The reason we had the tie to begin with is that while Scout encompasses all of the key elements of a true start-up enterprise, the uniqueness of the Freightos offering is a critical linchpin without which the supply chain would inevitably break. Or in referencing a recent Forbes article, the Freightos solution is centered on one of the four cloud-based strategies that has the “greatest potential to deliver the network effect throughout a supply chain.” It is hard to ignore this latter point, especially given the fact that of all the candidates who originally contacted us about becoming part of the Year in the Life series, Freightos was the only company to focus on transportation.
As you can see, the arguments presented to me in favor of both companies were truly compelling.
So that’s it then, we have two winners who while sharing the same title, will simultaneously take us down two separate and distinct paths over the next 12 month period.
Starting in March, we will be airing 30 minute interviews with each company every quarter, in which we will talk about their successes, their setbacks and ultimately their future in a rapidly evolving global marketplace.
In between the interviews, and on a bi-weekly basis – as warranted by newsworthy events of course – we will be providing you with updates by way of posts in the Procurement Insights blog.
In the meantime, and if you haven’t already, I would invite you to check out our previous radio interviews and corresponding Dragon’s Den posts on both Scout and Freightos.
Regarding the Italian Job cliffhanger, what do you think happened?
NOTE: Follow The Year in the Life 2014 Series on Twitter #YRiLife2014
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Procurement Insights 
alunrafique
February 17, 2014
Congrats to Scout and Freightos! Looking forward to hearing how the year progresses.
Re: Italian job: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/7845533.stm
First, the coach needed to be stabilised. This involved smashing out the windows on the part of the coach overlooking the drop and smashing them inward at the front end to improve the weight ratio slightly.
One of the bullion raiders is then lowered outside and deflates the wheels to stop the coach from rocking.
Second, its weight distribution needs to be changed, particularly over the rear of the coach which is overlooking the drop. This involves emptying the fuel tank which John Godwin discovered was at the rear of the coach. This, he estimated, would contain 140kg of fuel.
Third, he would allow a member of the team to leave the coach and bring rocks in to the front of the vehicle to ensure it was stable and the gold could be removed.
Daniel
February 17, 2014
Congratulations to Scout and Freightos!