NAVIS expands its global seaport and rail network

Navis, a part of Cargotec Corporation, and the provider of operational technologies and services that unlock greater performance and efficiency for the world’s leading organizations across the cargo supply chain, has entered into an agreement to acquire the assets of Biarri Rail, a global provider of planning and scheduling optimization software for freight railroads. 

The acquisition of Biarri Rail, combined with Navis’ N4 Terminal Operating System (TOS) for intermodal operations, will support the company’s expansion into inland solutions, providing freight operators around the world with planning software designed to improve the quality and efficiency of rail operations, including train services, locomotives, yards, railcars, crews and train paths.

Melbourne, Australia-based Biarri Rail offers a suite of integrated service design and operational tools for freight railways, enabling them to better manage the complexities associated with railway planning and improve the utilization of assets for better service delivery, while substantially reduced operating costs. 

Following Navis’ recent acquisition of Jade Logistics Master Terminal for mixed cargo terminals, the addition of Biarri Rail’s SaaS platform allows Navis to continue its rapid growth across the global cargo supply chain.

According to spokesmen, Navis is now strategically positioned to address the changing needs of its growing customer base as they expand operations into the inland / intermodal rail market while also serving railroads and rail shippers globally. Biarri Rail’s intermodal rail domain expertise, world-class optimization capabilities and proven success delivering innovative rail solutions have saved rail companies tens of millions in operational costs per year. 

Spokesmen add that Biarri Rail has a strong track record of providing software to rail operators around the world including Kansas City Southern Railroad, Aurizon, Pacific National, TasRail and Rio Tinto, among others.

Following the acquisition, the Biarri Rail team will continue to operate out of its Melbourne, Australia and Chicago, USA offices under the direction of Forbes. 

Andy Barrons, chief strategy officer at Navis, shared these observations with LM in an interview.

Logistics Management: How will the acquisition of Biarri Rail, combined with Navis’ N4 Terminal Operating System (TOS) for intermodal operations, be replicated elsewhere in the world? 

Andy Barrons: Biarri Rail provides Software as a Service (SAAS) solutions that optimize the use of assets and resources such as locomotives, cars and crew for intermodal rail companies.  Biarri Rail is based in Melbourne Australia and Chicago and is a global company.  So the plan is to sell Biarri Rail by Navissolutions globally.

LM: Do you see similar acquisitions in North America, for example?  

Barrons: Navis plans to continue to acquire companies to help us better serve our customers in shipping, container terminals, intermodal rail and adjacent markets.

LM: What made this particular deal most appealing to Navis?  

Barrons: Biarri Rail provides SAAS solutions that deliver significant return on investment to their intermodal rail customers through the use of their deep optimizations/operations research and software development expertise.  So bringing together a best in class company in the intermodal rail space with the Navis capabilities in shipping and container terminals helps us serve our customers across the end to end cargo supply chain.

LM: How is Navis leveraging its terminal technology to help North American ports remain competitive during COVID-19? What innovative solutions are being leveraged to keep them in the game in the future?  

Barrons: Navis is working with our port and container terminal customers to help them move more effectively to the remote worker model.  We are performing remote implementations and upgrades of our solutions and delivering new solutions to customers that allow them to perform vessel planning, yard planning and similar tasks remotely.