IT team at Jabil wins one of the top honors from Tampa Bay Tech
A Jabil Inc. team that developed a smart packaging project, designed to ensure consumers will never run out of coffee, laundry detergent or other consumables, has taken one of the top honors in Tampa Bay Tech’s 2018 awards.
Jabil’s Smart Packaging IT Team is the winner in the Tech Innovation Team of the Year award, which recognizes a technology team that developed an innovative project, led an impactful company transformation or launched a game-changing product within their industry.
It’s one of a dozen categories for the awards program, now in its 15th year, as Tampa Bay Tech, the largest technology council in Florida, celebrates innovation and technologists in the area. Finalists and winners will be honored Nov. 9 at an evening ceremony at Armature Works.
St. Pete Catalyst is profiling the people and companies receiving awards in news stories over the next several days.
Jabil’s (NYSE: JBL) “auto replenishment” project was executed by a small team out of the manufacturing solution firm’s St. Petersburg headquarters in just three months.
Jabil’s Smart Packaging IT team
Auto-replenishment is a cloud-based service that allows a smart package to track the amount of a product in the container. When sensors in the package determine the amount of the product in the container is low, the service automatically re-orders the product via Amazon.com or another fulfillment partner, using a cloud-based platform that can manage the orders and communicate with the e-commerce vendor.
Sensors in a package determine when amounts are low so the auto-replenishment service can automatically re-order the product.
There’s also an optional mobile app so customers also can manage their orders.
Jabil cited several benefits from the service including:
- Cost savings from sturdier packages, which mean fewer damaged products and returns.
- Customer loyalty as customers are bound to the brand through auto-replenishment.
- Sales and usage data that brands get from the packages to learn more about who is using their product and how it is being used.
Jabil is one of just three companies recognized by Amazon.com as a certified Dash Replenishment Service solution provider. The program allows connected devices to build automatic reordering experiences.
Major companies including Peet’s, Folgers, Pepperidge Farms and Ziploc now see more than 50 percent of their business from Dash button sales, Jabil said.
