Kinaxis unveils agreement to revolutionize supply chains in the energy sector

Kinaxis® (TSX), a prominent player in end-to-end supply chain orchestration, has announced a significant co-development agreement with ExxonMobil, one of the world’s largest integrated companies in fuels, lubricants, and chemicals. This partnership aims to design innovative supply chain technology solutions tailored specifically for the energy sector.

The collaboration seeks to enhance the efficiency and resilience of supply chains within the industry, addressing the unique challenges faced by energy companies. By leveraging Kinaxis's advanced capabilities in supply chain management and ExxonMobil’s extensive industry expertise, the initiative is expected to lead to the development of cutting-edge tools that streamline operations, improve forecasting accuracy, and optimize resource allocation.

Both companies recognize the pressing need for agile and responsive supply chain solutions in the energy sector, especially considering evolving market dynamics and increasing sustainability demands. This agreement marks a strategic step toward advancing technology that can help energy companies navigate complexities and drive operational excellence.

Driven by the rising demand for energy products essential to contemporary living, Kinaxis and ExxonMobil will collaborate to pinpoint specific supply chain challenges inherent to the energy sector. Their joint efforts will focus on developing tailored solutions to address these challenges effectively.

This partnership aims to analyse the complexities faced by energy companies, such as fluctuating demand, regulatory pressures, and the need for sustainable practices. By leveraging data analytics, machine learning, and advanced supply chain orchestration techniques, the two companies intend to create innovative tools that enhance visibility, responsiveness, and overall efficiency within supply chains.

The collaboration is expected to yield solutions that not only streamline operations but also promote sustainability by minimizing waste and optimizing resource usage. Through this initiative, Kinaxis and ExxonMobil aspire to set new industry standards, ensuring that energy companies can adapt swiftly to market changes while meeting the increasing demands for reliable and sustainable energy products.

Kinaxis and ExxonMobil are set to focus on creating a supply and demand planning solution specifically designed for the intricate fuel commodities market. This sector currently lacks a standardized approach and often depends on outdated practices, including spreadsheets and manual processes, which can result in inefficiencies and inaccuracies.

The partnership aims to leverage advanced technology to automate and streamline these planning processes, enhancing data integration and enabling real-time decision-making. By developing a more sophisticated framework for managing supply and demand, the two companies hope to improve forecasting accuracy and optimize inventory management.

This initiative will tackle significant challenges faced by fuel commodity traders and suppliers, such as price fluctuations, supply chain disruptions, and evolving consumer preferences. Ultimately, the goal is to create a more reliable and responsive planning solution that allows companies to navigate market complexities with increased agility and precision, thereby fostering a more resilient and efficient energy supply chain.

The solution will support a seamless planning process from refineries to customers by delivering timely data for precise supply and demand management, balancing, and signalling. Among its advantages are automated visibility into data, enhanced inventory management, and more effective terminal replenishment. Additionally, the improved supply scenario planning is expected to unlock arbitrage opportunities and lower supply costs, ultimately driving greater efficiency and responsiveness in the energy supply chain.

In the chemicals and lubricants sector, Kinaxis and ExxonMobil are teaming up to create an advanced planning solution designed to manage manufacturing and logistics constraints, along with facilitating scenario modeling and evaluation.

Their collaborative efforts will also enhance existing sales and operations planning frameworks specifically tailored for upstream operations. This optimization will focus on improving the sourcing, storage, and movement of materials and assets, ultimately leading to better utilization and cost reduction.

“Last year, we consolidated all ExxonMobil supply chain activities into a single, centralized organization, establishing one of the largest supply chain operations in the world. This allowed us to identify crucial solution gaps that could help us capture additional value,” said Staale Gjervik, President of Supply Chain at ExxonMobil Global Services Company. “Partnering with Kinaxis, a leading provider of supply chain technology, is vital for delivering effective solutions for a business of our scale and complexity.”

John Sicard, CEO of Kinaxis, emphasized, “ExxonMobil has a unique vantage point to recognize significant opportunities for improving energy supply chains. This includes enhancing sales and operations planning, increasing agility in field operations, effectively managing vast transportation networks, and rapidly adapting to intricate regulatory environments. There is an urgent need to enhance efficiency throughout the entire process, from extraction to end-user consumption, and we are excited to drive meaningful change across the sector.”

With over 140 years of industry experience, ExxonMobil stands as one of the largest energy companies globally. The company will bring its extensive knowledge and insights from the energy sector, while Kinaxis will leverage its market-leading supply chain expertise and commitment to digital innovation to develop specialized techniques and software solutions tailored for this industry.