startups

Nelson tech company sold for $45m – Stuff.co.nz


A Nelson tech company which tracks cargo from locations all over the world has been bought by Canadian firm Descartes for $45 million (US$30m).

Ian Craig and Annette Schleiss have been running CORE Transport Technologies out of Nelson since 2008, building up their company with graduates from the Nelson Marlborough Institute of Technology (NMIT).

Organisations that use CORE’s services include commercial airlines, ground handlers and postal services.

CORE utilises Bluetooth technology to track mail, parcels, and air cargo in real-time as they are shipped around the world.

READ MORE:
Shuttlerock reaches the world from Nelson
Councillors fear for the future of NMIT under Government overhaul
Top of south urged to provide feedback on radical plan to fix polytechnics sector

The couple originally started their company in the USA in 2005, tracking freight for the United States Postal Service, who remain its biggest customer.

However, with difficulties around maintaining visas and work permits, they made the decision to move to New Zealand in 2008.

Craig, who is originally from Timaru, said “it seemed so much simpler to effectively come home”.

“Because of the state of the internet and instant messengers and things like that, it became actually possible to run it from here, even though it’s really an international business.”

Ian Craig and Annette Schleiss have been running CORE Transport Technologies from Nelson since 2008.

JOE LLOYD/STUFF

Ian Craig and Annette Schleiss have been running CORE Transport Technologies from Nelson since 2008.

Since they set up shop in Nelson, CORE has been fuelling its development through engineering and IT graduates from NMIT.

Currently standing at about 15 local employees (there are also seven overseas), Craig said about 90 per cent of the current and former staff have come through the NMIT pipeline. 

“Because we set up here, we’ve learned it’s quite hard to develop something consistent if you’re having to manage staff in 10 different locations. Keeping it very local allows us to move very quickly without having to communicate across different geographies. 

“I also think its good getting staff while they’re young, so their heads aren’t rigidly obsessed with a particular methodology of doing things, because we evolve pretty rapidly, so we want people who are pretty flexible and bright.” 

CORE incorporates Bluetooth technology into their readers to more accurately track cargo and freight all around the world.

JOE LLOYD/STUFF

CORE incorporates Bluetooth technology into their readers to more accurately track cargo and freight all around the world.

Schleiss said the NMIT graduates had played a big part in building up the company. 

“A company is only as good as its staff, we couldn’t do it on our own – the team we’ve got here we’re very proud of.”

As well as US Postal Service, CORE work with multiple airlines throughout the world, including Air New Zealand, helping to track their unit load devices (ULD) as they are shipped around the world. ULDs are a pallet or container used to load luggage freight and mail on aircrafts.

Craig said they currently had about 1200 tracking locations around the world, along with 30,000 ULDs.

Annette Schleiss and Ian Craig have been running CORE Transport Technologies from Nelson since 2008.

JOE LLOYD/STUFF

Annette Schleiss and Ian Craig have been running CORE Transport Technologies from Nelson since 2008.

He said most airlines share ULDs and often struggle to keep track of them manually. 

“It’s gone from monthly reporting, to Air New Zealand being able to tell whether their containers have been taken to the right place in real time. 

“They can get in touch with who they need to in half an hour – it’s a whole different world.”

Canadian tech company Descartes made the announcement of the sale on May 13. 

“By combining with CORE, we’re strengthening our position in the growing domestic and global ecommerce market,” Descartes chief executive Edward J. Ryan said. 

Craig said with the acquisition, CORE would be able to grow its customer base while still being able to focus on research and development. 

“As a sales and support organisation, it would be very difficult for us to scale up from here, with several of the big US carriers coming in at the moment.  

“We had a choice to invest for years to build it up, or we find a partner that can do it. We can just stick to our knitting, and for us that’s more enjoyable anyway.” 



READ SOURCE

Leave a Reply

This website uses cookies. By continuing to use this site, you accept our use of cookies.