Georgia‐Pacific announced that it will bring together leading supply chain companies to develop solutions within its new Point A Center for Supply Chain Innovation. Opening this June in an initial 15,000‐square‐foot space at Atlanta's TechSquare Labs, Georgia‐Pacific's Point A Center for Supply Chain Innovation will serve as a collaborative space for businesses ranging from multi‐national corporations to emerging startups and academic institutions.
Georgia‐Pacific is investing between $5 million and $7 million in the overall center and has begun actively recruiting members. Among the first member organizations to offer their unique capabilities and expertise include: Chick‐fil‐A, Delta Air Lines, Genuine Parts Company, Grainger, Siemens, as well as Georgia‐Pacific's parent company Koch Industries.
Point A's members will explore use cases for applying Industry 4.0 innovations, including robotics, artificial intelligence, blockchain, machine learning and autonomous vehicles, among others, to tackle some of the supply chain's most pressing challenges, including retail models, network efficiency and data visibility.
“Now more than ever before we're seeing a greater emphasis on digitalization, automation and advanced analytics in plants and warehouses,” said Kevin Heath, Georgia‐Pacific senior vice president and chief procurement officer. “Supply chain leaders are trying to unlock the potential of current and future technologies, and we believe collaborating with the best minds will help drive innovation at a faster pace.”
Over the next couple of years, Georgia‐Pacific has plans to move Point A into a new, dedicated 23,000‐square‐foot space within its downtown GP Center headquarters building. Also planned is an additional 30,000 square feet of warehouse space for proof‐of‐concept testing; its location has yet to be determined.
Georgia-Pacific is one of the world’s leading makers of tissue, pulp, paper, packaging, building products and related chemicals.
