NEWS

UNC-Chapel Hill, Saffron Technology to provide military logistics solutions for The Boeing Co.

CHAPEL HILL -- The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill’s Kenan-Flagler Business School and Saffron Technology are teaming up to provide new military logistics solutions for The Boeing Co., the largest aerospace company in the world.

The Center for Logistics and Digital Strategy at Kenan-Flagler’s Frank Hawkins Kenan Institute of Private Enterprise will use SaffronOne technology to provide Boeing with intelligent logistics tools for Boeing’s Log Net project. Boeing Log Net is an intelligent software system that provides an integrated view of the military logistics environment. The Boeing Log Net system will enable logisticians to gain "situational awareness" of forces around the world and to make better decisions about how to support them.

The U.S. military is undergoing a transformation in the way that forces are deployed and sustained. As the list of trouble spots grows, the military must be prepared to respond quickly and with a smaller logistics footprint wherever needed. New information technologies, especially new intelligent software, can help military forces become more strategically responsive to crises as they occur.

SaffronOne, with its innovative associative memory technology that functions like human memory, has the ability to handle hundreds of thousands of inputs and make highly accurate predictions in real time. That makes it a perfect match for the enormous volume of complex data that must be filtered and correlated for coordinated and complex logistics tasks.

Logistics is a term used widely in industry to describe all of the elements that come into play as products and materials are distributed around the world. Typically, it relies on high-tech information systems to monitor things as they move.

UNC-Chapel Hill is incorporating Saffron technology into other commercial logistics applications — from determining best logistics practices to aviation maintenance.

"The Center for Logistics and Digital Strategy is a tremendous resource for companies like Boeing and Saffron," said Dr. Manuel Aparicio, Saffron’s chairman and chief strategy officer. "By combining Saffron’s technology with their industry expertise, they are able to offer insightful solutions to today’s most challenging business issues."

Rich Rocks of Boeing said the Log Net concept represents a major step forward in logistics information systems.

"Boeing Log Net is a prototype for the future military logistics decision-making environment," said Rocks, manager of Integrated Defense Logistics for Boeing. "We are intrigued by the capability of SaffronOne agents to enhance automated logistics decision-making."

Topia Ventures of Seattle, Wash., is also involved with the project. Topia’s mobile agent technology will send battlefield status updates to Saffron’s intelligent agents. Once Saffron’s intelligent agents receive Topia’s transmissions, Saffron will be able to make the best recommendations for future re-supply and course-of-action decisions to help the battlefield commander — all in real time.

For a demonstration of the Log Net simulation, contact Greis at UNCl or Rocks at Boeing.

The Center for Logistics and Digital Strategy, located within the Kenan Institute of Private Enterprise at the Kenan-Flagler Business School, focuses on developing and applying innovative logistics strategies in information technology and transportation to help companies manage more effectively in dynamic markets. It helps speed innovative ideas to market, providing a bridge between the research and development activities of the university and their use by industry. Current programs range from enterprise management to e-logistics to intelligent logistics.

Saffron Technology, based in Research Triangle Park, is a privately held software company redefining how data modeling is performed. Their product is a 100-percent, Pure Java-certified, real-time learning software component called SaffronOne, inspired by the functionality of memory in the human brain. SaffronOne learns and detects patterns in massively complex data, performing in real time without human intervention. It is currently being used in areas with high volumes of complex data such as logistics, knowledge management and bioinformatics. It is an enabling technology that is currently setting a new state-of-the-art bar for the amount of complex data that can be modeled in real time without the need for expensive hardware.

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Related Web links: www.boeing.com, www.kenaninstitute.unc.edu/clds, www.saffrontech.com