Earlier today, Eden Prairie, Minn.-based global third-party logistics (3PL) services provider and freight forwarder C.H. Robinson (CHR) said it is rolling out its Item-Level Solutions offering to all of its customers.
CHR said its Item-Level Solutions, which are comprised of advanced analytics, tailored solutions, scale, and the company’s 120 years in business, provide shipper customers with end-to-end visibility and control across inventories and supply chains “at the most granular level—by the individual item or SKU,” including tracking items in motion or at rest, managing orders and inventory with sharp precision, and enabling real-time insights for better planning, cost control, and customer service while reducing blind spots. And it added that this offering has resulted in up to 10-30% percent savings in supply-chain-related expenses, with Item-Level Solutions helping on various fronts, including: visibility at the item level; purchase order management; supply chain design; and inventory optimization.
“Supply chains across every industry are at an inflection point in the face of ongoing disruptions, AI-driven transformation, and rising customer expectations, and that’s why we’re making these solutions available for all our customers now,” said Arun Rajan, Chief Strategy and Innovation Officer at C.H. Robinson. “This isn’t a new capability for us—it’s a proven one. We are scaling it up to meet all shippers’ increasing needs for more visibility, more control and more actionable insights at the most granular level. Item-level Solutions deliver exactly that—by connecting digital tools with physical operations to help businesses track, manage, and optimize every item, every step of the way.”
CHR President of North American Surface Transportation, Michael Castagnetto provided LM with an overview of this news in a Q&A below.
LM: What drove the need for CHR to open its Item-level Solutions to all its customers? How long had that planned or in the works?
Castagnetto: We’ve been working with item-level data for our customers for decades. This current suite of Item-level Solutions picked up steam in the wake of the pandemic, as companies were challenged with disruption after disruption and needed more and more granular control of their supply chains. We’ve seen a sharp rise in uptake among the large, complex companies we’ve pioneered these solutions with. We’re also hearing from our other customers that, given the constant flux in the economy, item-level visibility is their number one technology need. That’s why we decided that this is the right time to offer this road-tested set of capabilities to all companies who need them.
LM: What are the main benefits and efficiencies of this for your customers?
Castagnetto: Many companies struggle with fragmented supply chains, limited visibility, inconsistent supplier performance and a lack of real-time data. All of this is compounded by volatility in the broader economy. Item-level Solutions address these pain points by providing a unified view of inventory, orders, and costs. This enables better forecasting, more accurate labor planning, and improved decision-making.
For example, companies often lack the ability to know exactly what they’re getting from their suppliers to until it arrives. With Item-level Visibility, they can see what’s in transit, how many items are on their way, when the load will arrive and plan accordingly. This reduces delays, improves productivity and lowers costs.
LM: Can you please provide a top-level overview of C.H. Robinson’s item-level digital purchase order management tools i.e. what they do and how they help customers etc.?
Castagnetto: Our item-level purchase order management tools digitize and centralize the entire purchase order lifecycle, from creation through freight execution and delivery. By integrating data from suppliers, manufacturers and distributors, they enable real-time tracking of every single item’s location, status, and cost components. This level of granularity helps customers reduce errors, streamline operations, and make faster, more informed decisions.
The benefits are tangible: users gain insights to enhance supplier performance, the ability to plan better, and substantial cost savings.
LM: What are the next steps, or future plans, regarding future Item-Level solutions from CHR, going forward?
Castagnetto: First, we hope that our customers will take advantage of Item-level Solutions, and benefit from increased visibility, precision and control across the global supply chain. These capabilities are fully modular and scalable. Companies of different sizes in all sectors of the economy can benefit. Customers with smaller operations can start with one capability, such as purchase order management, and expand over time.
In the coming months and years, we’ll focus on further expanding automation, predictive capabilities and integration with customer systems to enable real-time collaboration and shared visibility. We see a future where supply chains are not just visible, but intelligent—able to anticipate disruptions, self-optimize, and adapt dynamically to disruptions. Our Item-level Solutions are a major step in that direction.
