Logistics provider Gefco has appointed Valérie Floridia (pictured) as director of the company’s Innovation Factory.
Launched last year, the internal incubator offers employees worldwide an opportunity to propose and develop innovative ideas to help drive the group’s growth.
As director Floridia will be responsible for encouraging new ideas and helping convert them into fully operational projects. She will reinforce the French group’s innovation team with 15 years of experience at major companies such as Renault and power provider EDF in France, Germany and the US.
“I’m delighted to be working with Gefco teams to develop our innovation ecosystem and invent the supply chain of the future,” she said.
The innovation factory is open all year, enabling candidates to submit projects any time to a screening committee of internal experts who select the most promising concepts. Shortlisted teams are then invited to Paris to pitch their ideas at an Explorathon, a two-day event to challenge and accelerate projects which have potential to support the group’s business.
Two Explorathons have been held to date where nine teams explored innovative solutions in 3D printing, augmented reality and artificial intelligence. “I was impressed by the candidates and projects presented at the second Explorathon a few weeks after I arrived at Gefco,” said Floridia.
Another company initiative is partnership with start-up accelerator Techstars to work with companies specialising in areas such as transport and route optimisation, predictive maintenance, track and trace, new data services and robotic process automation.
