Global logistics company moves senior VP of logistics firm into CIO role.
Global provider of transportation and logistics solutions, XPO Logistics has announced that Sandeep Sakharkar will become the chief information officer of GXO Logistics — the intended spin-off of XPO’s logistics segment.
Sakharkar currently serves as XPO’s senior vice president – logistics technology. He will lead GXO’s global systems development when the logistics segment’s technology organization transitions to GXO.
Sakharkar’s 20-year career includes roles as global vice president – core retail and infrastructure with Foot Locker, and EMEA director of digital technology with Johnson & Johnson.
Earlier, he worked as Johnson & Johnson’s IT director for the Asia Pacific region, and as practice head with Cognizant Technology Services in Europe.
He holds a post-graduate certification in management from Warwick Business School, Warwick University, in the UK.
Mario Harik chief information officer of XPO Logistics said, Sakharker has an outstanding track record of achieving transformational change for global companies through digitalisation and data science.
“Under his leadership, GXO’s technology organization will have a single-minded focus on realising the company’s full potential as a leader in e-commerce fulfillment and advanced warehouse automation — major tailwinds driving growth in logistics outsourcing,” said Harik.
As previously announced, XPO expects to spin off its logistics business in the second half of 2021, with GXO becoming a separate, publicly traded logistics company.
GXO will be the second largest contract logistics provider in the world, with a value proposition that includes technology-driven capabilities in e-commerce, food and beverage, consumer electronics, industrial, reverse logistics and other key sectors. The logistics operations currently include approximately 890 locations in 27 countries.
In December 2020, XPO announced it would spin off the company into GXO will be in a strong position to capitalise on the logistics industry’s predominant secular tailwinds.
The growth in e-commerce and omnichannel retail, fast-growing customer demand for automation and digital capabilities, and a shift toward outsourcing supply chain services.
In October 2020 the company announced a successful pilot of a wearable barcode scanner designed by technology partner ProGlove. The first pilot of the ProGlove MARK 2 was conducted over seven weeks at an XPO distribution center in Everett, Washington, using smart-glass headsets worn by employees during inventory picking; a second pilot will test the same scanner with hand-held tablets.
The intelligent scanner is worn on the back of the hand and can be paired with an augmented reality headset or other smart device, which displays real-time information about storage locations, product identifiers and inventory levels.
The technology integrates with XPO’s warehouse management system and digital tools used in the order preparation process, said Ashfaque Chowdhury president supply chain – Americas and Asia Pacific at XPO Logistics.
“Wearable technologies make it easier to work with precision in the fast-paced logistics environment. It’s not unusual for each of our e-commerce fulfillment centers to manage thousands of different product SKUs during peak seasonality,” he said. “With ProGlove, we can realize sustainable gains in productivity, while delivering a better experience for our employees.”
