Noted business executive Alberto Marzan announced earlier this week that he has founded Catena Inc. to satisfy unmet needs in the $75 billion cold chain transportation marketplace, a new venture based in Minneapolis, Minn., that Marzan will serve as CEO and chair of the company’s Board of Directors.
Catena brings a diverse set of business, technology, M2M (machine-to-machine) and design experts to the problems facing the cold chain transportation market. Its cloud-based software solution radically transforms and optimizes the way cold chain transportation logistics are managed, analyzed and delivered by providing a one-stop shop and single unified view for approved parties involved in cold chain logistics.
According to 2011 data from EPCglobal, perishable suppliers ship more than five billion pallets of chilled meats, seafood, cheese, produce and temperature-sensitive pharmaceutical and bio-medical products valued at $2.6 trillion every year. This cold chain transportation marketplace is fragmented, with many different information systems and solutions for tracking and monitoring perishable goods differing tremendously from one another.
As a result, transportation providers have great difficulty fulfilling delivery requirements, and suppliers aren’t able to track their shipments with the level of detail they need to ensure their shipments arrive intact and in compliance with handling standards. Annually, $35 billion worth of cold chain goods are discarded due to temperature loss and other compliance intrusions during the supply chain journey.
Catena’s proprietary technology ecosystem enables everyone in the supply chain to have a synergistic, unified view of cold chain-shipped goods from their point of origin to their final destination.
“Before Catena, the industry lacked a single point of access for the multiple transportation companies involved in cold chain management and logistics across the supply chain,” said Marzan. “We have some incredibly talented advisors and staff, and we’re building an enterprise-wide, top-down business analytics approach to solve this logistics problem. With the cold chain transportation market poised to more than double by 2017, we’re in a tremendous position to capitalize on this sizable opportunity – and bring revolutionary change and new value to the industry – with our unparalleled technology.”
Marzan has a long, distinguished resume of leading a variety of organizations to success. He has served as CEO of three organizations: the International Children’s Heart Foundation, Dominican Gold Coffee and Inspiring Champions. He also has founded three other marketing and advertising agencies, bringing his talents to bear for clients including Honeywell, Disney, the U.S. Department of Defense, H&R Block and 3M. In 2004, Forbes Magazine recognized Marzan as one of the outstanding young Latino business leaders in the U.S.; and in 2010 Alberto was chosen to serve the government of the Dominican Republic as an international consultant.
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