Zeus inks freight management partnership with Apollo Tyres

The deal will see Apollo Tyres reduce its European transport costs by €1.8m per year, with Zeus Command AI also bringing Apollo Tyres operational productivity increases of up to 25%.

The partnership follows a successful trial of Zeus Command AI in 2024 within Apollo Tyres’ European operations. 

Zeus Command AI is an end-to-end enterprise software solution for freight management that optimises critical logistics functions, including slot management, freight rate negotiation, and live route tracking – and is integrated with the Zeus Driver app to facilitate detailed monitoring of individual vehicles or entire fleets.

Apollo Tyres said it partnered with Zeus to digitise its logistics operations in Europe and was particularly attracted by Zeus Command AI’s ability to provide end-to-end real-time visibility and management for all transport operations, and to seamlessly integrate with existing ERP, TMS, and WMS systems.

Clemente Theotokis, Zeus co-founder and joint MD (pictured right with fellow co-founder and joint MD Jai Kanwar) commented: “We’ve proven the critical importance of digitising logistics operations by bringing Apollo Tyres considerable savings and operational efficiencies.

“We’ve also demonstrated how easily Zeus Command AI is able to integrate with and optimise large-scale and complex logistics systems and we look forward to helping other organisations reap the benefits of a digital and highly-sophisticated logistics operation.

“Our partnership with Apollo Tyres is another pivotal step in expanding Zeus’s freight management solution across Europe and beyond.”

In tandem with Zeus Command AI, Apollo Tyres is also reaping the sustainability benefits from Zeus Connect – Zeus’s scalable transport solution which provides access to 15,000 vehicles across Europe, as well as access to sustainable freight options.

Hizmy Hassen, Apollo Tyres chief digital and supply chain officer, said: “Zeus has developed a unique tool that helps streamline internal sales-to-logistics collaboration and automates the integration and optimal use of our pan-European transport network.

“It’s really about fulfilling our distributors’ needs for fast order to delivery. This tool sits seamlessly on top of our Oracle system and works with our existing TMS.”

Zeus provides freight management solutions to over 60 major enterprise customers including, P&G, Whirlpool, Decathlon, St Pierre and Wickes in 13 countries across Europe, moving approximately 250,000 tonnes of cargo annually, worth circa £800m.

Janko Stojanovic, Zeus chief product officer, added: “We’re proud of the solution that we’ve delivered with Apollo Tyres. Zeus Command AI optimises workflows, improves relationships with customers and transport providers, and provides valuable insights into key metrics.

“Apollo Tyres’ customers and transport providers are benefitting from the power of a cutting edge logistics solution, and we are pleased to have played a crucial role in enhancing visibility, transparency, and efficiency in Apollo Tyres’ supply chain processes.”

Since exclusively licensing its freight solution to Wincanton in the UK and Ireland, Zeus anticipates 100% and 170% growth across its Connect and Command products respectively by the end of 2024.

The company said the success of Zeus Command AI with Apollo Tyres paves the way for a further roll out of its logistics solution, with the company expecting to expand into additional regions “imminently”.