Kenco Names Ainsley Williams Vice President, Automation & Innovation

Williams will run Kenco’s Innovation Lab and lead 3PL’s automation strategy

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Kenco, a leading third-party logistics provider, today announced Ainsley Williams has joined the company’s leadership team as Vice President, Automation & Innovation.

Williams will lead Kenco’s Innovation Lab, a 30,000-square-foot space dedicated to researching, testing and vetting new supply chain technologies and ideas in a warehouse setting. In its first year, the lab generated over $5 million in savings, an amount that continues to accelerate as the lab relocates to a bigger space later this year. Her responsibilities will also include guiding the 3PL’s automation strategy and building the portfolio of technologies Kenco brings to its sites and customers.

A supply chain engineering expert with nearly two decades of experience, Williams has built and led high-performing engineering teams across Fortune 100 companies, fostering innovation and collaboration while scaling solutions across more than 30 sites. She has held leadership roles with companies such as Walmart, Knapp and Vanderlande, and she most recently served as Swisslog’s Senior Director, Systems Engineering.

Williams has pioneered adoption of autonomous mobile robots (AMRs), automated storage and retrieval systems (AS/RS) and advanced robotics, driving efficiency gains and positioning organizations at the forefront of supply chain innovation. During her time as Walmart’s Director, Next Gen Grocery Design, Williams architected enterprise-wide automation strategies that transformed supply chain operations. She secured over $3B in project approvals and delivered Walmart’s most advanced automated grocery distribution center.

“Ainsley has consistently challenged herself to tackle some of our industry’s greatest complexities,” said Denis Reilly, President & CEO at Kenco. “Modernizing supply chain operations for the world’s largest retailer is an undertaking, and it’s experience that will serve Kenco’s customers well as Ainsley further accelerates our efforts to provide continuous improvement.”

Williams was preceded in her role as Kenco’s Innovation Lab leader by Kristi Montgomery, who was recently appointed Vice President of Strategic Transformation for the 3PL.

Williams holds a Bachelor of Science in Chemical Engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology.

For more information about the Kenco team, visit https://kencogroup.com/about/.

About Kenco

Kenco is a leading North American 3PL delivering custom, integrated logistics solutions that maximize supply chain efficiency. For more than 75 years, they have partnered with customers to provide distribution, transportation, material handling and automation solutions. Kenco’s people set the organization apart—experienced, committed associates who bring agility and expertise to even the most complex supply chain challenges. Guided by its mission and vision, Kenco innovates relentlessly to deliver solutions on a national scale with the care of a local provider, building trusted partnerships that keep goods moving and businesses growing.