AHEAD ACQUIRES MBX, USHERING IN A NEW ERA OF ADVANCED ENGINEERING, LOGISTICS AND OPERATIONAL TRANSPARENCY FOR EDGE AND HYPERSCALE SOLUTIONS
CHICAGO, June 5, 2023—AHEAD, a leading provider of enterprise cloud and digital business platforms, announced today that it has acquired MBX Systems, an advanced integrator of custom hardware systems and supplier of global logistics and supply chain orchestration software.
This acquisition bolsters the business impact that AHEAD brings to its enterprise clients by adding custom-engineered platforms, deeper capabilities in edge infrastructure solutions and a proprietary software platform, known as Hatch, that enables enterprise clients and OEM partners to manage the full lifecycle of their IT assets.
“With the addition of MBX, we will provide the custom solutions our clients require to fulfill their expanding needs for edge and hyperscale solutions,” said Eric Kaplan, Chief Technology Officer at AHEAD. “Not only will we engineer and build these systems for our clients, but with the addition of Hatch, offer them the ability to optimize the product lifecycle along with full support for global logistics and asset management.”
Based outside Chicago, MBX Systems has revolutionized how companies bring their software to market on connected devices, with end-to-end support spanning product design, manufacturing, global logistics and ongoing lifecycle management.
In joining forces, the two firms will help enterprise clients accelerate business impact by delivering advanced infrastructure and edge solutions across environments such as clinical care, health and safety, oil and gas and digital business infrastructure. The union will also help clients streamline global distribution of those products. MBX operates a 120,000-square-foot integration and logistics center outside Chicago.
To further enhance these logistics capabilities, MBX developed software platform, Hatch, for product lifecycle management, asset management and supply chain orchestration. Through a single pane, clients manage orders, monitor inventory levels and shipping status, and remediate supply chain disruptions—in the process, transforming how their hardware teams work.
“We are reshaping the customer experience, utilizing Hatch’s innovative capabilities to provide customers an unmatched level of operational transparency and direct access to real-time information. Our objective is to weave this transparency into a flawless customer journey, commencing from the design of new products through to the final stage of delivery,” shared Chris Tucker, CEO of MBX Systems. “We can’t wait to integrate these capabilities with the AHEAD platform, where the added scale and reach will empower us to serve an even greater number of clients.”
Tucker and his leadership team will play integral roles within AHEAD, reporting to Kaplan, who leads the solutions portfolio at the company. Together they’ll extend MBX services across the AHEAD client base and infuse MBX’s advanced engineering capabilities into AHEAD’s broad portfolio of infrastructure, automation, data analytics, software development, security and managed services.
Since its first investment in AHEAD in 2020, Berkshire Partners has partnered with AHEAD’s leadership team to continue driving the company’s highly relevant and differentiated digital solutions portfolio of cloud, data and application-related services to aid further expansion.
“AHEAD is in a class of its own and we have great conviction in their unique value proposition to the market,” said Larry Hamelsky, Managing Director at Berkshire Partners. “We’re thrilled to support AHEAD as they continue to add to their industry-leading capabilities.”
This purchase is a continuation of AHEAD’s strategy to blend organic growth with acquisitions to source new capabilities that accelerate business impact for clients. The purchase of MBX Systems marks the ninth acquisition for AHEAD in five years.
ABOUT AHEAD
AHEAD builds and manages digital platforms that power the most successful organizations in the world. Our consultative approach, unmatched engineering, and innovative solutions combine to accelerate the impact of technology in every client we serve. Learn more at ahead.com.
ABOUT BERKSHIRE PARTNERS
Berkshire Partners is a 100% employee-owned, multi-sector specialist investor in private and public equity. The firm’s private equity team invests in well-positioned, growing companies across technology & communications, consumer, healthcare, and services & industrials. Since inception, Berkshire Partners has made more than 150 private equity investments and has a strong history of collaborating with management teams to grow the companies in which it invests. For additional information about Berkshire Partners please visit www.berkshirepartners.com.