Engineer solves problems through technology
Kimberly Taylor did not know that her university assignment was going to open doors for her as a businesswoman.
Kimberly Taylor found gold in solving an assignment problem that she was given during a lecture at the University of the Witwatersrand in 2015.
She said the assignment had multiple questions, and one of them was about a salesman with a travelling salesman problem and required an algorithm that finds the shortest distance between a set of locations.
But this was the fun part of the assignment for the third-year chemical engineering student at the time. She told us she always loved coming up with solutions to problems and the assignment was no exception.
“It sparked my curiosity about the practicality of this algorithm. I wanted to understand whether it was being used in real life. It seemed like a really smart algorithm that could help people.”
She put in the hard work and eventually came up with software to solve the problem outside books. She named it Loop.
“Loop is an adaptable, intuitive delivery management platform that empowers companies by enabling them to cleverly optimise and scale their delivery systems.”
Taylor said she named this software Loop for a lot of reasons.
“It perfectly captures the idea that building stuff is like a continuous loop when it comes to technology. It is not a straightforward path but more like a constant cycle of creating, getting feedback, and making things better. This never-ending loop depends on using what we learn from previous rounds to drive innovation and move forward.”
She said she is not scared of failure and that is pretty much what keeps her focused on building Loop.
“One key thing in this loop is having a “fail forward” mindset. We know that failures are just stepping stones to success. Each round gives us a chance to learn, adapt, and grow. Even the tiniest bit of progress, like a 0.0001% improvement, matters because it pushes us ahead and brings us closer to our ultimate goals.”
“The beauty of this iterative loop in tech development is that it emphasizes perseverance and continuous advancement. It encourages teams to stay strong, keep learning from each cycle, and build on what they’ve achieved before. By embracing this never-ending loop of action, feedback, and progress, innovation becomes an ongoing adventure rather than a one-time destination.”
She explained how Loop works, “at a very high-level Loop is a delivery and task management platform that helps companies optimize, manage and scale operations. We do this through smart algorithms, automating and digitizing processes and us data analytics to understand performance across different processes and people in the business.”
When asked how long it took them to build the software, Taylor said she is not done yet.
“I still feel like Loop is being created. So I would say Loop has been created over seven years so far by myself and so many others. There are many things that keep me motivated; the people we are building this for, the impact we can make directly and indirectly, the life I want to design for myself and my family, and my team – they keep me motivated, I just want to continue creating Loop with them.”
She said when she created the software, she initially wanted to solve the communication problem before it escalated to other things.
“We solve problems for the operators, drivers and consumers within the delivery space. These problems vary and we really get into the detail of the operations of our clients, therefore there are hundreds of problems and hundreds of features as a result. However, the initial problem I wanted to solve; was better visibility, communication and optimisation.”
Solving what it seems to be a problem that never ends, has been one of the greatest challenges.
“When it comes to business challenges, it can feel like you’re tackling a never-ending obstacle course. While it’s challenging to pinpoint specific hurdles or the biggest hurdles, because at the time they seemed like the biggest but in hindsight, they seem small in comparison to today’s challenges.”
“Overcoming challenges can feel overwhelming, but I find solace in breaking them down into smaller, actionable tasks. By identifying the smallest next step in the right direction, I can maintain a sense of progress and momentum.”
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