Both end and beginning

Deliver may sound like a narrow process, but it's not. Deliver processes involve supply chain execution solutions that address both inbound and outbound logistics, and that use event management for real-time coordination and feedback. Deliver also means getting close to the customer—which is what customer relationship management systems are all about—and optimizing distribution channels, supported by channel management software.

Staff -- Manufacturing Business Technology, 7/1/2002 12:00:00 AM

4 Siebel Systems

Seeking deep back-office integration

Siebel Systems, San Mateo, Calif., hopes to solidify its leading position in the customer relationship management (CRM) software market by building its application suite on top of technology that enables deep and easy integration with all of the back-office functions within an extended enterprise.

"While integrating all the channels within an enterprise—customers, partners, and employees—is critical, it no longer is enough," says Ed Abbo, Siebel's chief technology officer. "It is imperative to integrate the business processes and industry best practices as well."

Abbo says Siebel's customers can achieve that level of integration through the use of Siebel's Smart Web Architecture, which is the foundation for the Siebel 7 eBusiness Applications suite released early this year.

Siebel 7 contains specific functionality for companies in more than 20 industries. The manufacturing offering is called Siebel eIndustrial Manufacturing. "We are developing best practices specific to the manufacturing industry, which will be integrated into the customer service agent's desktop through the back office, to ensure that customer service agents are empowered to proactively solve customer issues," Abbo says.

Siebel's Smart Web Architecture is supported by the Universal Application Network initiative. Abbo describes this program, launched in April, as "a customer-focused integration network that allows enterprises to quickly and cost-effectively integrate all their applications using a standards-based architecture that is both scalable and reliable."

Other network participants include enterprise application integration software vendors, and major systems integrators such as Accenture and IBM Global Services. The goal, Abbo says, is to give users an alternative to either custom or vendor-specific methods of front- to back-office integration. Says Abbo, "This initiative enables business managers in all industries to deploy best practices across multiple divisions and business units and eliminate deployment costs because business processes are application-agnostic, and re-usable across multiple applications."

If it really works in that manner, Siebel is likely to retain its own historically high customer service ratings, and enhance its ability to maintain CRM leadership.

30 Manhattan Associates

Visibility focus backed by big bucks

Spending a bundle on research & development (R&D) in an effort to develop enhanced products is one of the factors leading to the continued success of Manhattan Associates, an Atlanta-based vendor of supply chain execution solutions.

"Over the last 12 months we have spent about $20 million on core R&D across all our products," says Deepak Raghavan, senior vice president of products and strategy. "These investments have been significant, and have yielded many benefits. We heavily invest in R&D so that we can not only focus on the industries we serve, but get very deep into the functionality they need from a best-of-breed provider. And, our investments help us provide a wide breadth of products to these industries. These are both key factors in our success."

The vendor has focused most of its R&D on three areas: enhancing execution capabilities for specific industry requirements; real-time collaboration of the extended supply chain; and delivering more functionality from its suite of optimization products, which take the raw data from warehouse management systems and transform it into useful information.

Manhattan Associates' future technology initiatives revolve around similar areas. "We're looking forward to further enhancing our real-time collaboration products because it presents a lot of advantages for our customers in that it enables them to satisfy their customers more efficiently," says Raghavan.

He says Manhattan's embrace of this technology ultimately will lead to what he calls the "self-healing" supply chain. "This is when you have a lot of events taking place and an engine monitors all the events, identifies and escalates exceptions, sends notification, and reacts appropriately to those exceptions," says Raghavan. "The ultimate goal is that many exceptions can be resolved systematically without getting the user involved, which is the notion of intelligent response.

"We see a lot of promise in this area of supply chain event management," continues Rafhavan, "and think we have an advantage because we already are providing elements of those solutions today and are conducting R&D to enhance those further in the future."

39 EXE Technologies

Tackles four key areas of SCE

Over the last several years, EXE Technologies has been shifting its focus from being a vendor of supply chain execution software that acts within the four walls of an enterprise, to a vendor offering network-centric fulfillment solutions. More recently, the Dallas-based company expanded its platform options, and enhanced its integration technology to offer systems with a lower cost of ownership.

"Previously our focus was on fulfillment within the four walls, but today the needs of fulfillment solutions have broken out of the box, so our scope has extended to face these changes in the supply chain," says Richard Lackey, chief technology officer. "It's really a network-centric supply chain solution."

EXE has added full support for a new database platform—IBM's DB2. "Incorporating a new database platform for all the products was no minor feat," says Lackey. "But we did it so that we can offer fulfillment product support based on all the major operating systems, as well as all the market-leading relational databases."

This flexibility keeps down cost of ownership, says Lackey, because customers can "put all our software on existing equipment, or they can buy an additional server with an operating environment they already understand."

The company's EXceed brand actually encompasses three distinct products suites addressing what EXE sees as the four areas of supply chain execution: decision support, execution, collaboration, and optimization. The Collaborate Suite, which had a new release in April, encompasses supply chain event management capabilities, including inventory visibility, product state/quality, and shipment tracking.

Supporting this functionality is EXceed Data Exchange, an application integration solution EXE introduced in February. Its communication and transformation capabilities enable integrating EXE applications with third-party applications, and support the use of Internet standards for trading partner transactions. According to Lackey, EXceed Data Exchange will both cut deployment cost for EXE customers, and enable a smooth flow of information within their supply chains.

46 Descartes Systems Group

Logistics connectivity, plus apps

As a provider of logistics management solutions, Waterloo, Ontario-based Descartes has spent a lot of time listening to the needs of its manufacturing customers. And over the past year, the company has made some major technological developments—including next-generation fleet-routing software, and an expansion of its logistics services network—based on these demands.

Descartes developed Fleetwise for manufacturers with dedicated truck fleets. The application has a distributed, componentized architecture, and enables multi-user planning, scheduling, and monitoring of truck and driver activities. The architecture is said to support centralized planning and distributed execution business models, as well as eXtensible markup language-based integration into corporate portals and customer management systems.

"Many manufacturers use logistics as a key metric for customer satisfaction, but they traditionally lacked a way to provide customer service agents with logistics information," says Beth Enslow, vice president of product strategy. "We developed Fleetwise with the ability to provide that seamless logistics information to many parts of the organization, as well as the customers."

Descartes also works to facilitate better connectivity between manufacturers and their partners. "Our manufacturing customers have made us aware of the pain they face when it comes to getting their partners electronically connected to them," says Enslow. "So we decided to create a network that would reduce some of those barriers."

Enslow is referring to the expansion of the Descartes Global Logistics Services Network, which enables manufacturers to connect rapidly to 100 percent of their supply chain communities while leveraging Descartes' reusable connections. "This capability offers robust, no-tech and low-tech connectivity methods to customers through fax-to-electronic data interchange conversion services and Web forms," says Enslow. "These connectivity capabilities are especially important for manufacturers that have a mix of large and small suppliers with different technical abilities."

52 IMI

Focused on core competency

In 2000, Stockholm-based Industri-Matematik International (IMI) experienced a challenging time, thanks to a plunging market share. After recording a $9.9 million operating loss for fiscal 2001, Steve D'Angelo, president for the Americas, now expects to see fiscal 2002 come out at roughly break-even.

Cost-cutting has played its part in the turnaround, but more important has been a renewed sense of focus, he maintains: "It's been Business 101—focus on what you do best." And in IMI's case, this is the retail value chain, where the company has long provided consumer goods manufacturers, wholesalers, distributors, and retailers with supply chain execution software—specifically, its VIVALDI order management and fulfillment suite.

Over the past few months, a stellar roster of customers that includes GE Plastics, AT&T, and Starbucks has been joined by new customers, including pet food manufacturer Meowmix, and retailer Price Chopper. Additionally, existing customers are buying added functionality, as in the case of paint manufacturer Sherwin Williams, which opted for VIVALDI store replenishment.

IMI's product development also is taking a back-to-basics approach. "You don't do technology for technology's sake, or simply jump on whatever new wave is coming along," D'Angelo says. "We've sustained our depth of functionality while maintaining both our Internet capability and our original client/server architecture."

So while GE Plastics' implementation is Internet-based, both Dial Soap and Campbell's Soup run VIVALDI in a combination of both modes—usually, adds D'Angelo, with Internet technology at the front end, and client/server in the back office. "This is what customers want to do—so that's the capability we provide them with."

Customer-centric tactics also are driving IMI's incorporation of Web services. Says D'Angelo, "Our customers need to collaborate with their customers and suppliers, and Web services is how they are going to do it."

53 Vastera

Manages global trade information

Vastera, a provider of global trade management solutions, made major strides during the past year via acquisitions, and with the growth of its managed services business. Ironically, it was the most tragic news event of 2001 that garnered the company the most notoriety.

As manufacturers sell and source globally, they must comply with each country's rules, fees, and other constraints. According to Greg Stock, a Vastera vice president, Vastera's TradeSphere software automates many of the tasks involved in global trade, and reduces the time and cost involved in moving goods.

"In any global transaction, three things happen: the physical movement of goods, the financial exchange, and the information that enables the first two events to happen," says Stock. "Vastera represents the information piece."

To expand globally, it acquired three companies in early 2002: Bergen Informatica of Brazil, Imanet of Canada, and PRISMA Technología Computacional of Mexico. But perhaps the biggest change, says Stock, is how Vastera offers its solutions. "A year ago, we had a lot more pure software deals," he says. "Today, the solution getting the most attention is our managed services for global transport management."

The destruction of the World Trade Center last September cast the spotlight on Vastera. For the past 10 years, the company has offered a software service to verify the identities of shippers and customers, and screen out terrorists. Post 9-11, "hits" on the company's Web site increased by a factor of 10, says Stock. "We certainly didn't try to exploit the situation, but if you're a company that can help, then you do your part. To be honest, it was a difficult time for us."

54 RedPrairie Corp.

Former McHugh reinvents around value

Company transformations can seem like 180-degree turns, but leaders at RedPrairie Corp., formerly McHugh Software, say its reinvention builds on 25-plus-year track record for delivering value to users of supply chain execution software. The big change: RedPrairie now guarantees solution results under a shared risk/reward business model, according to John Jazwiec, chief executive.

How serious is the company about this model? One indicator is that Jazwiec and other employees have dropped conventional titles, with Jazwiec now "company results leader," not CEO. "Our entire culture is changing," Jazwiec said at a May 22 press conference announcing the change. "Rather than pushing software licenses, we're guaranteeing our results."

Central to the model is results measurement supported by new analytical tools and methods the company calls RedPrairie Metrics, or RPMs. While prospects can opt for traditional licensing rather than paying a percentage of benefits under RedPrairie's value-based model, prospects must commit to measuring results.

The model, according to Jazwiec, makes RedPrairie more of a "logistics results company" than a software vendor. The change comes at a time of financial strength, with first quarter 2002 revenues up 27 percent over the previous year; earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization up 18.8 percent; and $7 million in cash generated.

Change has been ongoing. About six years ago, the company expanded beyond its warehouse management system (WMS) roots to include transportation and labor management. Today, WMS accounts for about 25 percent of revenue. The company also offers event management solutions, that focus on real-time control of logistics processes at a network level.

"We've fine-tuned our technology, but our underlying philosophy has stayed the same," says Jim Hoefflin, chief technology officer. "We give users more flexibility and value for their investment."

56 Vertex Interactive

Focused functionality trumps Java

Functionality has taken precedence over technology for the past year at Vertex Interactive, a Lake Success, N.Y.-based supply chain execution software supplier.

"The priority of our functional deliverables has changed," says Robert Schilt, chief technology officer. "Instead of focusing on enhancing event-driven processing, we moved up delivery of a new version of yard management, which originally was scheduled for later this year. We discovered users are more interested in feature/functions than with the latest technology."

Vertex has, in the last 18 months, concentrated on merging its various divisions, including Renaissance Software, into one corporate entity. This involved adopting a companywide application architecture and integration standards based on Java. "For the past two years, we've been talking about Java and its benefits, and it has gone from a concept that was not fully understood to one that is essential to most e-Business strategies," says Schilt.

New focus areas for Vertex stem from the long-term expertise of its divisions. The company is making inroads to the automation side of warehousing, including materials handling and wireless technology. The pharmaceuticals market represents a new target vertical with a need for lot control, and highly automated warehouses.

Addressing the nuances of a vertical market and building up expertise in an area can be challenging for any company, Schilt maintains. "Generic consumer goods don't have the intricacies of food and beverage. And third-party logistics requires specialized modules, such as billing, since every contract is different."

60 Firepond

Lead-to-order enablement

The difference between most customer relationship management (CRM) vendors and Firepond involves looking inward, and looking outward, according to Eric Snow, director of corporate marketing for the Waltham, Mass.-based software vendor.

"A lot of CRM vendors have solutions that are far more focused on helping manufacturers internally than we are," says Snow. "Our Sales Performer Suite, on the other hand, actually is used by salespeople while they are with the customers."

Firepond refers to the multi-step process facilitated by its software as "lead to order."

"It essentially involves everything that happens in the selling cycle, starting when the company gets a lead to the point where the order is placed. It walks the customer through a needs-analysis process, which is particularly important for manufacturers that deal with very complex products," says Snow.

A product configurator allows salespeople and their customers to "drill down further," and then generates a price quote and sales contract.

One customer—a manufacturer of helicopters—has trimmed six to eight weeks and $60,000 to $80,000 in selling costs from individual sales proposals through the use of Firepond's software, Snow says.

The slowdown in the economy triggered layoffs and other spending reductions at Firepond, "but this year has started out strongly, and we are right-sized and refocused," says Snow.

Firepond's Sales Performer Suite now offers improved capabilities for integration with enterprise software from SAP, and procurement solutions from Ariba. Snow adds that connectors with other enterprise software packages will follow.

64 Click Commerce

Microsoft .NET all the way

There's nothing timid about Click Commerce's approach to emerging technologies. Earlier this year, the Chicago-based provider of channel management solutions laid claim to being the first vendor to deliver a sell-side e-commerce product powered by the Microsoft.NET framework.

".NET and Web services are central to the evolution of channel management," says Michael Ferrro, Jr., Click's CEO. "By incorporating these emerging technologies, Click Commerce has further enhanced the most robust, functionally rich channel management suite."

The "first on .NET" headlines earned Click Commerce attention from tecnophiles. But customers seemed less excited by the technology than by the business benefits.

"When we launched Click Commerce Version 4.3, we were somewhat hesitant to even talk about the .NET aspect," says Sarah O'Donnell, a Click vice president. "Our customers buy 4.3 because the .NET code offers more functionality with fewer lines of code, and much higher performance. It is up and running in 60 days or less. And, because it's more wizard-driven, it's easier to maintain and cheaper to own."

The 4.3 release also adds a constraint-based product configuration manager. Not only does it prevent ordering something that can't be built, but it features up-selling and cross-selling capabilities.

Click Commerce also enhanced its lead manager and customer manager modules. "We're now delivering more out-of-the-box workflow capabilities," O'Donnell says. "Now a business manager can extensively modify the way these perform to fit their business—without a developer."

Last July, the company delivered Partner Portal 5.0, a configurable portal framework. Says O'Donnell, "It's now much easier to get the functionality implemented and available for partners—typically in less than 60 days."

Just how fast are deployments of the overall system? One early adopter reportedly deployed Click Commerce 4.3 for its dealer network, implementing phase one in 90 days. No wonder Click Commerce is confident of its technology direction.

65 irista

Family tie for total solutions

This New Berlin, Wis.-based supply chain execution provider has made a concerted effort over the past year to heed its familial ties to its parent company, HK Systems. irista understands the joint value proposition both organizations bring to the table, which allows sales teams to cross-sell software, HK Systems' material handling equipment, and integration services.

"In the past, we had a strategy of going after an opportunity if there was one," says Dave Adams, vice president of research & development. "Now we package everything as a complete solution. Customers can save time and money by using fewer project managers because we tie all elements together and look at the whole picture."

From a technology perspective, irista has introduced a workflow module and functionality for value-added services. The workflow handles event management and alert messaging, which isolates, coordinates, evaluates, and directs events that occur, or those that don't occur. The system must interact with a warehouse management (WMS) or transportation management system (TMS) to be fed appropriate data to make decisions, notes Adams. "Eighty percent of the time, event management is sold with our other execution systems, although it can work with third-party systems as well," he says.

Despite the downturn in the economy, users still are looking for greater supply chain efficiencies, says Adams. What has changed is the size and scope of implementation projects. "We're not seeing huge deals, so instead of signing up for 20 sites, users are going for two or three warehouses," he says. "They want to test the waters first, and don't have the capital to pull off major projects. Also, the return-on-investment is well known and justified for WMS and TMS."

Development plans haven't been altered due to the economic climate, but the economy has slowed irista down, and as such, forces a practical focus. Say Adams, "We don't think in terms of technology, but rather, we look at how to solve problems."

66 Prophet 21

Supporting the middleman

Prophet 21, Yardley, Pa., is doing its part to negate the argument that the middleman—or more precisely, distributors—will disappear as B2B e-commerce spreads.

In fact, Prophet 21 has had a fair amount of success in getting manufacturers to sign on as members of its Internet-based trading network to forge closer ties with their distributors. Prophet 21 calls its trading network Trading Partner Connect.

"We see Trading Partner Connect as a way to improve efficiencies between us and our distributor partners," says Julie Meldrum, director of marketing for Arc Abrasives, a Troy, Ohio-based manufacturer of coated and non-woven abrasives that went live on the network this past January. "It enables distributors to view our inventory. We no longer have to rekey orders into our solution, and we can provide more timely invoicing without using faxes or standard mail. With this technology, we've added consistency to the list of things that differentiate us from our competitors."

Launched in February 2001, the network is the latest in a series of solutions that Prophet 21 has designed for durable goods distributors. Its Acclaim package is a UNIX-based software suite that provides applications ranging from financials, customer management, procurement, and warehouse management. Its Commerce Center package offers the same set of capabilities on the Windows NT platform.

Prophet 21 says its can significantly reduce distributors' electronic data interchange charges by routing documents through Trading Partner Connect, rather than value-added networks. It also says it has significantly lowered the cost of implementing its Commerce Center application with new Web-based training programs.

"By taking advantage of the available technology, we reduced the investment in implementing Commerce Center by 20 percent, and reduced the time to implement by 10 percent," says Bill Patton, vice president of professional services. "We have passed the savings on to our customers."

67 Viewlocity

Network-focused SCEM solutions

If you've filed Viewlocity with enterprise application integration vendors in your contact manager, it's time to shift things around. "We're SCEM [supply chain event management] and only SCEM," says Michael Sherman, chief technology officer for the Atlanta-based company. "The culmination of our transition from integration vendor to SCEM vendor took place this year with the sale of our integration products and operations to a systems integrator."

Welcome to the emerging, but already crowded, world of SCEM. To differentiate itself, Viewlocity subscribes to a definition of the solution set that eliminates many SCEM wannabes.

"SCEM isn't just about attaching an alerting engine to your existing enterprise system so that it pings your cell phone when something goes wrong in the supply chain," Sherman says. "It's not about just extending your warehouse management solution. It's much more complex than that."

Viewlocity maintains that true SCEM must provide a complete network perspective—from supplier to shipper—in a single, integrated portal. "What we do, with TradeSync, is help manufacturers cut through the noise that results from having too much information," he says. "Yes, you'll get an alert if something goes wrong and an order is going to be late, but you will also get advice about alternatives. You also can do a lot of 'what if' scenarios to find the true cost of each alternative."

TradeSync 4.0, released in April, adds functionality for verticals, including retail apparel and high-tech. The company also introduced performance analytics.

"We offer trend-based key performance indicator monitoring," Sherman says. "When negative exceptions occur, you can easily drill through to understand the root cause."

68 LIS

Adds SCEM, enhanced architecture

Vendors of supply chain execution software face a challenge: staying ahead of the major enterprise suite vendors with warehouse management system (WMS) and other functions, while introducing the type of technology foundation that simplifies integration. Supply chain execution vendor LIS, Charlotte, N.C., is doing just fine on both fronts, according to Bob Carver, a company vice president.

LIS's Dispatcher-WMS suite has a broad functional footprint, notes Carver, including labor resource planning, productivity measurement, and alerting capabilities. Over the past year, LIS has made Disptacher-WMS accessible via hand-held devices, and added voice-picking.

LIS also offers VirtualView, a supply chain event management solution. VirtualView draws data from multiple systems, and is said to be capable of providing a consolidated view of inventory, orders, and related events.

Another strength for the U.K.-based vendor is worldwide reach, including extensive operations in Europe, Middle East, and Africa (EMEA). According to one analyst firm, LIS is the supply chain execution leader in EMEA, with an 11.4-percent share in one of the market's highest-growth regions.

Architecturally, LIS continues to invest in an n-tier architecture, making use of Java 2 Enterprise Edition (J2EE) technology. "J2EE ensures that LIS solutions are more easily integrated with other applications in the future," says Carver, a former software engineer. "And, it will enable third-party applications to invoke core LIS functionality."

Carver says that although new technologies simplify integration, this alone hasn't made for a strong resurgence of the best-of-breed approach—at least not yet. Ultimately, he says, return-on-investment (ROI), largely driven by functionality, plays the key role.

Says Carver, "I still think best-of-breed provides better ROI, because even under a single-source approach, enterprises still often put in best-of-breed solutions for certain areas, and end up with 'average breed' in others."

72 Optum

Virtual fulfillment solutions

If manufacturers are going to be able to respond with the speed and flexibility that their suppliers and customers are demanding, they must have new tools to accomplish those goals, says Dave Simbari, president of Optum.

That's fine with him, since his White Plains, N.Y.-based company is a major provider of warehouse management system (WMS) solutions, as well as TradeStream, an Internet-based software package that facilitates cross-enterprise processes and synchronization.

TradeStream enables visibility to the status of orders, and synchronizes supply chain activities in a process that Optum refers to as virtual fulfillment.

Because TradeStream is Web-based, it's particularly appealing to manufacturers that are hesitant to sink large sums into traditional deployment. "There's no software to buy, and there's very little a user has to implement," says Simbari. "All of the technology and information is available over the Internet. You get accurate information at a relatively low cost, with no capital investment."

During the past year, Optum released version 7.1 of MOVE, its WMS, which Simbari refers to as "a significant upgrade" in which Internet technology enables users to view inventory positions across multiple warehouses. "The software also allows optimization across warehouses, so that goods can be located in places closest to where they're going to be needed," he adds.

Web-based advantages aside, Simbari derides the notion that emerging Web standards will ever result in "snap-together" simplicity. "Web services is very much like EDI [electronic data interchange], in the sense that there's about a 70-percent fit, but typically in eclectic environments, there's still integration work to be done. Where Web services becomes more tricky is in legacy environments with dated technology."

74 Catalyst

More options under one roof

Gone are the days when the Windows NT operating system was a necessary requirement for running the warehouse management system (WMS) from Catalyst International. In its latest release, the Milwaukee-based supply chain execution provider eliminated the need for a client layer of software running on Windows, opening up full access via standard Web browsers.

"We wanted to form a more flexible and user-friendly system," says John Gorman, executive vice president of operations. "In the past, we supported NT and presented through Explorer. Now users can deploy any browser, such as Netscape, which has a larger market share in Europe."

Along with the new system, Catalyst is concentrating on speeding up its delivery schedule with a goal of announcing new releases every four to six months, instead of every 12 to 18 months. "Our development methodologies are more agile and we've pulled teams together to get things done faster," says Gorman. "We're not burning through cash the way we did in the past, and we're reacting to current business conditions."

The company's facility management group is finding more opportunities for providing information technology (IT) support and services, either on an ad-hoc or ongoing basis, usually monthly or bi-weekly. "Many companies have sites located far from headquarters, and without dedicated IT staffs," says Gorman. "They don't know how to tune a system or maintain a relational database, and our services are more cost-effective than typical outsourcing. It's not our core business, and we are not trying to be an application service provider, but we have the knowledge our customers need to get the most out of our systems."

A fuller solutions approach sums up much of the direction. "We may have been a best-of-breed player in the past, but our customer base is saying it doesn't want just a single product from us, but a suite of applications that may be ours, or from partnerships we've established," Gorman adds. "But they want us to handle it all, take ownership, and make it work."

78 TECSYS

Meta data-driven flexibility

Technical advances—even in seemingly arcane areas such as "meta data"—can have practical business benefits, according to executives at supply chain management software vendor TECSYS. The Montreal-based company's latest version of EliteSeries suite uses a meta data architecture to deliver system flexibility, says Nam D. Vo, senior vice president of business development.

Vo says EliteSeries 7.0 organizes critical pieces of information, such the definition of a customer and pricing into meta data (i.e., information about information). "This makes the system easier to customize, so that it becomes a dynamic framework that easily accommodates business change," Vo says.

TECSYS targets third-party logistics providers (3PLs) and distribution-centric organizations, including manufacturers' distribution operations. The EliteSeries suite combines applications for distribution, warehouse, and transportation management with e-commerce and performance management software.

The 3PL market is in special need of system flexibility, says Vo, "because the nature of their business calls for an ability to integrate quickly with partner systems. Every time a 3PL signs a new customer, it must integrate with many systems—not just one."

Along with use of meta data, EliteSeries 7.0 supports Web services. The suite allows information such as item availability, order status, and order history to be communicated as Web services. For manufacturers, says Vo, this use of Web services, along with the flexible architecture, boils down to improved supply chain communication. "Uploading of data becomes easier," says Vo, "so the manufacturer ends up with more timely information for forecasting and other business processes up and down the supply chain."

Vo says TECSYS differs from traditional supply chain execution vendors in that it offers distribution requirements planning software, and order management software that handles complex pricing and multiple currencies. Says Vo, "We're a true supply chain management vendor because we address both planning and execution, and offer an enterprise performance management solution for decision support to draw everything together."

84 HighJump

Clears bar in tough market

Many software companies were feeling the pain of the recession during the past year, but HighJump Software wasn't one of them.

"Our biggest success in the past year was our revenue growth," says Chris Heim, president and CEO of the Eden Prairie, Minn.-based provider of supply chain execution solutions. "Our fiscal year ended on March 31, and we grew 40 percent, year over year, and we also had a profit. We're really proud of that, given the tough software market. I think it speaks volumes about our product, and creating happy customers."

While the weak economy has posed challenges for software vendors, opportunities were plentiful as well, Heim says. "Budgets are extremely tight, but the corollary to that is that people have very real needs to save money and improve customer service," he says. "The good thing for us about that is our solutions deliver hard, short-term return-on-investment."

While HighJump is best known for its warehouse management system (WMS) software, a large measure of its recent success is attributable to the company having extended its offerings.

"Two years ago, we were a WMS company, but we've expanded to have a full footprint of supply chain execution software," Heim says. "It was a move to answer our customers, who were telling us it would be great if we offered these capabilities as well."

As a result, customers are able to buy a broad, fully integrated set of applications for transportation management, supply chain visibility, and event management. "There is tremendous value in having a solution in which all of the options work together, like those in Microsoft Office," says Heim. "After all, you don't buy Lotus 1-2-3 for its spreadsheet, and PowerPoint for presentations, and then try to figure out how to make them work together."

92 Access Commerce

CRM with guided selling, modularity

Customer relationship management (CRM) software vendor Access Commerce has made a name for its Cameleon suite via its product configuration and multichannel selling functionality. Lately the Toulouse, France-based company is using technology such as eXtensible markup language (XML) and Web application servers to enhance integration and connectivity.

Within the past year, Access Commerce migrated its Cameleon CRM suite to Java, reports Sylvie Rouge, chief technology officer. The suite now is Web-based, and supports Web application server products from BEA and IBM. Access Commerce also uses XML to manage messaging within Cameleon, and with other applications.

An integrated workflow engine within Cameleon optimizes what Access Commerce calls the "prospect-to-order" processes, while the configurator provides users with guided selling capabilities. The vendor also emphasizes a modular approach to functionality that spans multiple sales channels: inside sales, field sales, channel sales, and e-commerce.

"Modules, I think, provide an ideal approach for customers," Rouge says, "because they can easily implement any of our Cameleon modules for one channel, realize the benefits for that module quickly, and then repeat the process for other modules and channels."

The entry cost with a modular approach is low for users, says Rouge, but requires advanced integration technology from the CRM vendor. "Integration is a key ingredient, and that's the reason we developed XML-based integration," she says. "Our modules can be integrated with other information systems, and we have connectors with specific enterprise systems. Because of this, we are strongly competitive in the CRM market.'

97 Provia Software

Value-adds enable postponement

Introducing an advanced kitting package for ViaWare WMS, Provia Software's warehouse management system, was the company's answer to helping its customers reduce the costs associated with their supply chains, according to John Pulling, vice president and chief operating officer.

"Over the past two years, we have really seen a focus on cutting costs out of the supply chain," says Pulling. "And one of the most significant needs that has arisen in this area is postponement, which is where kitting helps because it allows our customers to keep their products in a more generic state for as long as possible."

Provia's advanced kitting package allows users to have generic products assembled ahead of time with the option to assemble and configure product to order based on last-minute customer requests. "This saves inventory and increases material velocity by only preparing very specific orders at the last possible moment," says Pulling. "The overall reduction in inventory helps drive costs out of the supply chain. And as a bonus, the service provides a higher level of satisfaction for our customers' customers."

Besides kitting solutions, Provia also has been busy helping customers address supply chain collaboration and performance management. "We've built tools into our product suites that allow clients to set key performance indicators [KPI], monitor their performance against KPIs, and notify them when they are out-of-spec," says Pulling. "Measuring KPIs is an ongoing process that is very important to the overall effectiveness of warehouse management and getting value out of the tools we provide."

Both the KPI solution and Provia's event management application are Internet-based. Says Pulling, "A Web-based structure connects all possible execution environments together and allows a big picture view of an entire supply chain and KPI measurements."