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From SCDigest's On-Target E-Magazine

- Aug. 20, 2012 -

Logistics News: Key Trends in WMS and Supply Chain Execution Technology (Part 2)

Where are SCE Vendors Investing in Innovation? Platform Concept Really is Starting to Take Hold

SCDigest Editorial Staff

What's new in Warehouse Management Systems and related supply chain execution technology (SCE)?

Here is Part 2 of an excellent discussion on this topic with a virtual panel of experts from three of the market's leading WMS/SCE software providers and two leading consultants, who offer some real insights on key issues and trends. You can find Part 1 here: Key Trends in WMS and Supply Chain Execution Technology (Part 1)

SCDigest Says:

Hopper says that platform approaches can be right for some companies, but not for all - and that vendors need to do a better job of recognizing which situation applies at a given company.

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Those panelists include:

Tom Kozenski, VP of product strategy at software provider RedPrairie
Shyam Krishna, executive vice president at software provider Softeon
Chuck Fuerst, director of product strategy at HighJump Software
John Pearce and Steve Hopper, both principles at StoneCross Group consulting

We next asked the panelists about where they or their customers are pushing ahead with new innovations in WMS or supply chain execution.

Kozenski said the push towards greater product traceability, especially in the food industry, is driving many of RedPrairie's customers to add capabilities in that area.

"We have a few clients that are building a traceability database using data from their supply chain applications. Historically, companies have tried to use their ERP applications to provide network-level Quality Control, Product Hold, and Item Recall capabilities," he said. "The issue is that most ERPs don't work in real-time and can't track Inventory at the pallet/case level of granularity required, using License Plate Numbers or LPNs for short."

HighJump's Fuerst said they are seeing a lot of interest in his company's "App Station" offering (a former SCDigest Cool New Product of the Month recipient).

"The App Station allows our customers to have immediate and continuous access to new features via functionality we deliver via downloadable "apps," without the need to wait for the next major release of the software," he said.

"While we see this as a very innovative concept in the enterprise software space, one of the most interesting benefits for our customers is the ability to submit their own customizations as apps to the App Station for other customers to use, as we build an app community."

Very interestingly, Softeon's Krishna says there is actually a role for WMS-like capabilities even for companies selling electronic books, music and other media.

He told SCDigest that based on recent success delivering software solutions to the traditional media industry, Softeon is now building solutions for digital supply chains too.

In this world, order fulfillment takes on a new paradigm, Krishna says.

The SCE platform concept is gaining some traction as companies look to build data as well as

process integrations across various SCE functions so they can become more agile.

Chuck Fuerst

HighJump Software

"We are dealing with millions of virtual SKUs in a virtual warehouse as opposed to a physical warehouse," he said. "Both our regular solutions and this new Digital Supply Chain are built on the same architecture platform, which handles events, messages, states of objects, etc., whether it is a piece of digital content or a physical SKU, a customer or a container, triggering dynamic actions and workflows."

StoneCross's Pearce says using supply chain execution solutions to improve risk management is also at the top of the list for many supply chain leaders.

"We're seeing companies using SCE to improve supply chain risk management through creative usage of supply chain incident tracking capabilities and emerging methodologies to "interface" those risk incidents to an adaptive supply chain execution plan," he said. "Some firms are starting to pilot directly integrating enterprise-wide supply chain risk incident tracking tools with SCE applications."

Finally on this topic, though WMS has been relatively late to the "Cloud delivery" party, customer interest has been growing in the option, Kozenski says.

(Distribution/Materials Handling Story Continues Below )

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"Companies can benefit from the elimination of upfront capital expenditures for servers, and be more responsive and cost effective in handling their peak order volume spikes through server virtualization with a "pay by the drink" pricing model," he says.

Our last topic concerns a concept many vendors and their customers are adopting - the idea that companies should really embrace an SCE "platform" paradigm that not only provides a broad swath of capabilities over time, but also provide a foundation for managing change and driving continuous improvement.

Krishna said Softeon sees this as a growing trend.

"There are several large national or global enterprises that are onto the platform concept right now," he says. "Part of this is the interest comes from the need for a unified platform to support integration of planning and execution," and the need for workflows across traditional functional areas.

Kozenski says this approach has a number of important ramifications.

"It can change how you look at determining the overall ROI and TCO [Total Cost of Ownership] of the project," he observes. "As an easy example, in years past, most companies would install the WMS as a Phase 1 project and make the WFM Labor install as part of Phase 2. Well that would just delay the expected labor productivity savings to the later date of Phase 2. By deploying an integrated solution in a single project, they can achieve the cost savings more quickly."

Fuerst says he thinks "this concept is gaining some traction as companies look to build data as well as process integrations across various SCE functions so they can become more agile."

Companies need to better link and have visibility to the many resources in play across their supply chain networks, he says.

"With better linkage, you have a more complete, real-time view of your supply chain, as well as more flexibility to react and adapt to changes in your business. Without synchronization of both data and process across systems, it is much more difficult to be agile," he said. "To me, the SCE platform concept is really driven by the business need to align supply chain strategy with business strategy."

Interestingly, Hopper says that platform approaches can be right for some companies, but not for all - and that vendors need to do a better job of recognizing which situation applies at a given company.

"There are some businesses that have established a need for a unified SCE platform, so it makes sense for them to consider vendors that offer that," he told us. "But unfortunately, many vendors have been too pushy with their SCE platforms for so long, they seem to have turned off lots of folks who do want and need just a "point solution." When someone wants a hammer or a wrench, they don't want a vendor to try to sell them the whole toolbox."

Any reaction to the comments of our virtual panel on WMS/SCE? Where do you see the need for additional functionality? Let us know your thoughts at the Feedback section below.

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