Multi-company order management system firms prepare for battle

i2 Technologies and Yantra, two supply chain systems IT firms at either end of the size spectrum, look set to go head-to-head with ‘multi-enterprise commerce management solutions’, otherwise known as ‘distributed order management’ systems in analyst AMR Research terminology. Last month Yantra launched its version 4.0 multi-enterprise order and inventory management suite, and i2’s launch is expected on Thursday. But while most vendors of Yantra’s size and youth (private company launched in 1995) would be quaking in the face of i2, Yantra says only that it’s delighted! The firm believes that, with three years operating in this market, it has a lead and a satisfied and growing customer base to prove it. And with AMR on record suggesting that order and inventory management applications are becoming increasingly strategic and likely to account for 24% of spending on supply chain IT by 2005, Yantra believes that i2’s entrance will serve to heighten awareness and growth of what is clearly big business. Dave O’Connor, Yantra’s European marketing manager, says the technology’s growing importance is the result of increased complexity in the way big manufacturers operate – with multiple products, not all their own, outsourced manufacturing, third party logistics, different sales channels and so forth. “Today, 60% of commercial transactions are outside the enterprise,” he says. “So supply chains now look very different.” He cites Eastman Chemicals, with 27 different manufacturing plants, and Sony, with world-wide outsourcing, noting that each needs visibility of products, WIP, inventory, etc, as well as demand and events throughout their sales channels, supply and partner chains, and their distribution and logistics, to be able to maximise opportunities. It’s all about aggregating, co-ordinating and managing orders and inventory across multiple channels, divisions, trading partners and suppliers. Distributed order and inventory management enables companies to do this, and sell more products across more channels, manage suppliers, partners and distribution networks. Says Kevin O’Marah, research principal, Supply Chain Strategies at AMR: “Extended order management is the most strategic application in the supply chain. It links demand and supply in real time and extends vital supply chain operations.” O’Connor says Eastman Chemicals is currently restructuring around Yantra’s systems so that its huge range of manufacturing divisions, all currently on SAP, can have one external face. One of the key goals, he says, is to enable Eastman “to move up the value chain by improving their service and loyalty by bringing together and managing complementary partners’ products under one point of contact.” Yantra’s system sits on top of existing ERP and supply chain systems, harnessing web and virtual private network technologies, with enterprise application integration plug-ins all part of the offering, and the option of web portal real-time information access. Version 4.0 has been enhanced to include more order and inventory management functionality integrated with business process modelling, role-based management, event and alert management and performance measurement. Target, Motorola, Enron Industrial Markets and APL Direct Logistics are among the first to take delivery of the new release which was shipped on September 30th. Says David Stevens, Yantra UK’s managing director. “Several large supply chain and ERP companies are talking a lot about this capability, but Yantra is the only company actually delivering it. Our application is capable of managing the entire end-to-end order lifecycle of sales, service and purchase orders across extended value chains.”