newsworthy
RedPrairie acquires retail software
provider SofTechnics
RedPrairie Corp., a developer of transportation, inventory, and
workforce productivity software, said it has acquired
Sof Technics, a provider of retail enterprise solutions. Terms of
the transaction were not disclosed.
Sof Technics, based in Akron, Ohio, provides mobile price and
inventory management services to grocery and general retailers,
including about one-third of the country’s top 75 supermarket
chains. RedPrairie said in a statement that the acquisition will
allow it to expand its existing retail platform.
In the statement, RedPrairie CEO Mike Mayoras said
Sof Technics’ experience in the retail category will “provide a new
wealth of knowledge to RedPrairie’s already-successful opera-
tions within this space.”
RedPrairie is privately held and owned by New Mountain
Capital, LLC, a New York-based private equity firm. RedPrairie
is based in Alpharetta, Ga. ;
Swisslog has acquired Sabal Medical Inc. to strengthen its
position in the hospital supply chain market. Based in
Charleston S.C., Sabal provides secure hospital storage and
transport equipment, including a mobile drug cabinet. ...
Compañía Sud Americana de Vapores (CSAV) has added the
Port of Savannah to the rotation for its America Express all-water service. The weekly service links North China and South
Korea with the East Coast of North America with a transit
time of 25 days from Busan to Savannah. ... Ryder System has
acquired the full-service leasing and rental business of
Carmenita Leasing, located in Santa Fe Springs, Calif. Under
the terms of the deal, Ryder acquires Carmenita’s fleet of 189
full-service lease and rental trucks, the Santa Fe Springs facility, and about 58 contract customers. In addition, Ryder is
acquiring the full-service lease, contract maintenance, commercial rental, and dedicated contract carriage businesses of
The Scully Companies Inc. Scully, which has been in business
for 29 years, is headquartered in Fontana, Calif. ... FedEx
Corp. has signed an agreement to acquire MultiPack, a
Mexican domestic express package delivery company. ...
November net orders for heavy-duty Class 8 commercial vehicles in North American markets were up 38 percent from
October levels, according to ACT Research Co. Net orders for
medium-duty (Class 5–7) vehicles posted a 28-percent month-over-month gain. ...Voice systems provider Voxware recently
completed its transition from a public to a private company.
... TMS developer BirdDog has acquired Glastonbury, Conn.-based Foley Services, a nationwide provider of Department of
Transportation regulatory compliance services.
short takes
Arrow Electronics launches
reverse logistics service
Arrow Electronics, the giant distributor of electronic components and computer products, has
launched a reverse logistics service for the electronics industry under the brand name ReSolve.
The new offering is a result of Arrow’s acquisition last May of reverse logistics service
provider Converge. Converge started out as a
distributor of electronic components but later
expanded into reverse logistics and service
parts management.
The electronic components distribution service
will continue under the Converge brand, while
ReSolve will focus on managing service parts and
product returns for contract manufacturers and
original equipment manufacturers (OEMs).
ReSolve’s service parts management offering
is designed to help clients like repair companies
manage their spare parts inventories, Arrow
said. Under the service, ReSolve delivers parts
only when needed, which means customers no
longer have to hold large inventories of spare
parts in anticipation of a repair request, Arrow
executives said during a press briefing.
ReSolve’s product returns management service is designed to help technology manufacturers recover the greatest value from returned
products, Arrow said. “The majority of organizations treat returned material as scrap. It’s sent
to recyclers, losing money on the product in the
process,” said Omur Bagci, director of solutions
development for ReSolve. “But in many cases,
the returned product is completely functional.”
To prevent that from happening, ReSolve
screens and tests a product to determine its condition. If the product has defects, the testing
process will determine whether it can be fixed.
If the item is deemed unsalvageable, the service
will determine the best disposal method.
Versions of these services had been offered
previously through Converge. Under the
ReSolve brand, they now cover more commodities and are available throughout Arrow’s
53-nation network.
In addition, Arrow is combining Converge
and ReSolve with Intechra—an IT asset disposition business it bought last year—to form a
new end-to-end reverse supply chain business.
Before acquiring Converge and Intechra,
Arrow focused predominantly on the forward
supply chain. ;
—Susan Lacefield
