DC Velocity - April 2015

Michael Mohr is now leading Swisslog’s
Warehouse & Distribution Solutions (WDS) divi-
sion. … Forklift maker The Raymond Corp. has
appointed Michael Field chief executive officer
and Tim Combs president of sales and market-
ing. … Invata Intralogistics, a supplier of pur-
pose-built warehouse automation solutions,
has hired Ayman Labib to lead its operations
research effort. … Intelligrated has promoted
Tracy Perdue to sales manager for Southern
regional sales and operations. … ThomasNet
and the Institute for Supply Management
have named Kathryn Conrad Maynor, cat-
egory manager, finished lubricants/B2B at
Shell Oil, a “megastar” as part
of their “ 30 Under 30 Rising
Supply Chain Stars” program.
… Bastian Solutions, a materi-
al handling systems integrator,
has hired David Strawser as uni-
fied support manager. … Gail
Ireland has joined Barcoding Inc. as an account
executive, and Joyce Arias has joined the
company as a marketing associate. … Battery
Handling Systems Inc., a provider of battery
handling, storage, and safety equipment, has
appointed Julia Yank to the new position of
inside sales manager. … Brooks
Bentz has joined Transplace
as president of Transplace
Consulting Services. … Curt
Sardeson, president of Open
Sky Group, has been appoint-
ed to the board of directors
of the North Carolina WERCouncil. … Amber
Road, a provider of global trade manage-
ment solutions, has acquired ecVision, a cloud-
based provider of global sourcing and collab-
orative supply chain solutions. … Raymond F.
Niemeyer III has joined SpaceGuard Products
Inc., a manufacturer of wire mesh and steel
guarding products, as director of business
development. …Dwight Crawley, chief finan-
cial officer for Kenco—a provider of integrat-
ed logistics solutions, real estate services, and
material handling equipment—is presenting
at the Carolinas Council of the Institute of
Management Accountants’ 2015 annual spring
conference. … Walker SCM LLC, a minority-cer-
tified global transportation and logistics firm,
has added Randi Norfleet as executive director,
global business development.

newsmakers

STRAWSER SARDESON

Developer JDA Software Group Inc. has rolled out a “ control tower” software tool it says will allow businesses to react quickly to unexpected supply chain disruptions without forcing them to compromise their long-term strategic objectives.

Control tower software enables a business to draft a playbook of appropriate reactions to a potential supply chain crisis. The software diagnoses the cause of the disruption and allows the company to simulate the effects of a range of pre-selected choices, measure their impact across the entire chain, and choose the best option.

Scottsdale, Ariz.-based JDA is not the only supplier of control tower software. However, it offers the best combination of flexibility and prepackaged resolution levers, said Dr. Adeel Najmi, chief science officer and senior fellow at JDA. The company launched the tool because customers complained they often had to choose between speed and strategy when managing supply chain disruptions, he said.

“Some other providers have taken the approach to practically give up on optimized planning and focus entirely on fast response,” Najmi said. The JDA software “goes far beyond such ‘guess and check’ approaches to deliver the power of optimization algorithms with the full flexibility of subjective decision making of an experienced planner,” he said.

Control tower software has been used mostly by large automotive and aerospace manufacturers, and by mega-retailers like Wal-Mart Stores Inc. and Target Corp. However, as all companies struggle to manage volatile demand cycles in an era of omnichannel distribution, they need more control over the entire supply chain to compete with new retail masters like Amazon.com.

Control tower software is designed to help companies manage the end-to-end value chain from the procurement of raw materials to the production of finished goods and delivery into customers’ hands, and do it through any manufacturing and distribution channel. That capability can spell the difference between just surviving the next port slowdown and taking market share from slower-footed competitors, said James Cooke, a principal analyst at the research firm Nucleus Research Inc.

Cooke said retailers need all the weapons at their disposal to compete with Amazon, which has emerged as an across-the-board category killer. “If a retailer is not running control tower software within five years, it’s going to get rolled over by Amazon,” he said.

Cooke said many 3PLs offer access to control tower software, but only to manage the flow of outbound distribution. “If you really want to have control over your supply chain, you have to go end-to-end and marry up the inbound and outbound sides so you can marshal the flow to meet demand,” he said.