BY JAMES A. COOKE, EDITOR AT LARGE
SYSTEMS INTEGRATION
strategicinsight
WHEN LOGISTICS MANAGERS GO TO CHOOSE A
systems integrator, you might think that price or industry
reputation would trump all other considerations. But an
exclusive DC VELOCITY survey found that wasn’t the case.
According to the study, most readers value “in-depth experience with the equipment” above all else.
That was one of the key findings of a survey conducted
this past spring on the challenges and issues associated with
systems integration. As more distribution centers automate their day-to-day operations, information exchange
between software and hardware becomes essential. That
means when companies add new software or material handling equipment, the services of an integrator are generally
required to create interfaces to ensure that the equipment
and software can “talk” to each other.
Because systems integration projects can be both costly
and time-consuming, DC VELOCITY decided to survey its
readers to find out what particular challenges they face in
this area. One hundred and fifty-eight readers participated
in the online research. As for the types of businesses they
worked for, 27 percent came from manufacturing, 25 percent from wholesale distribution, 17 percent from retail,
and 16 percent from transportation/logistics.
THE INTEGRATION EXPERIENCE
Most survey takers have had recent experience with a sys-
tems integration project in their DCs. In fact, 62 percent
of respondents said they had done such a project in the
past five years. When that group was asked what the sys-
tems integration work entailed, 72 percent said the project
had involved connections with data exchange. Another
51 percent said their project entailed linking material
handling equipment to a warehouse management system,
and 42 percent said equipment had to be connected to a
warehouse control system. (Survey takers were allowed to
select multiple responses to the question.) For the full list
of responses, see Exhibit 1.
As for who performed the integration, a quarter of the
respondents said they hired the material handling equipment supplier to handle the project. Another 20 percent
said they turned to software vendors. Seventeen percent
said they used third-party systems integrators, and 9 percent said they hired consultants. (See Exhibit 2.)
Because systems integration work can be time-sensitive
and expensive, it’s important that the project stay on schedule. When asked about their recent systems integration
experience, the majority of respondents reported no problems in this regard. Eighty-seven percent said their integration work was done on time and on budget. As for the 13
percent whose project failed to meet deadlines, respondents
gave a variety of reasons. One said that the project time was
miscalculated. Another explained that the failure stemmed
What do DC managers want
from systems integrators?
Respondents to our exclusive survey told us that when it comes
to choosing a systems integrator, they rank in-depth equipment
experience ahead of reputation and even price.
