Event
Summary
In a new agreement to extend an existing strategic relationship, EXE Technologies
will interface its fulfillment software with i2 Technologies' TradeMatrix
solutions. No timeframe was given for the integration of EXE's EXceed
eFulfillment System, eFS, with the customer-relevant components of TradeMatrix,
but previous joint implementation experience should help facilitate the
effort.
"EXE's
EXceed makes it possible for companies to see beyond available inventory
to fulfill orders with inventory they do not yet have in stock, but plan
to produce or receive from suppliers," said Ray Hood, President and CEO,
EXE Technologies. "It's a great way to maximize customer loyalty and profitability
at the same time." No argument here. By providing accurate inventory profiles
directly to TradeMatrix, eFS can effectively link the warehouse to the
customer service center.
The
two Dallas natives forged a strategic partnership in 1999 to collaborate
on marketing their solutions but stopped short of committing to co-development
of a standard interface.
Market
Impact
There are clear synergies in the new partnership that should benefit both
companies as well as users. EXE brings a strong solution for warehouse
visibility at the detail level that, when provided to i2's order promising
module, can make order commit dates more accurate. Though past projects
have been successful in connecting i2 to warehouse management systems
in custom integrations, a standard interface can speed joint implementations
and save clients money.
Of
course, the savings in integration resources may not bode well for consulting
partners like Andersen Consulting and PricewaterhouseCoopers, but projects
usually entail more than enough complexity to go around.
User
Recommendations
Users with dynamic inventories who need to improve accuracy in order commit
dates will benefit from a joint i2-EXE solution, with or without a standard
interface. Without a real-time link between the warehouse and customer
service department, "visibility" often takes the form of a nightly batch
process that loads inventory data to the order server for automated promising.
In
terms of hardware support, the main point of intersection between EXE
and i2 is Windows NT. EXE offers Exceed for Unix, but we would not be
surprised to see it scale back development on this product in favor of
NT.