Manugistics swimming strongly in the fast lane

July seems to have been an excellent month for supply chain management and EPO (Enterprise Profit Optimisation) e-business software big boy Manugistics. Just a little over 18 months ago, this was a struggling company that many felt was about to collapse under the onslaught of a hitherto successful arch-rival i2 Technologies – yet last month was one of its best ever. Top of the list was a deal with Vodafone UK, which chose Manugistics collaborative network software to enhance its supply chain planning and optimisation. Then there was the announcement by Converge, the high tech sector web marketplace, which selected Manugistics’ NetWORKS for its ConvergePlan collaborative planning service that’s supposed to provide full scale enterprise planning with minimal IT investment. But beyond these, the firm also launched its complete end-to-end manufacturing planning and scheduling software strategy – founded on recently acquired Theory of Constraints (TOC) IT specialist STG at the production management and order promising levels, and existing Manugistics software for supply chain planning, management and fulfilment. For manufacturing users, this was a very significant development – it moved the firm firmly beyond high level supply chain logistics and strategic planning and optimisation into the heartland of regular production. And it signalled another serious opportunity to harness the Goldratt-developed TOC (Theory of Constraints) and OPT technologies and methods of advanced planning and scheduling (APS), and to cut inventory and lead times and improve efficiency and profitability at the grass roots. Meanwhile, just to round out the summer picture, Manugistics alsot acquired defunct SpaceWorks in July for its web-based ordered management technology, now being integrated with Manugistics’ web-enabled supply chain management and pricing optimisation software. And it sealed a deal to resell Clarus’ b2b e-commerce indirect material e-procurement and settlement software, and Frictionless Commerce’s strategic sourcing software. This is one to watch closely.