Friday, July 30, 2010

Supply Chain Management Vendor Finds Balance for Service Supply Chains


The early years for Click Commerce (founded in 1996) centered on extranet enablement, and in particular, on demand chain solutions for business-to-business (B2B) and business-to-customer (B2C) e-commerce. Click Commerce's early channel management software allowed manual and dynamic creation of relationship hierarchies and online communities within a distribution channel, through the use of membership rules. The intent of this functionality was to help enterprises establish B2B distribution portals and B2B-to-consumer portals. In these portals, the relationships and business process rules between the enterprise and its channel partners are transparent to the consumer. Enterprise channel management strategies gradually gave way to the potentially explosive private trading exchanges (PTXs), leaving Click Commerce and competitor Comergent in a leading position for the sell-side PTX market. This market, however, never materialized.

Click Commerce also ventured into product information management (PIM), acquiring PIM vendor Requisite Technology in late 2005. Flagship client Delphi Automotive worked with Click Commerce to move its entire aftermarket catalog online, as the first step towards aggressively driving its aftermarket e-business. Large tier one suppliers looked to Delphi as a model for how to manage an aftermarket e-business strategy without rubbing distributors andoriginal equipment manufacturers (OEMs) the wrong way. Delphi's initiative also continued Click Commerce's successful run at extranet implementations in automotive and heavy equipment channel management.

Click Commerce's Version 4.0, dating from early 2000, featured layered architecture consisting of the Relationship Manager platform and a suite of more than eighty application modules. Version 4.0 featured extensible markup language (XML) for communication between its application modules and an enterprise's legacy, enterprise resource planning (ERP), and other back-end systems, in order to streamline implementation and integration processes. Click Commerce licenses Relationship Manager and Application Suite at enterprise or divisional levels. The enterprise then authorizes its channel partners, and in some cases the consumer, to access the modules, including the enterprise's ERP software and other legacy systems, via an Internet connection and a browser.

More recently, Click Commerce has ventured into warehousing and service supply chain execution solutions, with the acquisitions of Optum Software in early 2005 (which had in turn previously acquired World Chain) and Xelus, Inc., a leader in services parts management, in June 2005.

Optum was an established supply chain execution (SCE) vendor with over 750 implementations of its MOVE WMS product; clients included Grainger, Federal Mogul, GE Aircraft Engines, and Pier 1 Imports. Like many SCE vendors, Optum realized that its core competency of complex, high volume warehousing and distribution systems could be transformed if the classical four walls and enterprise-constrained boundaries in SCM could finally be broken. Optum invested heavily in its TradeStream product; this was a collaborative integration and aggregation application which provided centralized visibility of order and inventory information. This was an ambitious undertaking, and a more difficult project than it seems, given the difficulties of connection technologies and critical mass participation within a specific supply chain community. TradeStream was piloted and implemented by Lucent Technologies, which brought credibility to the initiative.

The company which for three decades was known as LPA, renamed itself Xelus in mid-2000, to exemplify its new zeal. Xelus, a leading service parts inventory management application vendor, survived by dominating the market for best-of-breed service parts inventory and demand planning technology—first with customized systems, and then with software applications. After a difficult period from 2002 to 2004, the company emerged with new technology, leveraging its installed base of clients like Delta Airlines and British Airways.

Click Commerce's supply chain solutions, while diverse, find synergy and balance through Network Logistics.

Network Logistics

Click Commerce's supply chain solutions spectrum now spans three segments:

  • demand chain solutions, which regroup B2B and B2C e-commerce, product information management (PIM), and channel management
  • supply chain solutions for warehouse management, order fulfillment, and supplier relationship management
  • service supply chain solutions, with parts forecasting, planning and optimization, repair depot management, and reverse logistics.

Network Logistics combines the strengths of the (acquired) parts, coupled with existing and newly developed technology:

Integrated service supply chains require the connection of demand, supply, and service, to power high performance supply chains that are lean, extended domestically and globally, agile and flexible, and demand-driven. Supply chain execution can be more complex in the service supply chain, as parts and assemblies have multiple and varied part identities, workflow, and assembly and disassembly processes. Service supply chain optimization is the key message and strategic thrust of Click Commerce. Service supply chain complexity is inherently plagued by critical issues of disconnected and error-prone manual processes, suboptimal fill rates and service levels, high inventory and cycle times, forecast inaccuracies, and limited flexibility. Click commerce is proceeding with its solution strategy based on the premise that time is the common metric across all links in the service supply chain. A tight coupling between decision support and execution systems is required in order to reduce cycle times, which translates into increased performance.

Network Logistics 4.1, the current generally available suite, addresses the critical service supply chain issues via rapid trading partner integration; n-tier supply chain coordination; global supply and demand visibility; order and forecast collaboration; real-time sense and respond capabilities; predictive, exception-based event management; and supply chain analytics. More specific to service parts management than previous releases, this release also offers subinventory tracking of inventory details, attribute and rule specifications based on part group, parts substitution, user level configurability, replenishment based on inventory condition, and enhanced serial number tracking.

SOURCE:http://www.technologyevaluation.com/research/articles/supply-chain-management-vendor-finds-balance-for-service-supply-chains-18530/


The early years for Click Commerce (founded in 1996) centered on extranet enablement, and in particular, on demand chain solutions for business-to-business (B2B) and business-to-customer (B2C) e-commerce. Click Commerce's early channel management software allowed manual and dynamic creation of relationship hierarchies and online communities within a distribution channel, through the use of membership rules. The intent of this functionality was to help enterprises establish B2B distribution portals and B2B-to-consumer portals. In these portals, the relationships and business process rules between the enterprise and its channel partners are transparent to the consumer. Enterprise channel management strategies gradually gave way to the potentially explosive private trading exchanges (PTXs), leaving Click Commerce and competitor Comergent in a leading position for the sell-side PTX market. This market, however, never materialized.

Click Commerce also ventured into product information management (PIM), acquiring PIM vendor Requisite Technology in late 2005. Flagship client Delphi Automotive worked with Click Commerce to move its entire aftermarket catalog online, as the first step towards aggressively driving its aftermarket e-business. Large tier one suppliers looked to Delphi as a model for how to manage an aftermarket e-business strategy without rubbing distributors andoriginal equipment manufacturers (OEMs) the wrong way. Delphi's initiative also continued Click Commerce's successful run at extranet implementations in automotive and heavy equipment channel management.

Click Commerce's Version 4.0, dating from early 2000, featured layered architecture consisting of the Relationship Manager platform and a suite of more than eighty application modules. Version 4.0 featured extensible markup language (XML) for communication between its application modules and an enterprise's legacy, enterprise resource planning (ERP), and other back-end systems, in order to streamline implementation and integration processes. Click Commerce licenses Relationship Manager and Application Suite at enterprise or divisional levels. The enterprise then authorizes its channel partners, and in some cases the consumer, to access the modules, including the enterprise's ERP software and other legacy systems, via an Internet connection and a browser.

More recently, Click Commerce has ventured into warehousing and service supply chain execution solutions, with the acquisitions of Optum Software in early 2005 (which had in turn previously acquired World Chain) and Xelus, Inc., a leader in services parts management, in June 2005.

Optum was an established supply chain execution (SCE) vendor with over 750 implementations of its MOVE WMS product; clients included Grainger, Federal Mogul, GE Aircraft Engines, and Pier 1 Imports. Like many SCE vendors, Optum realized that its core competency of complex, high volume warehousing and distribution systems could be transformed if the classical four walls and enterprise-constrained boundaries in SCM could finally be broken. Optum invested heavily in its TradeStream product; this was a collaborative integration and aggregation application which provided centralized visibility of order and inventory information. This was an ambitious undertaking, and a more difficult project than it seems, given the difficulties of connection technologies and critical mass participation within a specific supply chain community. TradeStream was piloted and implemented by Lucent Technologies, which brought credibility to the initiative.

The company which for three decades was known as LPA, renamed itself Xelus in mid-2000, to exemplify its new zeal. Xelus, a leading service parts inventory management application vendor, survived by dominating the market for best-of-breed service parts inventory and demand planning technology—first with customized systems, and then with software applications. After a difficult period from 2002 to 2004, the company emerged with new technology, leveraging its installed base of clients like Delta Airlines and British Airways.

Click Commerce's supply chain solutions, while diverse, find synergy and balance through Network Logistics.

Network Logistics

Click Commerce's supply chain solutions spectrum now spans three segments:

  • demand chain solutions, which regroup B2B and B2C e-commerce, product information management (PIM), and channel management
  • supply chain solutions for warehouse management, order fulfillment, and supplier relationship management
  • service supply chain solutions, with parts forecasting, planning and optimization, repair depot management, and reverse logistics.

Network Logistics combines the strengths of the (acquired) parts, coupled with existing and newly developed technology:

Integrated service supply chains require the connection of demand, supply, and service, to power high performance supply chains that are lean, extended domestically and globally, agile and flexible, and demand-driven. Supply chain execution can be more complex in the service supply chain, as parts and assemblies have multiple and varied part identities, workflow, and assembly and disassembly processes. Service supply chain optimization is the key message and strategic thrust of Click Commerce. Service supply chain complexity is inherently plagued by critical issues of disconnected and error-prone manual processes, suboptimal fill rates and service levels, high inventory and cycle times, forecast inaccuracies, and limited flexibility. Click commerce is proceeding with its solution strategy based on the premise that time is the common metric across all links in the service supply chain. A tight coupling between decision support and execution systems is required in order to reduce cycle times, which translates into increased performance.

Network Logistics 4.1, the current generally available suite, addresses the critical service supply chain issues via rapid trading partner integration; n-tier supply chain coordination; global supply and demand visibility; order and forecast collaboration; real-time sense and respond capabilities; predictive, exception-based event management; and supply chain analytics. More specific to service parts management than previous releases, this release also offers subinventory tracking of inventory details, attribute and rule specifications based on part group, parts substitution, user level configurability, replenishment based on inventory condition, and enhanced serial number tracking.

SOURCE:http://www.technologyevaluation.com/research/articles/supply-chain-management-vendor-finds-balance-for-service-supply-chains-18530/


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