Tools Expedite Supply Chain Operations

Two developers of supply chain management software, Manugistics Group Inc. and i2 Technologies Inc., are readying software for automating processes along the chain of companies engaged in product service and support.

Two developers of supply chain management software, Manugistics Group Inc. and i2 Technologies Inc., are readying software for automating processes along the chain of companies engaged in product service and support.

Manugistics last week announced its SPM (Service and Parts Management) suite designed to help aftermarket service providers and maintenance and repair operations better synchronize the work they do with service partners.

Drawing on Manugistics supplier relationship management and supply chain management technologies, the SPM suite addresses service support chain processes such as the planning, sourcing, repairing, maintenance, scheduling and delivery of services and parts. A Pricing and Revenue Optimization capability in the suite enables companies to more effectively price their service and parts agreements, according to officials at Manugistics, in Rockville, Md. The SPM solution takes into account a companys labor constraints, bill of materials and engineering requirements to improve manufacturing scheduling, officials said.

Lt. Cmdr. Michele Burk is replacing some legacy, home-grown software with an SAP AG enterprise system, which will act as the transactional backbone of the U.S. Navys parts supply system, and Manugistics SPM suite and seven other modules, which will be the brains of that system.

"Well integrate the supply chain planning with our budget development and execution, which is not integrated now," said Burk, Navy Supply Corps officer at the Naval Supply Systems Command, in Mechanicsburg, Pa. "Once those two are integrated, you are able to manage your supply chain while looking at budget indications. ... [This] allows you to live in a budget- constrained environment."

Also last week, Dallas-based i2 said it had added inventory visibility and exception management capabilities to its i2 Five.Two collaboration platform. This will enable faster, more accurate order, inventory and shipment data across the supply chain, the company said. Specifically, it will provide trading partners with real-time views into forecasts, orders and inventory.