Atlanta-based Logility describes itself as the leader in B2B collaborative commerce solutions via the Internet. Though all vendors take great pains to position themselves as leaders in something, Logility's claim goes beyond a skillfully crafted marketing blurb. Logility traces its lineage as a provider of collaborative software to its work with Heineken, which purchased supply chain planning software from Logility (then wholly-owned by American Software) in 1996. Heineken received the VICS 1999 "Best in Logistics" award based in part on its Heineken Operational Planning System (HOPS), developed by Logility. HOPS helped Heineken improve communication with customers, correct irregular inventory management, and reduce lead-time from 12 to four weeks. The system is used by all of Heineken's 450 distributors.
Logility began its operation with a selection of software applications that collectively supported the major planning tasks characteristic of manufacturing and distribution enterprises. Today, although these planning applications (see Table 1 for a summary) account for the bulk of Logility's revenue, they have a revised role in the company's overall collaborative product strategy.
At the center of Logility's product suite lie its collaborative planning engines, Voyager XPS for CPFR (Collaborative Planning Forecasting and Replenishment) and Voyager XES for Collaborative Transportation Management (CTM), a set of logistics execution processes codified by the Voluntary Interindustry Commerce Standards organization (VICS) and defined in large part by Logility. The individual modules for inventory planning, demand planning, replenishment planning, etc., are brought together in the collaborative context created by XPS and XES, much like petals of a flower are joined in the center receptacle.
In keeping with its heritage, Logility still targets the process manufacturing and distribution industry verticals, especially consumer packaged goods, food & beverage, chemicals, and textiles. In addition it enjoys a growing base of clients in retail, both brick-and-mortar and Internet, a phenomenon due primarily to its collaborative planning products that are well-suited to managing the processes by which retailers communicate and collaborate with suppliers. Logility feels its early entry into collaborative planning (Heineken) and resulting expertise is a major source of competitive advantage. We expect Logility to continue emphasizing its B2B collaborative commerce solutions over the next 3-5 years as this sector is still at the beginning of its lifecycle.
Integration with disparate systems is accomplished with the aid of Voyager Commerce Corridor, a selection of partner Enterprise Application Integration (EAI) vendors that works with Logility and the client on a per-implementation basis to provide a true data link between XPS and third-party demand planning packages, such as i2 RHYTHM Demand Planner or SAP APO Demand Planning. Among these EAI companies is Mercator (formerly TSI Software, Inc.), which has a long history with Logility and provided the cement for the standard interface between Logility and SAP R/3 that was developed in 1997.
Although Logility Voyager Solutions are offered on both NT and Unix, the company now finds its Windows NT platform to be far more popular and sales of Unix systems are rare. American Software established Logility as a separate business unit in January 1997 focused solely on the Supply Chain market and moved every component of the suite to the Windows NT and Windows 2000 (as of February 2000) platform including WarehousePRO (originally OS/2 based) and Transportation Planning and Management (originally AS/400 based). To capitalize on what it describes as "a very under-serviced platform for supply chain management," Logility has partnered with IBM to develop its Voyager suite natively for the AS/400e and DB2.
Contrary to its expectations, Logility has found small to mid sized companies reluctant to sign up for application hosting, a result indicative of the marketplace as a whole. i-Connection, one part of the company's applications hosting services provided by partners AmQUEST (owned by American Software) and ebaseOne, has been slow to produce expected subscription revenue. Consequently, Logility has adopted a "wait-and-see" strategy for further development of its ASP alliance network and relies almost entirely on its traditional license business. i-Community, the other part of its Web-deployed solutions business, allows users to collaborate with trading partners using Voyager XPS and Voyager XES through a hosted service, which also provides access to Logility's core planning "engines." Unlike i-Connection, Logility is actively seeking alliance partners, such as pportals and other exchanges, with which to extend i-Community collaborative planning products.
Logility began its operation with a selection of software applications that collectively supported the major planning tasks characteristic of manufacturing and distribution enterprises. Today, although these planning applications (see Table 1 for a summary) account for the bulk of Logility's revenue, they have a revised role in the company's overall collaborative product strategy.
At the center of Logility's product suite lie its collaborative planning engines, Voyager XPS for CPFR (Collaborative Planning Forecasting and Replenishment) and Voyager XES for Collaborative Transportation Management (CTM), a set of logistics execution processes codified by the Voluntary Interindustry Commerce Standards organization (VICS) and defined in large part by Logility. The individual modules for inventory planning, demand planning, replenishment planning, etc., are brought together in the collaborative context created by XPS and XES, much like petals of a flower are joined in the center receptacle.
In keeping with its heritage, Logility still targets the process manufacturing and distribution industry verticals, especially consumer packaged goods, food & beverage, chemicals, and textiles. In addition it enjoys a growing base of clients in retail, both brick-and-mortar and Internet, a phenomenon due primarily to its collaborative planning products that are well-suited to managing the processes by which retailers communicate and collaborate with suppliers. Logility feels its early entry into collaborative planning (Heineken) and resulting expertise is a major source of competitive advantage. We expect Logility to continue emphasizing its B2B collaborative commerce solutions over the next 3-5 years as this sector is still at the beginning of its lifecycle.
Integration with disparate systems is accomplished with the aid of Voyager Commerce Corridor, a selection of partner Enterprise Application Integration (EAI) vendors that works with Logility and the client on a per-implementation basis to provide a true data link between XPS and third-party demand planning packages, such as i2 RHYTHM Demand Planner or SAP APO Demand Planning. Among these EAI companies is Mercator (formerly TSI Software, Inc.), which has a long history with Logility and provided the cement for the standard interface between Logility and SAP R/3 that was developed in 1997.
Although Logility Voyager Solutions are offered on both NT and Unix, the company now finds its Windows NT platform to be far more popular and sales of Unix systems are rare. American Software established Logility as a separate business unit in January 1997 focused solely on the Supply Chain market and moved every component of the suite to the Windows NT and Windows 2000 (as of February 2000) platform including WarehousePRO (originally OS/2 based) and Transportation Planning and Management (originally AS/400 based). To capitalize on what it describes as "a very under-serviced platform for supply chain management," Logility has partnered with IBM to develop its Voyager suite natively for the AS/400e and DB2.
Contrary to its expectations, Logility has found small to mid sized companies reluctant to sign up for application hosting, a result indicative of the marketplace as a whole. i-Connection, one part of the company's applications hosting services provided by partners AmQUEST (owned by American Software) and ebaseOne, has been slow to produce expected subscription revenue. Consequently, Logility has adopted a "wait-and-see" strategy for further development of its ASP alliance network and relies almost entirely on its traditional license business. i-Community, the other part of its Web-deployed solutions business, allows users to collaborate with trading partners using Voyager XPS and Voyager XES through a hosted service, which also provides access to Logility's core planning "engines." Unlike i-Connection, Logility is actively seeking alliance partners, such as pportals and other exchanges, with which to extend i-Community collaborative planning products.
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