JDA sees bright future in visibility for TMS

JDA Software Group Inc. has added capabilities to its Intelligent Fulfillment portfolio that could allow users to connect their supply chain planning and execution processes spanning factories, warehouses, and stores, and someday suggest solutions to freight delays before they happen, the company said.

The updates include changes to JDA's Demand, Fulfillment, Transportation Management, and Warehouse Management platforms, the Scottsdale, Ariz.-based company said during its annual user conference in Las Vegas.

Through these new abilities, JDA's software can tap into new intelligence streams that give visibility into capacity challenges, potential execution bottlenecks, and real-world disruptions that impact the bottom line, Fabrizio Brasca, JDA's vice president, solution strategy, intelligent fulfillment, said in a release. That power is crucial for companies in the digital economy that need to shift from linear, batch-oriented planning to synchronous, constraint-aware planning, Brasca said.

Among other changes, JDA announced deeper integrations between its transportation management system (TMS) and technology partners TransVoyant LLC, FourKites Inc., and Inttra Inc. The deals enable improved carrier connectivity, efficient on-boarding, real-time visibility, and predictive analytics, JDA said. The company also announced forthcoming integrations with new partners MacroPoint LLC and 10-4 Systems Inc. that could give shippers and third-party logistics companies (3PLs) real-time visibility into load status.

The strategy reflects JDA's renewed focus on expanding its software capabilities through deeper relationships with technology partners, a strategy promoted earlier at the conference by JDA CEO Girish Rishi.

For its long-term roadmap, JDA plans to add to the expanded visibility and analytics by equipping its software platforms to generate predictions about future cargo flow and then make automated decisions based on that data, Brasca said in an interview. "Visibility is great, but you need to be able to do something with it," he said. "Don't just tell me where the shipment is, tell me where it's going to be."

In JDA's vision, this approach will pay off with the greatest return when software gains the ability to predict delays or transportation challenges before the truck leaves the distribution center. Armed with that information, a user—or the TMS itself—could then reroute a truck around a planned street protest, or choose a reefer truck instead of a standard trailer if a route was scheduled to pass through a city with unseasonably hot temperatures, Brasca said.