Freight forwarding and logistics giant Kuehne + Nagel International AG said Monday it has unveiled a version of the JDA Software Group Inc. warehouse management system (WMS) software it uses in its global fulfillment centers.
Known as KN SwiftLOG, the WMS platform will allow Kuehne + Nagel to continue its initiatives in digitalization and e-commerce by supporting omnichannel fulfillment practices and advanced picking technologies, the Swiss firm said.
Kuehne + Nagel will use KN SwiftLOG to keep up with changes in consumer and business requirements such as process digitalization, changes in order profiles, opportunistic inventory allocation, and increased speed, Gianfranco Sgro, a member of Kuehne + Nagel's managing board, said in a statement.
The platform has been rolled out in a Kuehne + Nagel facility in China, and will soon be applied at more than 400 Kuehne + Nagel fulfillment centers around the world, the company said.
JDA's WMS is designed as an extensible platform, making it easy for third party logistics providers (3PLs) like Kuehne + Nagel to extend the software to connect to an array of other services they provide to their clients, JDA said. KN SwiftLOG replaces the firm's in-house contract logistics software, allowing Kuehne + Nagel to connect the new software to services beyond a core WMS, according to JDA.
The announcement is the latest effort by Kuehne + Nagel to build digital platforms to support improved data exchange and increased automation. In April, the company unveiled a smartphone app, a web-based control center, and a social-network-based sea-freight booking application that it said are part of those "digitalization" efforts.
