SencorpWhite acquires WMS vendor Minerva Associates

Automated storage and retrieval system (AS/RS) provider SencorpWhite said today it will acquire the logistics software vendor Minerva Associates in a move to expand the range of warehouse logistics systems it offers to the manufacturing and distribution sectors, the company said.

The move will merge Hyannis, Mass.-based SencorpWhite's strength in material handling equipment with San Diego-based Minerva's software design features, and allow the combined companies to offer a broader array of warehouse automation products and support services, SencorpWhite said.

Minerva provides warehouse management system (WMS), warehouse control system (WCS), and asset management system (AMS) software for applications in distribution, manufacturing, and third party logistics provider (3PL) billing & order management, the firm said.

Terms of the deal were not disclosed, but SencorpWhite said that Minerva President Lisa Minerd would retain her title.

The move follows SencorpWhite's 2017 acquisition of Intek Integration Technologies Inc., a vendor of warehouse, inventory, and supply chain software products, and its partnership with ICAM for vertical lift modules. Just as the company is leveraging those deals to broaden its overall value proposition in the market, the Minerva acquisition complements SencorpWhite's inventory storage and retrieval products and field-service options with expanded software resources, the company said.

That will allow the company to offer more comprehensive solutions and increased configuration choices for warehouse and storage automation, Frank Doyle, the CEO of Connell Limited Partnership and chairman of its subsidiary SencorpWhite, said in a statement.

Several other firms in the sector have followed similar strategies in recent years, said Michael Murrison, director and principal of supply chain services at Boulder, Colo.-based consulting firm SCApath LLC.

That trend includes material handling equipment (MHE) hardware providers that have bought WMS software vendors in a move to develop advanced warehouse execution system (WES) capabilities. "The WMS is becoming more and more marginalized and the WCS/MHE equipment performs much of the fulfillment effort. You really need both the hardware and software talent under one logo to fully integrate them and sell them as a packaged solution," Murrison said.