Supply chain technology firm JDA Software Group Inc. today said it has changed its name to Blue Yonder, the moniker of the German artificial intelligence (AI) firm that JDA acquired in 2018 to power its growing need for predictive analytics and automated decision making.
The re-branding is intended to better align the company's name with its cloud transformation and product roadmap, Scottsdale, Ariz.-based JDA said. According to the company, the change supports the massive impact of AI and machine learning (ML) technologies across the supply chain, logistics, and retail markets.
JDA acquired Blue Yonder GmbH for an undisclosed amount in a bid to extend its existing software applications by using AI and advanced analytics to improve users' ability to predict consumer demand and deliver faster fulfillment, the company said at the time. The firm has used that new tech as the foundation of its "Luminate" platform of products that generate automated decisions and forecasts. Today, JDA says that Luminate platform can integrate and synchronize forecast, warehouse, and transportation execution labor and delivery across multiple channels.
The name change comes during JDA's 35th year anniversary and marks a departure from its original namesake, company founder James Donald Armstrong, who dubbed his startup with his initials.
In a blog post addressed to customers and partners, Blue Yonder CEO Girish Rishi said that JDA has now changed its name to keep up with shifting market realities. Despite the change atop its letterhead, however the "nucleus" of the company will remain the same, he said—providing supply chain solutions for manufacturing, third-party logistics, and retail.
"The supply chain market has changed dramatically in recent years," Rishi said in the post. "Pervasive access to network bandwidth coupled with mobile commerce has created an expectation of instant gratification in the mind of the consumer. Hyper-personalization is expected to only increase. Cloud, machine learning, mobility, and IoT are making things possible today that were never unimaginable only a few short years ago."
In one more move that few people could have predicted a few years ago, the newly-minted Blue Yonder is promoting its name change by offering visitors to its webpage a chance to make digital "memes" of themselves posing with the new logo, and to share them on social media channels.
