Supply chain technology vendor HighJump Software Inc. is rebranding the company under the name of its parent company, the German logistics technology provider Korber AG, in an effort to create a unified technology platform that helps its clients handle spiraling e-commerce demands and consumer expectations.
Minneapolis-based HighJump will become part of a new corporate division known as Korber Supply Chain Software, a move that will go beyond its brand name and extend to a business reorganization that includes the firm’s 11 sibling companies, Korber Supply Chain Software’s chief technology officer (CTO), Sean Elliott, said at HighJump’s annual user meeting in Orlando on Tuesday.
Korber will also create a division known as Korber Supply Chain Automation, and together the two groups will include 12 sibling units: Aberle, Aberle Software, Cirrus Logistics, The Cohesio Group, Consoveyo, DMLogic, HighJump, inconso, Otimis, Langhammer, Riantics, and Voiteq.
The move follows Korber’s 2017 acquisition of HighJump for an undisclosed sum in a deal that Korber would expand the parent company’s capabilities as an enterprise software vendor and allow it to compete for customers in a sector being squeezed by giants like Amazon.com Inc. and Wal-Mart Stores Inc.
This latest stage in that development brings that concept into sharper focus, Elliott said as he announced the change by literally rebranding himself at the show, swapping a “HighJump” t-shirt for a “Korber” t-shirt. “This transformation for our business is not just in name, but is an opportunity to evolve our strategy, to unify our technology stack, and to bring new members into the family through any future acquisitions we may make,” Elliott said.
By building a single platform for fulfillment technology, Elliott said the united company will be able to help its users address challenges that didn’t even exist in the supply chain sector five years ago—such as a proliferation of stock keeping units (SKUs), urbanization trends that impact last-mile delivery, and workers’ job apathy connected to historically low unemployment rates.
One crucial aspect that enables users to cope with those trends is the rapid rise of cloud-based computing, a capability that has generated double-digit revenue growth over the past year for HighJump, said Chad Collins, Korber Supply Chain Software’s chief executive officer (CEO).
The rapid rise of cloud-based supply chain software applications—such as warehouse management system (WMS) and warehouse control system (WCS) products—is driven by customer demand, Collins said. During 2019, 70% of HighJump’s new business included clients who chose cloud-based installations instead of on-premise software, compared to less than 20% choosing that approach just three years ago, he said.
To support that booming business line, HighJump has deployed its cloud-based products through Oracle Corp.’s oracle cloud infrastructure (OCI) product, one of three main public cloud platforms alongside amazon.com inc.’s Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Microsoft Corp.’s Azure platform.
