Science & Technology
Science and Technology
Science and Technology
Mon, December 15, 2008 JDA Software Unveils Next-Generation Executive S&OP Solution Linking Operational Metrics with Financial Goals
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz.--([ BUSINESS WIRE ])--JDA® Software Group, Inc. (NASDAQ: JDAS)today announced the launch of the JDA Executive S&OP Workbench, a next-generation solution developed to help organizations elevate the scope and effectiveness of their supply chain Sales and Operations Planning (S&OP) processes from a short-term tactical level to a more strategic long-term basis, with a goal of increasing productivity to drive higher top-line business results. JDA developed the Executive S&OP Workbench in strategic alliance with Oliver Wight, an industry-leading consultant in the area of S&OP best practices.
David Johnston, senior vice president, manufacturing and wholesale distribution, JDA Software Group, Inc., notes: "For many manufacturers, JDA's Supply Chain Management solutions have proven effective in helping companies achieve more accurate forecasting and demand planning, as well as reduced inventory costs and improved customer fulfillment rates. With the Executive S&OP Workbench, financial and corporate executives will be able to further leverage the value of their sales and operations data. This allows them to reconcile operational and financial goals by gaining a more global view of the company's overall capabilities and constraints, supporting more informed – and more profitable – decisions over a longer time horizon."
Industry-leading manufacturers – as well as consumer goods distributors and their retail partners – have been working towards elevating S&OP processes to an enterprise-wide global scale in order to enhance supply chain visibility, reduce costs and achieve more integrated business planning and management. As a result, businesses of all types and sizes are now discovering how this next generation of S&OP is a key mission-critical element of an integrated business management strategy.
To that end, JDA's innovative Executive S&OP Workbench offers a convenient one-stop application for consolidating data from disparate business process databases into a single, searchable planning repository.
However, the JDA Executive S&OP Workbench is much more than a quantitative business intelligence tool or "executive dashboard." It offers extended functionality and built-in templates which enable executives to efficiently create an optimal synchronized plan that aligns with the company's business strategy and objectives. The solution provides deep qualitative functionality to help proactively review and analyze assumptions, risks and opportunities inherent in the time-phased demand, supply and financial projections. The scenario planning and management capabilities provide metrics and calculations that enable real-time adjustments to key data, as well as effectively track inputs over time for improved decision making and what-if analysis. Additionally, the solution has the ability to provide workflow to ensure the process is facilitated efficiently, and also serves as an effective task management tool, providing action items, assigning accountability and tracking the completion of tasks in support of the overall strategic plan.
Oliver Wight played an active role in the development of the JDA Executive S&OP Workbench. Oliver Wight subject matter experts participated shoulder-to-shoulder with JDA development resources to ensure compliance with best-practice integrated planning concepts and principles. JDA leveraged Oliver Wight's thought leadership through direct involvement of the authors of Oliver Wight's latest books on the subject.
Dennis Groves, chairman of Oliver Wight Americas explains: "Our alliance with JDA delivers a complete S&OP solution that balances people, processes and innovative technologies while aligning all aspects of our customers' business. By addressing the gaps that other S&OP vendors are not fully addressing, we are enabling our mutual customers to achieve true business transformation and competitive advantage as they realize their corporate goals with maximum profitability."
The JDA Executive S&OP Workbench is constructed on JDA's Enterprise Architecture to provide proven scalability and inherent integration to JDA Supply Chain Management software solutions. JDA's Executive S&OP Workbench can also be implemented as a stand-alone solution for organizations using third-party enterprise platforms and/or other best-of-breed supply chain planning applications. In both instances, the JDA Executive S&OP Workbench can be used by corporate managers and executives to view aggregate information from various data sources – then analyze the data and compare results for more informed decision-making. JDA customers will typically experience faster implementation and time-to-value because the new solution integrates with existing JDA supply chain solutions, thus reducing the time and expense of migrating disparate data streams.
In a June 2008 Research Report, Gartner, Inc. commented: "Increasingly, companies (especially product-centric ones) will be looking to establish well-designed and effective S&OP processes to help manage more-global operations. As companies find that their operating environments become more complex and the need for superior performance out of their supply chains increases, they will be looking for ways to leverage their investments in operational planning and performance management applications."1
The JDA Executive S&OP Workbench is now available for general release. For more information on this and other JDA Software solutions, call +1 800.479.7382 or visit [ www.jda.com ].
1From the June 2008 Gartner, Inc. Research Report, "Marketscope for Sales and Operations Planning"
About JDA Software Group, Inc.
JDA® Software Group, Inc. (NASDAQ: JDAS) is focused on helping companies realize real supply chain and revenue management results – fast. JDA Software delivers integrated merchandising as well as supply chain and revenue management planning, execution, and optimization solutions for the consumer-driven supply chain and services industries. Through its industry leading solutions, leading manufacturers, distributors, retailers and services companies around the world are growing their businesses with greater predictability and more profitability. For more information on JDA Software, visit [ www.jda.com ] or contact us at [ info@jda.com ] or call +1.800.479.7382.
This press release contains forward-looking statements that are made in reliance upon the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements are generally accompanied by words such as "will," "provide," "ensure," "enable," "help," "may," "can" and "expect" and other words with forward-looking connotations. In this press release, such forward-looking statements include, without limitation, Mr. Johnston's remarks that the Executive S&OP Workbench will enable financial and corporate executives to further leverage the value of their sales and operations data. The occurrence of future events may involve a number of risks and uncertainties, including, but not limited to: (a) our solutions may not perform exactly as we anticipate; (b) there may be implementation and integration problems associated with our solutions; and (c) other risks detailed from time to time in the "Risk Factors" section of our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Additional information relating to the uncertainty affecting our business is contained in our filings with the SEC. As a result of these and other risks, actual results may differ materially from those predicted. JDA is not under any obligation to (and expressly disclaims any such obligation to) update or alter its forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.
"JDA" is a registered trademark of JDA Software Group. Any trade, product or service name referenced in this document using the name "JDA" is a trademark and/or property of JDA Software Group. All other trade, product, or service names referenced in this release may be trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective holders.
