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ILOG Adds International Flair to Supply Chain Planning Tool Sign Up to receive Daily News Alerts in your E-mail Inbox
Posted on Thursday, November 15, 2007 4:30:00 PM |
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ILOG this week unveiled a new release of its LogicNet Plus XE supply chain network design and planning tool, adding support for global manufacturers and greater ease of use, according to the company. The update follows ILOG's acquisition of LogicTools in February.In response to requests from its increasingly global customer base, ILOG added features that address the complexity of the European market, such as multiple languages, currencies, tariff structures, and other constraints imposed by European transportation carriers, said Edith Simichi-Levi, LogicTools' vice president of operations, in an interview with Managing Automation.In addition, a new scenario simulator in LogicNet Plus 6.0 XE automates comparisons so that supply chain managers can preview the business impact of changes in their supply chain, the company said. The software enables simultaneous network design and production sourcing or asset planning optimization, taking into account seasonality, a variety of risks, and inventory requirements over time. Embedded in the tool is ILOG's latest CPLEX 11 engine, which speeds up problem solving, such as analyzing demand over time. A complex problem that previously took five hours to solve now takes one hour, Simichi-Levi said.ILOG points to the product's ease of use as a competitive edge. "We've targeted our software at supply chain people. We use the language of manufacturing and supply chain managers," she said. For example, the software refers to "tools," "warehouses," and "production lines," rather than what she claimed are more theoretical approaches taken by competitors.Other ease-of-use features in the new release are an expanded toolbar for access to data forms; side-by-side scenario comparisons; bulk-add records editing using Microsoft Excel; the ability to view demand statistics with Pareto charts, line graphs, and pie charts; and improved feasibility analysis with penalties for violating certain constraints, according to the company."Our strategy is to be complementary to SAP," Simichi-Levi said, noting that many of its customers are also SAP customers. The stand-alone software also works with other ERP applications. Network modeling and inventory optimization products have evolved from simply helping managers figure out where to locate warehouses to assessing where to locate plants, Simichi-Levi said. The tools are best used for long-term analysis, for example, to develop five-year plans and to examine those plans quarterly to understand the impact of seasonal differences and long-term risks, according to the company. In addition, manufacturers can use the software to see how to compensate for a system that goes down for a period of time. For example, after a fire next to one of its plants, Pepsi Bottling Group used the software to help it source from a different plant, Pepsi reported at a LogicTools user symposium in September.In determining sourcing, companies have to look at the complexity and the risks, Simichi-Levi said. Port closings, transportation costs, currency differences, the price of oil all affect a manufacturer's supply chain. "The mistakes companies make is to look at the specific costs of sourcing, but they don't look at the supply chain costs," she said. "Today, in making those decisions, you have to look at the costs and do the what-if analysis."Looking ahead, Simichi-Levi said, the company will very likely add tools to help manufacturers factor in the carbon emission and "green" impacts of their network planning and design decisions. When ILOG announced its acquisition of LogicTools early this year, analysts were upbeat about the pairing, saying that LogicTools would round out ILOG's real-time scheduling, planning, and inventory optimization offerings with a long-range decision-making capability. ILOG reported a 14% revenue increase in its fiscal 2008 first quarter, ended Sept. 30, 2007, reaching $40.8 million, from $35.8 million a year earlier. This was despite a 6% decline in license sales that the company attributed to postponed buying decisions in the financial sector. ILOG posted a $2.6 million loss in the quarter, reversing a year-earlier profit of $1.2 million.
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