JDA & IBM Collaborate for Advanced Omni-Channel Fulfillment Capabilities

JDA Software Group, Inc., and IBM announced an initiative to provide solutions that help organizations deliver engaging customer experiences by intelligently processing and fulfilling product orders in the most efficient and cost effective manner possible. Together IBM and JDA will provide an integrated omni-channel supply chain that enables businesses to make smarter sourcing decisions in real time and give their customers the best buying experience possible.

Retailers, wholesalers and manufacturers today are challenged to meet the demands of empowered consumers who demand the right product when they want it at the best price through their channel of choice. As more and more consumers demand advanced delivery methods such as ‘buy online and pick-up in store,’ businesses are under increasing pressure to offer these flexible options across more channels in order to meet their customer’s expectations. Without a dynamic view into their complete supply chain picture, businesses are forced to make snap decisions based on static information resulting in inefficient fulfillment processes, shipping methods and inventory positions.

This new initiative between JDA and IBM will provide a holistic approach to solving this problem by synchronizing comprehensive order capture and order management with precision retail planning, efficient labor productivity and intelligent fulfillment. JDA Intelligent Fulfillment and Labor Productivity solutions combined with IBM Commerce and Order Management solutions will reveal the true cost of fulfilling an order – including inventory and labor costs – so that businesses can more responsively adjust inventory and resource allocations and execute decisions that meet and exceed customer expectations while also serving their bottom line. Delivered either on premise or in the cloud via SoftLayer, an IBM company, the solution will be part of IBM’s existing portfolio of over 110 SaaS applications and is expected to be available by late spring 2015.

For example, when a customer purchases an outfit online from a clothing retailer, there are several dynamic factors at play that can affect the profitability of the transaction, such as:  if the customer wants the outfit delivered to a home or will pick it up in store; if the item is in stock at that store or needs to be fulfilled from an alternate location; or if warehouse or store labor is available to fulfill the order in a timely manner. With the combined solutions from IBM and JDA, these issues will be resolved in the background in real-time by applying knowledge of the retailer’s inventory planning and allocation during the order processing. This allows the retailer to intelligently initiate the best possible omni-channel fulfillment decision at the moment of the sale in the most profitable manner.      

“The JDA and IBM initiative fills a massive void in the marketplace,” said Wayne Usie, senior vice president of retail at JDA Software. “Retailers need to become much more sophisticated and intelligent about how they source product for omni-channel fulfillment.  Today there is far too much guess work, too many static policies, and no intelligence applied to the process.  This landmark initiative cracks the code on intelligent sourcing, simultaneously allowing our customers to factor in supply chain planning and execution status, planned events like promotions and markdowns, and labor availability at the point of sale to maximize profits and customer satisfaction.”

“Whether they shop online, in store or on a device, consumers expect to have their product orders fulfilled exactly how they want it and at the lowest price without exceptions,” said Charles Chu, Vice President of B2B & Commerce at IBM. “Any business that ignores these changing expectations does so at the expense of customer loyalty and revenue growth. Now with this collaboration between JDA Software and IBM, businesses will be able to seamlessly orchestrate a superior order fulfillment process that provides real value to the customer while eliminating costs and inefficiencies.”

“By partnering to deliver this joint offering, JDA and IBM are enabling Lowe’s to deliver exceptional omni-channel fulfillment services, which gives our customers more flexible options to shop with us,” said Robin Bornkamp, Lowe’s VP of Inventory & Demand Planning.