SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT SOFTWARE REVIEWS  

MANHATTAN ASSOCIATES SOFTWARE REVIEW

COMPANY OVERVIEW
Manhattan Associates was founded in 1990. The company's initial business software product was WMS, with which they quickly became a leader in the WMS enterprise software market. With the acquisition of Logistic.com, Manhattan acquired TMS. Evant was acquired in 2005, expanding Manhattan’s SCM solutions into planning, forecasting and inventory optimization. In 2007, Manhattan invested $45 million in product research and development and achieved total revenues of $348 million.

VERTICAL MARKETS
Manhattan's supply chain management system customer base includes more than 1,200 corporate customers. The majority of the company's customers are small to large companies in retail, consumer goods, food, high tech, electronics, and government.

SOFTWARE PRODUCTS
Manhattan Associates focuses exclusively on Supply Chain Management software solutions with two product suites: Integration Logistics Solutions (ILS) and Supply Chain Optimization Planning through Execution (SCOPE). Scope is their full featured best in class product.

ILS is built on Microsoft’s .Net technology. ILS is a fully integrated WMS and TMS solution with built in optimization for labor, slotting and invoicing.

The rest of this software evaluation focuses on SCOPE, their full featured solution for use in high volume applications.

SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT SOFTWARE FEATURES

SOFTWARE ARCHITECTURE AND CROSS APPLICATION SOLUTIONS
The Manhattan Associates shared functionality suite of applications is called Platform Application and the cross functionality suite is called X-Suite.

The primary Platform Application software features include:

• Landed Cost collects, optimizes and allocates SCM cost
• Supply Chain Intelligence tracks KPIs and presents results through Manhattan’s dashboard
• Supply Chain Visibility allows users to define views and filter SCM activities
• Supply Chain Event Management schedules, sets milestones and escalates issues

Key X-Suite distribution software features include:

• Flow Management is a planning integration tool
• Extended Enterprise Management collaborates with trading partners

SALES AND OPERATION PLANNING
Manhattan does not support a full featured S&OP solution. The distribution application does however support an integrated view of demand forecast and item level planning.

DEMAND MANAGEMENT
Manhattan Associates provides multiple forecasting models and auto picks the best-fit for each item. Other planning tools are for retailers such as multi-channel, assortment, store cluster and promotional planning.

Order fulfillment is managed with the Distributed Order Management Module.

SUPPLY MANAGEMENT
Strategic Network Planning – Not supported.

Distribution Planning – Not supported.

Replenishment – The Manhattan product is called Multi-Echelon Inventory Optimization and consolidates multi-location replenishment.

Vendor Managed Inventory – VMI replenishes customer inventory based on stock and sales data sent to the inventory supplier or business partner.

Procurement Management – Not supported.

WAREHOUSE MANAGEMENT
Yard Management software features include:

• Guard Check In and Out
• Expediting Critical Loads
• Visibility to Inbound and Outbound Trailers
• Scheduling Trailers to Dock Doors
• Trailer Appointments and Scheduling

Inbound Processing – Trailer appointments interface with yard management to dynamically schedule shipments. Pallet and carton auto-identifications are matched to the supplier’s ASN and a receipt is auto generated. Based on user defined strategies and polices, the put-a-way functionality directs the storage of goods to bin locations, pick and pack or shipping for cross docking.

Outbound Processing – User can plan picking and schedule outbound shipments. Outbound processing includes shipment consolidations, trailer loading and generating ASNs, invoices and delivery documents.

Cross Docking – Inbound goods can be directed to the outbound process with outgoing to interim warehouse storage location. Expected receipts can be checked and matched for cross docks opportunities.

Value Added Services – The supply chain application supports value added services for inbound or outbound shipments, including pick and pack, labeling and kit assembly.

Storage – Inventory tracking includes country of origin, lot number and serial number. Slotting optimization uses product information and a broad set of policies that determine best warehouse location.

TRANSPORTATION MANAGEMENT
Planning – Manhattan Associates software planning capabilities include:

• Least Cost Analysis
• Multi-modal Options
• Service Levels Optimization
• Zone Routing Optimization
• Carrier Selection
• Multi-Stop Optimization
• Cross Docking Optimization
• Load Configuration and Optimization

Dispatch – Key distribution software functionality is based on load, pickups, modes of transportation and route optimization. The dispatcher is empowered to perform and automate the following:

• Assigns carriers to routes
• Produces Shipment Documents
• Generates EDI transactions

Visibility is provided throughout the shipment lifecycle.

Freight Charges and Settlements – Software features include support for audits, invoice matching, freight claims, cost allocation, carrier performance and payments.

Fleet Management – A key software feature of fleet management is optimizing the mix of private goods and common carriers.

SUPPLIER RELATIONSHIP MANAGEMENT
Not supported.

CUSTOMER RELATIONSHIP MANAGEMENT
Not Supported.

SUMMARY OF STRENGTHS AND WEAKNESSES
Manhattan Associates software strengths include its best in class WMS and TMS and this supply chain management system should be considered for any SCM initiative seriously looking at WMS and TMS. Manhattan Associates system weakness includes the absence of CRM software and an SRM system. Without an integrated suite of enterprise-wide applications, Manhattan is at a disadvantage when competing against other vendors such as Oracle and SAP.

Manhattan’s line up of SCM planning products is narrow and lacks robust features. S&OP and demand management lack the multi-level and the longer horizon planning structure of other enterprise software vendors, and they do not address demand shaping. Supply management supports replenishment features, but lacks support for other areas of supply management.

Manhattan’s Software architecture and cross application support lacks the robust features and functionality of several other software technology vendors.

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