Technology Emerges as a Competitive Differentiator

Descartes Systems Group, Waterloo, Ontario, Canada

Web site: www.descartes.com

Year founded: 1981

Number of employees: 500+

Number of food customers: N/A

Solution name(s): Descartes Mobile Resource Management, Descartes Supply Chain Execution, Descartes Global Trade Compliance, Descartes Transportation Management, and Descartes Routing Planning and Schedule

Worth noting: “Descartes is delivering results today for global organizations that operate logistics intensive businesses and require visibility and control over multi-channel networks of trading partners and business processes. We deliver the fastest time to value and drive tangible improvements in productivity, performance and customer service across our entire customer base.”

Evans Transportation Services, Inc., Brookfiel

Year founded: 1985

Number of employees: 61

Number of food customers: 15

Solution name(s): N/A

Worth noting: “Best fits are those food companies, whether it’s a single or multiple locations, looking to streamline their supply chain process with real-time visibility throughout the supply chain network.”

Extendata, Englewood, CO

Web site: www.extendata.com

Year founded: 2002

Number of employees: 25

Number of food customers: 20

Solution name(s): Mobile Conductor

Worth noting: “The Mobile Conductor software solution for both Proof of Delivery and Direct Store Delivery is deployed in small fleets from 5 users to companies with hundreds of routes. We have a ‘premise-bases’ solution that can be purchased/installed for larger fleets, and a Software-as-a-Service model that works well for smaller fleets.”

Food Decision Software, Richmond Hill, Ontario, Canada

Web site: www.fooddecisionsoftware.com

Year founded: 1978

Number of employees: 10

Number of food customers: 400

Solution name(s): WinFDS, WinFDS SaaS (Software-as-a-Service)

Worth noting: “Although the requirement for all food distributors and manufacturers to have a food recall plan and to be able to track products back one source and forward one source has been regulated since 2002 through the Bioterrorism Preparedness and Response Act, many still do not have a plan in place or the ability to locate suspect products. With the signing of the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) in January 2011, food distributors and manufacturers are starting to panic to ensure they are prepared in the event of a visit from the their regulating agency, or worse, have a true recall situation on their hands.”

FoodLink Online, Los Gatos, CA

Web site: www.foodlink.net

Year founded: 1999

Number of employees: 40

Number of food customers: 2000+

Solution name(s): FoodLink for Buyers, FoodLink for Suppliers, FoodLink FreshBuys, and FoodLink DirectConnect

Worth noting: “FoodLink is the network for fresh food, connecting the perishable goods supply chain from the farm to the customer with an online network representing more than 2,000 companies including grower-shippers, carriers, retail grocers and wholesalers. With FoodLink, retailers and wholesalers efficiently source the freshest and safest foods from trusted suppliers through a single online platform, and suppliers improve sales to important trading partners.”

GENCO ATC, Pittsburgh, PA

Web site www.genco.com

Year founded: 1898

Number of employees: 10,000

Number of food customers: 18

Solution name(s): Inbound Logistics; Distribution; Fulfillment; Packaging & Kitting; Transportation Management; Systems Integration; Returns Processing & Disposition; Test, Repair, Refurbish; and Product Liquidation

Worth noting: “Reducing the total cost of product ownership throughout the product lifecycle is one of the biggest challenges facing grocery and foodservice distributors and manufacturers. Our solution involves employing a Product Lifecycle approach that integrates technology advancements in both material handling and warehouse management systems with proven logistics practices and Lean Six Sigma.”

GT Nexus, Oakland, CA

Web site: www.gtnexus.com

Year founded: 1998

Number of employees: 450

Number of food customers: N/A

Solution name(s): GT Nexus Cloud Supply Chain Platform

Worth noting: “Our core customer base in the food industry is comprised of the large manufactures. Like many companies with global supply chains, they struggle with managing the inventory and information flows between their operations and their partners. They have tried to solve this with software, but that has failed because ‘license and install’ software systems are designed to automate processes within a single company, not between companies. Cloud technology solves this by putting a neutral, informational replica of the physical supply chain up in the sky, online in the cloud. Similar to the way Facebook changed the way social networks communicate and share information, cloud is doing the same thing for supply chain. GT Nexus is the cloud supply chain platform that supports leaders across industry verticals to control product and information flows between suppliers, logistics providers, carriers, banks, and customers.”

HAVI Global Solutions, Downers Grove, IL

Web site: www.havigs.com

Year founded: 1975

Number of employees: 500

Number of food customers: 20

Solution name(s): Demand Planning, Optimization, Business Analytics, Packaging Services, Promotions Management

Worth noting: “One of the biggest challenges manufacturers, distributors, and retailers face is managing the delicate balance of supply and demand. Too much inventory, and you see markdowns and obsolete inventory. Too little, and you see lost sales and dissatisfied customers. We have developed an integrated platform to manage our customers’ supply chains, enabling visibility and collaborative planning across supply chain partners.”

HighJump Software, Eden Prairie, MN

Web site: www.highjump.com

Year founded: 1983

Number of employees: 300+

Number of food customers: N/A

Solution name(s): HighJump Supply Chain Advantage Suite

Worth noting: “More than 4,500 customers worldwide have transformed their supply chains using HighJump Software. Gartner reports that HighJump customer references call attention to HighJump’s flexibility and willingness to establish a partnership-type relationship with customers.”

InfinityQS International, Chantilly, VA

Web site: www.infinityqs.com

Year founded: 1989

Number of employees: 75+

Number of food customers: 100+

Solution name(s): ProFicient™ SPC Software

Worth noting: “The greatest challenge facing today’s grocery and foodservice distributors and manufacturers is securing the global supply chain. With the number of recalls occurring—from ground turkey and seafood, to bean sprouts and lettuce—it is imperative that the entire food industry focus on increasing the safety and quality of food that it produces by leveraging technology at all levels from farm to fork.”

Inmar, Winston-Salem, NC

Web site: www.inmar.com

Year founded: 1980

Number of employees: 4,200

Number of food customers: 200+

Solution name(s): Supply Chain, Consumer Marketing, Business Intelligence, Financial Settlement, Risk Management

Worth noting: “The supply chain is all about ensuring that the right product is at the right place at the right time. In a struggling economy, doing so in the most efficient and cost effective manner becomes even more critical and can even determine whether or not a company will survive. Our clients have shared their reverse logistics goals as Inventory Management, Visibility and/or Actionable Information, Supply Chain Integrity, Regulatory Requirements Compliance and Environmental Sustainability. Technology plays a critical role in helping companies achieve these goals.”