Scottsdale, AZ — May 21, 2003 — Manhattan Associates used the occasion of its user conference this week to roll out the latest version of its supply chain execution offering, putting forward a solution that combines warehouse management, transportation management and trading partner management applications.
The WMS, TMS and trading partner applications are integrated but modular, meaning they can be implemented individually or in conjunction with one another as a unified suite.
Key new functionality in the suite includes improvements to labor management intended to let companies proactively plan, monitor and balance employees within the warehouse in real-time against outstanding work.
An execution dashboard now provides single sign-on for all components of Manhattan Associates' application solution. "This will allow customers not only to have a single log-on for our applications but also to have a single, consistent view," explained Michael Croxton, vice president of marketing at Manhattan.
In addition, the suite offers a dynamic inquiry builder that enables users to build customized inquiries on the fly through the suite's Dynamic Inquiry Tool, and slotting optimization enhancements offer upgraded performance for improved warehousing efficiency; and the suite includes improvements relating to global trade compliance.
The new version also is the culmination of Manhattan's "synchronized release" initiative, under which the provider has shifted to simultaneously, rather than incrementally, releasing updates of all the applications in its SCE.
The initiative is intended to simplify the upgrade path for Manhattan customers and to lower the total cost of ownership associated with the provider's products, according to Croxton. "It allows our customer base, if they're going to do an upgrade, to do it at a single point in time across the suite, and it gives them a greater ability to anticipate new releases because they will be regularly scheduled and available to them on a regular and ongoing basis," Croxton said.
The next synchronized release of Manhattan's suite is due to be released in the first quarter of 2004.
