The best-of-breed WMS suppliers
Can you name the largest best-of-breed warehouse management system suppliers? Read on to see who ranks where in our first-ever software survey.
By Bob Trebilcock, Contributing Editor -- Modern Materials Handling, 7/1/2001
In 1985, John H. Hill, a pioneer of modern warehousing, took over as president of Logisticon, the first company to offer a computerized warehouse management system (WMS).
The market then consisted of a few leaders plus a host of regional garage shops, all struggling to find their niche in a volatile industry.
"In 1989, Logisticon did $12 million in revenue, and I don't think any of our competitors was doing more than that," says Hill, now a principal with eSYNC International in Watsonville, Calif. "If the total market was $100 million, I'd be shocked."
The WMS market has come a long way since then. Last year, the industry approached $1 billion in total revenues, and is expected to pass that mark in 2001.
Not only have sales of best-of-breed WMS suppliers increased 10 fold in that short time, but the two largest companies each had revenues that exceed $100 million for the first time in 2000.
Manhattan Associates, the Atlanta supplier specializing in retail supply chain solutions, is at the top of the list, posting $133.1 million in sales in 2000.
Meanwhile, EXE Technologies, the Dallas supplier formed in 1997 with the acquisition of Dallas Systems by Neptune, is in second place with revenues of $115.6 million last year.
To create our list, we surveyed companies that supply a robust, best-of-breed WMS solution. That's why none of the leading enterprise resource planning (ERP) vendors, like Oracle or PeopleSoft, is on the list. Yes, the largest ERP suppliers are billion-dollar corporations in their own right. But, at least for now, they do not offer a best-of-breed WMS solution as an integral module of their core offering.
Second, we looked for companies doing business in the U.S. Unless a company sells its WMS in the U.S., they are not eligible for our ranking.
Third, we looked at worldwide revenues, including licensing, support and services.
Finally, we included 2000 fiscal year revenues for all supply chain execution offerings by those companies to determine the final rankings (see table below).
| The leading supply chain execution software suppliers | ||
| Company | Headquarters | Fiscal 2000 revenues1 |
| 1. Manhattan Associates | Atlanta, Ga. | $ 133.1 million |
| 2. EXE Technologies | Dallas, Texas | $ 115.6 million |
| 3. Industri-Matematik International | Stockholm, Sweden | $ 75 million |
| 4. McHugh Software International | Waukesha, Wisc. | $ 70 million |
| 5. Vertex Interactive | Lake Success, N.Y. | $ 52.4 million |
| 6. Swisslog Software | Aarau, Switzerland | $ 51.9 million |
| 7. Irista | Milwaukee, Wisc. | $ 50 million |
| 8. Optum, Inc. | White Plains, N.Y. | $ 50 million |
| 9. Catalyst International, Inc. | Milwaukee, Wisc. | $ 42 million |
| 10. LIS | Charlotte, N.C. | $ 40 million |
| 11. Lilly Software Associates, Inc. | Hampton, N.H. | $ 40 million |
| 12. MARC Global Systems | Dulles, Vir. | $ 35 million |
| 13. Logility, Inc. | Atlanta, Ga. | $ 32.3 million |
| 14. Provia Software | Grand Rapids, Mich. | $ 27.6 million |
| 15. Yantra | Boston, Mass. | $ 22 million2 |
| 16. HighJump Software | Eden Prairie, Minn. | $18 million |
| 17. Mincron | Houston, Texas | $ 12.5 million |
| 18. Radcliffe Systems, Inc. | Toronto, Ontario | $ 10 million |
| 19. Robocom Systems International | Massapequa, N.Y. | $ 6.8 million |
| 20. Interlink Technologies | Carrolton, Texas | $ 6 million2 |
| 21. Ann Arbor Computer | Ann Arbor, Mich. | $ 3.5 million |
| 21. Majure Data | Roswell, Ga. | $ 3.5 million |
| 23. Intek Integration Technologies | Bellevue, Wash. | $ 3.0 million |
| 24. Mont, LLC | Forest Park, Ga. | $ 2 million |
| 25. Motek | Beverly Hills, Calif. | $ 1.83 million |
| 1. All revenue numbers are self-reported by individual companies except where noted, and include worldwide revenue for licensing, service, and support across product and application offerings.
2. 2000 revenue estimates from AMR Research, Boston. |
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In part, that's because the leading public companies don't separate their WMS sales from other applications. But it also represents an evolution in today's WMS market.
While robust point solutions for warehouse management are still the core of the market, the leaders typically provide supply chain execution (SCE) suites, including transportation management; order, labor, and yard management; and solutions in the emerging area of supply chain inventory visibility (SCIV) and event management (SCEM) (Table 2). In fact only four of the companies on the list offer only a WMS and no other components of an SCE suite.
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|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
What the leading WMS suppliers offer Today's leading suppliers offer a rich menu of order fulfillment applications beyond warehouse management. |
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| Company | WMS | TMS | YM | LM | OMS | SCIV/ SCEM |
Other |
| 1. Manhattan Associates | X | X | X | X | X | collaboration | |
| 2. EXE Technologies | X | X | X | X | X | consultation | |
| 3. Swisslog Software | X | X | X | X | planning | ||
| 4. Industri-Matematik International | X | X | X | CRM | |||
| 5. McHugh Software International | X | X | X | X | X | optimization | |
| 6. Vertex Interactive | X | X | X | inventory management | |||
| 7. Irista | X | X | X | X | X | inventory management | |
| 8. Optum, Inc. | X | X | X | ||||
| 9. Catalyst International, Inc. | X | X | |||||
| 10. LIS | X | X | X | X | vendor compliance | ||
| 11. Lilly Software Associates, Inc. | X | X | X | X | X | X | CRM/ERP |
| 12. MARC Global Systems | X | X | X | X | ITL | ||
| 13. Logility, Inc. | X | X | X | X | CPFR | ||
| 14. Provia Software | X | X | X | X | X | ||
| 15. Yantra | X | X | X | reverse logistics | |||
| 16. HighJump Software | X | X | X | X | X | X | |
| 17. Mincron | X | X | X | X | X | ||
| 18. Radcliffe Systems, Inc. | X | X | X | ||||
| 19. Robocom Systems Int | X | ||||||
| 20. Interlink Technologies | X | X | X | ||||
| 21. Ann Arbor Computer | X | material handling control | |||||
| 21. Majure Data | X | manufacturing materials system | |||||
| 23. Intek Integration Technologies | X | X | X | X | dynamic slotting/warehouse automation control | ||
| 24. Mont, LLC | X | shipping software | |||||
| 25. Motek | X | ||||||
| Key to acronyms WMS-warehouse management system TMS-transportation management system YM-yard management LM-labor management OMS-order management system SCIV/SCEM-supply chain inventory visibility/supply chain event management ITL-international trade logistics CPFR-collaborative planning forecasting & replenishment CRM-customer relationship management |
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As far as WMS suppliers have evolved since 1989, some aspects have remained the same. For instance, the WMS market is still fragmented, with more than 200 regional and niche players fighting for business.
Obviously, not all of those providers are going to survive. In fact, the WMS market is still very much in transition.
Last year alone, there were several significant mergers. Swisslog AG purchased Sonica Software. Manhattan Associates purchased Intrepa. EXE Technologies purchased AllPoints Systems. And most recently, Vertex Interactive purchased Renaissance Software, Applied Tactical Systems, Data Control Systems, and Pitney Bowes Transportation.
There were also some departures from the WMS market. Kewill Systems exited to concentrate on its broader supply chain management offering. E-Stamp, an early dot com startup, entered the market with the purchase of a warehouse and transportation management solution a little over a year ago only to exit the field this past winter.
Nevertheless, WMS remains a hotbed of growth and innovation. That's good news for users. The competition should spur the development of more robust applications and lower prices. When it happens, this year's list may well look different in 2002.
Click on this icon to read about trends in the WMS market.
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