Visibility beyond the four walls

By Staff -- Modern Materials Handling, 10/1/2000

"The economy has changed and will remain changed forever by e-commerce. But the one thing that hasn't changed is the importance of order fulfillment."

That's how Ken Lewis, Provia Software president and CEO, opened a recent press briefing at the company's Grand Rapids, Mich. headquarters.

With that in mind, Lewis went on to detail some of the key fulfillment issues facing warehouse managers today: Larger numbers of smaller orders; increased need for value-added services; increased performance at reduced cost; and shorter lead times, to name a few.

In short, the demands on fulfillment operations continue to increase.

As a provider of software solutions for integrated order-to-delivery operations, Provia has focused of late on maximizing the performance of its order, warehouse, transportation, and yard management systems.

"People are no longer looking just for a best-of-breed WMS, but a best-of-breed fulfillment solution," says Paul Crist, vice president of global sales and marketing.

But Provia is not stopping there, says John Pulling, vice president and COO. The next frontier for the company is extending its reach as a supply chain execution software provider into an e-business fulfillment provider.

Leading the way is ViaView, which provides suppliers and their customer's visibility into the supply chain using the Internet. It also notifies users of unexpected events, such as shortages, that can impact supply chain fulfillment efficiencies.

The next stage is a software package yet to be released called collaborative fulfillment optimization (CFO) which takes visibility to the next level and allows trading partners to collaborate on orders.