Next View Software brings gaming technology to the warehouse

Next View is betting the market is ready for a new take on warehouse management systems (WMS).

By Bob Trebilcock, Editor at Large -- Modern Materials Handling, 11/19/2007

Does the market really need another warehouse management system (WMS)?

Steve Simmerman believes it does. Especially if that WMS incorporates the same computer gaming technology Microsoft used to create realistic applications for the Xbox.

Simmerman is a partner and business development leader at Next View Software, the new kid on the block in WMS and supply chain management software space. Next View is hoping to fill the void created in recent years as major players such as Infor, Oracle, RedPrairie and Manhattan have gobbled up mid-size WMS companies.

 “The independent players who could be a little more laser-like focused on where they want to play are no longer there,” says Simmerman. “That presents an opportunity for a team with experience like ours to step in with a new message.”

The new message is built around a Service Oriented Architecture (SOA) and what Next View is calling real-time, data-driven visualization tools that provide a heightened level of visibility inside a facility or across a supply chain.

“We’re taking real-time data out of execution modules, like labor and warehouse management, along with CAD drawings and XYZ coordinates to build a 3D replica of your facility,” says Simmerman. “We can then populate those spaces because the WMS and the labor management system know where your inventory is stored and where your labor is working.”

The visualization tools Simmerman is talking about include technology used to build today’s lifelike computer games. “You can actually see the forklifts, pickers and materials handling systems moving in real time,” says Simmerman.

What’s more, the system incorporates global mapping technology that allows a user with multiple facilities to create push pins on a digital globe. “Click on a push pin, and you can get a birds eye view of what’s happening in any of your DCs around the globe,” Simmerman says.

Another feature allows users to review and replay past transactions as they occurred, either to identify where errors occurred or to use as a training and learning tool. With a simulation tool, users can see how their facilities and processes will perform based on anticipated changes in volume and resources.

Simmerman and his partner, Bob Rosales, certainly know a thing or two about WMS systems. Rosales was one of the founders of Sonica Software, which was bought out by Swisslog during the Internet boom. Along with sales and marketing positions at Swisslog and Sonica, Simmerman also worked at RedPrairie, back when it was known as McHugh Software International.

Simmerman and Rosales say their target market is among small-to-mid-size companies that have yet to implement a WMS and among Tier 1 users who will be replacing or upgrading their WMS systems in the next few years.

“Our philosophy is that it’s time for a change in warehouse management software,” says Simmerman. “You’ve got younger people coming into management roles who are used to game technology. We want to make WMS systems more usable and give them better technology.”