Welcome to the 31st edition of the JBF Bulletin. Over the past few years there has been an explosion of new and innovative logistics technology (log-tech) companies each attempting to carve out a niche in the ever-expanding logistics technology software space. Read the full story here.
Trimble announced last week that it would be shutting down Kuebix as of 2025 as they ‘pivot’ to an alternative product. But this article is not about Kuebix, nor is it about Trimble. This article is about the customers that software vendors like Trimble (and Blue Yonder, and SAP, and e2open, etc.) are “pivoting on.”
In this podcast episode, Adam Perlmutter chats with Mike Mulqueen, Consulting Strategy Practice Lead at JBF Consulting about logistic systems and the complexity of selecting the right one. Mike also outlines big logistics technology changes, recent market trends, and key technologies/considerations that shippers should be watching.
Sophisticated shippers capture and prioritize business requirements as a key input into their TMS vendor selection process. Unfortunately, most shippers rely too heavily on 3rd party industry analysis that can’t identify the specific functional requirements that can enable them to more precisely down-select one or more TMS software vendors.
“Few shippers, tech vendors, or implementation partners have all the tools and skills to build an addition to your “logistics house.”
Given my primary role at JBF Consulting is to evaluate and recommend TMS solutions for our customers, the main stage presentation given by Oracle Sr. Director of Strategy, Dr. Srini Rajagopal was most relevant to me. In this session, Dr. Rajagopal laid out Oracle’s short to mid-term strategic investment areas. Here are the 5 most interesting roadmap items as well as my perspective on their usefulness for a transportation operation.
This Forbes article on the transportation management system integration market presents a 360-degree review of freight transportation software technologies from the TMS vendor, systems integrator, and customer perspective. Great read!
Check out this lively conversation with Joe Lynch and Michael Wolf, JBF Client Engagement Director, on this latest episode of the Logistics of Logistics Podcast. They discuss why freight tech fails and what can be done to improve the situation.
“Blue Yonder has the best pedigree of any supply chain company as it pertains to math based, predictive decision making.”
“Despite superb planning and execution of the implementation, there are some ‘typical’ attitudes and issues that shippers have to deal with post-implementation.”
