Supply Chain Management
i2 Cited in TMS Leaders' Quadrant by Garner
Gartner, a leading industry research firm, placed i2 in the leaders' quadrant in its 2007 Magic Quadrant for Transportation Management Systems report. The i2 Total Logistics Management footprint includes solutions for strategic network design and analysis, transportation modeling and what-if analysis, transportation bid optimization, shipment planning and optimization, transportation execution, freight financial management, supply chain visibility, performance management and analytics. i2 helps manage the transportation life cycle at leading companies such as Anheuser-Busch, Caprabo, Cooper Tire & Rubber Company, JCPenney, LG Electronics, Penske Logistics, PepsiCo, Ryder, Samsung, Texas Instruments and others.
Some of the first technology-focused user groups originated during the days of mainframe computers and were designed to serve as a forum to share information and software exchange, independent of the factorysupplied programs. In 1955, the first known user group, SHARE, was founded by aerospace industry corporate users of IBM's first computers. It is still active today.
Supply Chain Leader Receives Industry Recognition
Supply Chain Leader magazine was recognized by several professional organizations in 2007 and early 2008 for successfully reaching its target audience with appealing content, innovation and design. The League of American Communications Professionals LLC (LACP) awarded i2 a Silver Award in the newsletter/magazine category of its 2007 Spotlight Awards, an annual print, video and web communications competition.
Additionally, PR News' Platinum PR Awards program awarded Supply Chain Leader an honorable mention in the external publication category. The awards salute the year's most outstanding communications initiatives and programs and set the industry benchmark for excellence across all areas of public relations.
The 18th Annual International GALAXY 2007 Awards recognized Supply Chain Leader with a Silver Award for copywriting in the general magazine category. The competition honors excellence in product and service marketing and symbolizes the assembly of numerous disciplines that create marketing excellence and honors the professionals who contribute to the process of building image, creating profit and making a difference in the marketplace.
Finally, Supply Chain Leader was given the Bronze Award in the 21st Annual MERCURY 2007/08 Awards Competition. The award is given for excellence in professional communication, and Supply Chain Leader was recognized in the external magazine category.
CGT Recognizes Burt's Bees
Consumer Goods Technology magazine recognized Burt's Bees, the leading manufacturer of more than 150 Earthfriendly, natural personal care products, for Outstanding Achievement during the Consumer Goods Technology Fall Conference in October 2007.
Burt's Bees was recognized in the small to mid-size business category for its supply chain solution work with i2. Burt's Bees uses i2 solutions to more precisely manage key manufacturing variables, from work-center capacity and set-up times to material availability, labor availability, due dates and production policies. Built on the principles of lean manufacturing and constraint-based planning, i2 solutions enable companies to reach the best throughput and customer service at the lowest inventory level and cost. Burt's Bees is reaping benefits through more effective working inventory, higher throughput, higher on-time delivery rates, improved customer service levels and lower manufacturing costs.
Ken Sharma Award for Excellence Finalists Honored
Ten i2 customers were recognized as Ken Sharma Award for Excellence finalists in a ceremony at the i2 User Group's Directions conference November 6–7, 2007. The award is named in memory of i2 co-founder Ken Sharma, and recognizes companies for their ability to leverage i2 solutions to drive innovation and business excellence. An independent panel of AMR Research analysts judged the entries and selected finalists in several categories, including implementation depth and breadth, supply chain innovation, and return on investment. The following companies were recognized in each category:
- Implementation Depth and Breadth: VF Corporation, Sprint Nextel, Cummins, Inc.
- Supply Chain Innovation: Panasonic, Fairchild Semiconductor, Texas Instruments, Inc., Tata Steel Limited
- Return on Investment: China Steel Corporation, BAE Systems, Lenovo Group Limited
Global Ken Sharma Award winners were selected from among the category finalists and will be recognized at i2 Planet 2008, April 30–May 2.Winner names were not available at press time.
Leadership Garners Praise
AMR Research's Supply Chain Top 25 Beat Market with 17.89 Percent Return
AMR Research reported in January 2008 that its Supply Chain Top 25 portfolio of companies outperformed the market for the third year in a row. The average total return of the Supply Chain Top 25 companies for 2007 was 17.89 percent, compared with returns of 6.43 percent for the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) and 3.53 percent for the Standard & Poor's 500.
In a press release, Kevin O'Marah, chief strategy officer at AMR Research, stated, "We're excited to once again have proof that supply chain excellence and leadership do make a difference. Clearly this is a group of companies that excels, strongly weathering the ups and downs we saw in the market last year."
AMR Research's Supply Chain Top 25 is an annual ranking that recognizes large manufacturers and retailers that display superior supply chain performance, capabilities and leadership. The analysis takes basic public data as a foundation—return on assets, inventory turns and growth—and considers expert and peer assessments of the future leadership potential of each company. Twenty of the companies ranked in the AMR Research Supply Chain Top 25 are i2 customers.
Aidmatrix and NAFC Named Winners of CSCMP's 2007 Supply Chain Innovation Award
The Aidmatrix Foundation Inc. and the National Association of Free Clinics were awarded the 2007 Supply Chain Innovation Award by the Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals (CSCMP) at its November 2007 annual conference. The award was presented by CSCMP's Research Strategies Committee and Global Logistics & Supply Chain Strategies magazine, who established the Supply Chain Innovation Award to recognize the best and most innovative teams in supply chain today.
Keith Thode, Aidmatrix chief operating officer, and Nicole Lamoureux, executive director of the National Association of Free Clinics, presented their case to a panel of judges from industry and academia. The FreeClinicLink program they presented is a web-based tool that connects medical donors with members of the National Association of Free Clinics. The tool enables free clinics nationwide to receive donations of medical products and to purchase medical products at discounted rates. This supply chain has made great progress in the area of medical relief and facilitated over $50 million of donated products. The cost savings alone totals more than $1 million from collaborative buying and real-time data integration with suppliers.
i2 Technologies is a founding supporter of Aidmatrix, having donated the original supply chain software from which today's Aidmatrix solutions evolved. By combining proven supply chain management and Internet technology with collaborative partnerships from the business and nonprofit sectors, Aidmatrix creates visibility to supply and demand information, better decision support capabilities, more collaboration, and an open forum to engage more donors in mobilizing needed aid quickly. Ultimately, it links aid with need worldwide. Aidmatrix mobilizes more than $1.5 billion in aid annually, working with more than 35,000 nonprofits and government agencies worldwide. The international organization activates product, human and financial resources impacting the lives of more than 65 million people. To learn more, visit www.aidmatrix.org.
