TXT launches new SCM package

10 April 2008

Supply chain software vendor TXT e-solutions will unveil its new end-to-end supply chain management solution, TXTPerform2008, for retailers and manufacturers at this year’s Retail Solutions show. The show takes place at the Excel centre in London between 24-26 June.

According to Alexandria Rumble, global product marketing director at TXT, the software perfectly marries supply chain intelligence with supply chain management capabilities, without the need to run several different applications at the same time.

“In both retail and consumer goods manufacturing, it’s important to be able to analyse the impact any changes in demand or supply have throughout the entire supply chain,” she said. “TXTPerform2008, for instance, makes it possible to see how a promotion might affect financial targets, stock levels, deliveries and any inventory costs, as well as any remedial action you might choose to take, all in one tool. Until now, getting visibility of cause and effect would typically be done by different people using different applications.”

TXT has chosen Microsoft’s Office Business Applications and specifically Excel as the visual foundation for its solution. “More than 84 per cent of companies are using Excel in daily supply chain management activities and are comfortable with it. In addition, the user interface is becoming a primary concern when selecting a new application,” said Rumble.

TXT says its software helps retail, apparel and consumer goods companies more accurately forecast demand, and includes tools allowing more effective trade promotions management and assortment planning. Customers include Auchan, Habitat, Nicolas, Diesel, Weetabix and Youngs Seafood.

“Retailers and manufacturers should be able to monitor how sales are evolving and see how a decision to reduce or increase stocks might have knock-on consequences,” said Rumble. “All too often, supply chain managers can adversely respond to skewed demand forecasts with knee-jerk reactions and without sufficient insight into their actions and how these might impact supply chain profitability.”

According to a recent independent report by AMR Research: “The TXTPerform2008 suite, which TXTDemand is part of, recently underwent a significant rewrite and is now available on the .NET platform. Analytics and reporting capabilities are available as part of the most recent release.

TXTDemand is attractive to vertical retailers for its broad footprint and tight integration into product design and production planning.” The new software is already in adoption by three customers in the UK, US and Southern Europe.