|
Celarix Throws Its Hat Into the Global Logistics Management Ring
The AMR Research Alert on Supply
Chain Management - June 21, 1999
Seldom has a startup Supply Chain Execution
(SCE) software vendor created so much buzz in the market
as Celarix has. While the company prepped i-Suite
for its first implementation at Williams-Sonoma, it
has been teasing the market for months with glimpses
of the service. In beta at the large San Francisco-based
retailer since April, i-Suite goes live in July. In
many respects, Celarix is the poster child for the new
Web-based companies starting up around the supply chain. The service was first conceived as an entry to a contest
held among top business schools to find new and innovative
business opportunities. The idea that became i-Suite
won second place. Angel financing quickly followed,
and first-round venture capital funding by Charles River
Ventures and TL Ventures occurred in early 1999.
Brainpower, focus, domain expertise, marketing savvy,
and a passion for success will separate the winners
from the losers in the Internet-based supply chain. Celarix has assembled a tiger team that most companies
would covet. Its two founders are recent graduates
of Northwestern University's Kellogg School of Management,
and they both have Big Five consulting experiences. Its CEO has worked for several companies installing
complex ITL systems. Celarix's CTO is a former
Computer Sciences Corporation partner. The balance
of the organization was recruited from large retailers
and their vendors, the carrier and consolidator community,
SCM software vendors, and system integrators. Head count at present is 33 people, and there are plans
to grow through the year.
Celarix's value proposition is simple in concept: Give client companies visibility to global logistics
activities via a Web-hosted service. i-Suite executes
or acts as a conduit for the physical, financial, and
informational flows that are required to manage international
logistics. It is rules-based and does tracking
of events through the entire pipeline. Alert capability
is built in to notify user organizations of shipment
disruptions and service failures, and it can trigger
remedial action when required. As expected, i-Suite
provides decision-support functions for performance
measurement and process diagnostics. Optimization
tools, freight payment support, and a total landed cost
module are scheduled to be introduced in the third quarter
of this year. Benefit realization should be quick. Time from launch of the beta product at Williams-Sonoma
to production status is three months.
When you travel through the boneyard of once great
supply chain ideas, you find it littered with failed
attempts to deliver global visibility. The vision
seduces and then kills its victim when the idea is transformed
into reality. The naysayers point to many reasons
why. The infrastructure required is too expensive
and carriers, consolidators, and forwarders won't cooperate.
Integration is expensive and international EDI standards
are more art than science. Besides, users won't pay
for visibility. So why should i-Suite be any different?
What really is at play here is not something as simple
as global shipment visibility, but rather the creation
of an inter-enterprise supply chain information backbone.
The de facto standards and applications created will
drive logistics service exchanges, collaborative planning
and execution processes, and coordinate activities of
whole trading communities. The window to establish
oneself as a player in this market is two years at most,
and the competition is becoming fierce. Descartes Systems
Group, Optum Software, i2 Technologies, Manugistics,
and Viewlocity are all in the hunt to establish themselves
in this space.
Trade-content-rich ITL vendors SYNTRA and NextLinx
will be announcing new initiatives in the next two quarters.
Can Vastera be far behind? And that's not all.
Global transportation powers, such as UPS, FDX, Deutsche
Post, TNT, and DHL, will be clamoring to provide the
information infrastructure that corporations will require
for the future. Expect to see other Web-based startups
like Celarix-focused, flexible, driven, and confident.
Celarix's service offering is viable. Web technologies
and deregulation have created the tools and conditions
to succeed. But Celarix will be up against some stiff
competition.-J.F.
Back
|
