Leaders

I find it interesting that the large consulting firms have so little literature on EWM. Far and away the biggest intellectual property creators in the EWM space, and in the WM space as well are two smaller consulting companies. One is Infologix, another is Catalyst and the other is Ciber. Secondly, their literature reads extremely authentic, and I have praised Ciber’s white papers in the past as adding genuine value rather than simply serving as an introduction to the bio of some senior partner.

Is Warehousing More Niche?

It brings up the question of whether warehousing projects are more niche than projects in say supply planning or demand planning. Currently there is a significant uptick in the interest in EWM. There was a similar wave of interest around a year and a half ago, which I think dissipated when the economy was wrecked by Wall Street. However, that interest has returned. Some things driving the interest is the ability to do things in SAP that previously could only be done in best of breed applications such as Red Prairie or Manhattan and Associates. Currently two of the biggest interest areas are labor management, valued added services and yard management. Yard management is often pushed off to later stages of a project after transportation management and (interior) warehouse management. However, yard management is a huge opportunity, as is pointed out in the white paper YM Cross Docking White Paper by Catalyst.

Conclusion

I see the development of Ciber, Ciber and Infologix in the EWM market as a welcome sign. Clients get more value when not all the business in SAP SCM is locked up by just a few consulting firms.