JDA’s “Focus 2011” event ushers in new software upgrade

As it convenes its user-centric conference in Orlando, Florida today, The JDA Software Group, Inc. has announced the release of Transportation & Logistics Management 6.3.4.

“This will be top of mind for many of our users attending the ‘Focus 2011’ event,” said Fabrizio Brasca, vice president, global logistics, JDA Software.

In an interview with SCMRl today, Brasca also noted that “risk mitigation” will also be a major topic of discussion at the conference in regard to this new software enhancement.

“Everyone is very concerened about supply chain disruptions due to natural calamities and security violations,” he said. “By providing more transparency, we are addressing those concerns.”

According to spokesmen, this “major” release is generally available and represents the second phase of JDA’s post-i2 acquisition transportation and logistics management product roadmap integration plan announced in April 2010.

The first phase, completed in December 2010, focused on procurement capabilities convergence and new enhancements. JDA Transportation & Logistics Management 6.3.4 focuses on freight order management capabilities convergence.

“And there is a significant ‘fail safe’ component to this offering,” said Brasca.

With its planning and execution platform, the software is designed to help shippers, carriers and third-party logistics providers more effectively manage multi-modal logistics network complexities. This latest release includes freight order management and inbound visibility convergence as well as valuable new functionality to further drive integrated planning and execution.

JDA Transportation & Logistics Management 6.3.4 integrates the Manugistics-developed JDA Freight Order Management into a joint platform that leverages the i2 and Manugistics products.

Spokesmen said that this integration approach enables shared data between all JDA Transportation & Logistics Management solutions and drives a more integrated, closed-loop set of processes.

“With JDA Freight Order Management, companies can gain control of inbound moves with critical visibility into incoming order information,” said spokesmen.

The company added that by reducing supply chain costs and uncertainty, the integrated solution enables collaboration between vendors and shippers at the purchase-order level and sends “ready to ship” confirmations to the JDA transportation management system to effectively create an efficient inbound transportation plan.

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