News Briefs and Product Shorts

Evant Unveils New Planning, Replenishment Software for iSeries

Evant, the San Francisco developer of Java-based supply chain planning software for iSeries and other platforms, recently introduced a new sales forecasting product and unveiled a new version of its inventory management product. Evant's new Promotion Planning product is designed to help companies predict what sort of uplift in demand they can expect to receive from promotional events. It hooks into to other Evant products, such as Replenishment, and purchasing systems to ensure that appropriate inventory levels are maintained for every item on promotion, thereby increasing sales and consumer satisfaction. The software uses historical sales data to establish a baseline demand forecast, and features advanced algorithms to forecast the uplift for each product, according to sales channels, promotional events, and media types. During the event, Promotion Planning will automatically update its forecast based on actual demand figures from the field.

Meanwhile, Evant also shipped a new release of its flagship Replenishment product, which it says is managing about $31 billion in inventory at 15,000 stores and 350 distribution centers around the world, and has saved users a total of $3.5 billion. Replenishment 5.0 adds new functionality for capacity constrained ordering and forecast exception management, and features numerous usability enhancements. The new capacity constrained ordering enables retailers to make sure their daily receipts do not exceed their ability to receive and put-away goods, and is especially useful for managing peak-season employee scheduling. The new push allocations feature enables users to simulate inventory allocations across several levels, and is useful for the end-of-season "push" of goods.

SoftTree Technologies Updates DB Mail Messaging System

SoftTree Technologies has introduced a new release of its DB Mail product, a messaging system that runs on top of a database and enables companies to automatically send out e-mails, faxes, and SMS messages using a combination of database triggers and stored procedures. New York City-based SoftTree Technologies outlines several potential uses of its products, including automatically generating an email product inventory drops to a certain level, or by preparing an invoice for faxing and generating a confirmation notice following the reception an order. In many cases, DB Mail users benefit by offloading the execution of a time-consuming task, such as sending a fax, from the primary database application to DB Mail's asynchronous message queue. In DB Mail version 2.5, the company says it added high-performance faxing and automated voice messaging (via a separate SoftTree product, called Voice Message Server). DB Mail supports all major databases, including DB2/400, DB2 UDB, Oracle, Microsoft SQL Server, Sybase, and others. Pricing starts at $289 for a single database server license.

Health Net Expanding Use of Successful iSeries Claims Management System

A large health insurance company that attributes a $40 million reduction in IT costs to the use of OS/400 technology has set a deadline for the implementation of iSeries systems in its California and Oregon offices. Health Net, a healthcare maintenance organization with 6.5 million customers in 27 states, last week announced plans to "replicate" the same MC400 claims management system that has been successfully used in its Northeast offices for the last decade as part of its Health Net One systems consolidation project. The MC400 system is developed by OAO HealthCare Solutions, which, like Health Net, is based in Woodland Hills, California. Health Net has set a deadline of 2008 for the completion of the MC400 implementations in California and Oregon. "We've made remarkable progress in Health Net One. We now see promising opportunities in several business areas and need to make optimal use of systems resources to support these efforts," said Jay Gellert, president and chief executive officer of Health Net. The new systems are also expected to help Health One roll out new administrative services only capabilities, provide clients with online billing, flexible payment plans, and simplified paperwork, and meet the deadline for the Medicare Modernization Act, slated to begin January 1, 2006.

Electronic Storage Unveils New Workflow System for LaserVault

Electronic Storage recently launched a new workflow system that should enable its LaserVault Imaging customers to get a better handle on business processes and take the guesswork out of routing tasks to employees. The new TaskAide system integrates with the LaserVault system, and implements a flowcharting system that allows managers to dictate the exact task-completion sequence, and which employees will complete them. As employees complete a task, the TaskAide system takes over and routes the request to the next station. The software is tied into the LaserVault imaging database, and lets users access documents to complete their task, such as invoices or statements, which may have been generated by iSeries servers. The TaskAide system is script-based and fully customizable, the company says. It provides task-level security to screen employees from some tasks, and keeps a log of all activity.

Staples Streamlines Report Distribution Using Compleo from Symtrax

Office supply company Staples is cutting costs by automating the creation and distribution of iSeries reports using Windows software from Symtrax. The Los Angeles developer recently announced that Staples has licensed its Compleo Suite, which makes it easier to consume OS/400 output by importing spool file data directly into PC formats, such as Word, Excel, Access, and PDF, and then emailing the reformatted reports, or sending them to a printer. Symtrax says the general ledger and inventory departments at Staples are using Compleo to create reports for management, and this procedure, which was done manually in the past, is saving Staples approximately 30 man-hours a month.

IBM Wants to Help ISVs Deliver Software as a Service

IBM recently unveiled a new program to help developers of ERP, CRM, and other business software change the way they sell, deliver, and support their wares. As part of its new Software as Service (SaS) program announced in late May, IBM is providing ISVs with technical, sales, and marketing resources to help them transition to a services delivery model. Big things are expected from the Software as a Service (SaaS) delivery model, which is the newly coined industry term for application service providers (ASPs). According to IDC, the SaaS model accounted for $4.2 billion in sales in 2004, and it will grow at an annual rate of 21 percent through 2009, when nearly $11 billion will change hands. To view more information about IBM's program, check out its Software as a Service Showcase Web page, where about 40 solutions from 20 ISVs are currently on display.