Filipino Retailer Widens JDA MMS Investment

April 1, 2014 Alex Woodie

Robinsons Retail Holdings, a chain of more than 1,000 retail outlets in the Philippines, is expanding its use of JDA Software Group‘s IBM i-based Merchandise Management System (MMS) as part of a company-wide modernization push.

MMS doesn’t get a lot of press from JDA’s corporate office in Scottsdale, Arizona, these days, as the company focuses its efforts on developing and selling enterprise software for retail chains that runs on commodity servers. But the company has an extensive customer base of nearly 400 MMS customer that remains loyal to the product, which traces its roots back to the early days of Hamish Brewer’s JDA.

The story about Robinsons Retail is notable in that it’s looking to widen its MMS footprint as part of an effort to improve its merchandise handling. Robinsons owns and runs a wide variety of stores, including supermarkets, department stores, pharmacies, convenience stores, do-it-yourself (DIY) stores, and specialty stores.

JDA says the company will roll out MMS at its convenience stores initially, followed by other stores in the next 18 to 24 months. JDA’s domain expertise and services “will help us improve operational efficiencies and enhance overall profitability,” says Robinson’s CIO, Cesar T. Solomon, Jr., adding that JDA provides “unmatched support and technology.”

MMS is an integrated suite of applications specifically designed for retail chains. It combines financial, warehousing, and order management capabilities with advanced pricing routines aimed at giving retailers the flexibility to implement a variety of pricing rules. In 2005, JDA committed to supporting MMS and other IBM i-based products, such as E3, for the next 10 years as part of its investment protection program.