Fortune 500 engagements reflect strategic IT spending; Clients seek value through optimization of transportation, warehouse, and end-to-end supply chain operations; CEO Kustra cites hiring trend.
Executives at Plan4Demand Solutions, Inc. today announced that the company’s supply chain professionals have recently started projects worth an aggregate $1.5 million for three new clients, and said the wins are evidence of strategic new IT spending across multiple industries.
“I think it’s very telling that business leaders are focusing their initial investments on supply chain optimization after such a prolonged downturn in spending,” said Plan4Demand CEO, Lisa M. Kustra.
“With so much potential to drive down operational costs and increase competitive advantage, supply chain optimization is a smart way to reap significant benefits very fast. That bottom-line value is what’s driving our success,” said Kustra, noting that Plan4Demand grew 30 percent last year. The company’s annualized growth rate this year is 41 percent.
The largest of the three new client engagements announced today is a transportation management initiative for a Fortune 500 manufacturer and global distributor of heavy-duty on- and off-road trucks.
The second project is an upgrade of warehouse management software for Donnkenny, a retailer specializing in women’s apparel. The third engagement is for optimization of supply planning software for the foods division of a Global 500 consumer packaged goods (CPG) corporation.
“With its broad focus on demand planning, collaboration, inventory fulfillment, strategic planning, and transportation, the CPG project embodies Plan4Demand’s end-to-end supply chain specialization,” said Kustra.
The engagement will be carried out in advance of a full-scale upgrade to the 7.x versions of various Manugistics NetWORKS supply chain software packages, including Demand, Collaborate, Fulfillment, Transportation, and Strategy.
“Our goal is to help the leaders of this CPG client improve their business procedures so they can get the most out of their software,” said Kustra. “We’ve developed a comprehensive approach that will better prepare both their people and their processes to take full advantage of new functionality the pending upgrade will provide, to help them achieve key operational targets.”
According to Kustra, who earlier this year hosted an annual meeting/fourth anniversary celebration of Plan4Demand’s founding, the CPG engagement spotlights Plan4Demand’s expertise as a holistic provider of complex supply chain services.
“The theme of our meeting was ‘The Game has Changed.’ We chose it to emphasize the transformation of Plan4Demand into a true growth company. The projects we’re announcing today reflect that change. They show that we’ve earned a solid reputation among some of the world’s largest corporations for providing high-value services that drive tangible business benefits,” she said.
That reputation, in turn, is driving increasing demand for Plan4Demand’s services, especially in areas like sales and operations planning (S&OP), which helps companies improve communications, performance, and accountability throughout their internal supply chains.
To sustain Plan4Demand’s rapid growth, Kustra this year expanded the company’s recruiting team, which has stepped up its efforts to source world- class personnel.
“Our clients recognize the exceptional skills and resources of our industry-veteran professionals and the value they offer,” she said. “Our ability to fulfill the fast-growing demand for this kind of expertise — and to recruit industry leaders to help build new service lines — has been key to our success.”
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