Skip to content
Search AI Powered

Latest Stories

newsworthy

Oracle buys cloud WMS provider LogFire

Merger could help Oracle build supply chain suite to compete with Manhattan, JDA.

Business software giant Oracle Corp. will buy LogFire Inc., a provider of cloud-based warehouse management systems (WMS) and one of its key partners, to help Oracle complete its portfolio of supply chain management applications in an effort to compete with logistics technology specialists like Manhattan Associates Inc. and JDA Software Group Inc.

Redwood Shores, Calif.-based Oracle and Atlanta-based LogFire announced last year they had joined forces to create what they claimed to be the first-ever integrated transportation and warehouse suite tailored to the cloud. Logfire has been a player in the logistics industry's migration from tailored, on-premise software installations to cloud-based applications that can be managed from remote locations. LogFire's platform provides an integrated warehouse, inventory, and workforce management application.


Oracle announced the deal Tuesday but did not give a specific date for when the acquisition would close or the price it paid. The company declined to answer questions and referred queries to its press release announcing the deal and related filings.

Oracle's challenge is to add LogFire's cloud-based warehouse management capabilities to its Oracle Supply Chain Management (SCM) Cloud. Together, the combined applications will allow supply chain organizations to keep up with industry trends including omnichannel fulfillment, integrated logistics, and dynamic sourcing, the company said.

Oracle said it was "currently reviewing the existing LogFire product roadmap" and would notify customers of future changes. In the meantime, Oracle said it planned to add LogFire's employees and management team to its SCM Cloud division, and continue to support LogFire's products.

However difficult the merger process may be, Oracle has already succeeded by impressing investors with its purchase of a company in the popular software-as-a-service (SaaS) sector, said Steve Banker, service director for Supply Chain Management at ARC Advisory Group. "The financial analysts are bullish on SaaS revenues, and Oracle is eager to make Wall Street happy," Banker said.

Oracle's acquisition means it can now finish the job it started when it announced the provisional partnership with LogFire a year ago. At that time, the two firms took baby steps toward integrating their cloud-based transportation and warehouse suites, but they couldn't break into full stride until they were fully merged, he said. "They had integrated the solutions, but having solutions build on common master data, which can run on the same data, makes the applications seamless," Banker said. "Without an acquisition, it is doubtful that those things would be achieved."

If Oracle can get it right, the acquisition would help to close functionality gaps in its supply chain software offering and keep pace with "best of breeds" like Manhattan and JDA, said Banker.

The Latest

More Stories

outrider electric yard trucks

Outrider scales up expansion with $62 million investment

Electric yard truck provider Outrider plans to scale up its autonomous yard operations in 2025 thanks to $62 million in fresh venture capital funding, the Colorado-based firm said.

The expansion in 2025 will be focused on distribution center applications, but Outrider says its technology is also well-suited for use in intermodal rail and port terminals, paving the way for future applications across freight transportation.

Keep ReadingShow less

Featured

intermodal operations

Tennessee waltzes off with top prize at IANA case study competition

If you were in charge of attracting new drivers to the intermodal industry, would you choose an owner-operator or a company-driver business model? That was the question posed to students competing in the Intermodal Association of North America’s (IANA) 2024 Intermodal Case Study Competition.

A team from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, walked away with top honors at this year’s event. It was the school’s first time competing in the scholarship competition, which was held during IANA’s Intermodal Expo in September.

Keep ReadingShow less
A United States Postal Service van drives on a curving mountain road..
Parcel express market confronts a shifting landscape
Parcel express market confronts a shifting landscape

Parcel express market confronts a shifting landscape

Having survived the demand surge of the pandemic and its aftermath, the parcel express market is undergoing an evolution of unprecedented proportions as the nation’s largest express carriers struggle to address multiple challenges—from a growing cast of new competitors, to rationalizing their networks and reining in surging costs, to dealing with flattening e-commerce volumes and a stubborn weakness in U.S. manufacturing and industrial output that’s putting a damper on parcel growth.

Shippers have serious issues with the high cost of parcel service, exacerbated by a flurry of surcharges and changes implemented for this peak season, says Bart De Muynck, principal at strategic supply chain consulting firm Bart De Muynck LLC. “If you are doing high volumes in peak season, those increases mean tens of millions of dollars in extra parcel shipping costs,” he says.

Keep ReadingShow less
Cibao Meat Products logo

Deli-meat producer takes company communications into the digital age

Family-owned business Cibao Meat Products, a producer of Hispanic-style sausages and deli meats, has long prided itself on staying true to the traditions and values the company was founded on in 1969—like a commitment to high-quality ingredients and a family workplace atmosphere. Less of a source of pride, however, was its continuing reliance on the same, mostly manual, processes and data management techniques used at its inception.

With the company now selling its meats to retail giants such as BJ’s, Sam’s Club, and Costco as well as 500 supermarkets and restaurants across the U.S., Cibao president Heinz Vieluf Jr. knew that it was time to take the company into the digital age. “As a third-generation leader of a multigenerational company, I put an emphasis on bringing our business into the digital future and utilizing technologies that will help propel success,” he said in a statement.

Keep ReadingShow less
autonomous lift truck in warehouse

Going deep on self-driving vehicles

As autonomous systems take on a bigger role in logistics and industrial production applications, the race is on to make the equipment smarter, more efficient, and safer. To accelerate work in this area, the German lift truck and logistics technology vendor Kion Group is partnering with a local university to support expanded studies on artificial intelligence (AI) and autonomous systems.

Through a grant of $1.1 million over a period of five years, Kion has funded an endowed professorship for Safe Autonomous Systems at TU Dortmund University. The program will be headed up by computer science professor Sebastian Peitz.

Keep ReadingShow less