i2 Predicts Responsiveness And Collaboration As Key To Supply Chain Success Across Industries In 2010

November 30, 2009 DALLAS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

"Business as usual" is a thing of the past, as the world has been dramatically transformed by the economic meltdown of the last two years. According to supply chain thought leaders at i2 Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ: ITWO), businesses must now approach the marketplace with a new mindset and actively refine their supply chains to be prepared for upward demand trends in 2010, while managing to minimize their exposure to financial risks in a market that will still be characterized by uncertainty. In addition to helping organizations be lean and competitive, supply chains must also stay closer to consumer needs and react faster to changes on a global landscape.

"This is an extraordinary time in the history of global economics and the supply chain is the lifeblood of the economy," said Kelly Thomas, senior vice president, Product Strategy and Planning, i2. "We are committed to helping businesses build supply chains that will not only maneuver through these uncertain times, but are also poised for the economic rebound. Our predictions for 2010 are based on our more than 20 years of supply chain expertise and a keen sense of how the market is changing."

The industry-specific predictions from i2 include:

Manufacturers to Make Rapid Incremental Planning and Inventory Optimization the "New Normal"

As demand became increasingly uncertain during the downturn, businesses resorted to more frequent operational planning with multiple scenarios and focused on optimization of inventory deployment across their supply chains to free up cash. This allowed manufacturers to keep operational efficiency improvements ahead of declining demand. As demand recovers, companies will seek to gain margin leverage on the efficiencies and productivity improvements gained in the downturn. Processes and systems for rapid incremental planning will become the "the new normal." Smart managers will demand real-time insight into operations as well as advanced visibility with scenarios that allow them to "see around corners." Leading companies will implement closed-loop solutions for sales and operations planning to standardize these new rapid-response capabilities. Multi-echelon inventory optimization with frequent review of deployment policies will become part of normal operations at leading companies. In addition, new delivery models that grew in importance during the downturn will increasingly become part of the mainstream, such as cloud computing, managed services and software-as-a-service (SaaS).