Llamasoft Acquires Barloworld SCM Software Division, Leads Supply Chain Network Design Software Market

With its more recent acquisition, Llamasoft gains a stronghold on the supply chain network design software market. The supply chain design software solutions provider recently acquired the Barloworld CAST and Optimiza supply chain management (SCM) software assets and accompanying team members from Barloworld’s Supply Chain Software (BWSCS) Division. Llamasoft also gains network design for last-mile delivery capabilities—a critical element for e-commerce, multichannel and home deliveries.
 
This is LLamasoft’s second acquisition in a year, following the previous acquisition of LogicTools’s similar SCM software solutions from IBM. The combined company will now have nearly 400 employees and more than 500 customers. With the LogicTools Logic Net Plus (LNP), Barloworld CAST, and Llamasoft Supply Chain Guru in its fold, the vendor now owns the supply chain network design software market. Almost every company I speak with, if they have a supply chain network design software solution, it is Llamasoft (the vendor is even being endorsed by SAP as a partner solution). The only remaining viable competitors here might be JDA Strategist and Infor CAPS Logistics.
 
The two merging companies complement each other geographically; Llamasoft previously had a presence mainly in North America. LLamasoft and Barloworld also announced a strategic partnership that aims to bring LLamasoft’s software and services to the supply chain operations of Barloworld customers worldwide, except for South Africa and the United Arab Emirates.
 
While in general I like Llamasoft’s strategy, this will probably be a tough road. Barloworld isn't exactly a household name. So Llamasoft will have to focus on brand awareness and quickly establishing itself against much larger competition the likes of SAP, Oracle, JDA Software, and others. Llamasoft’s different offerings for strategic supply chain design software and tactical supply chain planning (SCP)/multi-echelon inventory optimization (MEIO) software might confuse some prospective customers. The vendor is also much better known in the first area than in the latter (where it also has limited expertise and human resources). That market has long been dominated by SAP, JDA, Oracle, Logility, ToolsGroup, Infor, and Terra Technology.
 
The question is whether Llamasoft can integrate all of this effectively and make it work successfully. Non-organic product acquisitions in supply chain are very difficult, and one would hope the company doesn't become a rollup with multiple overlapping solutions.
 
But Llamasoft has been a really good innovator, and the users and industry in general will benefit if that continues. The company has a really good team and has done some great things already, so it certainly have a chance to pull it off. We'll have to wait and see. Existing customers of Llamasoft’s now diverse products should not expect much changing over the short term. But both existing and prospective customers should touch base with the vendor and enquire about the products’ roadmaps and their available options. 

Related Reading

Llamasoft: Supply Chain Design, Modeling, and Analytics Across Product Lines
Retail SCM Software Trends and 2015 Predictions—Part Two
A "Tell All" Chat with SAP's SCM Product Marketing Team