By acquiring the German tech provider, Blue Yonder will expand and sharpen its offerings for automotive and industrial customers
Blue Yonder, a leading supply chain solutions provider, announced its acquisition of flexis AG, a flexible, innovative software technology provider specializing in production optimization and transportation planning and execution. With a robust customer base in the automotive and industrial original equipment manufacturer (OEM) sectors, flexis strengthens Blue Yonder’s capabilities to help companies with highly configurable products and expansive suppliers to plan and optimize their complex production facilities and network structures.
“Our combined technologies will deliver tremendous value to customers eager to enhance their customer experience, from individual e-commerce-based order placement, all the way back through the configure to order production process to long range parts and materials planning.”
“With dynamic planning and flexible order slotting and sequencing, flexis’ capabilities allow businesses to offer exemplary service to their customers, making the solution to modern manufacturing challenges as elegant as they come,” said Duncan Angove, CEO, Blue Yonder. “flexis’ proven solutions are trusted by some of the world’s leading automotive and industrial OEM brands. Their expertise perfectly meets the ever-changing demands of today’s automotive industry which is marked by a boom in electric vehicle production, digital purchasing models, and enhanced configure-to-order customization options. Their vision and offerings will be a remarkable addition to the Blue Yonder portfolio, unlocking new opportunities and adding value through the full cycle of planning and execution, including advanced planning and scheduling – with modules for order slotting, order sequencing and detailed scheduling – sales and operations planning, transportation planning, and scheduling. These capabilities allow customers to dynamically manage numerous constraints at both a strategic and tactical end-to-end level within their unique process.”
As companies continue the shift towards personalization, they are looking for ways to provide consumers with increased ability to tailor their product before it is built. flexis equips manufacturers with the ability to flexibly schedule and sequence orders on their assembly lines, as well as integrate with order management systems to balance and optimize production dates based on inventory availability, material constraints, transportation schedules, and production sequences.
“IDC has noted Blue Yonder’s growth in Supply Chain Planning in recent years. The combination of their cognitive platform, and flexis’ adaptable, market-proven solvers, offers solutions to manage end-to-end supply chain complexity, and realize rapid ROI at a time when automotive manufacturers are looking to improve their supply chain sophistication, accuracy and efficiency with tools tailored to their unique challenges,” said Eric Thompson, Worldwide Supply Chain Planning research director, IDC. “The acquisition of flexis will strengthen Blue Yonder’s end-to-end positioning in the market and is a logical and valuable addition to their ecosystem of supply chain management tools.”
flexis’ notable solutions include production planning and scheduling, order slotting and sequencing (OSS), transportation capacity planning, vehicle routing and scheduling, all on an API-based microservices architecture. Its offerings are a perfect complement to Blue Yonder’s comprehensive supply chain solution, which includes sales and operations planning, order fulfillment and forecasting, labor management, logistics management, and warehouse management.
“Blue Yonder has long been renowned as a leader in supply chain management and consistently pursues the vision of being the largest end-to-end platform in the world. Therefore, we are proud to contribute to this mission with our experienced team and our end-to-end portfolio,” said Philipp Beisswenger, CEO at flexis. “Our combined technologies will deliver tremendous value to customers eager to enhance their customer experience, from individual e-commerce-based order placement, all the way back through the configure to order production process to long range parts and materials planning.”
This deal marks Blue Yonder’s second acquisition in the past three months. In November 2023, Blue Yonder acquired Doddle, a leading technology business focused on making the first and last mile more seamless, sustainable and profitable. These strategic investments are indicative of Blue Yonder’s commitment to its mission: transforming supply chain management through a full-scope, end-to-end platform powered by the world’s most advanced technology.