RedPrairie Acquires SofTechnics

MICHAEL GARRY

NEW YORK — RedPrairie, Alpharetta, Ga., a supply chain and labor management systems provider, announced that it has finalized the acquisition of SofTechnics, Columbus, Ohio, a provider of in-store software such as price and inventory management, intelligent store ordering and direct-store delivery. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

The acquisition, announced at the National Retail Federation's 100th Annual Convention here, was described as merging two "complementary organizations" and strengthening RedPrairie's retail platform. SofTechnics customers include 24 of the top 75 supermarket chains in the U.S., many of which are also customers of RedPrairie, providing the opportunity for synergistic linkages.

"Half of their customers are also our customers," Noel Goggin, senior vice president and general manager, RedPrairie, told SN at the convention.

SoftTechnics solutions "manage inventory in stores — receiving, cycle counting — while RedPrairie's manages labor scheduling, standards and task management," he added.

Red Prarie's applications also oversee inventory into and out of retail distribution centers "and now we'll have an inventory position in the stores," Goggin said. The further reach into stores will help reduce levels of inventory and improve recall processes, he noted.

SofTechnics store-level replenishment systems tied to RedPrairie's warehouse-level systems offers the opportunity to create an "end-to-end demand chain," said Guy Dille, former president of SofTechnics and now senior vice president, retail, for RedPrairie.