Autumn 2006

The combined strengths of various software businesses acquired by RedPrairie are beginning to be felt in an increasingly refined suite of supply-chain products, of which the latest to emerge is a new implementation of its DLx Warehouse system.

Not only is DLx Warehouse a multi-site, multi-client system; it is also fully web-enabled, which in RedPraire terms means that all its functionality available through a web browser.

The company sees this as a particular advantage for users with multiple clients, since customers and suppliers can be given access to information relating to them on any browser. A system of data and access permissions ensures they can see only their business information.

Among detailed new developments in the latest release, users can now track products by weight. The company cites products such as cheese or meat that are sold by kilogrammes rather than in units. DLx captures the weight at the point of receipt and picking with manageable tolerances.

On the technology front, a new feature is support for web services using SOAP and WSDL, which should allows external applications to connect easily with DLx, retrieving data from it and accessing its core functionality within.

DLx Warehouse is said to remain the only fully integrated Customs and Excise WMS, and it integrates with RedPrairie's duty management system, DutyMaster (another acquired system). An interface has also been added to Precision Software's TRAXi3 carrier selection system.

Two years ago RedPrairie acquired one of Britain's leading WMS suppliers, LIS, and then earlier this year took over MARC Global, another supply-chain specialist.