Softeon, a supply chain software provider, has released significant new capabilities for its powerful Distributed Order Management (DOM) solution.

Softeon’s Distributed Order Management system is a powerful platform for retailers, consumer goods companies and more to succeed in Omnichannel commerce and other non-retail/B2B use cases where flexible order management and optimal sourcing capabilities are required.

New DOM capabilities Softeon has brought to the market include:

New Intelligent Sourcing Capabilities: Softeon’s DOM has from its inception used a powerful rules engine to determine where to source orders that meet customer service requirements at least possible cost while considering customer experience and network capacities and constraints.

While those sourcing rules can be easily changed in real time, for any given period they are static. That works just fine for many companies, but others want greater sophistication, looking for the DOM to weigh multiple factors in parallel in making sourcing decisions, based on the specifics of each order and patterns that are emerging on any given day.

Softeon’s intelligent sourcing capability does exactly that, considering multiple variables at each node in the network in real-time, including inventory availability, capacities, level of automation, labor, transportation costs and more to make the best sourcing decision at that moment in time.

It also uses machine learning to improve that decision-making over time.

The result: improved decision sourcing and inventory positioning because they are dynamic and weigh multiple factors simultaneously, proving flexibility each day without the need to change the rules.

Softeon’s suite of supply chain solutions—provided on a single, integrated services-based technology platform—has three anchors: the Warehouse Management System (WMS), Warehouse Execution System (WES), and Distributed Order Management (DOM) system.

Advanced Simulation Tool: Though Softeon’s DOM is a powerful tool to execute business and fulfillment strategies, companies often wonder what outcomes might be if fulfillment network changes and different sourcing rules were defined.

Softeon’s new advanced simulation tool provides this opportunity, enabling companies to take months’ worth of order data and run it through a simulation engine under different scenarios – for example, more or less levels of inventory – and see how it would play out in terms of customer service levels, fulfillment costs, capacity, and other results.

Variables could also include changing capacity definitions at different nodes, such as weather conditions or changing order cut-off times, to cite just two among a variety of other factors, to see how they play out using real order data, allowing better decisions going forward.

Even complex scenarios using many weeks of data can be simulated in minutes, providing rapid feedback and insight. Softeon customers then have the option of moving the tested rule and configuration settings directly into the DOM production application itself.

“The addition of intelligent sourcing and powerful simulation tools continue Softeon’s position as providing the most advanced, yet easy-to-use Distributed Order Management system in the market,” said Satish Kumar, vice president of client services at Softeon. “We worked closely with several key customers to develop these new features, which are delivering real results right now.”

Softeon’s DOM provides:

• Granular, real-time visibility to orders, inventory, capacities, and constraints across an extended supply chain network.
• Rapid enablement of a variety of Omnichannel processes, such as curbside pickup, buy online pick up in store, Ship from Store, returns, vendor drop ship, and more without the need to modify existing systems, greatly speeding time to market.
• Integration of workflows across Points of Interaction (POIs), Points of Fulfillment (POFs) and Points of Return (PORs).
• Optimal order sourcing to provide the lowest logistics costs while meeting customer service commitments and considering network constraints in B2C and B2B applications.
• Uniquely optimizing the inbound flow of goods to balance inventories across internal distribution centers, third-party DCs, stores and other nodes automatically, considering current inventories, in-transit inventories, forecasts, promotions and more.