Blue Yonder announces acquisition of flexis AG

Late last week, Scottsdale, Ariz.-based Blue Yonder, a provider of AI-driven and end-to-end supply chain management services, announced its acquisition of Chemnitz Germany-based flexis AG, a software technology services provider, with a focus on production optimization and transportation planning and execution.

Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

Blue Yonder officials said that flexis AG’s robust customer space in the automotive and industrial original equipment manufacturer (OEM) sectors augments Blue Yonder’s ability to help companies with highly configurable products and expansive suppliers to plan and optimize their complex production strategies and network structures.

“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, in a statement. “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.

The CEO added flexis AG will serve the Blue Yonder portfolio well, in 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,” he said.

Blue Yonder has been active on the acquisition front, of late, with this deal marking its second one over the last three months, following its purchase of last-mile technology services provider Doddle.

Blue Yonder provided LM with additional details on this deal in the Q&A below.

LM: What drove the need for Blue Yonder to acquire flexis? How long had it been planned or in the works?

Blue Yonder: Based on the latest ARC report, Blue Yonder has 34.7% market share in Automotive supply chain planning and our leadership position in automotive industry is being further strengthened with this acquisition so we can better serve the needs of our customers. Between hybrid, electric, internal combustion engine vehicle production and digital showrooms, the world of vehicle purchasing has dramatically evolved in recent years. With flexis, Blue Yonder will enable manufacturers to offer a superior customer experience with better availability, configurability, and fulfillment capabilities.  Additionally, with these enhancements to its planning, engagement, resourcing, fulfillment, and logistics solutions, Blue Yonder will further its mission of building more sustainable, profitable end-to-end supply chains.

This acquisition, which originated from a hypothesis of how Blue Yonder can better serve the automotive and industrial sectors that are undergoing a transformational inflection point (e.g., electrification, configure to order, etc.) will play a significant role in strengthening Blue Yonder’s capabilities on behalf of our customers in automotive, industrial and logistics sectors.

LM: What does flexis provide for Blue Yonder that was needed or missing?

Blue Yonder: Personalization is in high demand from customers, and part of meeting this demand requires companies to provide customers with (1) increased ability to tailor their product before it is built, and (2) visibility as to the impact of any configuration selections on fulfillment dates.  flexis’ order slotting and sequencing, scheduling, along with transportation capacity planning and vehicle routing optimization, coupled with Blue Yonder’s integrated planning and commerce solutions enable companies with an unprecedented ability to promise and to efficiently fulfill highly configurable products to their customers.  Customers can have visibility to up-to-date production and delivery timelines, so they can be engaged throughout the process. 

The addition of flexis further strengthens Blue Yonder’s already market leading position in the automotive and industrial sectors with unprecedented end-to-end capabilities, ranging from volume planning, feature and mix planning, forecast order generation, order slotting and sequencing, configure to order, to transportation capacity planning and logistics fulfillment.

LM: What are the main benefits of this acquisition for Blue Yonder's shipper customers in the automotive and industrial manufacturing sectors?

Blue Yonder: Because of this acquisition, Blue Yonder’s customers will have the capabilities needed to be nimbler and customer-centric in their configure-to-order business process and execution. By dynamically replanning production lines based on real-time orders, material availability, and logistics constraints, companies will be able to efficiently execute to customer centric requirements and orders.  The acquisition of flexis is a further indication of Blue Yonder’s continued leadership and commitment to provide our customers in the manufacturing sector with unparalleled best-in class capabilities in an end-to-end platform.