About ToolsGroup

In 1976, Eugenio Cornacchia, a young MIT master’s graduate in Operations Management joined MIT-associated Draper Lab to work on a challenging project for Fiat’s Automotive Spare Parts Division. FIAT had unmanageable inventories and one of the lowest service levels in the European automobile industry. This needed to be fixed.

Back then inventory planning and forecasting was done using simple “deterministic” calculations based on traditional inventory theory. Eugenio had a different idea. He signed up a group of talented MIT graduates who had collaborated in the NASA Apollo space project and together they invented a new spare parts system in less than a year. It was the world’s first “stochastic” software that incorporated probability-based algorithms across an entire supply chain planning system, from forecasting to inventory optimization and replenishment. Over the next two decades, their pioneering work evolved into the ToolsGroup’s SO99+ platform.

FIAT was happy. The company increased its service levels to “best in class” 92%, while carrying less than two months of inventory.

In 1980 Eugenio joined Innovation Technology Partners (ITP) where he met the company’s COO Joseph Shamir. At ITP the two were part of a team that implemented the very first ‘factories of the future’ that paved the way for today’s global “Factory (or Industry) 4.0” movement.

Eugenio (Chief Scientist) and Joseph (CEO) founded ToolsGroup in 1993, commercializing the first service-driven supply chain planning and automation software, which proved to be decades ahead of its time.

Since its inception ToolsGroup has grown to serve every major global region, continuing to stay at the vanguard of technology innovation and customer satisfaction.

Then in 1980, Cornacchia met Joseph Shamir, and the two made history.

Working together at ITP, they pioneered the concept of “factories of the future” and paved the way for the Factory 4.0 movement. Finally in 1993, it was time to bring their innovative supply chain planning model to market. Using the same approach that had turned Fiat service levels around, Cornacchia and Shamir launched ToolsGroup. It was the first service-driven supply chain planning and automation software for the commercial market.

Today, ToolsGroup is still finding new ways to help organizations keep up with the shifting trends and unpredictable demands of the real world.

As we’ve grown, we’ve continued to push the boundaries on what’s possible, such as pioneering the use of machine learning and AI years ahead of its time. We’re now helping companies in every major region predict more behaviors, protect against surprises, and perform more efficiently in a constantly changing global economy.