ToolsGroup Improves Supply Chain Visibility, Usability, and Power in the Mid-Year Enhancements to SO99+

BOSTON — July 6, 2023— ToolsGroup, a global leader in retail and supply chain planning and optimization software, has announced the latest version of its Service Optimizer 99+ (SO99+) software, building on its goals to deliver higher visibility, explainability, and usability across all of its demand and supply planning functionalities. This is the latest of the company’s significant strides toward making supply chains a force for good by helping organizations improve service levels, reduce excess stock, eliminate waste, and increase profits. With the release of v8.61, ToolsGroup enhances transparency and accuracy while increasing the power of SO99’s forecasting engine with expanded capabilities that now deliver:

• Automated New Product Introduction (NPI) Suggestions which automatically identify anomalies within NPI forecasts and recommend scenarios to most effectively address them.
• Seasonality at Item/Area Level which improves forecasting results by delivering more powerful clustering that better accounts for SKU-specific seasonality.
• Enhanced Misaligned Forecast Value Alerts which explain why forecasts are not aligned to historical sales so organizations can move more quickly and decisively.
• Alternative Transportation Mode Updates to existing on-order expedite optimization functions. This capability now automatically recommends the most economically convenient option for each customer order, best aligned to their organizational goals.

Among ToolsGroup’s numerous satisfied customers is GranTerre, one of the preeminent operators in the Italian agro-food sector. “GranTerre has been a ToolsGroup customer for many years, and we value their commitment to innovation,” said Massimo Corradi, Supply Chain & Logistics Director, GranTerre. “We are excited to see these enhancements to SO99+ and the improvements they will bring in visibility, explainability, and power.” Delivering unparalleled value to customers, these exciting new capabilities join other recent dynamic planning enhancements to SO99, including:

• an Industry-Leading NPI Dashboard that enables users to better leverage historical data to create and refine forecasts for new products.

• Aggregate Forecasting & Re-Forecasting Based on Pre-Orders that allows demand planners to forecast at any aggregate level without losing nuanced details.
• Dynamic Multi-Sourcing that allows users to plan simultaneous replenishment from multiple suppliers, while also selecting back-up suppliers and creating order triggers.
• Probabilistic Bill of Materials, one of SO99’s most popular recent capabilities, that factors in the probability of certain components being used and determines the quantities needed for a BOM at the start of the planning process.

“SO99+ is the industry leader in probabilistic planning techniques, multi-echelon inventory optimization, and AI,” said Inna Kuznetsova, CEO of ToolsGroup. “The release of SO99+ V8.61 supports our development goals of improving visibility, enhancing explainability, and increasing the power of our demand and supply engines. Customers trust ToolsGroup to deliver on their business goals while improving sustainability, helping to make their supply chains both a competitive advantage and a force for good.” With over 400 customers located in 45 different countries, ToolsGroup’s SO99+ provides the power of dynamic planning, driving intelligent decision-making at the speed of business. Customers report a 5-10 percentage point improvement in forecast accuracy and a 3-5 percentage point increase in service levels while simultaneously achieving a 20-30% inventory reduction. Thanks to built-in automation, customers cut the planning workload by up to 90% and reduce waste by 10-30%. For more information about SO99+, read our blog on the v8.61 release HERE.  

About ToolsGroup

ToolsGroup’s innovative AI-powered solutions enable retailers, distributors, and manufacturers to navigate through supply chain uncertainty. Our retail and supply chain planning suites empower a new level of fast, intelligent decision making and unlock powerful business improvements in forecast accuracy, service levels, and inventory – delighting customers and achieving financial and ESG KPIs. Stay in touch with ToolsGroup on LinkedIn, Twitter, YouTube, or visit www.toolsgroup.com.