Kewill Systems Plc, the UK-based supply chain management company, has paid $18.5m to acquire competitor Beaverton, Oregon-based Aristo Computers Inc to enable it to target a small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs). Kewill traditionally provides high-end PC-based EDI software that allows companies to automatically select carriers, route packages and ensure shipping is standardized. Aristo has web-based technology where suppliers and retailers can standardize supply chain logistics using only a browser.
The deal will give Kewill 70% of the lucrative US carrier software market, says Geoffrey Finlay, Kewill’s chief executive, just when it is about to expand through internet-inspired technology. Finlay says Kewill’s current customer base is just the tip of the iceberg and has the capacity to be many times larger, he said. There are 12,000 companies who use supply chain software in the UK, he says, but 100,000 would be interested in web-based systems. In the US, he says there are 30,000 systems currently in use, but with the web technology, the number would rise to around 2.5 million.
Kewill will offer a hosting service, Kewill.com in September, where suppliers and retailers will be able to check on the location of their deliveries and also what is inside the boxes. This enables them to pre-arrange distribution.
Kewill.com will be augmented in January by applications that will enable suppliers to download the correct format for pallet labeling, so that both ends of the supply chain can register the contents of each load swiftly. Ultimately, says Finlay, the idea is to create a free trade forum by 2001 where software automatically links retailers with the cheapest or most appropriate suppliers. In the market response, Kewill shares rose by up to 9.09% on the London Stock Exchange.
