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Looking back at 2013, Stepping into 2014
21.02.2014
2013 became a milestone year for SOLVO: plenty of exciting projects and the formation of new partner relations have highlighted areas of growth, future courses of development.
It must be noted that in 2013, the company has successfully completed 20 software product implementation projects. Preliminary estimates show that SOLVO is successfully maintaining it position as the leader on the logistics process management systems market as has been the case ever since the given market was established in Russia. The company has completed 160 Solvo.WMS and Solvo.TOS implementation projects since it was founded.
Total company turnover has grown by 35% (compared to 2012). The number of new projects and follow-up projects drove the demand for more human resources. More software-engineers, programmers and support specialists have joined the company ranks. In total, the company currently employs 130 people across its offices in St. Petersburg, Moscow and Kiev.
In the past year, we have implemented Solvo.WMS at 17 warehouses across various industries. This includes distribution, retail, production and pharmaceutical. The majority of clients being prominent players on their respective markets: Sibur, DPD, Roayal Canin, OSC Distribution, Yarfarma, Indukern, Petrovaks and many others.
Our container management system (Solvo.TOS) has been operating at the Riga Container Terminal in Latvia, at the Brooklyn-Kiev Port in Odessa, the Ukraine, and in Port Aktau, Kazakhstan since 2013.
Growth of Solvo.WMS
A large number of projects with a myriad of new challenges have made it possible for us to release a new version of the warehouse management system in 2013 - Solvo.WMS 4.0. Solvo has successfully passed system validation, renewing its certification by Fraunhofer IML in Dortmund.
Solvo.WMS 4.0 capabilities confirmed by the validation process:
- Support of new group assembly methods: multipicking, put-to-store
- Support of a new picking zone replenishment type: dynamic picking channels
- Support of 2 different VOICE technologies
- Fully-functional management of catchweight goods
- New ERP gateway interface
- New EDI module
- Remote warehouses module
The Fraunhofer institute team also paid special attention to the following new features of Solvo.WMS:
- Support of discounted goods management. The given feature is particularly important for major retailers, which frequently hold sales of various goods.
- Goods reprocessing mechanism (e.g. order compilation and kit assembly). The system fully manages this process from finding a location where the item must be delivered for assembly to specifying how reprocessing must be carried out with subsequent load putaway.
Growth of Solvo.TOS
A new version of the Solvo.TOS container terminal and port management system was release in 2013.
This year, the main innovation became the creation of a single Solvo.TOS system in addition to existing systems, Solvo.CTMS and the document management system, Solvo.DMS. The new system combines the management functions of technological processes and document flow under a single database, which significantly simplifies working with the system for all types of users, speeds up overall workflow and installation, and removes the gateway, making it possible to manage all processes in real time.
The next important breakthrough is the creation of separate industry-specific system configuration of Solvo.TOS:
- Solvo.TOS Container – for marine container terminals
- Solvo.TOS Inland – for dry container terminals and freight railroad stations
- Solvo.TOS Cargo – for managing general cargo and multi-purpose terminals
- Solvo.TOS Ro-Ro – for managing Ro-Ro and automobile terminals.
Another important achievement from the development of Solvo.TOS is the creation of a new KPI module (key performance indicators) for the terminal, which SOLVO has been working on in collaboration with its new partner, one of the leaders on the BI-companies market, Prognoz.
At the Forefront
By accumulating many years of experience optimizing warehouse and terminal operations, SOLVO became one of the first companies on the Russian market able to provide a truly unique solution for the automation of workflow at logoparks or mixed-type warehouses, which include warehouse space as well as a container yard with a train operations area.
Partner Agreements and New Opportunities
In 2013, had officially entered a new area of work – systems integration and infrastructure projects. Even though prior to this, we have worked in realizing various partner solutions, although this varied from project to project.
To cater to this new direction, a new dedicated subdivision has been established in the company to focus on complex infrastructure projects and managing relations with strategic partners. We are confident that this new course will strengthen the position of SOLVO as an IT systems integrator on the logistics market.We can successfully play the role of a turnkey contractor, compiling and supplying customers with various technologies (incl. both software and equipment) on demand.
Due to the fruitful efforts of the company, 2013 was a year when we significantly expanded our circle of strategic partners:
- Technology and Hardware of Automatic Identification and Data Collection (AIDC) – these are data capture radio terminals, barcode scanners, and Voice equipment.
Traditionally, SOLVO is a partner of Honeywell (previously LXE) and Datalogic. This year, SOLVO has been designated with the partner platinum status with Datalogic and the H1 status with Honeywell. Nevertheless, the company is always striving forward and is constantly expanding its product portfolio for its clients. One of the key steps in this regard was the signing of a partnership agreement with Motorola and receiving necessary certification for SOLVO specialists. Now, we officially provide radio equipment from Motorola.
- Voice Picking Systems at the Warehouse. We established partner relations with two companies offering these types of systems. In May 2013, an agreement was signed with Optiscan, which offers products from Vocollect. Prior to this, we only worked with Voxware technology. Both of these products have already been implemented by SOLVO specialists and are successfully operating at our clients’ warehouses.
- Real-Time Locating System (RTLS). In September, 2013, SOLVO signed a contract with RTL-Service, which offers innovative positioning technology for all types of industries, and laid down the foundation for several joint projects.
- Racking equipment integration. Last year, a partnership agreement was signed with Fabs Logistics, which served as the next step in the development of partner relations between the two companies. Previously, SOLVO and Fabs Logistics successfully completed several projects integrating Solvo.WMS and various racking systems.
- Optical Character Recognition Systems (OCR). In 2013, SOLVO signed yet another agreement, this time with one of the leaders of the Russian market – ISS. Now, SOLVO can offer its customers multiple OCR technologies as part of its in-house yard management solution (Solvo.YARD) for the warehouse as well as gate and truck waiting area management solution (GATE) for the port. Today, SOLVO offers solutions from three different vendors: Visy, Camco and ISS.
- Ref-Monitoring Systems. In 2013, SOLVO signed a partnership agreement with Emerson Climate Technologies at the Intermodal Europe in Hamburg, which laid down the foundation for active collaboration in implementing the given technology for SOLVO’s container terminal clients.
- Barcode Labeling Technology. We are in the process of signing a partnership agreement with Zebra based on the ISV program.
International Markets
The year 2013 was marked by SOLVO launching a campaign to enter international markets. In particular, the company took active part in some of the biggest international exhibitions and conferences in Russia and abroad: TOC Europe in Rotterdam, TransRussia and TransUrkaine, Intermodal (Hamburg), TOC Middle East (Dubai), Port and Rail expansion summit (Dar-es-Salam, Tanzania) and many others.
Always staying ahead of the curve and keeping a watchful eye on the trends on the logistics market, our mission is to fully meet the demands of our clients and provide them with a wide range of quality products and services.