Your Location: Home Sitemap Quick navigation: Why Catalyst | Solution Center | Knowledge Center | Customer Center | About Us   Why Catalyst   For more than 24 years, Catalyst systems have successfully handled our customers’ toughest, most complex distribution center challenges. Our systems run hundreds of sites in the U.S., Europe, Central and South America, Asia and the Middle East. Find out why Boeing, Saks, Sony Music, Abbott Laboratories, Castle Metals, Illinois Power, Brown-Forman and other global leaders choose Catalyst as a supply chain partner.   Market Expertise Catalyst consultants’ real-world knowledge of what it takes to optimize supply chain value begins at its core – the distribution center. No one has more experience bringing together the people, processes, systems and equipment needed for these mission-critical operations to run like clockwork.   Transportation Our full suite of supply chain execution (SCE) products and services are enabling our transportation customers worldwide to meet the demands of “lean warehousing” in the most complex, high-volume parts distribution operations.   Aviall Case Study Aviall purchased the Catalyst WMS with initial goals of improving their inventory accuracy and achieving ISO9002 certification. Being in the aviation industry, precision, accuracy and product tracking are critical to Aviall’s business. Boeing Case Study After a selection process that included 17 WMS suppliers, Catalyst software was installed as a key part of the warehouse modernization project. Renault VI Case Study Renault VI needed to identify a company that understood their requirements and could deliver a complete solution to handle all aspects of the supply chain involving the distribution centre. Retail As margins get even tighter and the distribution network grows more complex, retailers are exploring every option to simplify their supply chains and gain an edge in efficiency, productivity and customer service. Many are turning to Catalyst – a partner who understands the nuances of the market and offers proven solutions for all distribution models – push, pull, hybrid combination and direct-to-consumer.   Saks Case Study Driving the distribution center’s operation is Catalyst Warehouse Management (WMS) Release 6.8 for flow-through operations. Dollar General Case Study Dollar General chose Catalyst WMS to run its distribution centers to support their growth, beginning with the Ardmore, Oklahoma facility in 1995. Borders.com Case Study The Catalyst WMS allocates and processes over 20,000 orders received daily and allows Borders.com customers to receive their purchases in one to seven days, depending on what shipping option they select. Dixons Case Study Catalyst WMS was first installed in June 1997. The system now manages all aspects of goods-in, storage, picking and despatch and is integrated with the ASRS and the VanRiet sortation system. Brown-Forman Case Study As a member of SAP’s LES Partner Network of North America and the first company in the world to install the SAPConsole ™ mobile computing solution on release 4.6, Catalyst Consulting was the right choice to move Brown-Forman into an SAP-centric solution. Homebase Case Study Catalyst WMS has given Homebase much greater stock accuracy and operational flexibility. The company can now reserve stock for special ordering and uses RF for real-time management in many key areas of the business, adding to both the efficiency and productivity of the company's distribution operations. Consumer Packaged Goods Today’s consumers expect more – faster delivery, perfect quality, more information, and better service. These demands put increasing pressure on the supply chains of manufacturers and distributors of consumer goods. With our unmatched expertise in the most complex, high-volume distribution centers, Catalyst has what it takes to meet these challenges head-on.   Sony Music Case Study Sony’s first distribution center to go live with the Catalyst product was in Carrollton, Georgia in January, 1995. At their largest facility Sony realized a 28% increase in overall productivity and the time to ship on piece pick orders improved from 72 to 48 hours. Process Goods Process Goods companies’ supply chains are under intense pressure on two fronts. First, they must meet strict regulatory compliance requirements for product labeling and tracking. Second, they must meet customers’ rising expectations for speed, accuracy and consistent quality. Catalyst’s integrated solutions offer both the functionality to improve compliance and the flexibility to easily adapt to changing market demands.   Aldrich Chemical Case Study Aldrich Chemical Company was running on a mainframe order entry system of their own design. They had an archaic legacy WMS that printed everything on paper and did not require location verification during picking. Aldrich began to upgrade and automate their supply chain management with the SAP R/3 solution. Abbott Laboratories Case Study All of Abbott’s goals were met by the Catalyst system within ten months of the system’s go-live. Productivity within the warehouse increased by 20%, while their headcount decreased. Cross-Industry Applications Diverse companies in manufacturing, industrial technology, logistics management, utilities and other industries face increasing pressures to upgrade their warehouse operations. To reduce risks and avoid jarring disruptions to their day-to-day business, these companies are turning to Catalyst to help them modernize their distribution center systems and processes.   Illinois Power Case Study Since the implementation of the Catalyst system they were able to reduce the number of employees needed from 74 down to 52. It has also allowed them to centralize their distribution function from 25 individual sites to one large center. These along with a reduction in the amount of extra inventory costs, process costs, and a greater efficiency with a paperless system have given Illinois Power a huge savings across their bottom line. Lincoln Electric Case Study Lincoln Electric installed Catalyst’s WMS Version 7.1 running on an IBM RS/6000 with Oracle RDBMS and Telxon RF terminals. The Catalyst system is interfaced to a SAP host ERP system. Schneider Electric Case Study Schneider Electric carried out an exhaustive search for a suitable supply chain execution partner that would work together to achieve the business goals. Catalyst's supply chain execution solution matched these requirements, including the unique advanced interface with SAP that delivered the seamless integration that Schneider required and all the functionality, power, speed and reliability demanded.   ^ Top Solution Center   The enterprise supply chain extends beyond the company to include the vendors and customers in the fulfillment network. Catalyst delivers an integrated fulfillment solution from supplier to final customer regardless of enterprise boundaries and technology platforms.   Supply Chain Execution Management CatalystCommand™, our Supply Chain Execution Management solution set, manages the physical movement and storage of goods and associated resources at or between locations.   Transportation Suite Improved shipping methods, streamlined operations and complete freight bills and claims management.   Transportation Planning By automating the planning process with CatalystCommand™ Transportation Planning, you’ll be able to significantly improve your carrier performance, customer service and reduce your annual transportation costs. Transportation Execution In transportation execution, shipping plans are carried out with optional packing, carrier labels, load confirmations and important shipping documents. Preparing shipments manually is labor intensive and subject to error, causing major shipping bottlenecks. By automating the execution process with CatalystCommand™ Transportation Execution, you will streamline your operations and significantly reduce your risk and cost. Transportation Reconciliation CatalystCommand™ Transportation Reconciliation reduces your transportation spending by automating the freight audit, freight payment and claims management processes. The system verifies the majority of the freight payments and enables you to spend time on exceptions to correct overpayments. Warehouse Suite Our recently expanded supply chain execution solutions include application components that streamline the physical movement of goods.   Warehouse Management CatalystCommand™ Warehouse Management automates and optimizes all aspects of distribution center operations from receiving to order selection, picking, loading and shipping. Yard Management The yard is often a blind spot in the supply chain where time is wasted and most delivery delays occur. The key to successful distribution center performance is yard management excellence. CatalystCommand™ Yard Management gives you the visibility and control you need to solve this common dilemma by simplifying and accelerating all of your yard activities. iRFID Whether you are a supplier or distributor, RFID will soon be a requirement for your supply chain. Using flexible and scalable software and finding a partner who can provide the necessary business integration is paramount to your success. CatalystCommand iRFID is the only solution that provides immediate benefits today and is able to grow with you and support wide range use of RFID across the extended supply chain. CatalystCommand SAP LES With the country's leading consulting firm dedicated to the SAP Logistics Execution System (LES) combined with our extensive SAP LES help desk experience, Catalyst now offers you the most comprehensive suite of services to unleash the power of SAP throughout your supply chain. Catalyst is a certified SAP Services Partner focused on Supply Chain Execution. Our consultants have completed hundreds of supply chain technology installs and customizations and have hands-on experience with all SAP LES modules. Resource Suite Automate labor planning and management, employ sophisticated warehouse simulation, optimize warehouse storage locations, benefit from task and resource management, and use real-time wireless data collection for SAP.   Labor Management CatalystCommand™ Labor Management enables you to automate labor planning and management so that you can easily identify unproductive time and significantly increase throughput by deploying your resources for maximum profit. Simulation Whether it’s introducing a new product, launching an e-commerce initiative or revising a warehouse layout, changes in a distribution center can be expensive and risky. Often, the impact can ripple throughout a customer’s entire business, creating unanticipated headaches and the need for additional changes. CatalystCommand™ Simulation eliminates much of these risks and hassles. Slotting As demand for a product changes, so should the storage and replenishment strategies change. CatalystCommand Slotting is a web-based application that determines the optimal warehouse location for your products based on demand, historical consumption trends, dimensions, weight, and various other item and location attributes. CatalystCommand SAP TRM Now there's a better way to respond to and manage all those unpredictable developments that occur every day. Catalyst's SAP LES new Task and Resource Management (TRM) module for your SAP LES is a powerful application that adaptively controls warehouse tasks in real time and optimizes the sequence in which they are executed. CatalystCommand SAPConsole Companies today are optimizing their supply chain and entire value chain with real-time data collection. For SAP users, this capability comes in the form of SAPConsole, a native radio frequency (RF) data collection application for SAP R/3, which SAP users already own as part of the R/3 suite.   Supply Chain Process Management CatalystConnect™, our Supply Chain Process Management solution set facilitates, coordinates and optimizes the information and product flow in the extended supply chain network.   Collaboration Suite Streamline the warehouse receiving process and increase throughput, optimize collaboration with transportation carriers, automate and streamline returns to improve customer satisfaction and analyze performance and ensure optimal productivity.   Supplier Link With CatalystConnect™ Supplier Link, you can give your suppliers the benefit of EDI without the cost. Supplier Link is a Web-based multi-language capable application that enables even the smallest overseas supplier to create an ASN on the Web. Carrier Link CatalystConnect™ Carrier Link concentrates service to a select number of capable, high performance carriers, which guarantees a portion of projected volume in return for better rates and service quality commitments. The system creates RFPs, evaluates and selects providers, and negotiates spot, lane or excess volume contracts with carriers. Returns Authorization CatalystConnect™ Returns Authorization is a component of our CatalystConnect Collaboration Suite that enables you or your customers to automatically schedule, authorize and disposition material to be returned due to damage, seasonal inventory, restock, salvage, recalls, or excess inventory. Visibility CatalystConnect™ Visibility is a collaborative solution that shares real-time supply chain information across the supply chain with key customers, suppliers and partners. Visibility tracks inventory flow, updates orders status in real-time and enables the business to effectively manage incidents. Control Suite Respond to order fulfillment changes in most cost effective manner, improve international shipping compliance and customer service, manage returns for improved cash flow and increased compliance, replace error-prone, paper-based audits, and implement RFID effectively.   Supplier Link CatalystConnect™ Dynamic Fulfillment is a real-time system that addresses any changes that might occur in order processing (e.g., order changes, cancellations or priority changes) and determines the most cost and time effective way to fill the order. International Trade CatalystConnect™ International Trade improves the management and control of your global shipping. The system automates and streamlines many functions. Returns Management Returns Management, a component of our Process Mangement Control Suite, takes control of the routing, disposition, refurbishment and eventual disposal of returned goods. Operating as a stand alone component built on an open architecture platform and support OAG (Open Applications Group) Supply Chain XML standards, CatalystConnect™ Returns Management can be used to control and process returns for any warehouse management system. Supplier Quality CatalystCommand™ VQ’s electronic auditing procedure replaces error-prone, paper-based audits and provides real-time visibility into vendor performance. It offers customers a reliable electronic method to “certify” each vendor’s ASN process and continually monitor the accuracy of ASN data against actual shipment and carton contents. Catalyst RFID QuickStart Kits Whether you just want a fast way to ship a few RFID-compliant products or are ready to begin utilizing RFID to vastly improve your operating efficiency and customer service capabilities, we have a solution that will meet your specific needs, operating environment and budget. Optimization Suite Optimize order fill rates at lowest cost. Optimize inventory to increase revenues, margins and efficiencies. Close the gap between supply and demand to reduce lost sales and excess stock.   Order Fulfillment CatalystConnect™ Order Fulfillment is a real-time system that serves as a bridge between order processing and warehouse management to optimize the fulfillment of orders. The system receives information from order processing, determines the most effective way to fill the order based on a number of constraints and variables and sends the information the warehouse management system. Inventory Optimization CatalystConnect™ Order Fulfillment is a real-time system that serves as a bridge between order processing and warehouse management to optimize the fulfillment of orders. The system receives information from order processing, determines the most effective way to fill the order based on a number of constraints and variables and sends the information the warehouse management system. Demand Management With CatalystConnect™ Demand Management, an automated forecast-to-replenishment system, you can close the gap between supply and demand to reduce lost sales, recover profit from inventory and significantly increase your cash flow.   Supply Chain Performance Management CatalystCompass™, our Supply Chain Performance Management solution set provides analysis of Execution and Process activities for the purpose of managing and improving performance. It comprises the Analytics Suite, Event Management Suite and Consulting Suite.   Analytics Suite Analyze historical and trend information to drive operational improvement and enjoy a real-time operational analytic that compares current operational performance against specific operational or business objectives.   CatalystCompass™ Reports CatalystCompass™ Reports is a supply chain analytic that provides analysis of historical and trend information to drive operational improvement. Example report data includes carrier performance, supplier performance, order fill rates and more. CatalystCompass™ Dashboard CatalystCompass™ Dashboard is a real-time operational analytic that compares current operational performance against specific operational or business objectives. This information enables you to respond to bottlenecks before they affect productivity. Events Management Suite Enable your adaptive supply chain with real-time alerts and increase productivity and throughput.   CatalystCompass™ Alerts CatalystCompass™ Alerts enables you to transform your supply chain into a real-time adaptive network that optimizes productivity and efficiency by proactively notifying key personnel when operational or system-related events occur across your supply chain. These notifications are delivered immediately by phone, fax, pager or e-mail. CatalystCompass™ Resolutions CatalystCompass™ Resolutions is an application that takes the appropriate action for the active information published by the Alerts application. The rules can be constructed in such a way generate automatically execute another application to complete a task. Consulting Suite Gain maximum value from your core supply chain execution systems. Optimize your extended supply chain for greater competitive advantage. Improve international shipping compliance and customer service. Consulting Services and Demonstration Center Ensure Success with RFID.   CatalystCompass™ Execution Consulting With CatalystCompass™ Execution Consulting, we help you design and implement the best strategy, processes and practices for the physical movement and storage of goods and associated resources at or between the physical sites or locations within your supply chain. CatalystCompass™ Process Consulting With CatalystCompass™ Process Consulting services, we help you design and implement the best strategy, processes and practices for the coordination and optimization of information and product flow in the extended supply chain network. Wireless Security With Catalyst, you can rest assured you are implementing a wireless solution that is operating in a fully secure environment. Our wireless securities group is comprised of experts who are trained and certified in industry-standard technologies including Cisco LEAP, EAP-TTLS and PEAP (all authentication methods of the 802.1x IEEE standard). CatalystCompass™ RFID Consulting CatalystCompass™ RFID is a consulting practice dedicated to assisting companies in determining the best approach to deploying RFID. The Catalyst RFID Demonstration Center is a world class educational facility designed to help companies gain maximum benefit from RFID.   SAP Solutions Tight integration between ERP and warehouse management systems improves the visibility of timely, accurate data across the enterprise. For customers running the SAP R/3®or mySAP.com® platforms, Catalyst collaborates with SAP to offer reliable, integrated solutions that operate effectively in the most demanding environments.   CatalystCommand™ SAP LES With the country's leading consulting firm dedicated to the SAP Logistics Execution System (LES) combined with our extensive SAP LES help desk experience, Catalyst now offers you the most comprehensive suite of services to unleash the power of SAP throughout your supply chain. CatalystCommand™ SAP TRM Now there's a better way to respond to and manage all those unpredictable developments that occur every day. Catalyst's SAP LES new Task and Resource Management (TRM) module for your SAP LES is a powerful application that adaptively controls warehouse tasks in real time and optimizes the sequence in which they are executed. CatalystCommand™ SAPConsole Companies today are optimizing their supply chain and entire value chain with real-time data collection. For SAP users, this capability comes in the form of SAPConsole, a native radio frequency (RF) data collection application for SAP R/3, which SAP users already own as part of the R/3 suite.