Logility makes entrance into supply chain-focused AI, with acquisition of Garvis

In a deal that meshes logistics and supply chain technology with AI, Atlanta-based Logility, a leading provider of collaborative supply chain optimization and advanced retail planning solutions, said this week that it has acquired Antwerp, Belgium-based Garvis, a SaaS services provider that combines large language models (ChatGPT) with AI-native demand forecasting.

Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

Logility officials said that with Garvis in the fold that it will be able to offer up what it described as a new supply chain planning paradigm with DemandAI+, Garvis’s AI-First forecasting solution combining Generative AI with machine learning algorithms, which will move beyond conventional methods to plan demand and inventory at market speed.

Logility President Allan Dow told LM that acquiring DemandAI+ technology continues Logility’s decades long heritage of innovation.

“DemandAI+ is a next generation demand intelligence platform launching a new paradigm of supply chain planning,” he explained. “It’s the only offering available that combines advanced AI-driven demand planning, demand sensing, and causal forecasting with Generative AI in a single solution. The integration of DemandAI+ into the Logility Digital Supply Chain Platform offers supply chain leaders enhanced integrated business planning. Ultimately, this gives Logility clients greater confidence to make the right decisions based on risk, cost, and service. This acquisition also serves as another example of how Logility is investing in its product portfolio to provide our clients with leading-edge solutions to overcome today’s supply chain challenges.”

As for what the acquisition provides to Logility that was needed, or missing, Dow said that the being able to use artificial intelligence for forecasting and demand planning is easy, accessible, and explainable, while keeping the planners in control and driving the paradigm shift toward human-machine collaboration utilizing generative AI.

And when asked about the competitive advantages of this deal from Agility’s perspective, Dow noted that while Logility already has AI capabilities across all components of its supply chain planning platform, DemandAI+ provides the foundation to raise those capabilities to another level of planning insights leveraging Generative AI, which in turn will provide even higher value for its customers.

With more than 70 examples of implementations of DemandAI+, Logility said that it has enabled customers to perform various tasks, including: translating buying behavior, market dynamics, and other events into forecasts across products, locations, and customers. What’s more, it added that DemandAI+ allows companies to understand how to react to changes as they happen—ultimately improving forecast accuracy and service levels, even for heavily promoted, highly seasonal, or intermittent products.

“Our clients have realized epic results by using AI-driven algorithms and natural language interfaces to gain insights into the peaks and troughs of demand and quickly communicate that knowledge to the rest of the organization,” said Piet Buyck, CEO, Garvis, in a statement. “Results have included a 70% savings of weekly planning time, 15-30% reduction in forecast error and improved inventory management – all with ridiculously fast implementation times,” continued Buyck.