Infor Global Solutions, a supplier of enterprise software solutions to select manufacturing and distribution industries, has acquired Mercia Software, a wholly owned subsidiary of Finmatica, a European software company facing insolvency amidst allegations of accounting fraud. Cindy Cronin, vice president/general manager of Infor’s process manufacturing group, told LOGISTICS TODAY that Infor was one of a number of companies making an offer for Mercia, describing it as “a highly competitive bidding process.” Terms were not disclosed.
Mercia adds 115 employees and 250 customers to Infor’s 13,000 current customers and 1,800 employees.
Mercia offers two suites of supply chain planning products, which include demand planning, strategic inventory planning, distribution planning, and sales & operational planning functionality. The MerciaLincs Enterprise (MLE) suite is designed for Tier 1 and Tier 2 companies with sophisticated supply chain planning requirements. The MerciaLincs PC (MLPC) product is a point solution that offers deep functionality for smaller companies.
Mercia’s solutions are aimed at the services parts (automotive, aerospace, etc.), consumer packaged goods, healthcare, and distribution industry sectors. Some of Mercia’s customers include divisions of General Motors, TRW, HJ Heinz, Johnson & Johnson, Coca-Cola, Unilever, The Body Shop, Honeywell, Qantas, and Smurfit-Stone.
“Mercia has a 21-year track record of success in the supply chain planning market. Their demand planning and forecasting products will benefit Infor’s existing and future customers across all of our verticals -- automotive, process and discrete manufacturing and distribution,” says Jim Schaper, chairman and CEO of Infor.
These newly acquired products will form the Infor Demand Planning Group and will complement the solutions provided to all of Infor’s existing business units in addition to adding new distribution channels in Asia. John Sookias has been named VP and general manager for Infor’s Demand Planning Group. John was responsible for Mercia worldwide sales, marketing and professional services. He brings to his new role 15 years of international commercial management experience in the IT industry, specifically within the Supply Chain Management market.
