The highly fragmented market for warehouse management systems got a little less so on Jan. 8 when McHugh Software International, agreed to acquire Software Architects Inc. The deal gives McHugh a new product in SAIs client-server-based Unix and Windows NT-based distribution systems, as well as a new set of customers in the middle market.
"The acquisition of SAI is part of our plan to offer leading warehouse and logistics software management solutions to a wider array of customers, ranging from Fortune 100 organizations to the expanding mid-tier market," says Ritch Durheim, president and CEO of McHugh in Waukesha, Wis. Adds Jim Hoefflin, president of SAI and himself a former McHugh employee who left in 1990 to start the Brookfield, Wis. software firm, "By joining forces, well add significant depth and breadth to our combined product and service offerings...(for) new and expanding markets."
McHugh has more than 280 installed sites. Products include DM plus, a warehouse management system, and TRACS, a transportation management system. Customers include Lever Brothers, Whirlpool Corp., Liz Claiborne, General Electric, and Alberto-Culver USA. SAI makes distribution control systems; customers include Timex Corp., Compaq Computer Corp., and Panasonic Services Co.
