Thrive Technologies vs. Valogix Inventory Planner

No solution is perfect, but I would say that Thrive is a particularly robust and complex solution that's intended to tackle major demand management and inventory forecasting problems. Smaller companies simply won't need a solution that's so all-encompassing. I would recommend waiting unitl you know that you need it before moving forward with a solution like Thrive.

Incentivized

Valogix is a good tool for a mid to large sized business who has a lot of SKUs and much data that needs to be analyzed to determine supply. It is best used by savvy people, as there is quite a learning curve to it. It integrates well with NetSuite, though I cannot speak to how well it may integrate with other ERP systems.

Incentivized

• Cloud-based, accurate forecasting system saves lots of time and can tangibly boosts ROI
• Robust demand management down to the SKU level
• Optimized replenishment prevents too much money from being tied up in inventory

Incentivized

• Calculates how much it thinks you should have on-hand, based on demand and other factors.
• Integrates with NetSuite to include all your demand, supply, item and location data.
• Automatically determines seasonality for items.

Incentivized

• Although it's simpler than many alternatives, it's a highly complex system and at times we felt lost during the transition period.
• We didn't get the results we had imagined when looking at their case studies and marketing materials. I understand many factors go into those things, and their case studies are not necessarily indicative of typical results, but your mileage may vary.
• Inventory replenishment alerts about potential stockouts weren't always reliable.

Incentivized

• The UI for their product (web application) is weak.
• Does not support multiple units of measure well.

Incentivized

Abas ERP was what we had used previously, and though it did its job adequately, it lacked the forecasting, demand management, and inventory replenishment sophistication of Thrive. We reached a point where we felt it was untenable to supplement the previous system on our own which necessitated the switch to Thrive.

Incentivized

Compared to NetSuite's default demand planning module, Valogix shines. NetSuite's product is very weak, very manually-driven, and does not provide the precise level of control that Valogix does. We used NetSuite's module for a while before realizing it wouldn't work for us whatsoever. It might work for you if you have a simple product setup, few SKUs and only one location. But in that case, you probably don't need demand planning software anyway.

Incentivized

• We were able to reduce the amount of resources tied up in inventory
• Forecasting tools meant significantly less time spent trying to wrangle spreadsheets
• The transition was painful, causing initial doubts, but it was certainly worth the growing pains

Incentivized

• It has begun to reduce time for us taken up by running manual spreadsheet calculations.
• The training was time-consuming and difficult to onboard new users when we had turnover.

Incentivized