Watchlist...Descartes Systems Group Inc...DSG on the TSX

Watchlist...Descartes Systems Group Inc...DSG on the TSX

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OVERVIEW

We use technology and networks to simplify complex business processes. We are primarily focused on logistics and supply chain management business processes. Our solutions are predominantly cloud-based and are focused on improving the productivity, performance and security of logistics-intensive businesses. Customers use our modular, software-as-a-service (“SaaS”) and data solutions to route, schedule, track and measure delivery resources; plan, allocate and execute shipments; rate, audit and pay transportation invoices; access and analyze global trade data; research and perform trade tariff and duty calculations; file customs and security documents for imports and exports; and complete numerous other logistics processes by participating in a large, collaborative multi-modal logistics community. Our pricing model provides our customers with flexibility in purchasing our solutions either on a subscription, transactional or perpetual license basis. Our primary focus is on serving transportation providers (air, ocean and truck modes), logistics service providers (including third-party logistics providers, freight forwarders and customs brokers) and distribution-intensive companies for which logistics is either a key or a defining part of their own product or service offering, or for which our solutions can provide an opportunity to reduce costs, improve service levels, or support growth by optimizing the use of assets and information.

The impact of the Pandemic on global trade both in the short-term and over the longer-term remains uncertain at this time. Since the start of the Pandemic in March 2020, we have observed some reduced shipment volumes across various modes of transportation and are aware of some customers who have reduced or temporarily suspended operations or are otherwise experiencing financial hardship. However, at the same time we have seen several other areas of our business where shipment and order volumes have remained stable or, in some cases, have seen increased volumes as a result of the Pandemic. We don’t know what the impact of these events will be on overall global trade volumes and the use of Descartes’ products and services by its customers and whether an impact will only be temporary or may continue for an extended period of time. It is also not clear at this time whether, as a result of the Pandemic and related events, companies and/or consumers will alter trading, manufacturing and/or buying patterns over the longer-term from the patterns we have observed in the global economy in the past.

The Market

Logistics is the management of the flow of resources between a point of origin and a point of destination – processes that move items (such as goods, people, information) from point A to point B. Supply chain management is broader than logistics and includes the sourcing, procurement, consumption by an enterprise. Logistics and supply chain management have been evolving over the past several years as companies are increasingly seeking automation and real-time control of their supply chain activities. We believe companies are looking for integrated solutions for managing inventory in transit, conveyance units, people, data and business documents.

We believe logistics-intensive organizations are seeking to reduce operating costs, differentiate themselves, improve margins, and better serve customers. Global trade and transportation processes are often manual and complex to manage. This is a consequence of the growing number of business partners participating in companies’ global supply chains and a lack of standardized business processes.

Additionally, global sourcing, logistics outsourcing, imposition of additional customs and regulatory requirements and the increased rate of change in day-to-day business requirements are adding to the overall complexities that companies face in planning and executing in their supply chains. Whether a shipment is delayed at the border, a customer changes an order or a breakdown occurs on the road, there are increasingly more issues that can significantly impact the execution of fulfillment schedules and associated costs.

The rise of e-commerce has heightened these challenges for many suppliers with end-customers increasingly demanding narrower order-to-fulfillment periods, lower prices and greater flexibility in scheduling and rescheduling deliveries. End customers also want real-time updates on delivery status, adding considerable burden to supply chain management as process efficiency is balanced with affordable service.

In this market, the movement and sharing of data between parties involved in the logistics process is equally important to the physical movement of goods. Manual, fragmented and distributed logistics solutions are often proving inadequate to address the needs of operators. Connecting manufacturers and suppliers to carriers on an individual, one-off basis is too costly, complex and risky for organizations dealing with many trading partners. Further, many of these solutions do not provide the flexibility required to efficiently accommodate varied processes for organizations to remain competitive. We believe this presents an opportunity for logistics technology providers to unite this highly fragmented community and help customers improve efficiencies in their operations.

As the market continues to change, we have been evolving to meet our customers’ needs. While the rate of adoption of newer logistics and supply chain management technologies is increasing, a large number of organizations still have manual business processes. We have been educating our prospects and customers on the value of connecting to trading partners through our Global Logistics Network (“GLN”) and automating, as well as standardizing, multi-party business processes. We believe that our target customers are increasingly looking for a single source, neutral, network-based solution provider who can help them manage the end-to-end shipment – from researching global trade information, to the booking of a shipment, to the tracking of that shipment as it moves, to the regulatory compliance filings to be made during the move and, finally, to the settlement and audit of the invoice.

Additionally, regulatory initiatives mandating electronic filing of shipment information with customs authorities require companies to automate aspects of their shipping processes to remain compliant and competitive. Our customs compliance technology helps shippers, transportation providers, freight forwarders and other logistics intermediaries to securely and electronically file shipment and tariff/duty information with customs authorities and self-audit their own efforts. Our technology also helps carriers and freight forwarders efficiently coordinate with customs brokers and agencies to expedite cross-border shipments. While many compliance initiatives started in the US, compliance has now become a global issue with significantly more international shipments crossing several borders on the way to their final destinations.

Increasingly, data and content have become central to supply chain planning and execution. Complex international supply chains are affected by logistics service provider performance, capacity, and productivity, as well as regulatory frameworks such as free trade agreements. We believe our Global Trade Data, Trade Regulations, Free-TradeAgreement, and duty rate and calculation solutions help customers improve their sourcing, landed cost, and transportation lane and provider selection processes.

Solutions

Descartes’ Logistics Technology Platform unites a growing global community of logistics-focused parties, allowing them to transact business while leveraging a broad array of applications designed to help logistics-intensive businesses thrive.

The Logistics Technology Platform fuses our GLN, an extensive logistics network covering multiple transportation modes, with a broad array of modular, interoperable web and wireless logistics management solutions. Designed to help accelerate time-to-value and increase productivity and performance for businesses of all sizes, the Logistics Technology Platform leverages the GLN’s multimodal logistics community to enable companies to quickly and cost-effectively connect and collaborate.

Descartes’ GLN, the underlying foundation of the Logistics Technology Platform, manages the flow of data and documents that track and control inventory, assets and people in motion. Designed expressly for logistics operations, it is native to the particularities of different transportation modes and country borders. As a state-of-the-art messaging network with wireless capabilities, the GLN helps manage business processes in real-time and in-motion. Its capabilities go beyond logistics, supporting common commercial transactions, regulatory compliance documents, and customer specific needs.

The GLN extends its reach using interconnect agreements with other general and logistic-sspecific networks, to offer companies access to a wide array of trading partners. With the flexibility to connect and collaborate in unique ways, companies can effectively route or transform data to and from partners and deploy additional Descartes solutions on the GLN. The GLN allows “low tech” partners to act and respond with “high tech” capabilities and connect to the transient partners that exist in many logistics operations. This inherent adaptability creates opportunities to develop logistics business processes that can help customers differentiate themselves from their competitors

Descartes’ Logistics Application Suite offers a wide array of modular, cloud-based, interoperable web and wireless logistics management applications. These solutions embody Descartes’ deep domain expertise, not merely “check box” functionality. These solutions deliver value for a broad range of logistics-intensive organizations, whether they purchase transportation, run their own fleet, operate globally or locally, or work across air, ocean or ground transportation. Descartes’ comprehensive suite of solutions includes:

• Routing, Mobile and Telematics;

• Transportation Management and ecommerce enablement;

• Customs & Regulatory Compliance;

• Trade Data;

• Global Logistics Network Services; and

• Broker & Forwarder Enterprise Systems.

The Descartes applications forming part of the Logistics Technology Platform are modular and interoperable to allow organizations the flexibility to deploy them quickly within an existing portfolio of solutions. Implementation is streamlined because these solutions use web-native or wireless user interfaces and are pre-integrated with the GLN. With interoperable and multi-party solutions, Descartes’ solutions are designed to deliver functionality that can enhance a logistics operation’s performance and productivity both within the organization and across a complex network of partners.

Descartes’ expanding global trade content offering unites systems and people with trade information to enable organizations to work smarter by making more informed supply chain and logistics decisions. Our content solutions can help customers: research and analyze global trade movements, regulations and trends; reduce the risk of transacting with denied parties; increase trade compliance rates; optimize sourcing, procurement, and business development strategies; and minimize duty spend.

Descartes’ GLN community members enjoy extended command of operations and accelerated time-to-value relative to many alternative logistics solutions. Given the inter-enterprise nature of logistics, quickly gaining access to partners is paramount. For this reason, Descartes has focused on growing a community that strategically attracts and retains relevant logistics parties. Upon joining the GLN community, many companies find that a number of their trading partners are already members with an existing connection to the GLN. This helps to minimize the time required to integrate Descartes’ logistics management applications and to begin realizing results. Descartes is committed to continuing to expand community membership. Companies that join the GLN community or extend their participation find a single place where their entire logistics network can exist regardless of the range of transportation modes, the number of trading partners or the variety of regulatory agencies.

Sales and Distribution

Our sales efforts are primarily directed towards two specific customer markets: (a) transportation companies and logistics service providers; and (b) manufacturers, retailers, distributors and mobile business service providers. Our sales staff is regionally based and trained to sell across our solutions to specific customer markets. In North America and Europe, we promote our products primarily through direct sales efforts aimed at existing and potential users of our products. In the Asia Pacific, Indian subcontinent, South America and African regions, we focus on making our channel partners successful. Channel partners for our other international operations include distributors, alliance partners and value-added resellers. During the ongoing period of the Pandemic we have been encouraged by the success of our sales organization to date in being able to continue to execute on sales efforts and prospecting through the use of online communication platforms and virtual meetings in place of face-to-face meetings and in person trade show events.

United by Design

Descartes’ ‘United By Design’ strategic alliance program is intended to ensure complementary hardware, software and network offerings are interoperable with Descartes’ solutions and work together seamlessly to solve multi-party business problems.

‘United By Design’ is intended to create a global ecosystem of logistics-intensive organizations working together to standardize and automate business processes and manage resources in motion. The program centers on Descartes’ Open Standard Collaborative Interfaces, which provide a wide variety of connectivity mechanisms to integrate a broad spectrum of applications and services.

Descartes has partnering relationships with multiple parties across the following three categories:

• Technology Partners – Complementary hardware, software, network, and embedded technology providers that extend the functional breadth of Descartes’ solution capabilities;

• Consulting Partners - Large system integrators and enterprise resource planning system vendors through to vertically specialized or niche consulting organizations that provide domain expertise and/or implementation services for Descartes’ solutions; and

• Channel Partners (Value-Added Resellers) – Organizations that market, sell, implement and support Descartes' solutions to extend access and expand market share into territories and markets where Descartes might not have a focused direct sales presence.

Marketing

Our marketing efforts are focused on growing demand for our solutions and establishing Descartes as a thought leader and innovator across the markets we serve. Marketing programs are delivered through integrated initiatives designed to reach our target customer and prospect groups. These programs include digital and online marketing, partner-focused campaigns, proactive media relations, and direct corporate marketing efforts. These efforts have also historically included trade shows and in-person user group events, but those activities have been suspended during the Pandemic. It is anticipated that some level of inperson events will return to our marketing programs following the Pandemic, but it is uncertain at this point to what extent.

Fiscal 2022 Highlights

On February 26, 2021, Descartes acquired all of the shares of VitaDex Solutions, LLC, doing business as QuestaWeb, a US-based provider of foreign trade zone and customs compliance solutions. The purchase price for the acquisition was approximately $35.9 million, net of cash acquired, which was funded from cash on hand.

On May 7, 2021, Descartes acquired all of the shares of Portrix Logistics Software GmbH (“Portrix”), a provider of multimodal rate management solutions for logistics services providers. The purchase price for the acquisition was approximately $25.1 million (EUR 20.7  million), net of cash acquired, which was funded from cash on hand.

As a result of the Pandemic, beginning in April 2020, many countries across the globe, including Canada, the United States and other countries in which we operate, ordered businesses to close or alter their day-to-day operations. In response, we quickly implemented measures that allowed our employees to safely work remotely from home locations, while allowing us to continue to operate our business and service our customers and engage with prospective new customers. In fiscal 2022, we’ve continued to see various countries locking down businesses as they’ve coped with further waves of the infections caused by the Pandemic. We’ve continued our work-from-home arrangements with our employees and continue to monitor the impacts of these shut-downs on our customers. 

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Management’s Discussion and Analysis...June 2, 2021

Source

https://www.sedar.com/GetFile.do?lang=EN&docClass=7&issuerNo=00003766&issuerType=03&projectNo=03234437&docId=4981100