Based on all the deals and developments that have transpired over the past few days and weeks, it seems that there’s some positive momentum in the logistics and supply chain realm heading into 2010. Here is a quick summary of notable developments:

• In the third-party logistics (3PL) world, Saddle Creek announced on Monday that it’s acquiring ServiceCraft Logistics. The deal increases Saddle Creek’s warehousing space by 20 percent (with increased presence in California and Texas) and expands its transportation service offerings. Last week, YRC Logistics announced that it sold its dedicated contract carriage business to Greatwide Logistics. According to John Carr, president of YRC Logistics, “This sale is a strategic move toward a more asset-light business model and aligns resources at YRC Logistics to focus on our core offerings, including transportation, distribution and global services.” And last month, Echo Global Logistics went public, offering 5,700,000 shares of its common stock at $14.00 per share (Nasdaq: ECHO). What does this all say to me? 3PLs are fine-tuning their strategies heading into 2010. In some cases, they are ditching under-performing operations or exiting certain geographies, and in other cases 3PLs are taking action to gain market share in core industries and to expand their service offerings. See “What is The State of the 3PL Industry?” for related commentary.
• In the software world, TMW Systems announced yesterday that it acquired Innovative Computing Corporation (see press release here). This deal further strengthens TMW’s presence in the trucking solutions market. Over the past three years, TMW has acquired several of its competitors, including Maddocks Systems (2006), TMT Software Company (2007), and IDSC (2007). In this niche market, it’s now a two horse race between TMW and McLeod Software (although Manhattan Associates, an ARC client, also has a solution footprint for this market segment). The question now becomes: will carrier-centric TMS solutions further integrate with shipper-centric solutions?
• Also in the software world, RedPrairie, an ARC client, announced its plans to go public. The news is not completely surprising considering the company is owned by Francisco Partners, a private equity firm. Over the past few years, through a combination of acquisitions and organic growth, RedPrairie has grown its revenues from about $186 million in 2006 to about $293 million in 2008. Although RedPrairie’s unaudited revenues for the first nine months of 2009 (as reported in the S1 filing) are down about 12 percent compared to the same period last year, it recorded higher revenues than its main rival Manhattan Associates ($193.8 million versus $184.5 million for Manhattan). At the end of the day, competition is good for the industry, especially customers. A key negative of going public, however, is having Wall Street to answer to, which places new constraints on RedPrairie. Let’s see what happens. Some folks are even speculating that RedPrairie may get acquired before the IPO occurs. If this happens, I’m secretly hoping it’s a 3PL that buys them (see my mid-year predictions posting).
• Even the analyst community is getting into the game, with Gartner announcing yesterday that it’s acquiring AMR (the research firm, not the parent company of American Airlines).

As a whole, these deals and developments send a signal that there’s money to be made in supply chain and logistics in 2010. The outlook for the future this December, while still a bit cautious, is certainly more optimistic than it was last December. To quote the Pet Shop Boys, from their song “Opportunities (Let’s Make Lots of Money)”:

Oh, there’s a lot of opportunities
If you know when to take them, you know?
There’s a lot of opportunities
If there aren’t, you can make them
Make or break them