Well, the Celtics lost against the Lakers last night. Let’s see how the U.S. soccer team does against Slovenia this morning. Now, on to the news…

You can read yesterday’s posting for my key takeaways from the Descartes-Routing International acquisition.

Revenue, operating income, operating margin, and net income were all up significantly for FedEx in fiscal Q4 compared to the previous year. Revenue was down 2 percent for the full year, but the other key metrics were up. In short, FedEx’s results are another indication that the economy is recovering. In terms of future outlook, here is what Alan B. Graf, Jr., FedEx Corp. executive vice president and chief financial officer, had to say:

We expect continued improvement in both revenue and earnings in fiscal 2011. Resumed growth in industrial production and global trade is increasing demand for our transportation services, and yield management remains a top priority across all of our operating companies. However, we expect the growth in earnings in fiscal 2011 to be constrained by significant increases in fixed pension and volume-related aircraft maintenance expenses, along with higher anticipated healthcare costs. In addition, our earnings guidance includes increased costs related to the planned reinstatement of various employee compensation programs.

It’s interesting that the CFO highlighted increased healthcare costs, a political hot button here in the U.S., as a constraint on earnings growth. The reinstatement of several employee compensation programs ought to boot morale at the company (especially when efforts are currently being waged to make unionization easier at the company).

I haven’t had a chance to read Ryder’s patent, but according to the press release:

This U.S. patent award provides Ryder with the intellectual property protection related to its Logistics Release process that improves supply chain integration and management of logistics for supply chains.

The key approach to the Logistics Release process is configuring the unique data to create a common, web-native data utility for each stakeholder in the supply chain. The Logistics Release process then creates an optimum shipment that takes into account weight, cube, packaging, stackability, pallet configuration and mode determination. The shipment receives a plan, or “Release” with the logistics information and instructions for that shipment.

The plan is created and initiated prior to the movement of goods and then all events of the subsequent movement are controlled by this plan. Whereas the physical movement requires cross docks, terminals and sequence centers, the virtual movements are monitored continually by a “Control Tower,” or central office from which all movements can be monitored, tracked, and coordinated in real time.

Maybe the devil is in the details, but it’s not clear to me from this description how Ryder’s process differs from what other 3PLs or shippers are doing. Nonetheless, demonstrating a commitment to process innovation is a must for 3PLs to succeed moving forward, so this patent award reflects positively on Ryder.

I’ve had mobility on the brain the past few months, as you can see from previous postings. The press release from NRF and the article from the Wall Street Journal underscore one of the key points that I presented at The Logistics & Supply Chain Forum earlier this month: the use of mobile technologies by consumers is growing quickly, especially in Asia and emerging economies, and this will impact supply chains.

JDA’s stock dropped almost 20 percent this past Wednesday when a jury awarded Dillard’s approximately $246 million in damages in a suit Dillard’s had filed against i2 Technologies, which JDA acquired earlier this year. To put this award into perspective, JDA’s total revenues in 2009 was $385.8 million, so if this award holds on appeal, this would be a big financial blow for the company. According to the JDA press release, “Dillard’s alleged that i2 had failed to meet obligations to Dillard’s regarding two i2 products under a software license agreement and related services agreement for which Dillard’s had paid i2 approximately $8 million.”

(Getting a $246 million return on an $8 million investment doesn’t sound too bad to me).

Here is what JDA Chief Executive Officer Hamish Brewer had to say: “We believe this verdict is unjustified given the nature of this commercial dispute. We will pursue every avenue available to overturn the verdict, and are confident that justice will ultimately prevail. In the meantime, we will continue to focus on providing our customers with world-class services and products.”

Regardless of the merits of this case, there would probably be fewer lawsuits if software vendors and customers took the perspective that I outlined in “Buying Supply Chain Outcomes, Not Software.”

Have a great weekend, and Happy Father’s Day to all you dads out there.

(Note: Descartes, Ryder, JDA, and Oracle are ARC clients)

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