Doors Appointment Image by Esa Riutta from PixabayPanasonic has announced the appointment of Duncan Angove as the new Chief Executive Officer of Blue Yonder. Panasonic bought the company in September 2021 and outlined plans to IPO the supply chain business as recently as May 2022.

The leader in digital supply chain and omni-channel commerce fulfilment also appointed Corey Tollefson, President, Worldwide Field Operations. Angove and Tollefson have worked together before at Retek, Oracle and Infor. When they left Infor in 2019 they set up ArcSpring a private equity firm. Angove has been lured to a CEO position and brought Tollefson with him. He replaces Mark Morgan who held the role of interim CEO since February 2022 following the departure of Girish Rishi

Yasu Higuchi, CEO, Panasonic Connect and chairperson, Blue Yonder Board of Directors commented: “We recognize the opportunity that Blue Yonder brings to Panasonic Connect’s growth as evidenced by our preparations for a stock exchange listing.

“After careful consideration, we’re confident that Duncan’s proven track record growing companies such as Infor, Oracle and Retek, as well as his supply chain experience and working with customers, makes him the right leader to take Blue Yonder’s growth and innovation to the next level. We want to thank Mark Morgan for his effective leadership over the past five months while serving as interim CEO and for his many contributions to the company.”

Who are the new team

Angove brings a wealth of experience to Blue Yonder. At Infor, he formed part of the leadership team as President, working with Charles Philips, CEO driving the business towards the cloud and preparing it for an IPO before it was finally acquired by Koch Industries. His experience in the retail sector at Retek and subsequently Oracle gives him the knowledge and experience of the retail sector that Blue Yonder operates in.

Duncan Angove, CEO, Blue Yonder
Duncan Angove, CEO, Blue Yonder

He has brought with him Tollefson, who led the retail business unit at Infor. There he pivoted it through acquisitions such as Predictix to become a retail analytics leader. He brings with him a network of relationships and should help drive sales in Blue Yonder as it prepares for its IPO. Having worked with Angove at Arcspring, the relationship is clearly close and bodes well for the future

Angove noted: “I am excited to join such a proven supply chain software industry leader in Blue Yonder. The supply chain is at the forefront of every organization’s C-level conversation and has never been more important.  Having spent years in every part of the supply chain and the retail industry, I look forward to working with the collective team to lead us into what’s next for the future of supply chain and omni-channel fulfilment.”

Enterprise Times: What does this mean

Angove is taking over a very successful part of the Panasonic business. Its first-quarter saw SaaS revenue growth of 37%. It came as retailers turned to the supply chain expert to help solve their supply chain challenges brought on by COVID and the war in Ukraine.

Total revenue was $289 million, up 11%. The business continues to move its revenue to a SaaS-based model. SaaS now comprises 39% of the business. This transformation to cloud is familiar to Angove from his days at Infor. It will be interesting to see whether he can help accelerate it.

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