Partnership will allow partners to market VARGO® software

HILLIARD, Ohio—VARGO®, a leading provider of warehouse execution software, has launched the COFE® Partner Program in which it will form alliances with integrated partners, giving them access to COFE®, VARGO®’s software that enables true lean distribution in fulfillment centers.

Based in Hilliard, Ohio, a suburb of Columbus, VARGO® is the leading provider of material-handling system integration, software and equipment solutions for major fulfillment and distribution operations.

VARGO®’s Continuous Order Fulfillment Engine (COFE®) is a warehouse execution system that has changed the way companies such as American Eagle Outfitters, Inc., L.L. Bean and other retailers, e-commerce providers and wholesalers in other industries move goods through their distribution centers. The growth of e-commerce has demanded ways to move those goods as quickly as possible from the fulfillment center to the customer’s doorstep.

“Today’s distribution world demands the best mechanical equipment paired with the smartest software and unique methodologies to achieve lean and efficient distribution,” said J. Michael Vargo, president and CEO of VARGO®. “We believe that our COFE® software is a completely unique answer to companies’ omnichannel and e-commerce needs.”
Integrators that align with VARGO® through the Partner Program would be able to market COFE® software to their customers. They would learn about the product and get trained in how it works so that they can then sell it to their customers. In July 2015, VARGO® invited an initial set of integrators to Hazle Township, Pa., for a two-day training session that included a tour of the American Eagle Outfitters, Inc.’s omnichannel facility that is driven by COFE® software.

“The program will empower these integrators to compete with the original equipment manufacturers and provide them with a complement of products so that they can compete at a higher level,” said Bart Cera, COO and CFO of VARGO®.

The COFE® warehouse execution system is the first to include waveless order processing for continuous order fulfillment in distribution centers. The customizable program controls all of the processes inside a distribution center, from material handling equipment to the devices, people and processes. COFE® is completely scalable, making it suitable for large companies with peak-order days of 400,000 or 500,000 units a day as well as for very small companies that might process a minimum 2,000 orders a day.

“VARGO® will hand select which companies it wants to form alliances with. By joining with a few trusted integrated partners, VARGO® is opening up multiple sales channels for its product,” said Gordon Hellberg, vice president of marketing and business development at VARGO®.

“The more places we can get COFE®, the more it’s going to be understood,” Hellberg said. “Once we can train our integrated partners on how COFE® works, and they sell it to their clients, then we can get the software into many more places. The bottom line is it will help VARGO® grow.”