Optiant (Boston), a provider of inventory planning and optimization software, will acquire

SLIM Technologies (Boston), a developer of supply chain network design software. Terms of the agreement were not disclosed. The acquisition reportedly strengthens Optiant's ability to deliver integrated, advanced decision support tools for supporting more intelligent supply chain planning as well as inventory deployment strategies.

"Optiant's vision is to enable our customers to make strategic and intelligent decisions across their global supply chain," said Jonathan Colehower, CEO of Optiant. "This acquisition is a natural fit for Optiant. It provides our customers with a more comprehensive solution for total supply chain network and inventory planning and optimization."

"With this acquisition, Optiant should make itself more competitive in head-to-head situations, while gaining new opportunities to penetrate companies that view supply chain optimization as a strategic core competency," said Mark Hillman, a research director for

AMR Research.