2011 Readers' Choice: Editors' Picks

This year’s Readers’ Choice survey spans 10 categories, but some companies do not fit snugly into any one group due to their smaller size or niche focus. In response, we created the Editors’ Pick section to recognize solutions and service providers that are making an impact in the consumer goods industry and should be duly noted. 

 

Specialty: Provides CPGs with promotional, affinity, share, breadth and loyalty card analysis at the market basket level

Biggest Win in 2010:Expanded Dollar General’s vendor program to 65+ CPGs; became Rite Aid’s analytical solution and enhanced Rite Aid’s RiteInsight vendor program with loyalty basket data

Specialty: AFS Technologies is a provider of software solutions for the food and beverage industry.

Biggest Win in 2010:AFS Technologies’ On Demand Division signed several new clients to its Profit Optimization Suite, which includes fully-integrated solutions to manage and measure trade spend, seize growth opportunities and identify positive/negative trends across an organization. 
 

Specialty: AspenTech solution, coupled with its partner’s domain expertise, helps enable customers to achieve operational excellence in process manufacturing.

Biggest Win in 2010:AspenTech is growing its presence in the consumer products industry by adding 10 new partners to its worldwide partner network.

 

Specialty: Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) Vendor Managed Inventory (VMI) platform helps CG manufacturers cost-effectively deploy and grow programs

Biggest Win in 2010: In 2010, Datalliance added more leading suppliers of food products, consumer packaged goods and apparel to its customer base. For many, this is their second-generation VMI platform.
 

Specialty: Solving complex supply chain and business agility problems through the application of rules-based artificial intelligence technology

Biggest Win in 2010:Released the award-winning Enterra Supply Chain Assurance Platform (ESCAPE) — developed in partnership with Conair Corporation; won ESCAPE engagement with Fortune 500 client Newell Rubbermaid

 

Specialty: Mobile applications to automate CPG companies’ in-store visits and data collection on inventory levels, POS materials status and customer service

Biggest Win in 2010:Established a standard for mobile applications at CG companies, like H.J. Heinz, Bacardi, Laura’s Lean Beef and Anheuser-Busch, to achieve sales excellence by monitoring in-store merchandising compliance

 

Specialty: Provides data management, TPO, availability and planning applications to companies in the consumer goods industry

Biggest Win in 2010:Moved its entire suite of products to a fully hosted Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) platform, radically reducing customer on-boarding times and ongoing costs

 

Specialty: Global IT services firm providing transformational outsourcing underlined by innovation and value creation

Biggest Win in 2010:Partnered with world’s leading flavored beverage organization to create a “Business-Aligned IT” organization that creates business value and generates year-on-year reduction in IT complexity and IT costs
 

Specialty: Comprehensive procurement solutions provider with specialized expertise and success serving the consumer products industry

Biggest Win in 2010:Added several consumer products clients to its growing portfolio, expanding its Specialized Procurement Infrastructure built to optimize spend and accelerate real, sustainable savings

 

Specialty: A leader in business intelligence, Demand Signal Repositories and customized, analytical solutions for CPG firms

Biggest Win in 2010:According to Elizabeth Arden’s Vice President of Category Management Natalia Magnorsky, the company doubled productivity of its corporate category managers with Ironbridge’s web-based DSR technology.

 

Specialty: Management consulting firm specializing in global CPG manufacturers and distributors: Each year, it executes a wide range of CPG projects in every region of the globe

Biggest Win in 2010:Initiated 14 new operations improvement projects in 12 countries for Fortune 100 companies

 

Specialty: LumiData’s SOLYS software provides consumer goods companies with a 360-degree perspective of demand across all retail channels.

Biggest Win in 2010:Implemented demand intelligence architecture that aligns information with key operating decision cycles of both downstream and upstream business functions, with dashboard reporting solutions for all retail sales teams as well as an all-channel enterprise platform for C-level reporting

Specialty: Software tools that enhance enterprise and government mobile worker productivity as well as IT visibility and control

Biggest Win in 2010:Grew customer list to 1,900+ organizations and 500,000+ mobile workers, including wins at Southeast Water, IDEXX Laboratories and Grange Insurance; a 2010 Mobilizer Award Winner

 

Specialty: Provides a comprehensive portfolio management solution to enable better decision making and business accountability: Enterprise Product Portfolio Management software helps CG companies maximize pipeline performance from ideation to commercialization

Biggest Win in 2010:Planview hosted and produced PIPELINE 2010, a virtual conference on product development held in November (www.PIPELINE2010.com), which brought together more than 1,700 product innovators from 37 countries.

 

Specialty: Promax is a specialist in sales planning, trade promotion management and trade promotion optimization solutions.

Biggest Win in 2010:After an extensive selection process, Promax PX was chosen by The Dial Corporation, North America (part of the Henkel Group) and also by Henkel Corporation in Germany as their TPM and Sales Planning solution.

Specialty: QlikView, QlikTech’s business intelligence solution, delivers enterprise-class analytics and search with the simplicity and ease of use of office productivity software.

Biggest Win in 2010:The release of Qlikview 10 empowers consumer goods companies, like Kraft Foods and Lifetime Brands, to become instantly productive and make timely, critical business decisions.

Specialty: Next generation mobile solutions for salesforce automation, field marketing, merchandising, in store audits, direct store delivery and van sales

Biggest Win in 2010:Successful deployment for 10,000 field audit users and 800+ sales/merchandising users in China; 3,000 DSD users in the U.S.; six new merchandising deployments in Latin America; and a next gen tablet solution rolled to 3,500 users in the U.S.

 

Specialty: Enterprise Demand Signal Repositories leverage POSmart/BlueSky to automate the cleansing/integration/reporting for CPG manufacturers.

Biggest Win in 2010:POSmart selected by three large CPG manufacturers; solidified partnerships with IBM and Teradata; released Demand/Planning and Promotion applications; experienced 170 percent growth this year

Specialty: Provides integrated solutions to optimize planning, decision support and performance management across the value chain.

Biggest Win in 2010: Enabled Synectic Group’s (partner) success engineering and marketing a white space solution, Trade Promotion Optimization Planner, which is built on River Logic’s technology platform, Enterprise Optimizer.

Specialty: StarfishCPG simplifies business analysis for small and midsize CPG manufacturers, measurably improving rapid decision making.

Biggest Win in 2010: StarfishCPG is currently providing significant value to Barilla America with Interactive Edge as a core solution partner.

 

Specialty: Delivers end-to-end mobility solutions that enable enterprises to increase productivity, optimize real-time processes and maximize business success

Biggest Win in 2010:Increased momentum with wins from major CG brands in U.S. and Europe: Spring Wireless deployment won CGT Business and Technology Leadership Award in Customer Management category

Specialty: STICORP is a partner for GE Intelligent Platforms - Manufacturing Execution Systems (IT) for CPG manufacturers.

Biggest Win in 2010:Awarded a “certificate of excellence” from Toray Films Europe (TFE) for a successful MES deployment: TFE is a major manufacturer of plastic films used by CPG

 

Specialty: Provides Real Time Marketing Planning and Simulation Application

Biggest Win in 2010:Increased number of brands by four times; expected to exceed $2 billion in marketing dollars under management; quantified the impact of Facebook on sales for a major CPG customer

 

Specialty: Cloud-based trade management, social CRM and analytics built on Microsoft’s CRM and XBOX technology

Biggest Win in 2010:Microsoft selected UPSIDE as go-to-market partner for trade management on Windows Azure cloud in CPG