CGT Inside News - 12/06/2006

Novartis Rumored to Sell Gerber to Nestle

November 29, 2006 - Swiss drugmaker Novartis AG is rumored to be considering the sale of baby food maker Gerber Products Co. to Nestlé, reported the Wall Street Journal (WSJ). Novartis has confirmed that its medical nutrition business is up for sale as part of the Swiss pharmaceutical group's decision to concentrate on the four pillars of patented medicines, vaccines, generics and over the counter products. According to WSJ, Novartis may already be in negotiations with Nestlé to sell its medical-nutrition business, and Nestlé executives may be entertaining the idea of acquiring Gerber as part of the same deal. The Gerber and Novartis's medical-nutrition business would sell for between $4 billion and $5 billion combined with Gerber alone valued at more than $3 billion.

Earlier this week, Novartis also unveiled plans for multiple new product approvals and launches over the next two years. Many of these approvals are for potentially best-in-class medicines that would advance treatment standards for patients with hypertension, diabetes, cancer and other diseases. "Over the next two years we will launch several innovative medicines and continue to invest aggressively in discovery research and development activities and complement our own skills and technologies through attractive collaborations," says Dr. Daniel Vasella, chairman and CEO of Novartis. In total, Novartis now has 138 projects in pharmaceutical clinical development.

Stride Rite Standardizes Operations to Drive Business Growth
Footwear manufacturer Stride Rite signs on to implement the TradeCard Platform and SourceView visibility suite to streamline global trade and reduce costs caused by stock outs, excess inventory, late shipments, missed deliveries and retailer chargebacks. TradeCard will eliminate manual processes and extend control of Stride Rite's physical and financial supply chains to enhance visibility, improve margin and cash flow, and drive business growth. "TradeCard allows us to increase our business capacity without adding staff or additional resources overseas," says Jim Luks, vice president of finance and corporate controller at Stride Rite. "Process automation and extended visibility into our suppliers will help us ensure that shipments arrive at the right place at the right time. By eliminating unexpected surprises in the supply chain, the TradeCard Platform and SourceView will enable us to reduce costs, optimize cash and drive growth overseas."

Blyth HomeScents Keeps Shelves Stocked and Smelling Good
Blyth HomeScents International selects Prescient Applied Intelligence Inc. as its supply chain solutions provider. As a provider of scented candles, fragranced products and related accessories, Blyth HomeScents plans to use Prescient's Enterprise Distribution Planning to better understand product trends and seasonal demand, more effectively manage outsourced products with long lead times and streamline operations at its distribution centers. The Enterprise Distribution Planning suite includes Prescient's demand planning, inventory and replenishment planning, and order optimization.

Becton Dickinson Drives High Customer Satisfaction Levels
Becton Dickinson (BD), a global medical technology company that manufactures and sells medical devices, instrument systems and reagents, is utilizing Optiant's PowerChain Suite to effectively improve service levels, optimize inventory and quantify a distribution supply strategy for its low volume SKUs. Moving to a more formal process allowed BD to identify and effectively manage performance drivers such as supply lead time uncertainty and demand variability. "Becton Dickinson's overall success is directly impacted by our ability to continually streamline and improve the sales fulfillment process and delivery performance we provide our customers," says Ewald Parolari, director of supply chain at BD.

Payless ShoeSource and Disney Collaborate on Kids' Footwear Line

Disney and Payless ShoeSource strengthen their relationship with plans to develop their first 'direct-to-retail' licensed footwear collection. The multi-year deal will bring together the Payless and Disney design teams to create a special line of fun, high-quality footwear styles featuring Disney and Disney*Pixar characters. Payless will source, market and sell the line through its nearly 4,600 store chain and on Payless.com. Payless has sold Disney-themed footwear and accessories for several years; however, the two companies will now work more closely on shoe design, creative direction and retail marketing. "Payless is ideal for our first direct-to-retail footwear collaboration because the company is well-aligned with Disney's goal to create quality, on-trend products for kids and families," says Andy Mooney, chairman of Disney Consumer Products. "Being closely involved with the shoe design process is a significant step for us, and we plan to have a truly integrated relationship with Payless, the nation's leading footwear retailer, from creative to point of sale."

Quiksilver Inc. Forms Mexican Joint Venture

Quiksilver Inc. creates a joint venture with PBM International to market, sell and distribute "Quiksilver" and "Roxy" branded products in Mexico. The joint venture will be responsible for establishing a Mexican distribution network of company-owned retail stores as well as a wholesale business that will include licensed retail stores, large key accounts and small independent retailers. This venture furthers Quiksilver Inc.'s strategy to own and operate its business in key territories. Quiksilver Inc. believes that the Mexican market, which includes popular high-end surfing and travel destinations in a number of coastal cities in Baja and mainland Mexico, is highly attractive and that the Quiksilver and Roxy brands will resonate well with consumers in this market. "This new venture is a perfect fit for our strategy. Not only is Mexico an exciting and potentially meaningful market, but we are very confident that we have found exactly the right partner in PBM International," says Bernard Mariette, president of Quiksilver Inc. "This is another important step in the advance of our strategy to become the world's leader in the outdoor sports lifestyle market. We are excited for the development of this venture and believe it will prove to be quickly successful."

Consumer Spending Strong at Start of Holiday Season
The National Retail Federation (NRF) indicated that U.S. shoppers spent 18.9 percent more over the Thanksgiving weekend than last year, kicking off holiday gift buying with purchases of discounted wide-screen televisions and clothes. Consumers spent an average $360.15 each over the weekend, up from $302.81 a year earlier, said the NRF. Shoppers limited much of their spending to sale items such as Wal-Mart Stores Inc.'s $997 37-inch LCD TV and Sears Holding Corp.'s discounted jewelry and toys, said Bloomberg consultant Howard Davidowitz. According to Nielsen//NetRatings, the Holiday eShopping Index also increased 12 percent from home on the day after Thanksgiving, garnering a 19.2 million consumers across more than 120 representative online retailers, compared with 17.2 million on Black Friday last year. The fastest growing product category week over week was consumer electronics, with a 211 percent increase in unique audience from November 17th to November 24th. Apparel took the No. 2 spot with 117 percent Web traffic growth, followed by Home & Garden with 87 percent growth.

Neiman Marcus Speeds Access to Data
Neiman Marcus selects the Netezza Performance Server (NPS) data warehouse appliance to provide high-performance business intelligence for customer marketing and merchandise analytics. With NPS, the company is able to perform faster query processing and has increased the number of queries it is able to run each day. Prior to the installation, Neiman Marcus was experiencing performance issues from its marketing applications, used by the marketing and sales departments to perform analysis on marketing, sales and campaign data. Neiman Marcus also migrated its merchandise analytics to Netezza and reported cost savings by eliminating the need to purchase additional hardware.

Aldo Group Optimizes Inventory Management

Aldo Group selects Oracle Retail Price Optimization to help maintain the freshness of their merchandise and improve profitability through better in-season inventory management. Aldo will deploy Oracle Retail across more than 900 corporate locations in North America and the United Kingdom in 2007. The Oracle Retail Price Optimization initiative is part of Aldo's strategy to grow consumer loyalty, improve profitability and expand offerings to new markets. Aldo also plans to use Oracle Retail Price Optimization to help provide merchants with greater visibility into customer demand, the impact of price points on inventory levels, gross margin performance, and optimal in-season inventory management decisions.

VeriSign to Acquire inCode Wireless

VeriSign Inc. signs a definitive agreement to acquire inCode Wireless, a global business and technology consulting firm for $52 million. inCode provides strategy consulting services to many major wireless, wireline, cable operator and telecom equipment manufacturer, as well as leading enterprises. Combined with VeriSign's portfolio of managed communications and content offerings, VeriSign plans to offer end-to-end solutions that enable its customers to launch services that drive new revenue streams and improve customer loyalty.

FKI Logistex Launches Case Palletizers
FKI Logistex announces the launch of the new GS100 family of low-price, entry-level case palletizers. The GS100 series provides a cost-effective, fully automated palletizer for those organizations looking to convert from manual palletizing, as well as larger, multi-line operations where high-speed palletizing is not cost-justified. Capable of speeds up to 30 cases per minute, the GS100 series is ideal for a wide array of applications, including food, beverage, consumer goods and general manufacturing. It offers the same heavy-duty construction, flexibility and reliability that are the trademarks of FKI Logistex's mid- and high-speed palletizers. The GS100 series includes three models -- the GS120 (manual pallet handling), GS130 (semi-automated pallet handling), and the GS140 (fully automated pallet handling). All three models feature all-metric designs, pattern utility and layer-editing functions, and premium drive components for reduced maintenance requirements.

Gelco Trade Management Group Names President

Gelco Information Network Inc. appoints CPG industry veteran Jim Suddendorf to president. Based in Minneapolis, Suddendorf has overall responsibility for managing Gelco Trade Management Group throughout North America. Suddendorf joined Gelco in April of 2006 as chief revenue officer where he was responsible for managing current Gelco client relationships and for driving Gelco Trade Management Group revenues through new sales throughout North America. He brings more than 25 years experience in sales, business development and marketing with a demonstrated track record of increasing responsibility and consistent success. He spent 16 years in consumer goods sales and sales management with both Johnson & Johnson and Schering-Plough Corporation and 10 years in the marketing services industry with Gage Marketing Services, Archway Marketing Services and, most recently, Resolve Corporation.

BearingPoint Names Industry Director, Consumer Markets

BearingPoint Inc. announces the appointment of Michael Forhez as industry director of its consumer markets group. With more than 20 years of experience in sales, marketing and management in the consumer products industry, Forhez will be responsible for evaluating, developing and overseeing efforts to expand business and extend BearingPoint's presence in consumer markets. Most recently, Forhez served as vice president of marketing and industry relations for CAS Americas, a global provider of demand-side management solutions for the consumer products industry, where he was responsible for defining and executing the company's go-to-market, media, public and analyst relations strategies.

Today, Small Business Can Think Really Big
Technology Presents Small Businesses With Endless Opportunity for Today's Entrepreneurs
By Joseph R.Cardamone, President, United States Federation of Small Businesses (USFSB)

Ten years ago, few technology experts could have predicted what the Internet has become today. Few could have imagined the vast dependence on e-mail, the thought of the Web becoming a worldwide auction house or that cell phones would access tiny versions of the online world. Now, a minor disruption in our communication devices and platforms makes us wonder how we ever worked without them.

        Technology also makes this a great time to be in a small business. Accessibility and rapid advances of technology, coupled with changes in the traditional corporate career ladder, have spurred a change in the small business community. Many people are embracing the entrepreneurial spirit and are starting their own businesses as sole proprietors. These entrepreneurs and their businesses are leveraging the Web to move more and more of their business functionality to the online community.

        We hear more and more of small business owners who compete with the "big boys" on a newly leveled playing field. From hosting their own Web sites, to accessing hardware and software that can cut down on office overhead, small businesses can operate nimbly but effectively.

        A new generation of American businesses, the so-called "Web-Driven Entrepreneurs," make up 25 percent of all U.S. small businesses, according to a recent study by Warrillow and Co. These businesses are twice as likely to say that their customer base is national in scope, and, not surprisingly, twice as likely to read or publish a blog. These Web-savvy businesses were also found to be more focused on expansion than their traditional counterparts.

        As consumers embrace technology, so too must small businesses to be successful. In 2005, a study by Harris Interactive found that more than a quarter of consumers say that they have become "much more accepting" of technology over the past year. More and more are going to the Web for product information, special limited time offers and "how-to" instructions.

        In many small businesses, many hats are worn - we are both the CEO and administrative assistant - and other roles in between. The goal is to spend as much time as possible being the CEO. Efficiency is a key to success, no matter how small or ordinary the task may be. This used to come at a higher price - either of time or money. But there are plenty of examples of technology reducing that margin. For example, small- and home-based business owners do not have to choose between buying an expensive postal meter system and standing in line at the Post Office. DYMO - a company that has long provided great solutions to small business - earlier this year introduced DYMO Stamps, which enables printing of U.S. Postal Service approved postage without a monthly fee or contract.

        Additionally, advances in accounting software have made small businesses able to build and track inventory assemblies, customize their pricing levels, track job costs, create and customize business plans, create sales and expense forecasts and assess company performance trends. Five years ago, a company with a Web site was considered ahead of the curve. Now, it's no longer enough to have a well-designed site. Business owners need to take advantage of every advantage they can find. Web analytic packages are helping find out what's going wrong (or right) with a site by determining where potential customers are leaving, as well as where customers are coming from and why. This data not only increases efficiency but can make or break a business.

There are also great organizations that are resources to the small and medium-sized business owner. For example, the United States Federation of Small Businesses USFSB, which consists of 50,000 small business members, provides support, networking opportunities, group health insurance and political advocacy for each of its members.

        It is an exciting time for small businesses. Never before has there been a greater opportunity for expansion and growth. Most of this is accomplished by the tremendous advances in  Web  technology. The time is now to seize this opportunity, but always remember the little things that can make the transition and change better for you, your employees, and, most of all, the consumer.

 Joseph R.. Caradmone is president of the United States Federation of Small Businesses (USFSB). Founded in 1983 by small business owners, USFSB advocates for the rights and interests of small businesses and the self-employed. Their mission is to help their members grow and prosper by joining together and effectively promote small business interests before local, state and federal lawmakers.