Companies On the Move - January 2004
While the following companies did not place on this year's Best in Class list, something must be said for how they are continuously establishing themselves as up-and-comers within their respective categories. For this reason, Consumer Goods Technology highlights the top Companies on the Move. These companies are gaining both traction and recognition through partnerships with consumer goods companies, major acquisitions, innovative software introductions and a renewed focus towards the consumer goods industry.
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Agile Extends PLM Presence
Agile Software Corporation expanded its presence in the consumer packed goods industry with three new customer wins: Leapfrog, Philips Oral Healthcare and Playtex. Using Agile product lifecycle management (PLM) solutions, these organizations are able to bring products to the market faster, create goods that are of higher quality, enable brand extensions, reduce regulatory compliance costs and increase competitiveness. Agile also teams with Deloitte to deliver integration services to consumer product goods companies.
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Big Gains for Procuri
Procuri, a company delivering strategic e-sourcing solutions, services and knowledge, added 21 new customer contracts in the first three quarters of 2003 to its client roster. Customers joining and extending agreements include Newell Rubbermaid, Georgia Pacific and Kraft Foods International. A November acquisition of SupplierInsight, a supplier management and services company with customers such as Henkel and Kohler, expects to accelerate Procuri's product roadmap and development efforts in the area of supplier relationship management.
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Cleo Connections
Since 2002, when Wal-Mart championed AS2 EDI-INT among its suppliers, CPG companies tapped Cleo Communications solutions to convert their EDI to Internet-based connections. Cleo Communications provides secure communications to over 1,500 Wal-Mart suppliers and to many more companies using LexiCom such as Canon USA, Vivendi Universal Games and Wild Planet Toys to link to other retailers. A Cleo Communications executive attributes its success to the fact that LexiCom takes less than 30 minutes to install, configure, test and communicate.
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John Galt Powers PeopleSoft
John Galt Solutions is a provider of solutions for the collaborative demand planning and business forecasting market space. The company recently signed OEM agreements with PeopleSoft for use of the ForecastX SDK forecasting algorithms in PeopleSoft's Supply Chain Solution. In addition, John Galt's Atlas Planning Suite has enabled CG companies such as Hasbro, Levis Canada and First Alert to build a sales and operations planning process using Web-based collaboration, thus tying corporate goals to actual changing demand. A partial list of CG companies using John Galt's demand planning products include Nike, Spalding, and Huhtamaki.
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TGI Opens Doors to ERP
Technology Group International (TGI), a provider for ERP, e-commerce, decision support and business intelligence, first released its ERP package, Enterprise 21, in 1991. Since then, TGI added a number of additional products to its portfolio including B2B and B2C e-commerce packages and an advanced planning package that utilizes a linear programming model to optimize the entire manufacturing and distribution network. Therma-Tru Doors recently implemented Enterprise 21 to improve the efficiency of its business processes, says Carl Hedlund, president and CEO, Therma-Tru Doors.
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Blinco Makes Waves
Blinco Systems, a boutique developer of global sourcing, non-asset manufacturing, import/export/trade, logistics and distribution solutions, rolled out a java-based version of 3rdwave CGD for consumer goods distributors in December 2003. 3rdwave is designed to monitor and control all aspects of sourcing and inbound logistics activities to provide high levels of supply chain security, insure compliance with all government regulatory bodies and streamline entry of shipments into the United States. Users don't lose their original investment as the java version mirrors the client server solution's footplate.
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Relational Solutions Pools Data
Beginning in 1996, Relational Solutions dedicated itself to business intelligence and portal development, keeping customer needs a top priority. The company recently released the BlueSky Business Intelligence Portal for consumer goods companies, which features an underlying architecture called POSmart to automate the integration of data that manufacturers get from retailers. Markwins International recently implemented the solution. "With BlueSky, Markwins will be able to view and analyze out information faster by integrating all data through one system," says Floyd Adlawan, sales information manager, Markwins International.
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Irista Suite Smooths Data
As a contender in logistics management solutions, Irista deployed its suite of logistics applications designed for production logistics environments at The Dannon Company. The iristaWare application manages the inbound flow of raw materials from suppliers, through production, to the outbound distribution and delivery of finished goods. Working in tandem, Irista's warehouse and transportation management applications direct activities based on real-time conditions and constraints. Other Irista clients include RR Donnelley, Sony, Electronic Arts and Estee Lauder.
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Demantra's New Partner
Founded in 1996, Demantra delivered one of the first demand forecasting solutions to the consumer products industry. Today, the Demantra Spectrum Suite enables companies such as Unilever, Reckitt Benckiser and McCain Foods to increase profit margins and optimize their promotions, inventory and replenishment decisions. In November 2003, Demantra partnered its promotion modeling technology with MEI, a developer of complete trade and retail management solutions for CG companies, to give business users the tools they need to grow businesses profitably.
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Evant Frees Funds
The privately held enterprise software firm, Evant, provides solutions that allow retailers, wholesalers and distributors to free up significant amounts of working capital through better inventory management. Evant offers merchandise planning, demand forecasting and replenishment solutions on a 100 percent J2EE platform. With Evant Demand Planning and Replenishment, Dot Foods was able to achieve higher inventory turns, improved customer service levels and freed up $6 million in working capital.
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Terra Forecasts Results
Since its beginnings in 2002, Terra Technology has dedicated its focus solely on improving its client's supply chain performance forecasting, capabilities and systems by offering consulting services and complementary software products. Terra's Real-Time Forecasting systems work to predict short-term demand and are proven to cut 50 percent forecasting error for clients such as Campbell's Soup Company, Georgia-Pacific and Ventura Foods. Terra also helped to reduce Nabisco's inventory by 20 percent and short shipments by 25 percent.
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Lawson Breaks into CG
Lawson Software provides integrated, comprehensive solutions that automate business processes, enable collaboration among participants and deliver detailed analysis that have long helped retailers attain competitive advantage. With its recent acquisition of Numbercraft Ltd., a privately held consultancy and provider of analytic applications, Lawson breaks into the consumer packaged goods market. Lawson plans to continue Numbercraft's consulting business and introduce several packaged analytics applications.
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Hot Year for CaseStack
In 2003, CaseStack was listed in Entrepreneur Magazine's Ninth Annual Hot 100 Fastest-Growing Entrepreneurial Companies in America and was recognized in Inc magazine as the 48th fastest-growing private company in America, solidifying itself as a robust provider of logistics outsourcing services to mid-sized consumer packaged goods companies. Among CaseStack's 2003 customer wins are Sunsweet, Lea & Perrins, the maker of Worcestershire Sauce, and Hain Celestial, the maker of Celestial seasonings brand of teas.
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Bay Street Drifts toward CRM Success
Bay Street Solutions is gaining traction as a consulting firm by delivering expertise critical to the success of CRM implementations by bringing functional and technical capabilities and experience in CRM best practices. Its business acumen and technical skills help provide CG companies including Nike, Kellogg's, Quaker Oats, Tilia and Hershey Foods. With solutions focusing on promotion planning/execution, product category definition, order management, ERP and Legacy system integration and third party data integrations.
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IDS Exclusive Partner to SAP
As the exclusive SAP SMB business partner for seven U.S. states, IDS Scheer SIGMA markets and sells SAP solutions for businesses with up to $200 million in annual revenue. Two of its certified SAP solutions are for the consumer goods industry: ARIS SmartPath for consumer products/cosmetics and ARIS SmartPath for consumer products/food. For Hawaiian Tropic and Royal Cup Coffee, ARIS SmartPath solutions integrate forecasting sales, manufacturing and procurement abilities for managing supply chains.
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Notiva Wins Industry Vet
Notiva, the provider of trade settlement software for the global retail/consumer products industry, in December 2003 announced that Ed Fowler, former vice president of SAP America, joins the company as its senior vice president of corporate sales. Fowler responsibilities include corporate and strategic development and partnership activities such as consulting, technology, product and consumer goods initiatives. For manufacturers, The Notiva Trade Settlement solution provides manufacturers with visibility into financial dealings with retailers.
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Finmatica Refocuses Focus
Finmatica refocused its market position in 2003 as a provider of collaborative supply chain planning solutions specific to CPG, food and beverage, and consumer durables. Finmatica's big news for the year was the release of 3.0 of FINeCHAIN, the extended SCM suite that addresses extensive customer collaborative supply chain planning issues from demand forecasting and planning to collaborative manufacturing planning and production scheduling. The company also gained customers throughout the year including Coca-Cola, Energizer and Unilever.
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Flintfox Transforms Trade
Since its establishment in 1986, Flintfox set out to improve the quality, accuracy and speed of its customer's planning, administration and business analytics decisions through its TRM Suite. In April 2003, Flintfox announced the release the TRM Analyzer, a solution that helps to keep trade relationship costs under control and well managed. That same month, Flintfox introduced customers to an analyzer suite addition called the Business Reporter, which offers the ability to slice and dice data within a familiar environment to customers such as Microsoft Excel.
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DoubleClick Expands Marketing Expertise
As a provider of marketing solutions for advertisers, direct marketers and Web publishers, DoubleClick spent most of its time in 2003 expanding its suite of solutions for marketers. As a result from this expansion, the company now offers a complete suite of marketing automation solutions, which includes e-mail, analytics, data management and campaign management tools for use within the consumer goods industry. DoubleClick's plans for 2004 include leveraging its position in marketing automation solutions, and overall online marketing expertise, into the consumer goods industry. In 2003, DoubleClick also brought Peter Krainik, previosuly vice president and general manager, consumer goods, Siebel Systems, on board as its new chief marketing officer.
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CPG Gets Linked
In 2003, TDLinx gained recognition as a requirement for ERP and CRM implementation and maintenance. TDLinx delivers the de-facto industry-standard trade channel database with a unique TDLinx Code for more than 600,000 retail and on-premise locations and associated hierarchies. TDLinx enables accurate and efficient customer master file cleansing and coding. With TDLinx, manufacturers such as Kraft, Pepsi and Campbell's and alcohol beverage suppliers such as Diageo can integrate internal shipments with external scanner, consumer and retail data and activity.
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HighJump Goes Global
In 2003, extended supply chain execution solutions provider HighJump Software expanded its global presence as well as its financial well being. Since 1983, HighJump secured a number of global partners by creating a program that places industry consulting and solution providers around the globe. For the fiscal 2003, HighJump achieved an annual growth rate of 30 percent for the second year in a row. It also solidified 14 new accounts and saw its Advantage Implementation Methodology complete 13 go-lives for companies such as Starbucks, Verizon and Select Comfort in its fourth quarter.
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DemandTec Opens to Integration
DemandTec's industry applications, based on a consumer demand management platform, help manufacturers to execute strategies that meet business objectives for sales, profit and volume. November 2003 marked the release of DemandTec OpenLink, an integration framework for linking all aspects for consumer demand and supply systems, including price management and hosting systems, data warehouses, supply chain and legacy systems. Using J2EE and XML standards, DemandTec was able to integrate such industry giants as Siebel Systems, IBM, QRS and SAP.