Double Vision

What does it take to be a power user of information technology in the consumer goods arena? If you're International Multifoods (IMC), a manufacturer and marketer of branded consumer foods and foodservice products in North America, it means the successful completion of concurrent implementations of two enterprise technologies in 2002 and 2003 while integrating newly acquired brands and businesses.

Taking into account that IMC's food manufacturing businesses retain combined net sales of approximately $1 billion, this is no small feat, which is why Mark Thome, vice president of IT, consumer foods at IMC, took home the Power Users award at the 2003 Consumer Goods Technology Conference.

Brand Awareness

Multifoods' brands include Pillsbury desserts and baking mixes for items such as cakes, muffins, brownies and quick breads; Pillsbury ready-to-spread frostings; Hungry Jack pancake mixes, syrup and potato side dishes; Martha White baking mixes and ingredients; Robin Hood flour and baking mixes; Pet evaporated milk and dry creamer; Farmhouse rice and pasta side dishes; Bick's pickles and condiments in Canada; Softasilk, a premium cake flour; Red River hot flax cereal; and Golden Temple.

How They Did It

IMC deployed both CAS' CP iSales 3.0 trade management solution and SAP R/3 simultaneously, with approximately 20 interfaces between the two. Multifoods sought the CP iSales trade management system after the company acquired the Pillsbury desserts and specialty products portfolio from General Mills in November of 2001. In addition to building an entire trade management system, Multifoods needed to convert three years of sales volume and trade promotion history from General Mills to the new CP iSales system. Simultaneously, the company's decision to implement SAP R/3 required the coordination of more than 70 consultants from IMC, CAS, SAP and IBM.

Daunting Data Conversion

The project, which started in February of 2002, lasted 13 months. During that time, the team successfully converted data on more than two million shipments, 7,000 promotions, 50,000 deposits and 30,000 payment records to the new system. As a result of installing the new trade management system, the company now has the ability to forecast volume and trade spending and to create efficiencies as the company builds its newly acquired consumer brands.

IMC now has a proven software system in place that will make the company's entire trade promotion process more efficient and transparent to customers. The new trade management application features interfaces to its back-end SAP legacy system -- allowing near real-time sharing of trade promotion, funds and deductions information. The company also benefits from improved tracking and increased efficiency of sales planning and sales planning spend.

CP iSales is capturing high-level business planning. The promotions created by IMC's marketing team will be derived down to the various customers. In addition, account managers now have the ability to create their own local and trade promotions.

Funds are deposited in CP iSales at the beginning of the year, based on last year's sales. In addition, a "true-up" process occurs during the year, which increases or decreases a fund for a customer based on the promotional volume (actuals and projections). Payments are resolved in CP iSales and this payment data is interfaced back-and-forth between CP iSales and SAP.