Fall 2013 Tech Preview Guide
Gladson myBrands
Gladson • Launched: August 2013Category: Sales & Marketing
Filling a Need: CPG manufacturers struggle to provide their retailer customers, consumers and internal departments with complete, accurate and consistent product images and information. This problem has intensified with the increased demand for product content across channels. Unique Features: Gladson myBrands offers CPG manufacturers the creation, maintenance and distribution of high-quality images and information for their branded products. By leveraging a consolidated source for their product content, CPGs can meet retailers’ requests quickly, present a consistent brand image across channels and improve internal efficiency.
Key Users: Ensuring product content is consistently and accurately represented on web sites, e-commerce platforms, mobile applications and other channels is a primary concern for sales, marketing and brand management within a consumer goods organization. Other departments that utilize product content include: logistics, IT, R&D, market research and more.
Benefits: With Gladson myBrands, CPG companies benefit from the most complete, accurate and up-to-date product images and information for their items. This has a direct impact in improving shopper relationships, brand integrity, internal efficiency and, ultimately, omnichannel effectiveness.
Contact Gladson to request a demo (630.435.2200).
On-Shelf Availability Solution
Shiloh Technologies • Launched: February 2013
Category: Cross-Functional
Filling a Need: Pinpoints opportunities in supply chain or on the retail shelf to ensure product availability for the shopper now and in the future.Unique Features: ShilohOSA analysis determines products’ true selling potential by item/store. It identifies the problem and gives a probability for the likely cause(s), to focus for the most ROI. It shows how long the problem has been gong on, the financial impact and if it will persist AND a prescription to fix it. AIM is then used to initiate a store-level action to merchandisers, and measures the results/ROI of the action taken.
Key Users: Impacts supply chain, sales analysis, replenishment, forecasting, ordering, promotions, merchandising, modular compliance, category management
Benefits: Within 30 minutes of implementation, a customer tested one store and pinpointed phantom inventory. It initiated a store visit, made the adjustments and realized a $20,000 immediate gain. OSA quickly reveals hidden opportunities and areas that will make the most impact so you can prioritize actions that will maximize ROI. Correcting phantom inventory, having the right amount of product in the right place by item/store, and taking action to correct any opportunities, will increase sales and ROI.
TrackWise Enterprise Quality Management Software
Sparta Systems, Inc. • Launched: May 2013 (latest release)
Category: Innovation
Filling a Need: Today’s consumer products organizations
continually face pressures to maintain the highest level of quality in their operations, while reducing costs and supporting compliance.
Unique Features: TrackWise Enterprise Quality Management Software (EQMS) allows consumer products organizations to automate quality processes, compiling all information in one central location. Providing unparalleled visibility across the organization, processes and metrics are used to ensure compliance, risk management, and to operate in the most cost efficient way. Highly configurable, TrackWise EQMS offers point-and-click configurability to define, track, manage and report on processes specific to business needs. Electronic signatures and records management creates a comprehensive audit trail, eliminating the inefficiencies of paperwork. As TrackWise EQMS streamlines workflow processes, integral consumer product quality management capabilities such as traceability are leveraged through on-demand reporting, using TrackWise real-time analytics and reports generator.
Benefits: TrackWise EQMS optimizes quality processes, ensures compliance and reduces costs and risk for consumer products organizations. By managing all quality processes in a centralized system, TrackWise EQMS streamlines workflow processes for improved
efficiency and accuracy.
BluePlanner Data Integration & Analytics
UpClear • Launched: October 1, 2013
Category: Sales & Marketing
Filling a Need: BluePlanner now provides expanded capabilities for comprehensive Data Integration and Analytics. The web-based platform allows consumer goods (CG) companies to consolidate data seamlessly from multiple sources into a single system for sales and operations, providing easy access to business intelligence.Unique Features: Expanding on its existing Sales Planning and Trade Promotion Management system introduced in 2012, BluePlanner leverages web data integration mechanisms to absorb point-of-sales, field sales, marketing, demand planning and other important results and metrics. With all this information in one place, BluePlanner becomes the “one-stop-shop” for business intelligence needs, in a secured and controlled environment.
Key Users: Sales and marketing, at headquarters and throughout the distribution network, as well as finance, operations and senior leadership who need comprehensive management information on a timely and reliable basis.
Benefits: By leveraging data integration in BluePlanner, CG business users no longer need to manage and maintain multiple data inputs and reports. Now they can focus on the analytics and strategic planning for optimal business performance. Also, collaboration within the enterprise and with external partners is enhanced with the exchange of shared information.
Promax PX V9.R6
Wipro Promax Analytics Solutions (WPAS) • Launched: July 2013
Category: Sales & Marketing
Filling a Need: Trade Promotion Management & Trade Promotion
Optimization, Forecasting & Volume Planning, Customer Account Planning & Budgeting, Modelling & Optimization solutions
Unique Features: Clients select Promax PX as it is considered the most functionally rich TPM/TPO solution on the market. Now available on a SaaS model, Promax PX offers an extensive range of features, whether it’s multi-language, multi-currency and multi-division capabilities; workflow authorization processes, the ability to handle direct and in-direct customer relationships; a clear process to understand the drivers to baseline and uplift; an integrated one-number approach to forecasting revenue, volume and spend; predictive modelling capabilities to uniformly drive budgeting, scenario planning and promotion planning; the ability to consider the true net effect of a promotion… just to name a few. Now with the additional horsepower of Wipro Technologies, WPAS can offer an extensive range of products and services to meet your TPM/TPO and Data Analytics requirements.
Benefits: Promax PX offers fully integrated TPM and TPO in one solution. The advanced and highly intelligent TPM concepts maximise customers return on trade spend investment. Examples of some of the benefits are derived from improved forecast accuracy, best practise processes and business efficiencies in budgeting, account planning, promotion performance accountability, improved financial processes and a unified and agreed set of financial measures from a single data source. Rapid ROI due to proven implementation methodology and best practice processes.
buzzRetail Mobile
buzz Solutions • Launched: September 30, 2013
Category: Sales & Marketing
Filling a Need: With the proliferation of mobile devices within the consumer goods industry, we would all like to think that we are now a connected society. The reality is that, for various reasons, a user will not be working in a connected manner. There is a need for an intuitive mobile application that can improve field efficiencies in completing customer visits, order taking, and can work seamlessly in either connected or disconnected mode.Unique Feature: While others offer mobile applications for users on the go, buzzRetail Mobile was developed with the goal of allowing a field sales representative to complete tasks using a mobile tablet device without losing connectivity at any given time. Focused on manufacturing industry field representatives, buzzRetail Mobile gives confidence to the field team that losing a network connection does not mean that you lose your work. Take buzzRetail Mobile in the field to conduct shelf and store audits by tracking distribution, out-of-stocks, promotion compliance and more for all in-store activities in one single solution with consistent processes. Be efficient in the field, and synchronize activities at your convenience.
Benefits: buzzRetail Mobile allows the field sales team to maximise their time visiting customers because they can work completely offline.
Dassault Systmes?
DELMIA Apriso • Launched: Available Now?
Category: Cross-Functional
Filling a Need: The need to globally launch new products while operating efficiently despite complex quality and regulatory requirements that are dynamic, complex and vary by region
Unique Features:
- Platform-based solution eases systems integration, reporting and management of operations on a global scale
- Depth of application footprint provides a robust solution capable of managing and executing all operations processes across the enterprise
- Adaptive architecture simplifies process management to improve responsiveness to change
Key Users:
- Suite of applications is ideal for line-of-business and shop floor employees, plant managers and C-level executives responsible for global operations
- Quality professionals will appreciate the robust suite of root-cause analysis and statistical process control capabilities
- Lean practitioners will find great value in synchronizing production and inventory operations to reduce waste on a global scale
Benefits:
- Accelerate New Product Introduction, resulting in shortened launch cycles and reduced time-to-market on a global scale
- Improve manufacturing efficiency, including the creation and enforcement of common best practices across the enterprise
- Reduce the cost of quality, driving less waste and greater operational responsiveness to improve brand equity on a global scale