Manufacturing

At a recent CGT conference, demand planning leaders from P&G candidly discussed how standardization is a key enabler for the rapid expansion of innovation. If you missed the live discussion, dont fret. We caught it all on tape. Plus, watch more video commentaries from other industry thought leaders on big trends to come in 2013 and beyond.

For more than 30 years, trade promotions have been the "currency of the realm"; the way to get new items on shelves, to encourage retailers to advertise and display existing products and to fund price reductions. Over that same period, the industry has spent millions on improving the efficiency and effectiveness of these investments. While that remains important, we dont see trade promotion optimization as the answer. What we need is a new currency.

Share a new idea every day is the catch phrase for Pernod Ricard Chatter, designed as a global catalyst for generating ideas. It brings together the groups 18,800 personnel in a single, cloud-based platform.

The high-end leathergoods retailer will use e-commerce software and international shipping services to help offer a seamless and convenient cross-border purchasing and shipping experience to online shoppers to destinations in up to 90 countries worldwide.

Members of CGT's TPM Share Group met in Orlando, Fla., during the Consumer Goods Business and Technology Leadership Conference on October 23, 2012. The group moved away from the recent TPO discussions, which are aspirational for most, and focused on more practical aspects of TPM execution. Here is a recap of the discussion.

The Coca-Cola Company and Select Milk Producers, Inc. will acquire equity stakes in the newly-created Fair Oaks Farms Brands, LLC to drive growth and expansion of Core Power and to create an innovative portfolio of brands and products that feature the value-added nutrition of dairy.

Dean Foods will use substantially all of the net proceeds from the sale of Morningstar to significantly reduce outstanding debt, resulting in a stronger balance sheet and increased flexibility to execute against our strategies for our core dairy business.

The retirement of the Executive Vice President and President, Developing Markets, sparks an effort to streamline the company's operating unit structure given the size and importance of Developing Markets to future growth.