The Pulse -- August 2005

Staples Unlocks Power of Innovation
The successful private-label business of Staples Inc. dates back to the 1990s. Today, the selection of Staples-branded products by consumers accounts for 15 percent of the company's sales in 2004. This year, its brand is expected to exceed 17 percent of total sales thanks in part to introductions of new and innovative products. For example, the WordLock -- winner of the 2004 Staples Invention Quest -- is making its retail debut exclusively at Staples 1,200 U.S. retail stores, Staples.com and at store locations in Canada. "Staples puts innovation first and you can see that on every shelf in Staples stores," says Todd Basche, the WordLock inventor. "It's terrific working with Staples to transform WordLock from an idea into reality." The WordLock is a combination lock that features five letter tumblers that rotate around a barrel to create word combinations. Staples expects the WordLock to become popular for school lockers, office and health club lockers. Staples is also bringing to market several other products from last year's Invention Quest, including TackDots Rubber Bandits, and the Handy-Strap stapler.

Wrigley Brands Call for Supply Chain Transformation
The Wm. Wrigley Jr. Company successfully completes the purchase of various confectionery assets of Kraft Foods Global Inc. for $1.46 billion, giving Wrigley ownership of iconic brands such as Altoids, Life Savers, Creme Savers and Sugus, and various regional and local brands, as well as additional production capabilities. As the company integrates these new brands and facilities into its operations, Wrigley will realign its supply chain globally. This includes transferring gum base production from its Edison, New Jersey-based subsidiary to the company's largest gum-making facility in Gainesville, Georgia, over the next 18 months. "While this is a difficult decision for me personally, we would not be making this decision if we did not believe that change was absolutely necessary for the long-term vitality of our Company," says Bill Wrigley, Jr., chairman, president and CEO, Wrigley. "Given the highly competitive and rapidly evolving nature of our industry, we have a responsibility to structure our resources in a manner that best meets the demands of our dynamic, global business." Based on its recently completed global review, Wrigley also plans to discontinue operations at a newly acquired Kraft facility in Bridgend, Wales, and its chewing gum plant in Chicago.

Heinz Improves Sales Force Productivity
After identifying a need for a user-friendly tool that would provide a common platform for business reviews, H.J. Heinz selects VeriSync Trade Solutions' InfoLync software to meet its category management needs. The InfoLync solution allows consumer packaged goods manufacturers to distribute sales information and syndicated data to field sales forces. Once this information is available, presentations can be customized for retailers and manufacturers can reduce time spent retrieving and distributing syndicated data. "We reviewed many options and chose InfoLync because it most closely matched our stated business needs," says Heinz Group Vice President of Sales, Gregg Newcombe. "InfoLync is the only tool we found that easily integrates and formats data from multiple sources -- scan, shipment, consumer panel, Spectra, and customers' internal movement data and then delivers it in an un-tethered format into a presentation."

Metro Moves into EPIC Generation 2
METRO Group demonstrates the first EPCglobal Generation 2 RFID handheld reader that meets stringent European requirements for radio frequency and reader communications protocols. The new multi-protocol Intermec IP4 Intellitag RFID reader can read Gen 2 tags from multiple manufacturers. It also reads tags based on all major global RFID standards with a migration path to the ISO 18000-6c standard.

In related news, Metro Group measures inventory improvement figures that support the benefit of collaborative promotional planning with suppliers. The GlobalNetXchange (GNX) Supply Chain Collaboration platform facilitates joint promotions management between Metro Cash & Carry in Germany and seven strategic suppliers. An analysis of historic sales, inventory and forecast data resulted in a 26.8 percent improvement in promotion lift; a further reduction of out-of-stocks by more than 61 percent; and a 14.9 percent reduction in end of promotion stocks.

P&G Builds World-Class Sourcing Environment
In an effort to provide sourcing professionals and suppliers with a single view into product data, Procter & Gamble (P&G) will deploy a strategic sourcing solution worldwide. After evaluating several solutions, P&G selected UGS Corp.'s Teamcenter digital lifecycle management software portfolio to enable a web-based supplier relationship management (SRM) suite. "Strategic sourcing is a competitive advantage for P&G and this new system will help us accelerate the process from procurement to commercialization of innovations," says Dave Schmid, associate director, Purchases, P&G. The consumer Goods giant expects reduced complexity from the integration of its existing architecture of multi-vendor sourcing solutions and linking SRM with product development and the sourcing process.