Sunny D Throws a Healthy TPM Punch
For Sunny Delight Beverages Co. (Sunny D) implementing a trade promotion management (TPM) solution was all about customer profitability.
After spinning off from The Procter & Gamble Company in 2004, Sunny D suddenly found itself a small fish in a big pond. It was imperative that Sunny D not only implement new technologies but use them in a way that could enable it to better compete with much larger competitors.
The first step was to integrate its TPM system with its broker's network. On the recommendation of its broker Acosta, Sunny D selected the MEI TPM solution.
More than Tracking Spend
After a fast implementation, Sunny D's order management and ERP systems were feeding data to the new TPM application. However, the company soon realized that there was a lot more to it than improving and tracking overall trade spend, so it quickly shifted its overarching goal to improving customer profitability.
If it could map revenue, trade promotions, cost of goods sold, logistics and any other variable customer-related costs to finance, it could also improve the overall efficiency and revenue of the company. To do so, this model would require them to extend the use of the TPM solution throughout all of finance, product supply and logistics.
"By gaining small wins with the MEI trade system and then multiplying those wins on an enterprise-wide level, we could really drive change across the company," says Chris Miller, Sales Finance manager, Sunny D.
Because managing cash is always a priority for SMBs, Sunny D needed to be specific when it came to incremental trade and analyzing which programs could be the most profitable.
Miller explains, "We recently analyzed two very similar customers with slightly different profitability to determine why there was a delta. Using the MEI TPM suite across internal groups, we identified the difference in profitability was due to logistics. After some discussions, the customer now picks up their orders, saving both Sunny D and the customer a significant amount of budget."
Drinking in More Benefits
The TPM solution helped in other ways too. During Sunny D's recent acquisition of Veryfine, some of the product lines were considered unprofitable. Using the new system, Sunny D was able to analyze the "spend per pack size" data and determine that trade spend was a lot more efficient than they initially realized.
"The ability to see the details enables us to act faster to market conditions and make the best choices for the company," closes Miller.
FAST FACTS
A Sunny New Direction
Since the implementation of a TPM solution, Sunny D has seen a higher level of efficiencies across the board, including budgeting, planning and spend forecasting.
Spilling Over
Sunny D's sales force also uses the TPM application to maximize the efficient use of customer trade funding by analyzing top-line revenue down to cost of goods sold.
Words of Wisdom
"Being able to see trade spend and revenue per customer enabled groups to perform an accurate analysis of the situation."
-- Chris Miller, Sales Finance Manager, Sunny D