Kimberly-Clark to Advance its RFID-enabled Value Chain

Provider of global brands seeks to predict, reduce retail out-of-stocks and enable continuous replenishment

Provider of global brands seeks to predict, reduce retail out-of-stocks and enable continuous replenishment

Atlanta — September 15, 2005 — Health and hygiene product manufacturer Kimberly-Clark Corp. is partnering with TrueDemand Software Inc. to advance its radio frequency identification (RFID) and electronic product code (EPC) enabled consumer-driven demand chain.

Through the partnership, Kimberly-Clark said it is seeking to create new ways to predict and reduce retail out-of-stock situations, provide new and more responsive replenishment models, and enable continuous replenishment capability based on new RFID information insights.

"TrueDemand's strategy for exploiting inventory visibility between manufacturers and retailers, through its new class of RFID-enabled replenishment applications, fits very well in supporting Kimberly-Clark's vision of an RFID-enabled consumer-driven value chain," said Mike O'Shea, director, Auto-ID Sensing Technologies, Kimberly-Clark. "TrueDemand's leadership and product offering, and its willingness to collaborate with us in the ongoing advancement of RFID-enabled real-time demand visibility applications, is of great value to Kimberly-Clark."

Traditionally, manufacturers and retailers used point-of-sale (POS) data to determine how much product has sold through the retailer chain. TrueDemand's applications use RFID technology to monitor and adjust inventory levels across manufacturer and retail distribution centers, backrooms and retail floors so manufacturers can better determine the status of their products and be more responsive in managing out-of-stocks, along with being more precise in predicting future demand for their goods. TrueDemand added that the improved short-term forecasting capability enables manufacturers to make better replenishment planning decisions to maximize revenue, improve operational efficiency and reduce costs related to excess inventory and other inefficiencies.

To further ensure the success of their efforts, the companies also announced that O'Shea, who also serves as co-chairman of the EPCglobal Business Action Group, has joined TrueDemand's Customer Advisory Board. O'Shea has extensive RFID business knowledge and is a recognized leader in the RFID industry.

"Kimberly-Clark is one of the world's leading health and hygiene companies and is also well known as one of the industry's most innovative users of RFID technology to optimize its consumer-driven demand and supply chain," said Eric Peters, CEO of TrueDemand. "We are excited that it has chosen to partner with us to create this new RFID-enabled demand-driven replenishment solution, and that Mike O'Shea will be joining our Customer Advisory Board. Few other companies have as complete a vision on how the EPC and RFID can improve their businesses, and we're proud to provide some of the key strategic solutions to help Kimberly-Clark realize its vision."

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