Cambridge, MA — April 28, 2003 — Jam and juice giant Welch's has tapped a solution from Demantra in a bid to better create, manage and fulfill consumer demand for its entire product range.
Welch's will use the provider's Spectrum to streamline its sales and marketing strategies and promotional plans, as well as to synchronize these plans with supply chain planning activities to boost promotional profitability and improve inventory and production planning.
The half-billion-dollar company needed a solution that would ensure sales, marketing, logistics and finance can share information that is based upon a single data model that would be accessible and viewable by all stakeholders. After reviewing solutions from more than a dozen vendors, Welch's chose Spectrum because it best met all the company's requirements for a fully integrated, collaborative demand, promotion and replenishment planning solution, according to Demantra.
The solution's built-in analytics and business intelligence reporting will allow internal departments and business partners to work together in a live, online environment to share information on market demand with a view toward increasing customer service and revenues while reducing inventories.
Demantra said that Spectrum's Promotion Effectiveness solution would enable Welch's to analyze customer trends to measure both the volume and financial impacts of trade promotions, while the Demand Management solution will allow the company to generate more accurate and reliable demand plans and forecasts, as well as improve and automate customer facing processes such as collaborative planning, forecasting and replenishment (CPFR).
"Consumer demand and accurate customer level planning are key drivers in our business, and it is important to not only understand market and customer trends, but also to profitably meet stringent customer service targets," said Girard Liberty, information services vice president and chief information officer at Welch's. "Demantra Spectrum's collaborative environment will help us streamline operations, as sharing customer and corporate promotional plans across multiple departments will allow us to integrate sales and marketing decisions with our supply chain."
Liberty said the increased visibility into promotional plans and performance will ultimately enable Welch's to accurately monitor and measure the performance of trade and other promotional investments, generate a greater return on promotions and improve the stability and accuracy of demand signals to its plants.
"As a leading consumer goods manufacturer, Welch's understands that spending promotional dollars effectively and providing the highest possible customer service is a crucial competitive strategy," said Bill Seibel, CEO of Demantra.
To learn more about supply chain initiatives at Welch's, read "Less Is More," an exclusive interview with Bill Coyne, director of purchasing at Welch's, in the January 2002 issue of iSource Business.
