Consumer Industries

The Challenge

Consumer goods companies are under increasing pressure to grow and create value by connecting with consumers in new ways. They must accomplish this while also combating:

Supply chain inefficiencies
Multiple channel requirements
Industry consolidation
Rising cost of raw materials
Changing consumer trends
Expansion of private labels
Market saturation
Supply chain

Localization adds another level of complexity, with manufacturers having to plan and execute in terms of clusters of stores.

The Answer

Sustained success requires the introduction of new products and services and operational improvements to enhance performance, efficiency and profitability. In short, an agile infrastructure and organization is needed.

You must have business processes and information technology (IT) systems that enable you to:

Drive top-line growth through rapid and effective innovation
Extend the value chain by collaborating with customers and suppliers
Use brand assets as levers to sustain margins
Focus on core competencies by reducing business complexity
Align your supply chain capabilities with your goals for growth
Capitalize on existing investments through application integration
Free up money for innovation by lowering IT infrastructure costs
Provide business intelligence to help bring brands to market
Support ERP implementation and tools

EDS' service offering includes the essential capabilities you need:

The Results

EDS positions companies for success now and in the future by aligning their technology investments with their business goals.

The biggest expenses for a consumer goods company were price allowances and product discounts. EDS designed a new data warehouse that tracks 1.5 million sales transactions each day by product, customer and time period. Detailed information about price allowances is also tracked, enabling the company to measure the effectiveness of specific promotions. Better-managed discounts have led to millions of dollars in annual savings.
A beverage maker doubled in size in less than a decade. EDS helped it manage its growth by converting disparate legacy applications and systems into an integrated, enterprise solution. EDS also provided an innovative pricing structure that allowed for additional IT infrastructure on demand. This solution reduced application maintenance by 48 percent.
A manufacturer of home-care and personal-care products wanted to implement a SAP application and outsource its management. During implementation, the company merged with a foreign consumer products company. EDS brought the company into alignment with its new parent's IT strategy and helped it realize significant savings through business process transformation and a reduction in its IT hardware investment.