Mark Osborn, 19 April 2012
The other day a colleague asked me to join a call and to provide his team with a “quick” update on Consumer Products at the upcoming SAPPHIRE NOW and ASUG May 14-16 in Orlando. My first thought was, “Quick? Heck, where to begin!” In trying to come up with a way to describe the Consumer Products presence to his team, the best analogy I could think of was this – experiencing Consumer Products at SAPPHIRE NOW and ASUG will be like visiting the state fair. Yep. The state fair.
Why the state fair? Well, in previous years, Consumer Products was confined to a defined space within SAPPHIRE NOW. Presentations, panel discussions, microforums and demos were all conducted in the same area.
Now imagine going to the state fair and being told when you walked through the gates that everything that could possibly be of interest to you was confined to the Northwest section of the fairgrounds. That couldn’t be! There’s a lot more to see, and there must be so much more to discover and learn!
And, that’s exactly what you have in store if you’re interested in Consumer Products topics at SAPPHIRE and ASUG. Adventure! Discovery! Community, and more! Available everywhere throughout the fairgrounds. Intrigued? We hope so. Not yet? Read on. You will be. There’s a lot to experience. Here are just a few highlights:
Run Better Campus
The Run Better Campus is the largest campus at SAPPHIRE and is made up of a number of campus areas that focus on key business process areas for SAP and Consumer Products opportunities are available throughout.
In the Optimizing Supply Chain & Procurement Campus Area, Conair will discuss how it’s using SAP Supply Network Collaboration to improve visibility and track manufacturing vendors while simultaneously reducing stock-outs and increasing confidence in available-to-promise inventory. In another session, Newell Rubbermaid will share how it has transformed its’ spend analysis and procurement strategies to achieve spend insight, cost savings, process efficiencies and contract compliance.
In the Deliver Exceptional Customer Experiences Campus Area, you’ll have the opportunity to join a microforum on the topic of Trade Promotion Effectiveness where you can learn how consumer products companies can quickly monitor and evaluate manage trade spending baselines, measure how trade spend impacts volume, and how to adjust promotions to meet targets.
And, in the Showcase Industries Campus Area, Molson-Coors will discuss how the company is using SAP Trade Promotion Optimization to improve top and bottom line results with advanced predictive modeling against promotional variables and constraints to suggest optimal pricing, and to predict promotion revenue, volume, and profitability potential.
There will also be two demo theater sessions on the new Trade Promotion Optimization solution, which leverages advanced analytics for predictive modeling and forecasting and is powered by the SAP HANATM Platform to help salespeople and trade marketers quickly compare and contrast promotion scenarios to identify those promotions most likely to achieve revenue, volume and profitability targets – for both themselves and their retail partners.
And, finally there will be a microforum on Sales & Operations Planning in Consumer Products. The new cloud-based offering from SAP is also powered by the SAP HANA Platform and enables stakeholders enterprise-wide with real-time visibility to actual demand plus advanced forecasting tools to enable consensus demand-planning as well as fast response to market dynamics.
Mobility Campus
Mobility is a hot topic these days in Consumer Products and there will be no shortage of opportunities to learn more about SAP and mobility at SAPPHIRE. For example, Lexmark will discuss how the company is using mobile solutions to improve sales force efficiency and responsiveness, increase store visit effectiveness and reduce sales administration and costs.
We’ll also be hosting a microforum on Innovating with Enterprise Mobility in Consumer Products, which will include discussions on how consumer product goods companies are using mobile technologies to improve brand awareness, drive revenue and increase profitability.
Partner Theater
Consumer Products will also be featured in our Partner Theater in a presentation from Cap Gemini on a Demand Driven Enterprise Framework that addresses the needs for consumer products companies to be demand driven and realize top-line growth by integrating promotion management with advanced planning, analytics, and supply chain capabilities.
ASUG
ASUG includes a great variety of Consumer Products opportunities, including a presentation from Kimberly-Clark on the company is working with SAP to enable a platform for Product Safety and Stewardship to manage regulatory and supply chain compliance requirements, reduce use of toxic substances, design for re-use and recyclability and enforce safety labeling and handling while reducing corporate risk and driving competitive advantage. In another exciting session, L’Oreal will showcase how the company is using multi-channel Precision Retailing solutions from SAP to drive traffic to stores, influence consumers at the point of decision, and increase average basket size.
These are just a few examples, but there’s much, much more. So, step right up ladies and gentlemen! You won’t believe your eyes! Visit the park with us to see all there is to discover and learn! We’ll hope you’ll join us for the adventure and fun that will be the Consumer Products experience at SAPPHIRE NOW and ASUG. For more information, and see all of the Consumer Products sessions planned, check out the SAPPHIRE NOW and ASUG agenda builder.
I hope to see you in Orlando and work with you to enable you to run like never before.
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