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American Greetings Selects SAP
SAP AG announced that American Greetings Corporation will
enhance its information systems using SAP solutions. The global
greeting card company selected SAP Business Suite applications
from the SAP for Retail solution portfolio for their ability
to support the company’s need to improve its data management
and adapt quickly to customer needs while helping to ensure
best quality products. American Greetings is one of the world’s
largest manufacturers of social expression products. Along
with greeting cards, its product lines include gift-wrap,
party goods, stationery, calendars, ornaments and electronic
greetings. The announcement was made at the World Retail Congress,
being held in Barcelona, Spain from April 9–11.
American Greetings recently conducted a thorough evaluation
of its information systems to determine what was needed to
support the company’s unique and creative business. It
selected SAP solutions in late 2007 for the superior end-to-end
business processes tailored to the company’s specific
industry needs. The SAP software implementation will occur
globally in phases, and will replace some legacy systems while
integrating with other internal systems at American Greetings.
“American Greetings is focused on designing and creating
products to meet evolving consumer needs,” said Ed Lange,
executive vice president and chief customer officer, SAP Americas
and Asia-Pacific Japan. “Like American Greetings, SAP
is focused on anticipating customer needs and is continually
breaking new ground with solutions that help companies respond
more quickly and efficiently to their customers. American
Greetings’ decision to enhance its business with SAP
further solidifies SAP’s position as a leading provider
of innovative, integrated solutions.”
German Fashion House Wehmeyer Selects Oracle Retail Application
to Optimise In-Season Inventory Management and Pricing Strategies
Wehmeyer, the German fashion house, has selected Oracle
Retail Price Optimization to help increase profitability through
more effective inventory management. Wehmeyer will use the
Oracle Retail application to introduce a more advanced approach
to managing in-season inventory, assortment and pricing strategies
across its 40 stores in Germany.
Following the buyout of the former KarstadtQuelle AG subsidiary,
the private equity investor firm MRSBC Holding has focused
on developing a 'Roadmap to Value' that will support business
transformation. Wehmeyer's selection of Oracle Retail Price
Optimization marks an important first step in the retailer's
overall business transformation.
As part of a wider strategic change management programme
that includes better promotions management and store refurbishment,
Wehmeyer's new owners have identified key areas of the retail
business that can deliver gross margin return on investment
quickly and efficiently.
One area of improvement is to increase profitability through
a better understanding of customer demand and more effective
inventory management. Oracle Retail Price Optimization will
help provide Wehmeyer with greater visibility into customer
demand, the impact of price points on inventory levels, gross
margin performance and optimal in-season inventory management
decisions.
"Oracle Retail offered us a scalable platform on which
to transform the Wehmeyer business. Oracle Retail Price Optimization
offers a way to unlock the business value in our assets quickly,
using price and markdowns to help achieve the best possible
margins before the end of the season or product lifecycle,"
said Thomas Sajovec, Head of Administration & Logistics
at Wehmeyer.
Food Lion Deploys Retalix Yard Management Solution
Food Lion, a North-American subsidiary of Brussels-based
Delhaize Group, implements the Retalix Yard Management platform
at its headquarters distribution center in Salisbury, N.C.
The retailer uses Retalix Yard Management system to automate
the yard and dock management process through predictive logic
and optimization algorithms. Using software engines and visibility
tools, the system helps elimnate operational silos and synchronizes
yard and dock activity with distribution center demand in
real-time.
“The Retalix Yard Management system provides Food Lion
with a solution to optimize our yard and dock labor resources,”
said Dennis McCoy, vice president of distribution for Food
Lion. “By integrating the Retalix Transportation solution
into our supply chain, we are able to directly reduce labor
costs, improve resource utilization and ultimately eliminate
inefficiencies that negatively impact the profitability of
our operations.”
The Salisbury facility serves more than 300 stores within
the company’s geographic footprint. Food Lion will continue
to roll out the Retalix platform at its seven other distribution
centers. This expansive network serves approximately 1,300
stores in 11 Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic states.
As part of this and subsequent implementations, Food Lion
will use radio frequency identification (RFID) technology
in tandem with the Retalix solution. RFID readers are being
installed at the entry and exit points of the company’s
distribution centers, and each of the nearly 2,000 trailers
in the Food Lion fleet will be affixed with a rugged RFID
tag, automating the processing of arrival and departure information.
Batteries Plus Implements POS Solution for More Than 300
Stores
Batteries Plus selects Radiant to implement POS software
and hardware for all of its locations. Batteries Plus uses
Radiant’s P1520 retail POS terminals and CounterPoint
SQL software to improve operational efficiencies and store
profitability.
“As Batteries Plus continues to earn an increasing share
of the retail and commercial battery market, partnering with
a proven, established company such as Radiant Systems will
be key to the success of the franchisees,” said Michael
J. Lehman, CIO for Batteries Plus. “As our franchisee
base continues to grow, Radiant’s CounterPoint software
will help us run every Batteries Plus store more effectively
because of its easy-to-use, powerful and flexible architecture.
Radiant’s hardware is robust and built for long life,
which is a great fit for the long-term profitability of our
franchisees.”
CounterPoint SQL retail software includes inventory management,
point of sale functions, purchasing, customer loyalty and
sophisticated management-reporting capabilities. The hardware,
designed specifically for retailers, features touchscreen
point of sale terminals with the industry’s lowest total
cost of ownership. Batteries Plus has begun deployment of
the Radiant solution in corporate stores, and the rollout
across all franchisees will occur over the next three years.
CVS/Caremark Deploys Pricing, Analytics, Vendor and Store
Applications
Soft Solutions announces that CVS/Caremark has selected Pricing
as the next module in the Soft Solution suite to deployed
in response to its fast growing business needs and objectives.
The module will be based on the data quality of ibs REFERENTIAL
and ibs DATA SYNC (Soft Solutions Master Data Management)
currently being delivered to address CVS/Caremark PIM requirements.
CVS/Caremark embarked on a large legacy replacement program
in 2007 with Soft Solutions’ ibs SUITE to manage their
Master Data Management (MDM) and Merchandising requirements
such as Item, Vendor, Pricing, Promotions, Deals, Assortment,
and Category. This ambitious schedule involves removing their
multiple duplications and replace legacies efficiently by
this new infrastructure to streamline their process yet allowing
for flexibility and growth.
PRICING provides CVS/Caremark with advanced price optimization
and management functionalities such as competitor management,
rules-based simulation and price execution in a single platform.
ibs ANALYTICS embedded forecasting engine provides ibs PRICING
the forecasting and optimization capabilities to manage over
6,300 stores for CVS/Caremark. The same engine is also used
to manage promotional requirements. ibs SUITE’s Vendor
and Store is to be their single repository and master data
reference.
"We have selected Soft Solutions for their strong retail
footprint, and to accompany us in implementing our application
strategy,” states Ray Auger, vice president of CVS/ Caremark
Retail Systems. “Phase 1 is tracking to plan despite
an aggressive deployment schedule. Both companies are working
diligently to meet our business needs,” adds Auger.
“The CVS/ Caremark project represents a strategic foundation
for their global business in the coming years,” says
Nehme Taouk, chief executive officer of Soft Solutions. “We
are confident that we meet their requirements in terms of
business, time, expertise and quality due to our product maturity
and experience in delivering complex projects the past 20
years,” adds Taouk.
Soft Solutions’ team continues the implementation with
both CVS/Caremark and Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) teams,
leveraging the work done together in 2007 in terms of data
quality and integration.
March Networks Completes Acquisition of Cieffe
March Networks has completed the acquisition of Cieffe S.p.A.
and its related company, Insignis Technologies S.r.l. Cieffe,
based in Milan, Italy, develops high performance IP video
surveillance solutions.
The acquisition was completed in accordance with the definitive
agreement originally announced on January 30, 2008, with a
payment of 14 million Euro in cash plus the issuance of 1,019,252
March Networks common shares to the vendors. Including acquisition
expenses, the total cash consideration for the acquisition
will be approximately CAD 24 million plus any amounts paid
in respect of a two year revenue-based earn-out of up to 10
million Euro. Cieffe’s founder and CEO, Fabrizio Colciago,
will continue as managing director of March Networks’
European operations and lead the ongoing growth of the company
within the Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) region.
March Networks is a provider of intelligent IP video and
business analysis applications that enable organizations to
reduce losses, mitigate risks and improve security and operational
efficiency.
Haggen Adds Centralized Pricing and Data Management
Haggen, a 33-store regional grocer based in Bellingham, Wash.,
selects Retalix HQ to replace its legacy pricing system. The
grocer uses the Retalix HQ, a centralized, rules-based pricing
and inventory management solution, to help it control authorized
items, costs and prices. The system also helps standardize
the company’s pricing best-practice disciplines for consistent
execution of its price strategy. Features include multiple
module configurations, which enable the grocer to implement
a point solution for pricing, or an enterprise-wide merchandising
and execution system.
“The Retalix solution is the clear market leader in
its category, with a proven track record in the grocery business
as an end-to-end solution,” said Harrison Lewis, vice
president and CIO of Haggen. “Retalix HQ will enable
us to more efficiently manage our item and vendor information
while aiding in the successful implementation of our pricing
automation and optimization initiatives.”
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