Microsoft in the consumer goods industry
Microsoft and its partners are committed to providing consumer goods manufacturers with a complete set of tools to address key challenges they face in today's highly competitive market.
The Microsoft commitment
Microsoft and its partners have committed to delivering innovative solutions and services in four key areas:
| • | New development performance |
| • | Plant floor operations performance |
| • | Global value chain performance |
| • | Sales and customer service performance |
Partner applications built on the Microsoft platform enable consumer goods manufacturers to manage new product development and operational performance with confidence from the plant floor to the retailer.
The Microsoft value proposition for CPG
Microsoft focuses on providing standard, reliable, cost-effective tools that create a solid foundation for industry-specific applications. Because Microsoft offers strong performance and high value in products such as Microsoft SQL Server 2005, Microsoft Exchange Server 2003, Microsoft BizTalk Server 2004, and Microsoft Office system, Microsoft partners can focus on what they do best. That is, using the Microsoft platform to create state-of-the-art CPG solutions that enable manufacturers to better understand their customers, collaborate more closely with their supply and demand chains, and streamline business processes.
And because the Microsoft foundation is based on an integrated set of standards, partners and their customers can take advantage of these applications to offer a new level of business intelligence and security enhancements.
Consumer goods manufacturers can take advantage of these high-quality applications quickly and economically, enabling them to compete more successfully in the global marketplace.
Microsoft partners in Consumer Goods
Microsoft partners in the Consumer Goods industry include such major innovators as:
| • | Operational excellence: Invensys, Siemens, GE Fanuc, ActivPlant, Rockwell, Orlando Software Group, Citect |
| • | New product development: UGS-PLM, Dassault Systemes, Prodika, Infor, Sopheon, SAP |
| • | Global value chain: Manhattan, Red Prairie, Cactus Commerce, Vendor Managed Technologies, SAP, Logility, High Jump, Provia, i2 |
| • | Sales and marketing: JDA, Proclarity, Interactive Edge, G4 Analytics, Velocity, CAS, SAP |
Helping to set industry standards
Microsoft knows that success depends on team effort. For this reason, Microsoft works with its business partners and leading manufacturers in a wide range of standards bodies and industry trade groups to help ensure that technology investments support customers' highest needs. Some of the leading industry groups that benefit from Microsoft participation and leadership include:
| • | Grocery Manufacturers Association (GMA): An organization that represents the world's leading branded food, beverage, and consumer products companies |
| • | EPCglobal: An organization that supports the global standard for real-time, automatic identification of information in the supply chain |
Listening to customers
Established in 1999 through the ISA Society, the Microsoft Manufacturing User Group is an independent forum consisting of major manufacturing companies from around the world. Members include 3M, Proctor & Gamble, Boeing, and GM. The user group provides an opportunity for customers both to communicate what is needed from Microsoft and to recommend how to get the most value from Microsoft solutions.
