Connected Experiences for Consumer Goods: Case StudiesView case studies for:  A. O. Smith Water Products CompanyA. O. Smith Water Products Company manufactures water heaters, boilers, and hot-water storage solutions sold worldwide. The company wanted to make it easier for materials planners and receiving personnel to keep inventory up to date and reduce inventory costs. The company implemented Ultriva Electronic Kanban, an automated, browser-based inventory replenishment solution that runs on Microsoft software. A. O. Smith employees have been able to reduce inventory by 20 percent year over year, boost inventory turns by 100 percent, and increase customer fill rates.  ACCO BrandsACCO Brands, the global leader behind Swingline, Kensington, and other brands, wanted to improve innovation and collaboration and standardize Product Life-cycle Management in order to speed time to market, reduce costs, and further enhance product quality. The company adopted a Microsoft .NET-based enterprise PLM solution from Aras, a Microsoft Gold Certified Partner, and cut cycle time by more than 50 percent, speeding time-to-market.  Archer Daniels MidlandArcher Daniels Midland Company (ADM), a global agricultural processing firm based in Illinois, transforms crops such as corn and wheat into food and agriculturally derived fuels and chemicals. Recently, the firm sought to improve its online customer experience by creating a more engaging web site. As part of this initiative, the company wanted to shift content management duties from IT to customer and product experts in each business unit. Working with Microsoft and IT consultant Avanade, a Microsoft gold certified partner, ADM implemented a new web solution based on Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007. The new site offers customers a more effective online experience. Also, the ADM corporate communications team can more easily update the site. The company has been able to redeploy IT staff formerly responsible for maintaining the site to higher-value business application projects.  Callaway GolfCallaway Golf is known around the world as a leading supplier of golf clubs, golf balls, and accessories. The innovation that led to successful products like the Big Bertha driver is fueled by collaboration between internal and external teams, ranging from engineers at company headquarters in California to manufacturing partners in Asia. To overcome confusion and delays caused by version-control issues with critical documents moving between various teams, Callaway Golf implemented a Web-based portal using Siemens PLM Software Teamcenter Community Collaboration, a Product Life-cycle Management solution based on Microsoft SharePoint products and technologies. Today, Callaway Golf's internal personnel and overseas partners can share documents and collaborate quickly and effectively, which helps the company maintain its position in the golf business.  Canon AustraliaAs Business Imaging Solutions (BIS) Service Strategy Manager for Canon Australia, Charles Stephens makes customers a priority. Yet he had difficulty accessing sales data from the enterprise resource planning (ERP) system to optimize service policies. After Canon Australia deployed a Microsoft business intelligence solution from Microsoft Gold Certified Partner ComOps, Stephens is using accurate, timely information to align his policies with corporate goals that focus on customer care as a key differentiator. Canon Australia is sharing product usage reports and actual service calls records with customers to strengthen relationships and drive brand loyalty.  Carma Laboratories, Inc.Throughout the past 10 years, Carma Laboratories, Inc., has expanded internationally. After upgrading to Microsoft Dynamics GP 9.0 and a fully integrated EDI solution, order-entry staff could electronically process Carma's 10,000 annual inbound and outbound documents, rather than rekeying them manually. The Microsoft business portal saved 80 hours monthly in time spent generating sales reports, allowing the staff to handle growth of trading partners and shipments.  CMC GroupHeadquartered in Bowling Green, Ohio, CMC Group consists of four subsidiaries that provide specialized printing and packaging solutions for a range of industries. CMC Group oversees management of these interrelated companies, delivering shared IT and financial services. In 2001, CMC Group implemented Microsoft Dynamics® AX for comprehensive business management functionality and powerful manufacturing capabilities. Looking to capitalize on enhancements in the latest version of the software, the company worked with Microsoft® Gold Certified Partner Greenlight BTS to deploy Microsoft Dynamics AX 2009 and Create!form from Bottomline Technologies for document process automation to 85 people across its four subsidiaries. Now, CMC Group benefits from improved productivity, increased efficiency, and a solution that supports continued growth and innovation.  Coca-Cola EnterprisesCoca-Cola Enterprises (CCE) employs approximately 72,000 people in 431 facilities around the globe. Much of its workforce is mobile with 55,000 vehicles and 2.4 million coolers, vending machines, and beverage dispensers. With increasing competition in the marketplace, CCE needed a more effective way to collaborate with its employees, to increase its productivity, to enable better flow of information, and to create more time for sales persons to engage with customers. Its worldwide presence required employees and executives to spend numerous hours on the road every week, travelling to internal meetings. Using Microsoft Online Services technologies, CCE is able to save travel expenses through online meeting tools and collaboration platforms that span time zones and geographies.  Del Monte"With the Forefront Protection Suite, we expect to save countless hours in administrative overhead. We wouldn’t put anything else for e-mail security on our new Exchange Server machines."Jonathan Wynn, Manager, Advanced Technology and Collaborative Services, Del Monte  Energizer Holdings, Inc.Evolving consumer trends, a more demanding retail environment, and intense global competition have forced Energizer, one of the world’s largest producer of batteries, to rethink the way it does business. The company has replaced its command-and-control management structure with an empowered, collaborative, grass-roots–driven business model that aims to give employees easy access to information and to one another, with the goal of quickly delivering business value where it’s needed—in the trenches of daily decision making. Energizer has standardized on Microsoft software to help employees communicate faster, pool ideas, react sooner, and eliminate wasted time and effort. Energizer’s philosophy is to empower every employee with all the technology it can give them, to help them be as productive as possible. Multiplied by 7,800, even small efficiencies add up to tremendous companywide gains. Also, by tapping into the intelligence of smart employees all over the world, Energizer can generate better ideas in less time, which helps it stay ahead of customer demands and competitive threats. Energizer Holdings, Inc.Energizer Holdings, Inc., one of the world’s leading makers of consumer batteries and flashlights, wanted a Web site that would be as innovative as its products and that would enable brand managers to quickly add and update content, create stylish designs, collaborate, and provide a comprehensive search capability. Energizer migrated from a Web site based on a mix of older technologies to one based on Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007. Now, Energizer uses the site for more timely and effective promotion of new and existing products as well as other consumer offerings, and saves on agency fees spent to produce and post content. The company tracks the use of search to help it revise and expand content to better serve consumers. And it can reuse page layouts and code on related sites, which helps increase return on investment.  Epicurean Cutting SurfacesEpicurean Cutting Surfaces, which produces cutting boards and other kitchenware products from renewable and recycled materials, aims to reduce material and process waste. That's why the company upgraded to the beta version of Windows Small Business Server 2008-to take advantage of improvements in security and reliability, remote access, and software management. The company has reduced costs, increased productivity, improved customer service, and gained a competitive edge.  EsseltePeople at office supplies manufacturer Esselte were struggling to track and report on stock in disparate IT systems. Esselte wanted to consolidate 12 global enterprise resource planning solutions and nine warehouse management systems used across 30 countries into one integrated, scalable solution to improve data visibility across the global business. With the help of Microsoft partners eBECS, Columbus IT, and Tectura, Esselte rolled out Microsoft Dynamics AX. By standardizing on one solution and streamlining its processes, Esselte gave its employees better access to critical data to monitor sales figures, manage orders, and predict stock needs quickly and efficiently. As a result, efficiency increased throughout the organization, assisting the company to reduce inventory by 50 percent.  KiMsKiMs, Denmark's leading producer of snacks, was very satisfied with its implementation of Microsoft Dynamics AX (formerly Microsoft Business Solutions-Axapta), but it still needed a forecasting tool to help optimize its supply chain. When Microsoft approached KiMs to be the test environment for Microsoft Business Solutions Demand Planner-Axapta, KiMs was happy to accept. This collaboration has been a success for both Microsoft and KiMs. Microsoft has been able to use the experience and insight gained at KiMs to further develop and improve Microsoft Demand Planner. At the same time, KiMs has gained an effective forecasting tool that is helping it achieve its goals while cutting costs.  General MillsOne of the largest food-product manufacturers in the world, General Mills operates in more than 100 countries. Like any global enterprise, General Mills generates an enormous number of electronic records that need to be managed for varying degrees of retention and easy access by authorized users. General Mills needed to develop an enterprisewide records management system to store, prioritize, and manage its very high volume of electronic records while minimizing disruption to the way people work. The company used Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007 to develop a records management solution to store and manage millions of documents. General Mills is implementing coherent records retention policies, managing the capacity of its data center, reducing costs, saving time, and improving the ability of employees and decision makers to locate and access the information they need.  IntelIntel, the world leader in silicon innovation, develops technologies, products and initiatives to continually advance how people work and live. Being able to identify and track meaningful conversion events that occur on the site after an ad has been clicked is critical to measuring the success of a business-to-business campaign—and to continuing to deliver a superior customer experience.  Kimberly-ClarkKimberly-Clark wanted to integrate its MyKleenexTissue.com site with the rest of its infrastructure to lower costs and boost marketing. The company redeveloped the site using Microsoft Silverlight, Microsoft Commerce Server 2007, and the Microsoft .NET Framework. Kimberly-Clark expects to save up to 40 percent annually in IT costs and develop stronger customer connections with a Web environment that can flex to meet future needs.  KraftOne of the world’s largest food and beverage companies, Kraft Foods needed to give its brand groups greater speed and flexibility in connecting with consumers online. The company chose Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007 as a new global standard for web content management and is now running its three largest web sites on its new solution, with plans to migrate all consumer-facing web sites by the end of 2010. Through its use of Office SharePoint Server 2007, Kraft is benefiting from streamlined web content publishing; support for new forms of digital marketing; and the performance, scalability, and reliability needed to support more than 100 million page views per month. What’s more, the solution’s rich capabilities and ease of management are expected to save Kraft millions of dollars over the next two years in agency fees, support costs, and development costs.  LanceSnack food manufacturer Lance supported direct store delivery (DSD) using a difficult-to-maintain mobile application running on eight-year-old devices, which were failing at an increasing rate. The company addressed those challenges by migrating to Apacheta RouteACE workflow software running on new Windows Mobile devices. Features such as bar code scanning, support for direct exchange of data, and fast startup and synchronization are enhancing customer service and increasing productivity for the company's 1,400 DSD salespeople, while the ability to change business rules and workflows without writing code makes it easier to support the solution. In addition, the solution's extensibility and the visibility it provides into how salespeople work put Lance in a strong position to deliver further gains in business efficiency and productivity.  L’OréalL’Oréal, the world’s largest skin care and cosmetics company, wanted to broaden the scope of marketing for its luxury products division. It decided to implement a company-wide customer relationship management (CRM) system, starting with a pilot project in South Korea. Working with Siebel — and advised on architecture by Microsoft Services — L’Oréal standardised on Siebel CRM and Analytics software running on Windows Server 2003 and a Microsoft SQL Server 2005 database. The CRM solution has helped boost customer loyalty and reduce churn. As a result of more accurate targeting, the volume of direct mail has been cut by as much as 57 per cent for a single promotion, with a 62 per cent response rate. L’Oréal now has a consistent view of customers across all marketing channels.  Lazzara YachtsLuxury yacht maker Lazzara Yachts prides itself on its unique approach to building and selling the industry’s finest boats. Since its founding in 1990, the family-owned company has emphasized quality and personalized service over volume sales. Lazzara wanted to give prospective customers the chance to explore design options in a more hands-on way. After company executives attended a demonstration of Microsoft Surface at a national boat show event, Lazzara opted to embrace this revolutionary computer. Microsoft Gold Certified Partner Infusion Development helped Lazzara deploy Microsoft Surface in its show room. Now, the device is an integral part of the company's sales and marketing strategy, further differentiating its brand. And, with plans to offer shipboard installation of the device as a custom option, Lazzara is well positioned to revolutionize the yachting experience. Loyalty LabFor nearly 200 years, since German immigrant Johann George Pfaltzgraff founded a pottery business in York, Pennsylvania, to serve the domestic needs of local farming families, the Pfaltzgraff brand has been associated with high-quality housewares. In the consumer goods business, effectively integrating sales across multiple channels can be difficult and expensive, in part because most retailers’ point-of-sale applications were implemented before Internet retailing really took hold. Not long ago, as Pfaltzgraff's management focused on optimizing its store strategy, the company’s multichannel marketing strategy became stuck in a rut.  Microsoft Digital Advertising SolutionsMSN Research set out with the objective to measure the impact display advertising has on search engagement. Researchers hypothosized that display advertisements would entice users to search for more information about the brand and would inform the eventual purchase decision. Partnering on the study with Microsoft was a leading global consumer packaged goods (CPG) company that is also a leading global advertiser in traditional media.  Miller Brewing CompanyMiller Brewing Company wanted to take full advantage of new technology to improve its intranet. The company visited a Microsoft® Technology Center (MTC) to validate its approach through a two-day Architecture Design Session. Miller came away from the MTC with increased technical knowledge, a greater understanding of the Microsoft technology road map, and a better overall solution that it could deliver within a shorter timeline.  Newell RubbermaidNewell Rubbermaid wanted a common and cost-effective way to manage its more than 30 brand Web sites, while giving each of those sites the distinctive look and function that the brand required. Newell Rubbermaid turned to digital agency LBi Atlanta to replace open source and other technology with Microsoft-based technology. The company expects to save U.S.$1.5 million in fees, capital depreciation, and other costs for content updates and platform maintenance over two years.  NyproGlobal plastics manufacturer Nypro has 37 plants in 17 countries. Until recently, each plant used its own application to capture product quality control information. Michael Kilday, corporate director of Quality Assurance and Regulatory Affairs at Nypro, wanted to consolidate the company's data and standardize the collection process, making it easier for business managers to gain insight into product quality at various locations. He also wanted to ensure regulatory compliance and reduce the amount of paper used. Microsoft Gold Certified Partner Predisys helped Nypro develop a centralized solution based on Predisys Manufacturing Analytical Suite and Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007. The new solution has the potential to save the company US$8 million annually and makes it easy for employees to gain real-time data.  PINGPING has been manufacturing innovative golf equipment for more than 50 years. In order to stay at the forefront of new product development and reduce time-to-market, PING initiated a new, collaborative approach to product development. However, to fully embrace its new product development methodology, the company needed an improved enterprisewide collaboration solution and a better search tool for its employees. PING chose a communication and collaboration solution from Microsoft, which also has an integrated search component. Today, PING employees use the solution to easily find and share product information—and bring the collaborative product development approach to fruition. As a result, PING is producing more products and reducing time-to-market. The company expects to become more competitive, a key advantage in today’s tough retail environment.  Pioneer Electronics (USA) Mobile Business GroupA subsidiary of Japanese audio system manufacturer Pioneer Corporation, the Pioneer Electronics (USA) Mobile Business Group sells Pioneer and Premier after-market car audio, navigation, and accessory products through a 4,000-dealer network across the United States. Relying on its dealers to correctly install its increasingly complex after-market car audio products, Pioneer Electronics began to look for ways to better support the dealers, many of whom had no way to collaborate with peers for help. So Pioneer deployed social networking technologies in a business context, building a dealer portal based on Microsoft software. Now, dealers have a vibrant online community where they can share their knowledge, take training, promote their stores, and build allegiance to the Pioneer brand. The dealer portal also is used by staff at large retail outlets for training and installation information.  Procter & GambleTo reduce costs and speed time-to-market, Procter & Gamble wanted to expand its use of computer simulation in research, design, and testing. However, the company needed to first make its high-performance computing (HPC) clusters easier to use. Procter & Gamble is evaluating Windows Compute Cluster Server 2003 as a way to increase HPC use and productivity, while also speeding cluster deployment and management.  Rich Products CorporationFrozen food manufacturer Rich Products Corporation is experiencing dramatic business growth, particularly in Asia. To support this, its international division in China needed a consolidated business management solution to replace the disparate systems that hindered production schedules and restricted operations. Rich Products Corporation worked with Microsoft Gold Certified Partner Tectura to deploy Microsoft Dynamics AX 3.0. Easy-to-use tracking tools help support critical food safety compliance, while clear information makes production processes easier to manage and regulate, boosting efficiency and reducing operational costs. And reports are now 99.9 percent accurate, supporting the kind of informed management decisions that help the business bring innovative new products to market quickly and cost-effectively.  Rockford CorporationRockford Corporation, a Tempe, Arizona-based manufacturer and distributor of high-performance mobile audio products and best known for Rockford Fosgate speakers, was not deaf to the changes it needed to make to stay competitive and profitable in a changing economy. They worked with Microsoft Gold Certified Partner Ensynch on a comprehensive IT solution to address the needs of its mobile workforce. After an assessment, Ensynch determined that a series of Microsoft’s Unified Communications solutions would address all the needs of Rockford’s dynamic and mobile workforce.  Ronco Communications and Electronics, Inc.Ronco Communications and Electronics, Inc. is an integrator of innovative products and services, with a strong focus on Advanced IP Communications technologies. Existing customers have enjoyed the additional convenience of shopping at the company’s Web site. But to offer customers the best possible online experience, Ronco decided to launch a Web-based advertising campaign. Ronco wanted to make its products easier for existing customers to find online, attract new customers, and introduce qualified searchers to its unique product offerings. Ronco worked with its agency of record, SendTraffic, and Microsoft adCenter to implement the campaign.  Sharp ElectronicsSharp Electronics needed the most accurate, most detailed intelligence possible about how its products were faring in retail stores nationwide, and it needed to get that intelligence quickly. But the paper-and-pen–based surveys that its field marketing managers took during store visits were time-consuming to collect, error-prone, and not very thorough. To meet its needs, the company turned to Windows Mobile® powered devices and the FAST (Field Adapted Survey Toolkit) solution from Microsoft® Certified Partner GeoAge. Sharp now updates its surveys 400 percent faster, gains 400 percent more information, and cuts survey time by 67 percent, so that field managers can spend more time building rapport with store personnel and selling product. Sales by field managers are up 500 percent in the year since Sharp adopted the solution.  UnileverUnilever, the global consumer products giant that sells some 400 brands in 100 countries, generated 2005 revenue of US$50.6 billion. When this behemoth needed to upgrade its SAP R\3 supply chain infrastructure, which was hosted on an Oracle/UNIX solution, and achieve a lower total cost of ownership, it tested Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Enterprise Edition (64-bit) using 1.5 terabytes of data and double the transaction loads of its U.S. operations. The company was so impressed by the results that it is deploying Microsoft SQL Server 2005 running on Microsoft Windows Server 2003 Enterprise Edition for Itanium-based Systems and hosted on a Hewlett-Packard Superdome computer to deploy SAP enterprise resource planning in support of its North American operations. Unilever expects a 15 percent reduction in total cost of ownership, as well as new capabilities achieving the scalability, agility, and reliability its operations require.  Wells DairyIn Le Mars, Iowa, Wells’ Dairy produces ice cream and frozen desserts under the Blue Bunny brand. As the company faces a challenging market, the IT department aims to provide cost-effective services and promote business continuity and agility. It turned to virtualization, but its original solution from Microsoft couldn’t virtualize 64-bit operating systems, which capped server consolidation efforts and limited test environments. Wells’ Dairy ultimately deployed the Windows Server® 2008 Datacenter operating system and Hyper-V™ virtualization technology. Today, it has a scalable server consolidation solution and a data center that is saving more than US.$12,000 in annual electrical costs. The IT staff is virtualizing critical applications in the production environment using clustering for high availability and is offering efficient, cost-effective virtualized test services.
Read the press announcement.
|
|
