CIMdata PLM Industry Summary Online Archive

26 April 2005

Product News

Capgemini, HP and Intel Join to Help Consumer Products Companies Boost Business Performance and Revenues

Capgemini Group, HP and Intel announced CP-Connect, a joint initiative designed to help consumer products companies respond to customer demands more quickly, drive down costs in their supply chain, and improve profitability through their distribution and retail network.

Through the innovative use of technology, CP-Connect focuses on addressing critical issues such as value erosion and margin pressure by helping consumer products companies improve the links with their fulfillment and trading partners and with consumers.

"For consumer packaged goods companies, business priorities center on a highly efficient supply chain," said Gayle Papadopoulos, Managing Director, Worldwide Distribution Industries, HP. "The CP-Connect initiative offers another example of how Capgemini Group, HP and Intel provide customers with complete solutions that deliver real business value and move companies toward becoming Adaptive Enterprises able to synchronize business and IT to capitalize on change."

The joint initiative addresses critical performance challenges in the consumer products industry through:

•  Product Lifecycle Management-to increase speed-to-market on product innovations;

•  Trade Promotion Management-to increase return on trade promotions;

•  Radio Frequency Identification (RFID)-to reduce shrink and improve product/stock availability;

•  Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP)-to increase internal and external integrations, based on the customer's current ERP backbone and new developments in the ERP area;

•  Customer Profitability and Business Intelligence-to increase the profitability of customers and trading channels by better understanding the most profitable way to sell products to customers-for example, direct, through a retailer, or over the Internet;

•  Global Data Synchronization-to improve the data foundation for efficient manufacturer/retailer collaboration;

•  Mobile Customer Relationship Management (CRM) Solutions-to improve the effectiveness of field staff.

Capgemini Group, HP and Intel will also host CP-Connect Inspiration Days, one-day sessions to help companies understand how their trading performance can be improved and identify and prioritize potential initiatives to improve their businesses. The sessions also will help pre-qualified customers determine how Capgemini Group, HP and Intel can assist with initiatives and solutions to accelerate a transformation process that can otherwise take six months or longer.

"Capgemini Group, HP and Intel are uniquely positioned to help consumer products companies align their strategies, IT, and business processes in the face of rapidly changing consumer demand and a volatile marketplace," said Kees Jacobs, Principal Consultant, Capgemini's global Manufacturing, Retail and Distribution practice. "With CP-Connect, Capgemini Group, HP and Intel will deliver a comprehensive roadmap for business transformation. Such a transformation will be enabled by the innovative use of proven technology."

CP-Connect stems from the work conducted by Capgemini Group, HP and Intel with some of the world's leading consumer products companies to address key business challenges. For example, the implementation of the SAP® Enterprise Portal solution at Heineken helped support a more efficient work environment. At Imperial Tobacco in Europe, a Mobile Sales Force solution allows the field sales force to handle their workload with measurably greater efficiency and productivity, maximizing the effectiveness of every customer visit.

"Businesses want to be able to match their capabilities with future demands without having to overhaul their entire computing system," said Jon Stine, Global Industry Manager for Retail-Consumer Products, Intel Corporation. "CPG companies can now take advantage of integrated, best-in-class solutions for trading performance while maximizing advances, such as Web services, service oriented architecture and RFID. The Intel-based CP-Connect platform is helping turn business plans and roadmaps into a reality."

CP-Connect benefits from the extensive history Capgemini Group, HP and Intel have of bringing new and innovative solutions to customers.

Capgemini Group contributes its deep consumer packaged goods knowledge and business process experience. In addition, Capgemini Group brings strategy, implementation, and collaborative methods and tools to the CP-Connect initiative. The initiative also benefits from HP's expertise in infrastructure services and solutions, including its own experience as a leading manufacturing company and its related expertise in manufacturing and consumer packaged goods solutions, including supply chain optimization, global data synchronization and RFID. HP addresses distribution industry challenges such as decreasing profit margins by taking an increasingly holistic view of the distribution chain, from consumer packaged goods through transportation to retail.

Intel technology is embedded in HP servers, workstations, PCs, and networking solutions. In addition, Intel has worked extensively in the consumer packaged goods arena, to help companies take advantage of top technology advances. CP-Connect represents an alternative to the proprietary systems of the past, enabling CPG companies to use connected best in class, Intel-based solutions. Intel's open-standards based platforms provide the foundation for high-performance, affordable solutions for the CPG industry from handheld devices to data-intensive servers for enterprise solutions as well as powerful desktops. The Intel-based CP- Connect platform yields rapid development and integration of new functionality while lowering total costs of ownership.

With a long-standing relationship extending for more than 15 years, HP and Capgemini Group provide customers with complete adaptive solution offerings that deliver real business value. CP-Connect builds upon the ongoing success of the HP and Capgemini Group alliance, with year-over-year revenue growth of more than 50 percent.

More information about CP-Connect is available from Capgemini Group, HP and Intel at:

http://www.hp.com/go/capgemini/cpconnect ,

http://www.hp.com/go/capgemini ,

http://www.intel.com/go/retail .

 

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