Synectics Group continues to be one of the fastest growing TPM vendors in the CPG industry.  With what is arguable the smallest software marketing budget in the industry, Synectics continues to grow through word-of-mouth and glowing references from our clients, broker users and consultants.  We thank Sorrento Lactalis for their permission to publish their success story in the GMA Forum case study  Volume 8, No. 5, Mid-Fall 2006 issue.

Partnering with Sorrento Lactalis Cheese Company to Close the Loop Regarding Trade Promotion Management

Sorrento Lactalis Cheese Company (Buffalo, NY), with more than $800 million in annual sales, is one of the largest cheese producers in the United States. Sorrento prides itself in the production of the best tasting authentic Italian cheeses.

Opportunity: Sorrento Lactalis found itself in the not so uncommon dilemma of having various disparate applications to manage their significant trade promotion expenditure for both the retail food and foodservice divisions. These applications were managing the key components of trade promotion i.e.; budgeting, planning, deduction/payments, and analysis, but were being managed in a silo environment, with minimal synchronization of the vital information.

Ken Morris, General Manager of Foodservice, summarized the situation as follows, “We had some control but no where near optimal control of our trade spending. “We had basic control regarding our deductions, but were extremely lagging in the analytical area regarding predictability and liability analysis.” In addition, as a result of the lack of synchronization specifically regarding planning, the various operating areas had multiple versions of the current plan status.” As one could imagine this created significant inefficiencies regarding budget management, accurate post plan analysis and demand planning for promotional events. Sorrento realized that their significant trade promotion investment needed a comprehensive solution that could break down the silos of information and deliver one synchronized view of the information to all operating areas.

Solution: Sorrento Lactalis after extensive review chose the Synectics Group’s Account Review closed-loop trade promotion software solution. The Synectics Group team worked closely with a multi-operational Sorrento team to integrate the Account Review TPM solution to Sorrento’s JDE ERP system. The successful integration of the Account Review solution resulted in the ability to conduct automated nightly batch feeds of necessary financial and product information from JDE, as well necessary planning, accrual, and deduction information from the Account Review system. This integration resolved the information silo and synchronization issues that Sorrento was dealing with prior to the Synectics Group/Sorrento partnership. The system now provided all of the operating areas managing trade promotion one accurate view of budgeting, planning, deductions/payment resolution, and most importantly analysis.

The Account Review TPM management system now enabled Sorrento to have access to relatively real time reporting regarding budget vs. plan vs. actual shipments. In addition to this valuable trend information the system also provide Sorrento accurate variable contribution profitability analysis by promotional event, rolled-up to any hierarchy level in the organization. The combination of having real time trend analysis, in addition to being able to project financial liability at any given time in a budget period, provided Sorrento Lactalis the tools necessary to realizing a substantial return on their trade promotion investment. The rich 3 plus year promotional event history that resides in the Account Review at both the shipment and syndicated data level now provides Sorrento Lactalis with the predictability capability they lacked before the project commenced.

For more information on GMA Forum, go to http://www.gmabrands.org

For more information on Sorrento Latalis, go to www.SorrentoCheese.com


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