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Information Builders Announces New Business Intelligence Customers in Consumer Packaged Goods Sector
Utz, Coty Inc., Food Lion and Others Select WebFOCUS for Business Intelligence and Competitive Advantage
| Source: Information Builders
NEW YORK, NY--(Marketwire - September 18, 2007) - Information Builders, the leader in production
business intelligence (BI)
solutions, today announced that Utz Quality Snack Foods and Coty Inc., one
of the world's largest and most successful cosmetics companies and an
award-winning customer of iWay Software solutions, have selected
Information Builders WebFOCUS for business intelligence. The companies join
dozens of existing consumer packaged goods (CPG) companies that use
WebFOCUS -- including Food Lion and many others -- to ensure delivery of
critical business information across the enterprise to increase competitive
advantage amid growing regulatory parameters and narrowing margins.
"WebFOCUS, which was developed with mobile reports in mind in order to meet
the needs of enterprises with employees in the field, is a logical BI
choice for CPG companies that must stay on top of inventory, distribution,
and overall supply chain functions to be at the top of their game," said
Gerald Cohen, CEO of Information Builders. "E. & J. Gallo Winery, the
world's largest wine maker, has harvested a tremendous return on its
investment in WebFOCUS software. The winery rolled out more than 300
WebFOCUS reports to 3,000 users across 19 business units and as a result,
improved customer service, quality assurance, shipping, inventory control,
and regional distribution. Having one accessible version of the truth in
shared reports has reduced inefficiencies and inaccuracies across
departments."
Utz Quality Foods Stays Fresh in the Field
Utz Quality Foods, Inc. manufactures and distributes potato chips and other
snack foods in the mid-Atlantic U.S. The company services large retail
customers like Sam's Club, Costco, and supermarket chains. It also
coordinates sales and production of more than 20,000 pounds of potato chips
every hour, managing 600 delivery routes to 30,000 stores. See
www.utzsnacks.com for more information.
"In the snack food industry, service and quality are key. Timing is a
crucial element in keeping fresh product on store shelves," said Ed Smith,
CIO, Utz. "Utz enlisted Information Builders' help to optimize company
growth and improve distribution and sales processes for better
decision-making. The company uses WebFOCUS to coordinate the timing between
production, marketing, sales, and distribution operations. We have already
realized significant company growth and distribution and sales process
improvements because our employees are able to more rapidly make informed
decisions."
Coty Takes BI to the Next Level
Coty delivers innovative products to consumers in 91 markets worldwide. The
world's largest fragrance company, Coty is a recognized leader in global
beauty with annual net sales of $3.2 billion. Based on the incredible
success that Coty experienced with Information Builders subsidiary iWay
Software, during its acquisition of Unilever Cosmetics, the fragrance giant
has enlisted WebFOCUS to provide better business insight on the reporting
front.
"We would not have been able to integrate Unilever's infrastructure so
quickly without iWay Software. Having to code manually would have taken at
least a year. Missing our target date would have cost us several million
dollars and possibly impacted revenues," said Dave Berry, senior vice
president and Global CIO, Coty Inc. "iWay has lived up to its reputation
for handling large, complex integration
projects, and has already given Coty great ROI, including project payback
within two months."
Food Lion Quickly Hunts Down Data with BI
Food Lion LLC, a subsidiary of Brussels-based Delhaize Group (NYSE : DEG ).
Food Lion operates 1,300 supermarkets, either directly or through
affiliated entities, and employs approximately 73,000 associates in 11
Southeast and Mid-Atlantic states. The company's self-service reporting system and online BI environment have given
managers sales results and other financial data days to weeks sooner
affording better analysis of weekly store promotions and the ability to
quickly detect buying patterns and respond to changes in the marketplace.
About Information Builders
Information Builders' award-winning combination of business intelligence
and enterprise integration software has been providing innovative solutions
to more than 12,000 customers for the past 30 years. WebFOCUS is the
world's most widely utilized business intelligence platform. It provides
the security, scalability, and flexibility needed at every level of global
extended enterprises. Its simplicity helps create executive, analytical,
and operational applications that reach dozens to millions of users.
Information Builders subsidiary iWay Software provides state-of-the-art,
multi-purpose integration engines that address all SOA, application, data, and information management
requirements. Its integration adapters have been adopted by the leading
software platform providers. Together, these products give Information
Builders' customers the ability to live up to the company motto: Your
business. No barriers.
Information Builders' customers include most of the Fortune 100 and U.S.
federal government agencies. Headquartered in New York City with 90 offices
worldwide, the company employs 1,600 people and has more than 350 business
partners.