Corporate Governance

The supply chain is a critical and influential component of your overall business strategy -- typically impacting 75 percent of operating results.

In trade promotions management technology, integrated analytics tools that provide for precise tracking of promotions dollars are currently drawing the most attention from consumer goods (CG) companies, analysts say.

Usually, discussion and analysis of a particular subject is a matter of bringing in a number of viewpoints, weighing them and making a case for the most likely futures.

As the retail sector consolidates and the larger players grow stronger, a rising number of consumer goods (CG) firms, such as Adolph Coors Company and Molson Inc., Hershey Foods Corporation and Wm. Wrigley Jr. Co. are executing merger or acquisition strategies.

Even though the growth of supply chain software has cooled significantly since the hey day of the explosive growth seen in 2000, there is still a huge opportunity for vendors to adjust offerings to better suit the needs of clients, according to a 2004 AMR Research report.

Consumer goods firms are only as sharp as the products they release.

Technology that helps consumer goods (CG) manufacturers manage promotions and get a clearer picture of consumers who use their products are the hot CRM items of the moment, say analysts, who also predict expanding investment in CRM technology by CG companies in 2005.

There is no doubt that 2004 proved to be a more than challenging year for consumer goods (CG) companies.