Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP)

Husqvarna Turf Care gets lean during its seasonal peak

Adidas-Salomon Canada consolidates IT to boost customer service

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.

Business Intelligence (BI) wasn't the hottest topic of conversation amongst IT types in 2004, and to be perfectly honest, it likely won't be the belle of the ball in 2005 either.

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.

How to drive value from integration, forecasting and new product development

The past year was one of struggle and experimentation in consumer goods companies' use of Radio Frequency Identification (RFID), with lingering standards, product immaturity, cost and return on investment issues clouding the ability to reach Wal-Mart's January 2005 mandate.

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