Who's Who of the CPG World Gathers at Datalliance Forum
Many of the Consumer Packaged Goods (CPG) industry’s most well-known and respected companies gathered at the 11th annual Datalliance Forum – the world’s largest cross-industry conference focused entirely on the topic of Vendor Managed Inventory (VMI) and related collaborative replenishment processes. Over 50 CPG attendees represented 25 leading CPG manufacturers. Overall, the conference attracted 70 companies from a wide range of industries, so attendees benefited from experience-sharing within their own industry as well as others.
CPG companies attending the conference represented hundreds of brands found on just about every aisle of grocery, drug, dollar and general merchandise stores, and included industry leaders such as Bumble Bee Foods, Carl Buddig and Company, Colgate-Palmolive, Dannon, Kimberly-Clark, Markwins International, Niagara Bottling, Ocean Spray, Procter & Gamble, Reckitt Benckiser, Sun Products and many other well-known companies that use the Datalliance platform to support their VMI program – several on a global basis.
The Forum’s CPG track featured ‘voice of the customer’ presentations by executives from leading retailers, Kroger and Delhaize. Both shared why they feel VMI is a great approach when done well. They also outlined related initiatives within their respective companies. Both encouraged interactive Q&A sessions as well.
Datalliance presented an update on recent and planned innovations to the Datalliance VMI platform, including exciting new capabilities for utilizing a combination of demand signals and building optimized orders for various different routes to market. Advances in training and on-line user aids were also reviewed.
Other CPG track sessions included tutorials on how to take full advantage of various platform capabilities on a self-service basis, as well as available customer care services. Strategic track topics included “Leveraging Analytics: Using VMI Data to Answer Business Questions” and the introduction of a new “Program Growth Toolkit.”
Other sessions included a “State of VMI” presentation based mainly on this Year’s Datalliance customer survey and a both thought-provoking and entertaining keynote session presented by best-selling author, Dr. Tony Alessandra titled “The Platinum Rule – Relationship Strategies for Building Customer and Personal Loyalty.” A wide range of opportunities for both structured and unstructured networking rounded out the program.
-Ellen Kaminski, Datalliance Vice President of Marketing
Datalliance is the world’s largest independent Vendor Managed Inventory (VMI) service provider. Delivered as a cloud-based platform backed by extensive customer service, Datalliance VMI makes it easy for suppliers and their customers to establish sales and inventory management relationships that fully align business objectives, improve collaboration, and streamline supply chain operations. Datalliance manages billions of dollars in orders, millions of SKUs, and thousands of locations worldwide for leading companies in consumer, industrial and healthcare markets. For more information about Datalliance, visit www.datalliance.com.