Multiple studies have been conducted over the years on the world’s best selling spreadsheet software and the results show that almost 90% of spreadsheets contain errors!  A professor of IT Management at the University of Hawaii found that “in large spreadsheets with thousands of formulas, there will be dozens of undetected errors”.  A Harvard economics study and the Roosevelt Institute review on the infamous economist paper “Growth in a Time of Debt” highlighted that there was a coding error in the spreadsheet as someone accidently didn’t update a row formula which excluded five countries resulting in completely inaccurate data.

Whilst we all agree that Excel is a powerful tool and reasonably robust, the real challenge is that anyone can create a spreadsheet and therefore it is proned to a multitude of sins.  Firstly, there is no audit trail in what numbers or formulas have been changed, when they were changed and by whom.  There’s also no easy way to test that the spreadsheet is working accurately.  In a nutshell, spreadsheets aren’t always created by people who understand programming well and often there are multiple contributors to the development of a spreadsheet so not everyone follows the same methodology and the design and flow of the spreadsheet can become fragmented.

When it comes to spending millions of dollars on your Trade Promotions, the last thing you want is inaccurate data.  It’s imperative that the numbers are right and that there is visibility to all stakeholders in the business of the effectiveness and efficiency of your trade promotions.  The Supply Chain team want an accurate forecast of proposed uplift to ensure there are no out of stocks, the Finance team need visibility of the promotional programme to manage accruals and claims and the Sales team need to have all the information at their fingertips in order to secure the deals.

The Promax PX Trade Promotion Management and Trade Promotion Optimization (TPM/TPO) solution solves all of the above challenges.  One closed-loop solution to effectively and efficiently manage your trade funds and ensure you are maximising your company’s return on investment.  Download one of our White Papers on related topics to learn more.

Kimberly-Clark Consumer Products has implemented Promax PX Trade Promotion Management and Optimization services for North America. The project has transformed the organization and is used by all Kimberly-Clark stakeholders and brokers, providing a single forecast for trade spend, volume and sales. The initiatives goals include increasing profit for the company and retail partners, leveraging all data and tools now available, including the integration of POS data for predictive planning and enabling consistent forecasting process across all account teams.  In addition, the implementation allows account teams to focus on account management rather than administration and to turn off legacy applications and embrace “off-the-shelf” solutions.  The project was implemented on time and on budget and went live in June 2012, it is now being rolled out globally.  Benefits include enhanced consumer insight which creates significant lift on certain product categories and increased forecast accuracy.

The CGT (Consumer Goods Technology) Customer Management Award is presented to the consumer goods firm that is best leveraging a solution to manage customer relationships, trade promotions, marketing and/or consumer insights.

Contact Us for more information or visit the CGT website

Kimberly-Clark wins CGT Customer Management Award – PDF Version

Kimberly-Clark and Promax partnership is expected to provide fully integrated predictive analytics with TPM

ATLANTA and SYDNEY  – Promax Applications Group, a world-leading specialist in trade promotions planning, management and optimization solutions, today announced that Kimberly-Clark Corporation has selected Promax PX as its North America Trade Promotion Management (TPM) and Optimization (TPO) solution provider.

Kimberly-Clark, manufacturer of some of the world’s most recognized consumer brands sold in more than 150 countries, has embraced leading edge promotion practices for decades. In selecting Promax, the company seeks to further extend that leadership into the area of predictive analytics.

Along with predictive analytics, implementation of the Promax PX® solution is expected to improve forecast accuracy, reduce inventory and out of stocks, and improve trade promotion return on investment (ROI). Complete integration of predictive analytics through trade promotion execution and sales/volume planning also promises to reduce administrative workload and unresolved deductions.

“At Kimberly-Clark we continually seek to improve how we reach consumers and partner with our customers across all our brand categories,” said Don Quigley, President of North America Customer Development for Kimberly-Clark Corporation.  “Through our partnership with Promax we expect to fully integrate predictive analytics with trade promotion management to drive efficiencies and effectiveness across our sales process.”

Don Nicol, CEO of Promax, added, “We are delighted and proud that Kimberly-Clark has chosen Promax as its partner for TPO and TPM.  Promax is unique in that we view TPM and TPO as a single, functional entity.  Promax delivers an intuitive, integrated platform that meets TPM and TPO needs in the one solution.  We are confident that Kimberly-Clark will realize additional profit and sales from the improvements Promax PX delivers in promotional quality, spend effectiveness and forecast accuracy.”

Download the official Promax Press Release:

Press Release Kimberly-Clark Corp selects Promax TPM & TPO

Promax PX selected after intensive analysis and its suitability to Japanese market place

TOKYO and SYDNEY – Promax Applications Group, a world-leading specialist in trade promotions  management, sales planning and trade promotion optimization solutions, today announced that it has commenced the implementation of Promax PX at Heinz Japan.

Heinz is a world leading marketer and manufacturer of food products and holds the number one or two market position in more than 50 countries.  Heinz Japan which was founded in 1961 selected Promax PX after an intensive analysis of the solution and its suitability to the Japanese market place.  The complexity of the Japanese market is created through a high reliance on multi-level wholesalers that make tracking and control of promotions extremely difficult.

Through the implementation of Promax PX, Heinz Japan will gain improved visibility, control and insight into the promotional planning process enabling them to maximize the use of their trade spend.  With Promax the Heinz sales team will acquire a new process to optimize the effectiveness and efficiency of their trade funds investments.  The flexibility of Promax’s analytical capabilities will create a clear view of product/customer profitability and promotion viability pre and post promotion events.  The Promax solution will also streamline the claims management process whilst ensuring financial diligence is sustained.

Don Nicol, CEO of Promax said “we regard Asia and Japan in particular as a significant area of focus for Promax and have now established branch operations in Tokyo.  The work we have done with the Heinz Japan team……