The consumer goods industry is characterized by its heavy dependence on retail channels to reach the end user and effective management of these channels along with anticipatory business practices. Although the consumer goods sector covers various segments such as durables, packaged goods, soft goods etc. the target audinces for these products are similar. This calls for similar strategies that address the needs of this segment. Strategies such as product innovation, pricing strategies, as well as product and service bundling are critical to this sector.

Business Challenges

• Improved service levels: Due to the transitory nature of consumer requirements in this sector consumer goods manufacturers need to be able to forecast the next trend both in the type of product as well as service levels. To meet this goal, there is a need for consumer goods companies to streamline key applications and ensure heightened response times for consumer feedback.

• Lower component sourcing costs: A robust procurement system that provides assimilated and intelligent data for best sourcing practices as well as a centralized inventory management system to enable re-use of components in goods manufacturing is critical for increased profitability.

• Efficiency of manufacturing and distribution strategies: The need for increased efficiency of manufacturing and distribution strategies for reduced lead times as well as the need for an integrated platform for applications across the enterprise.

• Increase efficiency in supplier relationships: Turn-around time on important transactional information with suppliers needs to be optimised for strengthening vendor relationships as well as improving the final time-to-market for end users.

The BPM Opportunity

• Facilitate Interaction among BPM Systems from Different Vendors: A large consumer company may use a different BPM system for different types of processes. In many cases, it is important for the business processes hosted by disparate BPM systems to interact with each other. Having a unified platform such as the one afforded by a BPM tool, will ensure effective collaboration between different vendor systems.

• Meet time to market expectations: Applying BPM for process automation, inventory control and better supplier management will enable consumer goods manufacturers to meet market demands at the right time.

• Improve profit margins: Strong finance monitoring capabilities are key to strategic decision making for business profitability. BPM enables the effective transformation to today's agile enterprise by providing tools to monitor the complete product lifecycle and the financial impact on revenue.

• Derive maximum benefit from Demand Forecasting: BPM allows for human-centric workflow automation that puts people in the centre of the process. Anticipating a market trend, so critical in the consumer goods industry, can only be facilitated when people making decisions on products, pricing and customer loyalty are supported by robust process workflows that administer strategies.

Skelta Benefits

• Business Rules Engine: Skelta BPM incorporates a BRE (Business Rules Engine) for increasing overall process visibility, usability and business agility. This allows specific tasks to be allocated to certain users or groups for smooth and effective process workflows.

• BAM and KPI's: Skelta BPM has a powerful BAM (Business Analysis Monitoring) tool which provides updates and reports to multiple channels on changing inventory levels. Any variance in the process can be tracked and brought to the notice of key management. Consumer companies can also define KPI's for their retail chain for better adherence to standard operating practices. Obtain historical supplier data for tracking.

• Process Designer: This feature provides consumer goods companies with a flexible tool to optimize processes for critical areas such as order management, inventory management and customer service initiatives. It also helps eliminate bottlenecks in process execution by defining workflows conforming to best practices.

• DMS for paperless processes: Eliminates paperwork from core transactional processes and clears blockages in important areas of the supply chain for efficient functioning. Assigns electronic documents to specific workflows for routing, tracking and approvals within processes.