IBM Case Studies Delivering a boost to profit margins with new insight into customers

Edit This Case Study Record

	Delivering a boost to profit margins with new insight into customers IBM

Delivering a boost to profit margins with new insight into customers

IBM

Technology Category	Analytics & Modeling - Real Time Analytics
Applicable Industries	Food & Beverage
Applicable Functions	Sales & Marketing
Use Cases	Predictive Replenishment
Services	Data Science Services
Challenge	The Hershey Company in Brazil (Hershey’s Brazil) faces stiff competition from local chocolate manufacturers. To maximize sales to its customers—primarily food retailers and wholesalers—Hershey’s Brazil sought a better way to capture customer-specific data, such as profit-and-loss information and local patterns in demand, and use the insight to shape more effective sales strategies. Hershey’s Brazil wanted to better understand its customers in order to make the best business decisions and increase sales. Read More
About Customer	The Hershey Company, commonly referred to as Hershey’s, is the largest chocolate manufacturer in North America and one of the top ten largest chocolate manufacturers worldwide. It was founded in 1894 and its products are sold in around 90 countries. The Hershey Company in Brazil (Hershey’s Brazil) faces stiff competition from local chocolate manufacturers. To maximize sales to its customers—primarily food retailers and wholesalers—Hershey’s Brazil sought a better way to capture customer-specific data, such as profit-and-loss information and local patterns in demand, and use the insight to shape more effective sales strategies. Read More
Solution	Hershey’s Brazil sought a solution that would allow it to compete at its best in the challenging Brazilian marketplace. They chose to work with CTI Global, a local IBM Business Partner, as they felt they could provide them with a good solution, great expertise and valuable knowledge transfer. Their experience of implementing similar solutions for other large enterprises in Brazil was another key selling point for them. With IBM Cognos TM1, Hershey’s Brazil can drill down into sales data to determine the best price point for each customer, in each region of Brazil. Read More Log in to view content
Contents

Technology Category

Analytics & Modeling - Real Time Analytics

Applicable Industries

Food & Beverage

Applicable Functions

Sales & Marketing

Use Cases

Predictive Replenishment

Services

Data Science Services

Challenge

The Hershey Company in Brazil (Hershey’s Brazil) faces stiff competition from local chocolate manufacturers. To maximize sales to its customers—primarily food retailers and wholesalers—Hershey’s Brazil sought a better way to capture customer-specific data, such as profit-and-loss information and local patterns in demand, and use the insight to shape more effective sales strategies. Hershey’s Brazil wanted to better understand its customers in order to make the best business decisions and increase sales.

About Customer

The Hershey Company, commonly referred to as Hershey’s, is the largest chocolate manufacturer in North America and one of the top ten largest chocolate manufacturers worldwide. It was founded in 1894 and its products are sold in around 90 countries. The Hershey Company in Brazil (Hershey’s Brazil) faces stiff competition from local chocolate manufacturers. To maximize sales to its customers—primarily food retailers and wholesalers—Hershey’s Brazil sought a better way to capture customer-specific data, such as profit-and-loss information and local patterns in demand, and use the insight to shape more effective sales strategies.

Solution

Hershey’s Brazil sought a solution that would allow it to compete at its best in the challenging Brazilian marketplace. They chose to work with CTI Global, a local IBM Business Partner, as they felt they could provide them with a good solution, great expertise and valuable knowledge transfer. Their experience of implementing similar solutions for other large enterprises in Brazil was another key selling point for them. With IBM Cognos TM1, Hershey’s Brazil can drill down into sales data to determine the best price point for each customer, in each region of Brazil.

Impact #1	Hershey’s Brazil has been able to change its planning calendar, moving from an annual budgeting process to a more flexible, real-time monthly budgeting process.
Impact #2	In the future, Hershey’s Brazil intends to expand the use of the IBM solution to cover cash-flow management, costs, and the sales and operations planning process.

Impact #1

Hershey’s Brazil has been able to change its planning calendar, moving from an annual budgeting process to a more flexible, real-time monthly budgeting process.

Impact #2

In the future, Hershey’s Brazil intends to expand the use of the IBM solution to cover cash-flow management, costs, and the sales and operations planning process.

Benefit #1	Increases profit margins with optimized sales performance
Benefit #2	Drives faster, more informed decision-making, boosting sales effectiveness
Benefit #3	Sharpens competitiveness, helping the company gain valuable market share

Benefit #1

Increases profit margins with optimized sales performance

Benefit #2

Drives faster, more informed decision-making, boosting sales effectiveness

Benefit #3

Sharpens competitiveness, helping the company gain valuable market share

Download PDF Version

Overview

Delivering a boost to profit margins with new insight into customers

Operational Impact

Quantitative Benefit