ConAgra Foods installs Multi-Enterprise Demand Sensing software
Terra Technology's software is expected to reduce inventory, improve cash flow and reduce forecast error by as much as 40 percent.
Renee Robbins -- Manufacturing Business Technology, 10/21/2009 10:21:29 AM
Terra Technology, provider of demand sensing and inventory optimization software for consumer products companies, says ConAgra Foods has signed a North American license for Terra's Multi-Enterprise Demand Sensing (MDS) solution to reduce inventory and improve customer service. 
According to Steve Vielmetti, vice president of demand planning and supply chain optimization for ConAgra Foods, the company chose the software "to improve short-term forecast accuracy, reduce inventory and improve cash flow. MDS will help enable us to more capably predict changes in consumer behavior, helping us reduce safety stock by up to 15 percent and reduce costs in our supply chain."
More accurate forecasts save money, lower inventory, improve customer service and decrease waste. Terra's solutions use downstream data, like point of sale (POS) data, to improve supply chain performance, reducing forecast error up to 50 percent and inventory up to 20 percent. Multi-Enterprise Demand Sensing reconciles daily demand signals from all participants in the supply chain. MDS uses pattern recognition mathematics to decipher which information is predictive and, in a recent pilot, the software reduced forecast error by 40 percent for all retail items.
Robert F. Byrne, president and CEO of Terra Technology, said, "MDS will enable ConAgra Foods to use POS [point of sale] data to respond quickly and efficiently to shifts in consumer preferences, improving cash flow and reducing costs for the company."
Three of the five largest consumer packaged goods companies, and some of the world's best-known brands, use Terra's software, including Procter & Gamble, Unilever, Kraft Foods, ConAgra Foods and Campbell Soup.
- Edited by Renee M. Robbins, managing editor, MBT www.mbtmag.com
See also Julie Fraser: New-year project: Make global supply chains less risky
