Industry News

ContractPro Trade Promotion Management Solution Goes Live with FSEnet+ on September 13

Answers Systems — Tue, 07 Sep 2010 15:26:42 GMT

Answers Systems is excited to announce that our go-live date with the FSEnet⁺ solution is September 13. We are believers in and advocates for electronic contract collaboration between foodservice industry trading partners, and we are pleased to be the first and only foodservice trade promotion management solution for Manufaturers to offer an electronic interface with FSEnet⁺.

Answers Systems' integration of the ContractPro solution with FSEnet⁺ will mean:

reduced risk of human error due to elimination of dual entry (manual contract creation in both systems won't be required),
greater visibility into the status of a contract,
and even more accurate claim settlement thanks to transmission from FSEnet⁺ back to Answers Systems.

Check out our Answers Systems-FSEnet⁺press release online for more details.

If you are not currently a ContractPro customer and would like an online demonstration showing you the trade promotion management benefits of our solution, please contact us at 800-225-6127.

Return of the Foodservice "SPENDUSTRY"

Answers Systems — Mon, 19 Jul 2010 14:36:25 GMT

by Bud Hilton

Is spending in our foodservice industry on its way back? What could postpone the return of restaurant spending, once the economic conditions begin to loosen up? Can the really smart marketers help to promote the return of spending in foodservice locations? The answers lie in understanding what we did to initially promote spending in a more prosperous economy.

In much better times, when marketers pushed to redirect consumer dollars from retail grocery stores to eating out, we were successful to a large degree at holding industry wallets hostage! We did an outstanding job of convincing the consumer public to dedicate a larger portion of their discretionary income to eating out. Through some carefully orchestrated advertising strategy we built a SPENDUSTRY based on the following ideas:

With at least a two-member family income you can afford to eat out more often
The quality of “restaurant” food is superior to most cook-at-home opportunities
You have worked hard . . . you deserve to eat out
Eating out is a primary entertainment avenue
There is little time left to do home-prep meals

With the economic crunch over the past few years, consumers may have been trying very hard to cut-back on away-from-home meal consumption and it has not been easy for many reasons. Cooking and at home meal prep became a lost art in the years prior to the eco-crash; for many, eating at home has become unacceptable punishment; time and clean up, after a long day, is still a big issue; and, oh yeah . . . I like the food and friends combination so I will cut back on other entertainment spending.

It has been is very hard to give up the luxury of eating out. A large percent of this SPENDUSTRY can’t wait to return to the rewards of eating out and all indications are that improvement in economic conditions may get them there faster. What we can do as foodservice marketers is to do exactly what we did to get people in our units in the first place . . . when time were good. The 6 reasons for eat-out, mentioned above, still exist. So, the smart marketers will probably return to the same campaigns, and apply the same sound reasoning, to entice consumers to return to their restaurant habits and reward themselves NOW!

The challenge is to get behind campaigns to create “reactivity” in foodservice dine out situations . . . our industry depends on it!

V. Bud Hilton
Chairman & CEO
Genesis Group Inc., Answers Systems

DATA ACQUISITION FOR TRADE PROMOTION MANAGEMENT - ELECTRONIC BILLBACK CLAIM SUBMISSION “MADE EASY”

Answers Systems — Tue, 13 Jul 2010 18:27:39 GMT

by Janet Zlokovich

Getting Started with submitting Electronic Billback Reporting for deviated billbacks . . .

Many distributors are unsure of where to begin. When I talk to them about sending a data file for their deviated billbacks rather than emailing a static report format, distributors are sometimes hesitant because they want to make sure one solution and the same file layout will satisfy every manufacturer trading partner’s requirements.

The good news is there are easy-to-adopt industry standards for claim submission.

Specifications are already in place for the EDI 867 Product Transfer and Resale Report – Foodservice Billback document. This industry standard document was developed through the efforts of the GS1 US Foodservice committee. We are currently receiving claim data from distributors who have used these guidelines for their development.

My role in Data Acquisition at Answers Systems is to promote electronic data transmissions for billback reporting. When we receive a data extract file, I perform the mapping alignment to our EclaimSM table where the data can be staged and synchronized for standardization. We have a dedicated group of IT professionals that manage the data files and load process. Whenever possible, automation is applied to streamline and expedite. The end result is a paperless workflow that can drive waste out of the supply chain. I am always ready to share my experiences on how I have worked with other distributors to transition to the EDI 867 while having minimal impact on effort, time and resources. Distributors who have used this document as the spec have been able to apply their own translation based on the data available from their internal rebate applications and financial systems. They are able to substantiate and support the goal of 1 standard file layout for all their claim data. Another advantage is being able to automate the transmission to the manufacturer so they can receive prompt payment for their billback invoice and have a positive impact cash flow.

Even through it’s our preference to receive the EDI 867-Billback, we are flexible and can accept other file types such as Text (delimited-character), CSV and Excel. The file transmission can be transmitted via FTP or email. My recommendation is to use FTP to our secure site to allow automation and tracking receipt for the file delivery. If you are interested in receiving more information, contact Janet Zlokovich at janet.zlokovich@answerssystems.com or call 727-639-2151.

Technorati tags: data acquisition, data syncrhonization

The 4 Holy Grails . . . Who will be first-esss with the most-esss???

Answers Systems — Tue, 22 Jun 2010 15:20:08 GMT

Among many pieces of information that manufacturers absolutely covet are:

Unit level data
P&L information (by contract, category, SKU, etc.)
Price Optimization capability
Market Share realization

The race to get there fast with the most relative information has, for the most part, replaced shotgun cold-call techniques, dependency on partner agencies, various mass media opportunities, and pure HOPE. Today’s smart foodservice marketer realizes that HOPE is not a strategy; and they are spending time and dollars to retrieve, aggregate, analyze and construct strategy and tactics to cover all their bases in the above areas.

At one time, manufacturers would all but “froth-at-the-mouth” if they could get their hands on Unit Level Data complete with address, compliance, etc. For the longest they either did not have systems to capture and store such data or distributors were unlikely to part with this information (which was their Holy Grail) also. With the emergence of better technology to capture and provide ULD and vendor cooperation, many manufacturers are now faced with the problem of “What can I do with this info when I get it?”

Accurate Profit & Loss information depends on things like; a powerful retrieval system for acquiring data, good internal Cost Of Goods Sold (COGS) information, identification of various additional “waterfalls of cost” against initial revenue . . . such as promo money, sales commissions, incentives, distributor allowances, bill back costs, etc. Again, advances in technology have allowed new avenues of data visibility. It is now feasible to come very close to identifying “net P&L” in many cases. With some of the sophisticated trade management applications and tracking services, manufacturers can now view their shipments into distributors and compare sales and cost of every contracted piece of business to every category and SKU. It then becomes a rather simple matter of loading COGS info, along with other selling and promotional expenses to arrive at a closer estimate of actual SKU expense. Once contracted business has been identified, determining the “street” business fallout and the associated cost of that piece of business can be arrived at through some direct expense association and reasonable assumptions.

“How should I price my products in the marketplace? . . . This is a “charge” on every brand marketer’s agenda. For many years manufacturers may have arrived at pricing through a few less sophisticated techniques, i.e., What production restraints we might have; What the market will bear; What competition is doing; What our gross profit markups would suggest; What the customer has been paying . . . At best, much of this may have been a dart-throw!

Price Optimization is a dream of most manufacturers. Simply said . . . “PO is the practice of determining a specific price-point that the customer/market will accept and the producing company can obtain highest volume and profit yield.” Again, because of technology (I am beginning to think this Technology thing is here to stay!!!), today’s manufacturers are improving their position in this area. Many manufacturers are investing huge sums in ERP systems that can help them to gather and identify PO instances. The problem usually lies in their inability to obtain the correct data in the first place, to realize accurate interpretation into their ERP system. Available and sophisticated applications and better cooperation in the marketplace is improving the ability to assemble, aggregate and analyze a broader array of purchase and sales data and thus apply better understanding to current and future conditions for customer reach and price application.

What is my current and projected Market Share? WOW! Wouldn’t knowing even “half” of this equation be helpful? And I won’t overplay this because there are many great manufacturers that know quite a bit about their industry capacity and their market share. There are even more that do not! Truth is – MS is a moving target. One must have some sort of application and connectivity to data sources and electronic feeds that can continuously update customer activity and market fluctuations. Today there really is a lot of help available and much of the determining factors related to MS exist in a combination of understanding of all 4 of the Holy Grails we discussed.

So, although we looked at each of these Holy Grails separately and each can be obtained somewhat separately . . . in reality they are all best achieved and understood when they can be assembled, aggregated and interpreted from one large “funnel”. Collection and usage of information in all 4 areas is like a snowball rolling downhill; components of each area add to the collection of data necessary to best apply final interpretation. As you look for help to get-a-grip on these areas, make sure you work with a company that is involved in understanding all 4.

Answers Systems offers a complete system for managing the very complex trade promotion/contact management business in the foodservice industry. We provide the best ability to bring the ALL related data into one funnel for interpretation and use. Take some time to investigate your opportunities to realize market utopia.

Bud Hilton
Chairman & CEO
Genesis group Inc., Answers Systems
813-818-9299

Technorati tags: data acquisition

The National Restaurant Association show is upon us

Answers Systems — Mon, 17 May 2010 18:09:16 GMT

by Greg Hilton

Each May, professionals from all around the food industry make the annual pilgrimage to the National Restaurant Association show in Chicago. I have attended on and off for around 15 years or so and each year, I meet an incredibly fascinating group of individuals and learn a tremendous amount. I am also in awe of the shear magnitude of the planning process and what must go into putting on a show of that size. Kudos to all of the individuals involved.

It is not (fill in the blank) as it used to be
For each show I have attended over the years you always hear folks saying something like…. “It is not as big as it used to be.” Or, “The NRA show does not cater as much to manufacturers as it used to.” Or maybe, “The NRA has far too many people wearing purple shirts.” Or…. Something else that misses the point.

Yeah, maybe in a challenging economy the NRA show has had to adjust its agenda and perhaps its approach. It is a good thing they do. Keeping the exact same agenda regardless of the industry needs and conditions would be a recipe for failure.

IFMA, the National Restaurant Association, and others provide fantastic programs during the National Restaurant Association event--education, networking, relationship building--that aid foodservice trading partners. Wow, that is a hard goal to hit, and it is one that (regardless of the economic conditions), IFMA really does a great job at each year.

Where else, and at what other venue can you attract so many individuals from around our industry for one event? The NRA show is a great place to come together and network, maybe promote a product or an idea and, ultimately, to educate yourself about the goings on in our industry.

Our team will have representatives visiting the show again this year. As always, I expect to learn a lot and to promote our products and services to an industry that desperately needs a contract and trade management solution.

Want to embrace the issue, consider the solution and really improve your organization’s trade promotion management? Contact us. Answers Systems' ContractPro and ValuTrak solutions are software and outsourced services designed for the unique and specific needs of the foodservice industry.

Hi, we’re Answers Systems and our GLN number is 1100001011810

Answers Systems — Thu, 29 Apr 2010 15:32:11 GMT

by Brian Maloney

Hi, I’m Brian Maloney and my Social Security number is…….well I won’t go that far but I can tell you this: Hi, we’re Answers Systems and our GLN number is 1100001011810. So there you have it. Take this number and use it wherever you like. After years of preaching standardization in the Foodservice Industry and Contract Management more specifically, we figured we better eat our own words and sign us up for a GLN. If you don’t know what a GLN is, it’s a unique number for our place of business.

Just like a GTIN is a unique number for a specific product. If everyone were to use GTIN’s and GLN’s when trading data, the Foodservice Industry would catch up to many other industries who’ve standardized their data long ago. If you’re in the industry you know the deal. Every distributor has a different number for the exact same product Manufacturer A has. So if we all used the same number, we’d eliminate errors and speed up the process. Same for GLN’s and all the locations. If we used the same numbers for locations we’d again reduce errors and speed up the process. If you want to look into it for your company, here’s the info: GS1 US Customer Service at info@gs1us.org or +1 937.435.3870, Monday-Friday, 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. ET.

So there you have it. You now have our number…use it. I dare you. We’ve already started working with various distributors and 3rd parties we exchange data with to start using this number. We hope you do to.

Technorati tags: data acquisition, data synchronization, GLN, GTIN

Nestlé Professional Vitality Beverage Welcomes Continuing Relationship with Answers Systems

Answers Systems — Tue, 23 Mar 2010 13:43:27 GMT

Oldsmar, FL, March 23, 2010 -- Answers Systems, the leading provider of foodservice trade promotion management solutions is pleased to announce it’s partnership with Nestlé Professional Vitality Beverage Solutions in managing its trade spending processes.

Nestlé Professional Vitality enters this relationship with Answers Systems after acquiring Vitality Foodservice, Inc., Tampa, Florida. Prior to this acquisition, Vitality Foodservice had been working with Answers Systems to manage its trade promotion programs. Nestlé Professional Vitality sees Answers Systems as the optimal solution provider in continuing to manage the complexities of its Vitality foodservice trade promotion and spending.

Since 1986, Answers Systems has been meeting the unique trade promotion management needs of the Foodservice industry. The company stays on the leading edge of software development and service delivery with the ContractPro® solution for Foodservice manufacturers and the ValuTrak® solution for multi-unit Foodservice operators. Answers Systems' solutions provide real-time visibility into the performance of trading partner agreements and support quantifiable ROI improvements for its client base.

Technorati tags: foodservice, trade spending, trade promotion management, Nestle Professional Vitality Beverage

Answers Systems Named Top 60 Top Work Places in Tampa Bay

Answers Systems — Mon, 22 Mar 2010 14:24:13 GMT

Oldsmar, Florida--March 22, 2010: Answers Systems was recently named one of Tampa Bay’s Top Work Places 2010 by the St. Petersburg Times. The 60 leading employers in the Tampa Bay region were nominated by their employees, who were then surveyed about a variety of topics, including practices and policies that make these companies the top places to work.

The companies were ranked based on leadership, compensation and training, workplace flexibility, and diversity. The rankings were published on TampaBay.com, in the March 21 edition of the St. Petersburg Times and on March 22 in tbt* Tampa Bay Times.

To be considered for participation, companies or government entities had to employ at least 50 workers in Florida.

The Top Work Places 2010 in Tampa Bay program was created by the St. Petersburg Times and WorkplaceDynamics.

“This report is significant because it is an unprecedented effort to understand how Tampa Bay's companies are creating strong, productive work environments, even in difficult economic times,” said Neil Brown, Times executive editor and vice president. “We share the stories of the employees and offer an inside look into what’s working and where there’s opportunity to grow.”

For a complete list of the 2010 Top Work Places in Tampa Bay, go to www.tampabay.com/topworkplaces2010.

About the St. Petersburg Times

The St. Petersburg Times is considered one of the top ten newspapers in the country with eight Pulitzer Prizes to its name, including two 2009 Pulitzer Prizes. It is Florida’s largest newspaper with an average circulation of 370,050 Sunday and 270,147 daily (ABC publisher’s statement 9/27/09). TampaBay.com is Tampa Bay’s largest local news Web site, with a combined local and national audience of more than 1.9 million unique visitors each month (Nielsen NetView average for 10/09-12/09)

About Workplace Dynamics

WorkplaceDynamics is one of the largest workplace survey providers in the United States. Each year it surveys thousands of companies and partners with leading media organizations to produce definitive Top Workplaces lists. Using proprietary, cutting-edge online applications, WorkplaceDynamics is bringing employee engagement to the web.

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Distributors Can Now Receive Payment Detail Via Email

Answers Systems — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 13:28:24 GMT

Answers Systems now offers foodservice distributors email versions of check stub details. This communication of payment detail will have a positive impact on both manufacturers and their distributor customers in the contract management process.

This new system ensures that:

The right person receives the payment detail information every time
A notice of payment is generated and emailed at the time the check is cut in order to help limit deductions
The recipient is able to more easily review information and communicate with his or her manufacturer representative when asking questions about the payment
Less paper is used in the trade promotion management process

Interested distributor representatives who work with an Answers Systems ContractPro® manufacturer client should visit http://info.answerssystems.com/distributors-email-enrollment to enroll.

Contract Collaboration Webinar - Join us on March 17 at 2:00 pm EDT

Answers Systems — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 20:34:11 GMT

Navigating the various systems required to complete and execute an agreement between trading partners in the foodservice industry grows more complex by the day. As more distributors and operators implement their own contract management solutions, manufacturers - not to mention their broker users - face a seemingly insurmountable task of learning to use and meet format requirements of various contract and trade promotion management software.

Answers Systems and our ContractPro User Community are transforming these change management challenges in to collaborative opportunities between trading partners.

We invite you to join our ContractPro Community webinar featuring discussion of how we have developed a win-win situation for foodservice manufacturers working through the new US Foodservice (USF) contract portal, developed by FSE Inc.

In this webinar, we will discuss how foodservice manufacturers can save time and resources and reduce rebill deductions in the long term when working with USF.

Technorati tags: ContractPro, US Foodservice, FSE Inc., contract collaboration, foodservice contract management, foodservice trade spending