Ground-breaking software from Eqos helps Sainsbury's scoop coveted FT Business Award
4 January 2000
Internet-based software from leading e-collaboration solutions provider Eqos has helped Sainsbury's Supermarkets to win a highly respected industry award.
Sainsbury's has worked closely with Eqos in developing the Collaborative Planning System (CPS), a key component of a ground-breaking initiative to improve supply chain management performance that helped it to win a coveted award in the FT Global Food and Drink Awards 1999.
In capturing the award for the "Most Outstanding Use of Information Technology in the Supply Chain category", Sainsbury's was praised by the FT Business judges for "genuinely encouraging, and building systems to help small and medium suppliers".
Eqos has played a major role in the success of Sainsbury's Information Direct (SID) supply chain initiative through its close work developing e-collaboration software with the group. This resulted in the successful implementation of a Web-based system to plan the supermarket chains promotional process - from the initial agreement of the promotion right through to in-store sales and the subsequent evaluation of its performance.
David Hatch, Project Leader of Collaborative Systems at Sainsbury's, said: "CPS is a key component of SID and gave us a head start in collaboration with suppliers. It was a product out on its own, and still is. It enabled us to drive towards business improvements and bring in greater discipline and clearer timescales. It also allows us to eliminate uncertainty and forge even closer working relationships with our suppliers."
FT Business said this innovative use of IT had enabled Sainsbury's to build collaborative capabilities with its suppliers and allowed them to fully participate in all stages of the promotional planning process.
David said: "It is the one-stop-shop software for collaborative applications and we are now looking to extend it to new product introductions and seasonal events. We are using Collaborator as a means of sharing business processes with suppliers, letting all parties contribute their individual input to an event or business activity and all see the same information at the same time. There should be no more Chinese whispers."
Eqos' leading-edge e-collaboration software has provided a key element of Sainsbury's SID initiative, has helped it dramatically improve communication with its supplier base and has brought numerous benefits to its business efficiency, placing it ahead of the competition.
Along with helping Sainsbury's to make cost savings of over £2 million per year through minimizing supply chain costs, Eqos has also enabled the company to build better relationships with its many suppliers, increase sales and reduce wastage.
Notes to Editors:
Eqos Ltd
Eqos delivers the world's most advanced and flexible solutions for collaborative planning and event management over the Internet. By providing the technology platform and the business leadership, Eqos helps its customers achieve rapid, continuous and best-of-breed innovation for sustainable competitive advantage. Headquartered in the UK, with offices in the US, Eqos has alliances with many of the world's leading edge companies, including Microsoft, Accenture, PricewaterhouseCoopers and Deloitte Consulting.
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