Prescient Introduces Retailer Roadmaps to Ease Supply Chain Collaboration for Consumer Products Companies.

Business Editors/High-Tech Writers

WEST CHESTER, Pa.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sept. 8, 2003

Retailer Template Library Lowers Cost and IT Burden of Integration

with Trading Partners

Prescient, one of the fastest-growing providers of supply chain planning solutions for consumer products companies, announced the expansion of its supply chain integration capabilities with the development of Retailer Roadmaps. An extension of Prescient Connections, Prescient's data synchronization platform for data exchange and translation, Retailer Roadmaps are a library of electronic data interchange (EDI) templates that correspond to retailers' and distributors' varying requirements for supply chain data exchange with their suppliers. Retailer Roadmaps are designed to ease the cost and information technology burden associated with supply chain data integration, and reduce implementation time and the total cost of supply chain collaboration programs.

Prescient has already developed Retailer Roadmaps for its clients to collaborate with retailers and distributors including Rite Aid, McLane, Walgreens, Winn-Dixie, Family Dollar, Wegmans, Wakefern, Kroger, H-E-B and Food Lion. Additional Retailer Roadmaps are currently under development and will be available in future iterations of Prescient's award-winning supply chain product suite.

"The cumulative effect of customizing EDI reports to meet the technical idiosyncrasies and distinct integration standards of multiple retail trading partners places a strain on manufacturers' resources," said Steve Banker, director, supply chain management, at ARC Advisory Group. "ARC believes that solutions that offer manufacturers the ability to communicate electronically with multiple retail clients with a minimum of pain -- what we call supplier enablement -- has great value."

Collaborative supply chain planning programs like collaborative planning, forecasting and replenishment (CPFR) or vendor managed inventory (VMI), which require consumer products companies to deliver large amounts of data in formats dictated by their trading partners, are a costly prospect for suppliers that need to sustain integration and interoperability with multiple channels.

Although major retailers and distributors have standardized on the EDI 852 document specification for receiving supply chain collaboration transactions, most have tailored this format to their unique systems' requirements and frequently make adjustments without informing their suppliers. Because of its exclusive focus on the consumer products industry, Prescient is able to easily modify Retailer Roadmaps as retailers alter their data format specifications, significantly lowering the cost of maintaining integration and enabling consumer products companies to initiate collaborative programs with new retailers with greatly reduced implementation windows.

"In the typical collaborative relationship between supplier and retailer, consumer products manufacturers shoulder the cost and headache of supply chain collaboration by building homegrown data-sharing interfaces specialized for each of their retailer partners before supply chain information can be exchanged," said Jane Hoffer, president and CEO of Prescient. "The genesis of Retailer Roadmaps came from our client portfolio of consumer products companies that presented us with the opportunity to cost effectively provide custom data integration capabilities. No other supply chain or e-business integration company has the mid-market consumer products expertise or client base to offer this level of functionality."

Retailer Roadmaps are part of Prescient's comprehensive supply chain suite, Prescient 5. Prescient 5 is designed for mid-market consumer products manufacturers and distributors, helping them to understand and hone demand creation through better management of promotions, new products and accounts, and increased support and focus on product, price, promotion and place.

About Prescient

Prescient is one of the fastest-growing providers of supply chain planning solutions to consumer products companies. Prescient 5, the company's flagship software, covers the four key areas of supply chain planning: Demand, Supply, Collaboration and Performance Measurement. Prescient 5 is one of the industry's first fully integrated supply chain planning suites, architected with a common data model and user interface across all modules to ensure rapid implementation, ease of use and low total cost of ownership. Household brand names like The Dial Corporation, Domino's, Binney & Smith (Crayola Brand), AAi.FosterGrant and Wyeth Consumer Healthcare rely on Prescient. For more information, visit us on the Web at www.prescientsystems.com.