Message #28 From:
NewsBot Date: August 28, 2006 06:28:00 AM
PPID News Hurricane Winds Blowing: Supply Chain Co. Urges South Eastern U.S. Stores, Suppliers to Act
WEST CHESTER, Pa.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aug. 28, 2006--It's that time of year again. The ABC's of the 2006 U.S. hurricane season are underway with devastation wrought by 2005's Katrina and Rita still lingering in the hearts and minds of many.
Which storm depressions will cycle to hurricane-level of course remains to be seen. If last year is any indication, it could be sooner rather than later. Hurricane Beta, early in the alphabet and the 2005 season, rose to category 3. Katrina, Category 5, made landfall in late August 2005.
Prescient, a leading provider of supply chain and advanced commerce solutions for retailers and suppliers, is urging retailers in the hurricane belt and suppliers who service them to maintain vigilance over supply chains now and throughout the looming hurricane season.
What can retailers and suppliers do?
"Clearly and appropriately," said Prescient CEO Jane Hoffer, "the top priority of retailers and suppliers in the path of a hurricane will be the health and safety of their respective employees. After last year, most company crisis plans are likely in place."
However, the business of supply chain management is as much a public service as it is commerce during times of natural disaster.
"Retailers and suppliers who first serve the public by meeting the challenges of supply chain disaster preparedness will enjoy year-round customer loyalty and brand equity," added Hoffer.
Hurricane-Belt Retailer and Supplier Recommendations:
-- Incorporate supply chain flexibility and replenishment alternatives in your overall disaster/crises planning--collaboration between trading partners is key.
-- Using point-of-sale data, analyze which products likely will be most affected in an emergency, and separately plan for those products, including route optimization.
-- Conversely, if specific products' demand drops during crisis, use point-of-sale data to reduce those pipelines.
-- Retailers and suppliers should audit existing technology for disaster preparedness, including data vulnerability--should servers be relocated?
-- At a minimum, create back-up and alternative IT and data warehousing systems.
-- Test everything; test it again.
As with all Prescient transaction models (see www.prescient.com), collaboration between retailer, supplier and their data management is paramount for successfully serving the consumer.
That's even more critical during natural disasters, during which there's extreme urgency and little time for corrections.
A few years ago, Farm Fresh lost power for several days in several stores during hurricane season. Said Bill Parker, VP of Grocery Merchandising, Farm Fresh, "Because Prescient maintains our scan sales data in its repository, we were able to use that data to reconstruct our sales based on data for similar stores. Prescient provides an excellent back-up plan because it's a hosted application. Our data is safe regardless of what happens to an individual store."
What products will consumers rush to replenish first? Just ask Reily.
Prescient also recommends that grocers emphasize "Beeline Products," identified by a recent national study as items that consumers rush to replenish the moment they run out. By focusing on maintaining supplies of top Beeline Products, grocers and their suppliers can secure the items consumers have listed as most essential to everyday life.
The "top-ten" Beeline Products are as follows, in order of importance listed by consumers: milk, bread, toilet paper, medicine, toothpaste, eggs, coffee, meat, fruit and cigarettes. Suppliers of these products know that they represent lifelines for many consumers.
One such supplier is Prescient client Reily Foods, makers of Luzianne brand foods including Luzianne and CDM Coffee. Coffee is a top-10 Beeline Product. Reily survived and thrived after Hurricane Katrina, despite manufacturing facilities in New Orleans that were hard hit by the 2005 storms.
Reily is the exclusive private label coffee supplier to several major grocery retailers.
Reily took care of its employees first and foremost; and therefore, was better positioned to implement technology and other solutions as the uncertain post-Katrina weeks unfolded. Reily pursued collaborative solutions with their trading partners, even initiating temporary partnerships with competitors to assure a full supply chain. This year, Reily is moving inventories during hurricane season to assure product availability in the event of a storm.
"Disaster recovery is not just an IT issue. It's about keeping your customers supplied and your brands on the shelf," said John Smith, director of Information Technology at Reily. "One key lesson is to plan for the human factors in the event of a disaster."
Smith added, "We were lucky it was a hurricane--at least we knew it was coming."
About Prescient
Prescient, founded in 1985 (OTCBB:PPID), is a leading provider of supply chain and advanced commerce solutions for retailers and suppliers. Prescient's solutions capture information at the point of sale, provide greater visibility into real-time demand and turn data into actionable information across the entire supply chain. As a result, the Company's products and services enable trading partners to compete effectively, increase profitability and excel in today's retail business climate. Household brand names like Ahold, AutoZone, Coors, Domino's Pizza, Rite Aid, Sara Lee, Schwan's and Wyeth rely on Prescient. For more information, go to www.prescient.com.
Forward-Looking Statement:
Any statements contained in this document that are not historical facts are forward-looking statements as defined in the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Words such as "anticipate," "believe," "estimate," "expect," "forecast," "if", "intend," "may," "plan," "project," "predict," "should" and "will" and similar expressions as they relate to Prescient Applied Intelligence, Inc. are intended to identify such forward-looking statements. Prescient may from time to time update these publicly announced projections, but it is not obligated to do so. Any projections of future results of operations should not be construed in any manner as a guarantee that such results will in fact occur. These projections are subject to change and could differ materially from final reported results. For a discussion of such risks and uncertainties, see "Risk Factors" in Prescient's report on Form 10-KSB filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission and its other filings under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the dates on which they are made.
Available for interviews:
Jane Hoffer, president & CEO, Prescient
John Smith, director of Information Technology, Reily Foods
Bill Parker, VP of Grocery Merchandising, Farm Fresh
