http://www.aldata.com/com/about/news/heinens-expands-symphony-eyc-gold-merchandising-and-supply-chain-platform

http://www.aldata.com/com/about/news/lion-extends-category-optimisation-capabilities

Grocery shoppers want to be engaged with personalized mobile interactions as part of their overall shopping experience.

• Personalization – Shoppers want to be recognized when they walk into a store, receive individualized offers and manage retail loyalty programs via their mobiles.
• Mobile Services – Majority of shoppers want to use their mobiles to compare prices in-store, locate products and provide feedback.
• Mobile Shopping – Despite thirst for mobile services, very few shoppers are actually using their mobiles to buy groceries.

“While American and European grocery shoppers differ in how they are interacting with their grocers, the majority would like to enhance their in-store shopping experience with mobile services,” said Ellen Dixon, Global Senior Vice President of Marketing, Symphony EYC. “In particular, shoppers want to be able to use their mobile devices to locate specific products within the store, to compare prices with those elsewhere and to provide feedback and suggestions on grocery assortments.”

Personalization – Being recognized as a regular shopper was only slightly more important for Americans (54%) than for Europeans (48.5%). In general, Americans (19%) were more interested than Europeans (16%) in having grocers understand their health/personal preferences, such as diet, allergies and lifestyle preferences. Both Americans (53%) and Europeans (48%) would like to receive offers relevant to their shopping preferences.

In-Store Mobile Services – The ability to compare prices was the most-wanted mobile service for both American (69.5%) and European (62.1%) respondents. However, shoppers on the two continents diverge when it comes to other services. Americans rank collecting and using loyalty points (57.5%), requesting new products (56.7%), and locating specific and complementary products in store (55.6%) as their top priorities. Europeans, on the other hand, want in-store fast track payment (49.7%), getting more detailed information on products/ingredients (49.7%) and collecting and using loyalty points (47.6%).

Mobile Grocery Shopping – Shoppers in the U.S. and in Europe have yet to embrace grocery shopping via their mobiles with only 5.6% of Americans and 8.7% of Europeans reporting that they have actually used their mobiles to buy groceries.

Influencing product selection – Americans were most interested in being able to influence the products stocked by retailers, with 86% of Americans vs. 79% of Europeans wanting to be able to request that a retailer carries or stocks a product they don’t currently offer; 72% of Americans vs. 65% of Europeans want to share ideas for new products or changes to products; 80% of Americans vs. 68% of Europeans want to give their opinion on what they like / dislike about products; while 42% of Americans vs. 32% of Europeans say they would join similar groups to compare their ideas.

Stickiness – U.S. shoppers (46 %) also are more likely than their European counterparts (41%) to consider shopping elsewhere in return for the ability to influence the products offered.

Pick-up Service – Although 69% of Americans and 59% of Europeans prefer traditional store shopping, buying online and having products delivered home was the second most-liked form of shopping in both regions with 40% of Americans and 56% of Europeans weighing in. The newer “Drive” concept, which allows shoppers to order online, then pick up at a store’s drive-through facility, was of interest to 27% of Americans vs. 20 % of Europeans.

Privacy – More than 80% of American shoppers are comfortable sharing personal data with their retailers as long as it is kept safe compared to 76% of European shoppers.

Conducted by Vision Critical on behalf of Symphony EYC, the survey included one thousand U.S. shoppers and 3130 European shoppers in France, Germany and the United Kingdom during a two-week period over the holiday shopping season. Questions centered on online shopping habits and the benefits and motivations for incorporating mobile technology into their grocery shopping experience. For full results please email info@eyc.com or visit the website for more information.


About Symphony EYC
Symphony EYC is a global leader in customer driven software and services that helps retailers, distributors and manufacturers address the challenges of rapid changes in shopper behavior and expectations. Symphony EYC’s solutions build customer trust, retention, and development through accurate, relevant, and on time analytics, marketing, merchandising, store operations, and supply fulfillment. Founded by the 2012 merger of Aldata and EYC, Symphony EYC offers in-depth market and customer insight and in-store execution to the world’s largest retail and consumer brands, national wholesale and distribution organizations, and regional store chains.

http://www.aldata.com/com/about/news/symphony-eyc-finds-us-europe-want-personalization-and-mobile-services

Read the original release in German.

http://www.aldata.com/com/about/news/symphony-eyc-appoints-new-account-manager-to-drive-opportunities-across-germany-austria-and-switzerland

http://www.aldata.com/com/about/news/symphony-eyc-names-ellen-dixon-global-svp-of-marketing

http://www.aldata.com/com/about/news/symphony-eyc-appoints-new-account-manager-to-drive-global-opportunities

• Infographic published in Retail Week Magazine 7th March 2013. 
• Access Symphony EYC's Shopper Research results. Alternatively,  please click on infographic.

http://www.aldata.com/com/about/news/how-the-rise-of-mobile-shopping-has-changed-consumer-habits-infographic

http://www.aldata.com/com/about/news/symphony-eyc-hires-strategic-retail-expert-to-spearhead-northern-europe-sales

• Preparation operatives are now equipped with a voice-directed PDA that tells them where products are located, helping them to locate items and fulfil orders quickly and efficiently
• Improved inventory and distribution management
• Paper-based systems for order picking have been replaced by automated computer generated orders
• Manual inventory checks have been replaced by automated alerts to avoid out-of-stock situations and to advise buyers when to place orders

Read the full release in French

http://www.aldata.com/com/about/news/chu-nantes-optimizes-its-supply-chain-with-gold-from-symphony-eyc

• Shoppers Want Mobiles to Improve Grocery Shopping in Symphony EYC Survey
• Etude Symphony EYC – Vision Critical : L’Omni-Shopper 2013
  
• Symphony EYC-Studie belegt: Der Wunsch nach mehr Einfluss auf das Sortiment treibt Supermarkt-Kunden zur Konkurrenz
  

http://www.aldata.com/com/about/news/get-ready-for-omnishoppers-but-make-sure-its-personal

http://www.aldata.com/com/about/news/moroccan-retailer-marjane-selects-symphony-eyc-to-optimize-its-warehouse-operations

• Optimize its group supply chain with a holistic view of group wide inventory
• Achieve a faster implementation of additional G.O.L.D. Supply Chain applications
• Benefit from the best practices of European and American G.O.L.D customers
• Diminish its risk in owning/developing its own group MDM solution
• Leverage the G.O.L.D. easily plug-in other best-of-breed applications

“Seicomart has always aspired to incorporate business strategies and technologies from all over the world,” said Hideki Tsutsumi, Director Distribution Control, Seico Fresh Foods, wholesale and distribution arm for Seicomart. “As we move into phase two of our G.O.L.D. supply chain implementation, Seicomart can learn through the best practices of European and American retailers, which have been, and continue to be, incorporated into the G.O.L.D. Supply Chain Management system.” 

“G.O.L.D. MDM will give Seicomart the modern and centralized data foundation it needs to optimize the G.O.L.D. Retail Suite,” said Allan Davies, CMO of Symphony EYC. “It also ensures that they have a solid merchandise management system that will support both the adoption of retail best practices and Seicomart’s continued growth.”

http://www.aldata.com/com/about/news/seicomart-to-implement-symphony-eyc-gold-retail-management

http://www.aldata.com/com/about/news/midlands-cooperative-selects-aldata-to-optimize-store-space-to-meet-needs-of-local-communities

http://www.aldata.com/com/about/news/shoppers-want-mobiles-to-improve-grocery-shopping-in-symphony-eyc-survey

Aldata, now part of Symphony EYC, and a global leader in retail and distribution improvement software, today announced the availability of G.O.L.D. Drive, a new offering that facilitates order fulfillment for shoppers who order groceries online and collect them directly from drive-through depots without entering a store. G.O.L.D. Drive has been successfully implemented by several major French retailers for their grocery customers.

Part of the Symphony EYC Omni-Shopper Suite, G.O.L.D. Drive extends the retailer’s omni-channel service options to shoppers who prefer scheduled pickup rather than store visit or home delivery. G.O.L.D. Drive lets retailers combine a larger food and non-food offer in a local store, capture spend from an increasingly omni-channel shopper, and optimize existing store and supply chain portfolios without significant investments or expansion.

Convenient for shoppers, the drive option lets them designate their own collection time and pick up point, so they are no longer constrained by supermarket home delivery schedules. Mobile ordering facilitates shopping literally “on the go,” and real time availability of products on the retailer website ensures shoppers will never be disappointed with substituted items. Some retailers are going one step further and letting shoppers check their fresh produce at the pick-up point, de-risking the purchase and eliminating a potential barrier to online sales. Overall, shoppers benefit from:

• Dependable fulfillment on the item and order level,
• Specific promotions targeted to the individual shopper,
• Consistent pricing that matches in-store,
• Flexible pickup time that lets them order and pick up at their convenience,
• Real-time exchanges at pick-up,
• No home delivery, which eliminates waiting at home.

In France, where the drive concept is quickly being adopted, there were 1817 drive facilities at the end of 2012. According to market research group Kantar Worldpanel*, 2.3 million French households visited a drive during 2012 and that number will rise to 4.5 million by the end of 2015, equivalent to 6.1% of the total shopping market. Overall, Kantar forecasts that rapid drive adoption will result in 4.5 million fewer shoppers in French stores in 2015.

French independent retailer Système U* is forecasting that the turnover of its drive format will double in 2013 and again in 2014. The format, which will turn over $321 million (€250 million) in 2012, excluding Telemarket, is expected to generate $643 million (€500 million) in 2013 and $1.3 billon (€1 billion) in 2014. Système U shoppers have the option of collecting goods ordered online at some 500 stores. This number is expected to increase to 1,000 within the next two years. Reportedly, more than 50% of sales volume with the drive format is generated by the retailer's private label products.

Combining G.O.L.D. Warehouse Management and G.O.L.D. Warehouse Voice Operations, G.O.L.D. Drive expedites preparation of online orders for pick up either at a dedicated warehouse or in a pick-up facility co-located with a store. In France, a major hypermarket has implemented G.O.L.D. Drive to provide a full service with fast turnaround. Orders can be placed up to two hours prior to pick up and shoppers have their products within five minutes of their scheduled arrival at the depot.

Click and collect concepts and drive-in formats are expanding rapidly as retailers seek to capture spend from omni-channel shoppers. “G.O.L.D. Drive, part of Symphony EYC’s Omni-Shopper Suite, is made possible by real-time supply chain software that provides committed availability of items at time of order,” said Donal Mac Daid, Vice-President for G.O.L.D. Supply Chain at Symphony EYC. “This guarantees availability with no substitutions and no frustration.”

Designed to keep Symphony EYC customers at the forefront of the omni-shopper revolution, the Symphony EYC Omni-Shopper Suite captures and consolidates shopper interaction data across all channels and uses it to drive more effective marketing, engagement, merchandising, supply, and fulfillment. Symphony EYC’s expertise in omni-channel solutions spans order management, order picking in distribution centers, fulfillment centers or stores, and managing the replenishment cycle of products. This capability is vital in order to provide excellent customer service, however consumers choose to shop. The solutions also allow retailers to adapt to their customers’ changing needs, expand their offers and efficiently optimize their existing store assets.

• Stop by Symphony EYC booth # 2237 at the NRF Big Show

* "Le drive poursuit sa conquête à marche forcée", 15 November 2012, Le Figaro.fr

http://www.aldata.com/com/about/news/symphony-eyc-introduces-gold-drive-pick-up-and-go-shopping

http://www.aldata.com/com/about/news/aldata-supply-chain-management-achieves-oracle-exadata-optimized-status

• Learn more about the Aldata Omni-Shopper Suite or to schedule an appointment with Aldata executives at the NRF Big Show, go to: http://www.aldata-omni.com
• Join the conversation – follow @Aldata, join our LinkedIn and Facebook groups.

About Food Logistics
Food Logistics is published by Cygnus Business Media, a leading diversified business-to-business media company. The publication serves the information needs of executives involved in various aspects of the food and beverage supply chain. Through our print and online products, we provide news, trends, and best practices that help more than 24,000 grocery and foodservice suppliers, distributors, and retailers make better business decisions. Visit us online at www.foodlogistics.com

About Aldata
Aldata is a global provider of Omni-Shopper solutions that help retailers, distributors and manufacturers anticipate rapidly changing shopper behavior. The Aldata Omni-Shopper Suite captures, consolidates and optimizes shopper interaction data across all channels to drive more effective marketing and merchandising, shopper engagement and trust, and supply and fulfillment. Founded in 1988, Aldata has an unparallel track record of delivering successful projects for the world’s largest retail and consumer brands, national wholesale and distribution organizations, and regional store chains.

http://www.aldata.com/com/about/news/aldata-named-to-2012-fl100-by-food-logistics-magazine

Aldata, a retail and distribution optimization company, and EYC, a customer engagement specialist, both part of the Symphony Technology Group, announce their merger into a new company, Symphony EYC.



Symphony EYC is a powerful new force in retail, which combines the sophisticated customer engagement analytics of EYC with the high performance retail and distribution optimization execution capabilities of Aldata. Now customer insights and customer engagement strategies can link directly into retail assortment, merchandising and supply chain execution to meet customer driven demand in real time.

The combined business will serve the needs of the new generation of shoppers, omni-shoppers, who access information anytime, anywhere and make decisions on brands and purchases in real time, online and inside the store. Symphony EYC will equip retailers with the key solutions required to engage, personalize, offer and fulfill omni-shoppers’ expectations as they increasingly use mobile and social platforms to shop.

This merger is built for growth. The two companies’ product and skill portfolios are extremely complementary with little overlap in people or service areas. The combined business will serve over 1000 clients, have over 600 employees and operate in over 25,000 stores with an expanding presence across Europe, the Americas and Asia.

Symphony EYC clients will benefit from:

• A combined supply and demand proposition with customer-powered demand forecasting that will revolutionize retailing merchandising and supply chain efficiency;
• Consultancy, services and support operations for over 1000 retail/CPG clients globally;
• Development innovation in customer analytics demand driven merchandising, customer engagement and supply chain execution.

Roy Simrell, the President and CEO of Aldata, will lead Symphony EYC. Mr. Simrell has over 25 years of experience in retail technology with a proven track record in the delivery of complex, mission critical, software projects to some of the world's leading retailers.

“Aldata and EYC are a natural fit for each other. Both companies live the same vision that the future of retailing is customer driven, and believe that to succeed retailers must get closer to their customers so ‘Engage Your Customers,’ is the perfect message and name for our new company,” said Mr Simrell.

EYC’s current CEO Tom Buehlmann will remain within the group and become an advisory board member of Symphony EYC. Mr Buehlmann will also move to our parent company, Symphony Technology Group, to take up another executive role.

About Aldata
Aldata is a global provider of Omni-Shopper solutions that help retailers, distributors and manufacturers anticipate and act upon rapidly changing shopper behavior. The Aldata Omni-Shopper Suite captures, consolidates and optimizes shopper interaction across all channels to drive more effective marketing, merchandising, shopper engagement, and supply fulfillment. Founded in 1988, Aldata has an unparalleled track record of delivering successful projects for the world’s largest retail and consumer brands, national wholesale and distribution organizations, and regional store chains. More at: www.aldata.com

About EYC
EYC is a wholly owned subsidiary of Symphony Technology Group focused on providing its clients with sophisticated analytics and insights that improve the development, retention, and win back of customers. EYC serves more than 100 clients worldwide including 5 of the top 30 global retailers and most of the leading grocery brand manufacturers across the world. EYC solutions include a powerful loyalty based data model, automated segmentations, fast and complete CPG reporting software, with robust CRM, pricing, promotion and assortment tools delivered via SaaS. EYC consulting supports its clients to develop relevant customer strategies and strategy execution processes. More information is available at: www.eyc.com

http://www.aldata.com/com/about/news/aldata-and-eyc-merge-to-become-symphony-eyc

http://www.aldata.com/com/about/news/aunt-bessies-chose-aldata-to-improve-category-performance-and-launch-new-products-in-supermarket-freezers

• The wholesaler wanted to improve employee productivity. After reviewing market options, Union Primeurs Laurance moved ahead with Timcod’s proposal for Aldata’s Voice-Directed Warehousing with the solution going live in October.
• Prior to the implementation, the wholesaler had 5 order preparation teams each consisting of supervisor and 4 operators. Now there is one preparation team for all order preparation which has generated productivity improvements. Moreover, the supervisors, who can manage the voice-directed picking operations remotely, can quickly identify and resolve any issues enabling further picking productivity gains.
• Aldata’s Voice-Directed Warehousing is a single solution for warehouse applications and easily integrates with legacy or commercial warehouse management systems. Its multi-modal capabilities enable users to interact in multiple ways including screen, keyboard and barcode reader. Operators only need to learn how to use one device for multiple levels of applications, including voice-directed operations.

Read the release in French

http://www.aldata.com/com/about/news/fresh-produce-wholesaler-union-primeurs-laurance-selects-aldata-for-voicedirected-warehousing

• Shopper Management to store, segment, maintain, analyze and report on shopper data;
• Content Management to create websites, ecommerce, mobile and social media campaigns;
• Campaign Management to schedule and execute digital marketing campaigns omni-channel.

The Aldata Shopper Management module captures all online shopper interactions in a dedicated Shopper Register along with each shopper’s in store and online purchases. It then analyzes shopper behavior, buying patterns, and promotions response to profile each shopper. Aldata Content Management creates personalized communications for all digital media categories and devices with content based on individual profiles and relevant promotions. Aldata Campaign Management organizes schedules and executes all online marketing communications across omni-shopper channels.

Finnish home entertainment and electronics chain Hifi Studio 17 selected Aldata SRM to deliver greater value to its 42,000 registered customers and boost profitability across its stores. Marko Nykänen, Managing Director of Hifi Studio 17, said: “This new investment brings us a lot closer to our customers. Aldata SRM provides us with instant visibility of our campaigns, enabling us to carry out meaningful, targeted analysis of customer behavior in real-time.”

“Retailers can now understand shopper behavior across all their channels and react to opportunities and challenges fast with highly targeted campaigns,” said Allan Davies, CMO, Aldata, Inc. “Aldata’s cloud technology means customers are up and running within weeks and subscription pricing enables rapid return on their investment.”

• Learn more about the Aldata Omni-Shopper Suite at: http://www.aldata-omni.com
• Attend the webinar with RSR analyst Nikki Baird: Omni Channel & Replenishment, The Future of Grocery, December 13, 2012 at 11:00 a.m., EST.
• Download the Retail Systems Research whitepaper: Omni-Channel Replenishment, The Future of Grocery
• Join the conversation – follow @Aldata, join our LinkedIn and Facebook groups.

http://www.aldata.com/com/about/news/new-omnishopper-marketing-solution-from-aldata

http://www.aldata.com/com/about/news/treasury-wine-estates-ltd-selects-aldata-for-category-optimization

About Aldata
Aldata is a global provider of retailing and distribution optimization solutions that help retailers, distributors and manufacturers address the challenges of rapid changes in shopper behavior and expectations. Aldata’s solutions build shopper trust, retention, and development through accurate, relevant, and on time marketing, merchandising, and fulfillment. Founded in 1988, Aldata has an unparalleled track record of delivering successful projects for the world’s largest retail and consumer brands, national wholesale and distribution organizations, and regional store chains.

http://www.aldata.com/com/about/news/aldata-hires-supply-chain-expert-to-expand-its-northern-europe-team

http://www.aldata.com/com/about/news/aldata-appoints-nicolas-cron-as-vice-president-of-sales-for-france

• Furthers findings from the Event will be released over the coming weeks. View the full agenda.
• Register to Shoptalk to be notified of future updates.

http://www.aldata.com/com/about/news/omnishopper-strategies-put-under-the-spotlight-at-ace-in-lyon

http://www.aldata.com/com/about/news/aldata-appoints-vince-beacom-as-president-of-the-americas

• Learn more about the Aldata Omni-Shopper Suite at: http://www.aldata-omni.com
• Attend the webinar with RSR analyst Nikki Baird: Omni Channel & Replenishment, The Future of Grocery, December 13, 2012 at 11:00 a.m., EST.
• Download the Retail Systems Research whitepaper: Omni-Channel Replenishment, The Future of Grocery
• Join the conversation – follow @Aldata, join our LinkedIn and Facebook groups.

http://www.aldata.com/com/about/news/new-omnishopper-suite-from-aldata-meets-changing-shopper-demand

1. Why do Retailers & Manufacturers need Mobile Shelf Management?
2. Why is Mobile Shelf Management happening now?
3. Does Mobile Shelf Management improve planogram compliance?
4. What are the benefits of hosting in the cloud?
5. Will Mobile Shelf Management enable staff to collaborate better?

Q1: Why do Retailers & Manufacturers need Mobile Shelf Management?

Shopper expectations and accountability. When today’s busy shoppers visit a store, they expect to find their favourite products quickly and easily.

Retailers know that to keep customers they need to maintain a consistent level of stock availability. However retailers are suffering.

In-store resources are being squeezed constantly, and maintaining the correct inventory on-shelf gets harder as items make the journey from distribution centre to the store shelves.

Retailer in-store employees also find it challenging to keep track of what’s in stock when they implement frequent promotions, general shelf resets and new product introductions, or when items are simply selling rapidly. 


Manufacturers invest significantly into trade and promotional spend with their retailers. In order to assist in driving accountability with their business partners, manufacturers need to evaluate how the plans that have been jointly agreed are being complied with in a sustainable manner at the store level.

Enabling the relevant information to be at the fingertips of field teams who are physically in front of the shelf means issues and modifications to the fixture can be assessed and addressed immediately.


Q2: Why is Mobile Shelf Management happening now?

Technologies like bar codes, scanners and RFID have all promised to improve the shelf management process.Now the convergence of smart devices and in-store WiFi is changing how retailers and suppliers interact with eachother and their employees and customers.

With mobile shelf management organisations can deliver software applications to employees on their mobile devices.

After all, staff use their mobile devices in their jobs and in their personal lives. So it makes sense for retailers and manufacturers to make product information available to staff wherever and whenever they need it. Mobile shelf management promises to be an important part of increasing in-store efficiencies and profitability.


Q3: Does Mobile Shelf Management improve planogram compliance?

Store staff can now access in-store planograms quickly from their smart devices, and work down a task list of assigned planograms.

This is particularly important for FMCG retailers who benefit greatly from sustained planogram compliance. They must maintain a significant consistent core inventory across their stores throughout the year, despite seasonal assortment changes.

As items move out of the storeroom and into the aisle, the restocking process becomes much simpler. Having matched a planogram to a shelf, staff can identify misplaced or missing items and replenish the shelves.

Previously staff struggled to comply with planograms for promotions or new product introductions. Now their mobile devices help them reset shelves faster in line with agreed planograms.

As a result, stores reclaim what would have been lost sales and margin while manufacturers maximize ROI from their new product introductions and trade promotions.


Q4: What are the benefits of hosting in the cloud?

By hosting each store’s core planograms and images in the cloud mobile apps create efficiencies by allocating data to a device only as it is needed.

Staff are more productive because they only have to access information for implementing or capturing planograms, and for compliance checking and reporting. The smart devices run faster, and workers complete their task without delays or downtime.

Staff receive data on demand and are able to do their jobs better in the store and beyond – on the road, at their office or at home. It’s easy to define security levels at the log-in level too, and control the data employees see.


Q5: Will Mobile Shelf Management enable staff to collaborate better?

When planograms and inventory data are uploaded to the cloud in real-time, CPG manufacturers and retail executives get immediate visibility into job completion, status and any variation from planogram compliance - on a company-wide or store-by-store level.

Executives can quickly review and analyze the data, and then share key information – like business performance metrics, forecasts, trends and “what ifs”– with colleagues in the organization.

Instead of waiting three to four weeks for the end-of-month figures to identify problems, management quickly pinpoint issues and focus in on problem stores.

Moving forward, this allows executives to manage by exception and spend more time focussing on those stores with recurring issues and improve overall compliance across the estate.


Learn more about Aldata Mobile Shelf Management or contact Matt Robinson for more information

http://www.aldata.com/com/about/news/mobile-shelf-management-key-questions-answered

• Omni-channel replenishment optimization across DC, store networks, drive-in and click n’ collect facilities, and home delivery services;
• Web 2.0 and Web-services architecture for easier and faster customization and integration with existing systems, business workflows, and supplier portals to increase ROI and reduce TCO;
• Advanced import management, forecasting quality management, and truck capacity management leading to improved omni-channel service levels;
• Aldata Replenishment Insights, a single dashboard that provides visibility into inventory behavior from suppliers to channels.

“The supply chain has really lagged other areas of the business in taking on omni-channel – RSR has found that more retailers have tried to protect their supply chains from omni-channel disruptions rather than address them head on,” said Nikki Baird, managing partner, Retail Systems Research. “But the time has come to reconsider how supply chain addresses omni-channel shopping behaviors, from demand signals through to new modes of fulfillment. Omni-channel replenishment will rapidly become a core capability needed in the new supply chain.”

“Aldata Omni-Replenishment confirms Aldata’s position as the leader in retail replenishment optimization. It guarantees a positive shopping experience across all channels via a high performance inventory and replenishment backbone for omni-shopper fulfillment,” said Donal Mac Daid, Vice-President for Supply Chain at Aldata. “As with all Aldata solutions, Aldata Omni-Replenishment was developed in full collaboration with the Aldata Customer Association and reflects both the immediate and future business and technology needs of our global retailer customers.”

http://www.aldata.com/com/about/news/new-omnichannel-replenishment-optimization-from-aldata

http://www.aldata.com/com/about/news/aldata-to-sponsor-2012-annual-category-management-conference

This year’s event includes an introduction from Aldata CEO Roy Simrell as well as a session with Aldata’s new head of merchandising and category management Kevin Stadler on “Meeting the needs of the Omni-Shopper.” Featured customer presentations include U.S. Smart & Final and Nash Finch; European retailers Mercator and Groupe Casino as well as global CPG manufacturers such as Carlsberg.

Mark Ruttley CIO of UK-based Midlands Co-operative and Chairman of the G.O.L.D. User Association (GUA, founded in 2001) and Tim Millen, Chairman of the American G.O.L.D. User Association (AGUA, founded in 2005), will share with delegates the vision for the new Aldata Customer Association to consolidate the successes of the GUA and AGUA and build a global association. The Aldata Customer Association will continue to be independent of Aldata and offer the same support to its members worldwide.

Aldata ACE 2012 will meet at the 5-Star Sofitel Hotel in the historic city of Lyon, France. Attendees will have the opportunity to view the city during an evening Gastronomic River Cruise around the Lyon Peninsula on the Rhône and Saône rivers. The 2012 Association Gala Dinner will be a River Cruise Cocktail Dinner prepared onboard by chef Gilles Develle, Toque Blanche Lyonnaise. The boat will cruise up the Saône by the Vieux Lyon district, which is Europe’s largest Renaissance district after Venice and has recently been listed as a world heritage site by UNESCO.

View complete agenda
Register Now

http://www.aldata.com/com/about/news/aldata-customer-event-2012-the-rise-of-the-omnishopper

• Affordable smart devices access/capture information wherever and whenever it’s needed, then upload it to the Cloud for immediate review and analysis within the user’s organization.
• A smaller data footprint is maintained on the device by hosting product images and data that is not needed for a specific task in the Cloud. 
• Data on demand via mobile networks and WIFI ensures flexible, pre-load capabilities so workers can perform their duties in the store, on the road, or at their office or home.
• Low-cost commercial model combines software licence, set-up and data hosting/management in one monthly subscription payment.

“Everyone appreciates the immediacy and convenience of accessing information via their smart device,” said Allan Davies, Aldata’s Chief Marketing Officer. “Aldata Mobile Shelf Management enables both field and store personnel to be faster, more accurate, and more flexible in the way they work. Making their job easier and improving their organizations’ performance.”

The solution is currently available for use on Android smart phones with iPhone and tablet devices following shortly.

http://www.aldata.com/com/about/news/aldata-introduces-mobile-shelf-management-for-android-and-ios

• With Aldata’s Shelf & Store Planning solutions, coop eG will be able to efficiently analyze and plan individual store layouts, in addition to delivering store-specific planograms. This will save time, ensure shelf layouts maximize store space and meet the needs of local shoppers
• Aldata Store Planning offers all the critical store mapping and measurement capabilities required to make informed layout decisions, resulting in floor plans that maximize category position and performance
• Aldata Shelf Planning allows users to analyze shelf performance, create planograms, visualize category and assortment strategies. It also supports merchandising and allocation decisions, movement, profit, optimization of sales and return on inventory investment

http://www.aldata.com/com/about/news/coop-eg-selects-aldata-to-optimize-its-category-management-merchandising-processes

http://www.aldata.com/com/about/news/aldata-expands-executive-team-with-kevin-stadler-and-graeme-cooksley

Atlantic Grupa, leading distributor of high-quality consumer goods in SE Europe and one of largest European manufacturer of sports foods and personal care has gone live with Aldata’s Warehouse Management solution at its Serbian Regional Distribution Center in 5 months and with a project team of 18. With Aldata Warehouse Management, Atlantic Grupa is now able to reduce operational costs and warehouse inventory at its Regional Distributor Center in Belgrade, Serbia.


The group also benefits from real-time inventory visibility, improving services levels, customer support times and supply chain responsiveness making the group’s offer even more competitive.

Already using Aldata Warehouse Management System in Croatia at four depots, this deployment in Serbia continues Atlantic’s regional efficiency program to optimize manufacturing and logistics operations. The program will be extended to other countries in the Balkans region.

For more information, please contact us at info.si@aldata.com


 

http://www.aldata.com/com/about/news/atlantic-grupa-continues-logistics-efficiency-program-with-aldata

Note: The following is an extract. To access the full article click here

Click and collect and drive-in formats are a growing phenomenon across Europe, as retailers look to capture spend from an increasingly omni-channel shopper and make best use of their existing store and supply chain portfolios. With much physical store expansion now on hold, leading grocery retailers are eager to maximize their investments and drive productivity of their existing assets. Click and collect also enables retailers to combine a larger food and non-food offer in a local store.

For the consumer, click and collect is a no-brainer with multiple benefits, not least convenience. Shoppers designate the collection time and pick up point. They are no longer constrained by supermarket’s home delivery schedules. Mobile ordering is another bonus, allowing consumers to shop, literally on the go; while real time availability of products on the retailer websites ensures shoppers will never be disappointed with substituted items. In France, leading retailers go one step further by providing an opportunity for shoppers to vet and check their fresh produce at the pick-up point, de-risking the purchase and eliminating a potential barrier to online sales.

Making Assets work harder demands even more from your Supply Chain

Aldata can help retailers evolve and improve their omni-channel capabilities for customers, says MacDaid. “We know how to implement flexible supply chains and introduce concepts that can extend assortments without increasing physical space and manage assortments across channels. We also understand the importance of fulfilling the order and enabling the shopper to decide exactly how they want to shop.”

Aldata’s expertise in omni-channel solutions spans order management, order picking in distribution centers, fulfillment centers or stores; and managing the replenishment cycle of products. This capability is vital in order to provide excellent customer service, however consumers choose to shop. The solutions also allow retailers to adapt to their customers’ changing needs, expand their offers and efficiently optimize their existing store assets.

http://www.aldata.com/com/about/news/click-and-collect-poised-to-capture-future-supermarket-spend

http://www.aldata.com/com/about/news/winning-and-retaining-shopper-loyalty-is-key-in-todays-competitive-retail-environment

• Demand Forecasting and Intelligent Ordering ensure customers receive fresh, consistently available merchandise;
• Bypassed warehouse operations materially reduce labor and transport costs;
• Improved store operational controls minimize delivery errors, incorrect costs, forgotten discounts and time consuming manual processing.

Quotes and multimedia

“With Aldata DSD we have created a comprehensive, easy-to-deploy, centrally-managed solution that allows retailers to seamlessly authorize assortments, place and manage orders, receive inventory with minimal effort, accurately reconcile invoices, and report on vendor performance,” said Brendan Lowe, Aldata’s U.S. president. “Aldata DSD accomplishes this by eliminating the current need to ‘host’ data to the store helping to control inventory based on a Centralized System with a Science-Based Replenishment Engine. Additionally, built-in Invoice Reconciliation streamlines vendor invoice processing and accurately identifies discrepancies.”

“Heinen’s Fine Foods has based its business on being a specialty grocer that consistently offers super fresh produce, meat, fish and bakery items,” said Rick Fink, director of supply chain at Heinen’s Fine Foods. “With Aldata Direct Store Delivery, Heinen’s is able to further distance itself from the large grocery chains by decreasing the time it takes for us to get food from the farm to our customers’ tables.”


Register today for the July 26, 11:00 am EDT webinar with RSR managing partner Nikki Baird entitled, “Aldata’s Next Generation DSD and Strategic Plays That Win.”

http://www.aldata.com/com/about/news/heinens-deploys-next-generation-aldata-direct-store-delivery

http://www.aldata.com/com/about/news/merisant-selects-aldata-to-enhance-performance-of-its-sweetener-products-across-the-uk

“By using Aldata’s Shelf Planning solution we will be able to structure and manage the rollout of our merchandising strategy as well as reduce the time taken to produce retailer-specific planograms,” said Emmanuel Lapert, Business Development Manager – Retailer Accounts, SFR. “In addition to its planogramming capability we are impressed by the collaborative platform delivered by Aldata’s Shelf Planning solution. This will enable merchandising teams at the headquarters to collaborate easily with sales teams to share plans and concepts with our retailer partners that drive an overall increase in sales to space performance.” Said Fabienne Prigent, SFR Trade & Merchandising Manager.

Why have SFR selected Aldata’s Shelf Planning solution:

• SFR is looking to consolidate its leadership position in hypermarkets by increasing sales of pay-as-you go packs and top-up cards
• Currently top-up cards are available at a hypermarket’s check-out. There are no dedicated mobile phone sales areas elsewhere within the stores
• Through the use of Aldata’s Shelf Planning solution, SFR will equip its sales teams with planograms to demonstrate how allocating a dedicated area to pay-as-you go packs and top-up cards will increase overall sales to space performance for the retailer
• With Aldata, the SFR team benefit from a collaborative platform. Sales teams are able to easily identify the planogram with the best fit for their retailer customer that has been developed by the merchandising teams. They are also able to localize these planograms further to ensure they meet the specific needs of that store
• Aldata Shelf Planning allows users to analyze space performance, create planograms, visualize category and assortment strategies. It also supports merchandising and allocation decisions, movement, profit, optimization of sales and return on inventory investment. Part of the Aldata Category Optimization family of products, learn more about Aldata Shelf Planning

http://www.aldata.com/com/about/news/sfr-a-leading-french-mobile-telecommunications-company-selects-aldata

“There are definitely good analogies between sport and business. You have competitors trying to knock you off your pedestal. You have your ups and downs: the wind, the waves, and the currents. You have to minimise your risks. And when you get knocked down, you have to pick yourself up and carry on. Everything connected with sport is the same in business.” 

The parallels between sport and business emerge in other ways too. Just as successful senior executives need to think strategically and relate to people, winning in sport requires team work and the ability to cope with adverse natural conditions.

But some would argue that the top performers possess something beyond talent and natural ability: mental toughness. They excel when the pressure is on.

“To succeed, you need energy, determination, preparation, skill and ability. But preparation is the key to everything. We all know how vital it is in business. And it’s just as true in sailing.”


Always looking for new challenges

Top performers in sport and business share another characteristic too: the ability to reinvent themselves and stay ahead of the competition. Alongside his successful business career, David is still heavily involved in British Sport.

He works closely with the British Olympic sailing team, and notes how much more commitment it takes to succeed today.



“Today, the sailing people competing at the Olympics I know are full-time. It’s their job. It’s what they do. They’ve been preparing for 4 years or more. While I was competing, I had the balance between work and sport. But today, people are full-time doing their sports. That’s the level you have to work at to have any chance of winning the Olympics.”



He’s also involved in Race Management at the major events. He’s very excited to be involved in this summer’s Olympic sailing in Weymouth. As well as supporting the British sailing team he’ll be running the finish boat. This means managing the entire finish of the race, monitoring the order in which boats finish the race and recording the results.

Memories of his silver medal success in 1980 are certain to come flooding back. “Standing on that podium is like nothing else that has happened before or since. You’re representing your country. Your competitors stand and cheer you on. You never forget it.” 

And it’s a moment he likes to share with others when he’s invited to. “If I’m involved in something, particularly a junior or youth event, I’ll take the medal along with me. I think it helps to inspire young people. When they see that silver medal, you can see their eyes light up.”

Nor has David stopped racing himself. He may not be sailing at international level now, but he still goes racing whenever he can.

“I race for pleasure. I like the competition. It’s the same in business. I like the cut and thrust of competition.”

• To listen to the podcast of an interview with five-times Olympian David Wilkins click on the player below. 
• Have we missed any other connections between sport and business? Let us know what you think by joining the discussion on LinkedIn.
  

Olympic silver medalist, Entrepreneur and Aldata Senior Executive, David Wilkins shares his story. 

Please note: To maximize the player click on the screen icon positioned in the bottom right corner.

http://www.aldata.com/com/about/news/olympic-silver-medalist-entrepreneur-and-aldata-svp-david-wilkins-shares-his-story

1. Making smart devices a part of shelf management – People love to use their mobile devices both for personal enjoyment and work. By bringing shelf management to employees on the device they are most comfortable with – their own phone or tablet – retailers make product information available wherever and whenever it’s needed. Putting their smart device skills to work, store clerks can access planograms for their own store, then swipe or tap their way through a task list of assigned planograms. Because a smart phone responds to spread or pinched fingers, the worker can zero in on a single product view or back to see an entire view of products. As items move out of the storeroom and into the aisle, workers are better able to identify misplaced or missing items and replenish the shelves. With plenty of chap stick on hand during the coldest days of the winter and ample supplies of diapers all year round, retailers ensure that shoppers have no reason to leave empty-handed.
      
2. Embracing the Cloud – Cloud computing is a key component to mobile shelf management. When each store’s core planograms and images are hosted in the Cloud, mobile apps allocate data to a device only as it is needed. Workers access only relevant information for the purposes of implementation or capturing of planograms and compliance checking and reporting. The devices run faster, and workers can quickly complete their task without delays or downtime.
     
3. Mobilizing the workforce – WiFi proliferation within the retail environment provides a ready mobile network on which to host replenishment applications. With data on demand via their smart phones, workers can perform their duties in the store, on the road, or at their office or home. Security levels can be defined at the log-in level so that workers see only the data that they need to do their jobs. When at the shelf, clerks can enter a planogram, view item details/facings, adjacencies, selected shelves, and stocking status audit. Once they have matched a planogram to a shelf, the restocking process is made simpler. Where before staff may have struggled to comply with planograms for promotions or new product introductions, now their mobile service will help them reset shelves faster in line with agreed planograms. As a result, stores reclaim what would have been lost sales and margin while manufacturers maximize ROI from their new product introductions and trade promotions.
      
4. Data sharing/data analysis – Mobile shelf management is not just for store clerks. With planograms and inventory data uploaded in real time to the Cloud, both CPG manufacturers and retail executives get immediate visibility into job completion status and any variation from planogram compliance on a company-wide or store-by-store level. Executives can quickly review and analyze the data, then share information – such as business performance metrics, forecasts, trends and “what if” information – with the rest of the organization. Instead of waiting three to four weeks for the end-of-month figures to identify problems, management can quickly pinpoint issues and focus in on problem stores. Moving forward, this allows executives to manage by exception and spend more time working with those stores with recurring issues and, consequently, improve overall compliance across a chain of stores.
      

5. Improving customer service – Mobile shelf management helps customers find what they want at the right time, in the right quantity and in the right location. At the same time, retailers increase customer retention and boost sales because they have the tools to analyze and drive campaigns based on purchase behavior, such as:

     • Centralized intelligence on all cross-channel purchase history, preferences and interests
        for one view of the customer;

     • Tailored multi-channel campaigns that enable communication with customers in the way
        that they’ve requested;

     • Powerful real-time analytics and reporting to ensure better business decision making.

The convergence of smart devices and in-store WiFi is changing how retailers interact with their suppliers, their employees and their customers. Mobile shelf management promises to be an important part of increasing in-store efficiencies and increasing profitability.

By Matt Robinson at Aldata. 

Learn more about Aldata Mobile Shelf Execution or contact us for more information.

http://www.aldata.com/com/about/news/five-drivers-for-mobile-shelf-management

• Aldata Shelf Planning allows users to analyze space performance, create planograms, visualize category as well as assortment strategies
• The solution supports merchandising and allocation decisions, movement, profit, optimization of sales, and return on inventory investment
• Part of the Aldata Category Optimization family of products, Aldata Shelf Planning can be used together with Aldata Space Automation to automatically generate planograms.

Read the full release in German

http://www.aldata.com/com/about/news/dehner-gartencenter-selects-aldata-to-optimize-its-merchandising-processes

http://www.aldata.com/com/about/news/aldata-category-optimization-recognized-by-leading-analyst-firm

http://www.aldata.com/com/about/news/raleys-seeks-broader-vendor-collaboration-with-aldata-space-automation

http://www.aldata.com/com/about/news/aldata-introduces-new-capabilities-in-category-optimization-2012

http://www.aldata.com/com/about/news/aldata-to-demo-category-optimization-direct-store-delivery-at-fmi-2012

• Determine Inventory Stratification
• Improve Capacity Planning
• Manage Supplier KPIs
• Understand Available and Forecasted Stock Positions

Read the full Système U PR in French here

http://www.aldata.com/com/about/news/grocer-systeme-u-optimizes-inventory-levels-with-aldata-replenishment-insights

Note: The following is an extract. To access the full 2000 word article click here  
Also learn about Aldata's Shelf & Retail Store Planning solutions

Winning and retaining shopper loyalty is key in today’s competitive retail environment.
In its research, Aldata looked at the grocery shopping habits of 4000 consumers across the US, France, Germany and the UK. The research found that a third of shoppers visit several stores in order to get the best price for their groceries. In the US, 30% of shoppers say they visit more than one store. In Germany 32% say they shop around, in France 33% do, increasing to 36% of UK shoppers who use more than one store to complete their purchasing.

These trends send a strong signal to retailers, according to Matt Robinson, market development, Aldata.

“Shoppers are increasingly willing to switch allegiances and shop at more than one store, so there is an opportunity to hold onto someone who is just visiting and for them to become a regular shopper,” he says.


Value conscious
Hand in hand with shopper promiscuity, Aldata’s research shows consumers are budget conscious and they are looking for good value when they shop.

Seeking out value ranges and prices is important for 66% of US shoppers, 44% of consumers in Germany, 35% in the UK and 26% in France. However, the importance of value increases among younger shoppers and decreases with older consumers. In the UK, for example, 42% of those aged 18-34 say they buy value ranges versus 28% of those aged 55+ who say value is significant.

Supermarket value own labels have grown across Europe during the economic downturn. While Aldata’s research shows younger people are more open to buying value ranges and older shoppers are more likely to stick with familiar brands, convenience is more important to the second group.

In the UK, 22% of those aged 55+ state they go to one supermarket because convenience is more important than cost, compared with just 14% of 18-34 year olds who rate convenience over cost. Older shoppers in Germany will also choose the convenience of visiting one supermarket over cost, with 19% of over 55s stating that to be the case versus 16% of those aged 35-54 and 17% of all shoppers.

As well as the trend to value ranges, Aldata’s study reveals more than a quarter of US (26%) and UK (28%) and  shoppers also admitted to buying less each week during their grocery shop due to higher prices.

Ease of shop

With fickle and value-conscious customers, retailers need their stores to work harder. Aldata asked consumers how much time, if any, they thought it would take them to do a shop when their regular store substantially changed its layout, including moving products to another aisle.

In Europe, the vast majority believe it will take longer to shop. In the UK, 75% of consumers think it will add more than five minutes to the shop, in France 69%, in the US 62% and in Germany 58%.

“The highlights of the survey show if a shopper cannot find something or if it is out of stock, they take it personally,” says Robinson. “In the UK and Germany, 7% would actually leave the store and may not revisit.”


Balancing act
“Today we’re helping our customers to evaluate how well store space is utilized as well as understand the cost of the inventory that sits in the store and how quickly it turns over. As a result, we’re helping them to reveal the opportunities for category expansion, contraction or reallocation to satisfy local requirements, as well as optimize store space utilization.”

Our point of difference is enabling a retailer’s store planning and category teams to collaborate on store, assortment and shelf planning,” says Robinson.

Aldata’s Store Planning solution provides retailers with a strategic view of their space allocation. When used in conjunction with other solutions available from Aldata for Category Optimisation, space allocation and strategic assortment are then brought together to create a planogram that is relevant to the demographic of the store.

According to Robinson, “that will result in satisfied customers, alleviate frustration and may even remove any cynicism shoppers may have about retailers’ motives for reorganizing their stores. Shoppers will also be less likely to shop around and retailers can win their return business.”

http://www.aldata.com/com/about/news/retailers-with-optimized-store-layouts-can-drive-shopper-loyalty

http://www.aldata.com/com/about/news/aldata-announces-sale-of-finnish-subsidiary-to-solteq-oyj

http://www.aldata.com/com/about/news/super-retail-group-extends-space-optimization-to-leisure-retailing

Learn more about Aldata Insights

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http://www.aldata.com/com/about/news/aldata-launches-aldata-store-planning-at-nrf-annual-convention-expo

• Food and Beverage Experience Highest Out-of-Stocks: 56% of shoppers experienced out-of-stocks at food and beverage retailers during the holiday season. Food and beverage was followed by toys and games (39%), apparel and footwear (39%), consumer electronics (30%), and video games and consoles (25%) to round out the top five retail categories with the highest out-of-stocks
• Shoppers Look to Spend Less in 2012: More than half of survey respondents (55%) said they plan to spend less this year. Top ways to save include: using coupons (70%), taking advantage of pricing promotions (68%), buying cheaper brands (51%) and buying generic/private label brands (48%)
• Consumers Value Low Cost Over Convenience: Consumers are not only shopping for value-priced brands because money is tight (66%), but 30% are also shopping multiple grocery stores to try to get the best prices
• Consumers Grocery Trends Consistent across US and Europe: The number of shoppers who go to multiple grocery stores in order to find the best prices was fairly consistent between the US (30%), UK (36%), France (33%) and Germany (32%). In addition, the number of US shoppers (26%) buying less groceries each week because they cannot afford the prices was fairly consistent with those doing the same in the UK (28%)*
• “Lost” in the Store: Shoppers familiarize themselves with store layouts, so when retailers make layout changes, shoppers find themselves adding significant amounts of time to their weekly grocery trips – 62% claimed layout changes would add more than 5 minutes to their trip each week and 30% claimed these changes would add more than 10 minutes each week; 38% claim changes to store layouts leave them “annoyed,” with an additional 28% feeling “frustrated”
  

“Today’s shopper is tight on time and money. Retailers should be doing everything in their power to provide the best possible store experience to meet their evolving needs. That means precise demand forecasting to ensure shelves are never empty, and optimizing the store floor to avoid constant layout changes,” said Allan Davis, CMO of Aldata. “Not only did the survey data demonstrate that many stores missed the mark this holiday season, but also that these misses damage brand perception of retailers and result in lost revenue. If you’re not giving shoppers what they want, they will easily shop the competition.”

For a copy of the full research brief with graphs and additional findings, stop by Aldata’s booth (#227) at Retail’s BIG Show this week or download an electronic copy at www.aldata.com. Media requests should be sent to aldata@famapr.com.

*Global numbers are derived from a December 2011 Aldata survey deployed in the UK, France and Germany. One thousand (1,000) respondents from each country were surveyed. For more information on these results, please visit the newsroom on www.aldata.com

About The 2011 Post-Holiday Shopping Survey
The 2011 Post-Holiday Shopping Survey is a national survey designed to provide insight into the experiences of in-store shoppers during the 2011 holiday season. The survey, which examines topics such as holiday inventory levels, store design and cost-conscious consumer attitudes, was conducted in December 2011 via Zoomerang, an online survey services provider, and is based on more than 1,000 respondents. The survey was sponsored by Aldata

http://www.aldata.com/com/about/news/retailers-outofstocks-drive-nearly-half-your-customers-to-competitors-stores

http://www.aldata.com/com/about/news/aldata-replenishment-insights-and-direct-store-delivery-solutions-improve-decisionmaking-and-delivery-strategies

• Aldata Insights is the first application of its kind to offer a consolidated dashboard view of data pulled from multiple platforms, including both internal and external sources. In one aggregated snapshot, Aldata Insights yields meaningful business intelligence that is ready for analysis and action.
• Aldata Direct Store Distribution enables retailers to optimize the direct delivery of products from suppliers and manufactures to their retail stores using state of the art technology. This comprehensive, easy to deploy solution allows businesses to seamlessly authorize assortments, place and manage orders, receive inventory with minimal effort, accurately reconcile invoices and report on vendor performance.
• Aldata Assortment and Category Optimization solutions enhance and automate the category management process enabling retailers and manufacturers to deliver the right products at the right place and at the right time. Through automation, Aldata reduces the time taken to integrate disparate data sources and increases the ability to rapidly identify incremental sales, promotions and distribution opportunities. New capabilities include the development of Cannibalization analysis at SKU level, allowing for a greater understanding of planned assortment changes prior to execution at the shelf.
• Aldata Store Planning is a practical, comprehensive database-driven floor planning and analysis software solution that dramatically improves the retail space planning process, benefiting both retailers and brand manufacturers.

“We are excited to once again join the world’s top retailers at Retail’s BIG Show,” said Allan Davies, CMO of Aldata. “2011 was an exciting year for Aldata and we are proud of the insights and developments we will be sharing during the show. Attendees looking to explore any facet of retail and distribution optimization will walk away from our booth with a clear path to differentiate themselves within their industry through optimized business operations.”

NRF attendees will also have the opportunity to test their football skills and win an Xbox 360 in Aldata’s “Madden Challenge.” To schedule an appointment with Aldata, please visit http://www.aldata-nrf.com. For live updates from the show floor, follow @aldata on Twitter.

NRF's Annual Convention & EXPO is the organization’s flagship industry event held annually in New York City. Retail’s BIG Show is where the world’s retailers and strategic partners gather once a year to share ideas, make connections, embrace technology and drive the industry forward. For more information please visit, http://events.nrf.com/annual2012/public/enter.aspx.
 

http://www.aldata.com/com/about/news/aldata-to-showcase-gamechanging-products-and-unveil-consumer-survey-results-at-nrf

http://www.aldata.com/com/about/news/aldata-named-to-food-logistics-2011-fl100

http://www.aldata.com/com/about/news/mercator-goes-live-with-aldata-warehouse-management

http://www.aldata.com/com/about/news/aldata-appoints-roy-j-simrell-as-president-and-ceo

• The current owners of Sequoia bought the chain in 2007 with the ambition to bring the benefits of organic produce to more people in Belgium. The first step was to modernize the retailer’s image as well as build the foundations for growth.
• A key priority for the business was to improve merchandizing process as well as out-of-stocks which was resulting in loss of revenue.
• Today Sequoia offers 8000 products from fresh foods and wines to health and beauty products, as well as products for the home. The retailer has a key focus on sourcing products from the local region.
• Using Aldata’s Shelf Planning solution, Sequoia is able to easily create professional planograms that automatically recommend product facings based on stores sales based on data collated in Excel. Sequoia are also able to plan shelf space, optimize sales performance as well as plan for the regional variations in products available by store.
• It’s the company’s ambition to add 10 franchise outlets to the current three stores it operates over the next 5 years. The Aldata solution will help Sequoia to add value to its franchisee’s by supporting them with merchandising support specific to their local shopper needs.

http://www.aldata.com/com/about/news/belgian-organic-grocer-selects-aldata-to-optimize-its-retail-shelf-planning

http://www.aldata.com/com/about/news/harlowhrk-sales-marketing-optimizes-retail-space-planning-with-aldata

About Colgate Palmolive France

Colgate Palmolive is a global leader in dental, personal and home care products as well as pet nutrition. Established in 1806, it sells to over 200 countries with some of the world's most recognizable household names such as Colgate, Palmolive, Ajax and Hill's. With over 500m Euros turnover per annum and more than1,000 employees, Colgate France is group’s No.1 subsidiary in Europe and No.5 in the world. www.colgate.fr

How has Aldata’s Category Management & Optimization solutions helped Colgate Palmolive France?

• Colgate Palmolive France has used Aldata’s Space Optimization solution since 1996 to illustrate its merchandising strategy and generate the planograms needed by its field sales teams when working with retail partners
• The company has now added Aldata’s Assortment Optimization solution to be able to quickly drive insight from the market data it has access to and turn this into assortment recommendations that grow category sales for its partners
• Colgate Palmolive France will also use the assortment optimization solution to harmonize its internal processes around best practice and to automatically generate PowerPoint based reports
• By subscribing to the data management services offered by Aldata, Colgate Palmolive’s Category Managers have been able to use time previously lost to data manipulation to focus more time on those areas that add value to its retail partners, such as category analysis, simulation and strategic assortment recommendations

Read the original press release in French

http://www.aldata.com/com/about/news/colgate-palmolive-france-selects-aldata-to-optimize-its-category-management-processes

“We were looking for a partner who could support us with an easy-to-use software solution that would help us to identify opportunities to grow category sales and increase efficiency. Aldata’s Assortment Optimization bridges this important gap in category management. We are now able to easily gain insight from market data and use this to make recommendations that help achieve long-term profitable growth for our retail clients and our own organization.”

About Moët Hennessy
Moët Hennessy is the German division of premium lifestyle and luxury brands manufacturer LVMH. http://www.lvmh.com/

How will Aldata’s Assortment Management solution help Moët Hennessy?

• With Aldata’s Assortment Management & Optimization solution, Moët Hennessy is able to maximize category insight and deliver specific and tailored offers to its retail partners
• They are  now able to efficiently identify under and over-performance at the category, brand or any level of product segmentation and easily identify opportunities for improvement
• Moët Hennessy will save time by automating routine everyday tasks to support their category management processes, and reallocate resources to focus on strategy, analysis and execution
• They will also be able to effectively generate balanced ranges and provide compelling arguments for distribution changes that drive mutually beneficial value propositions with their retail accounts.

http://www.aldata.com/com/about/news/moet-hennessy-deutschland-selects-aldata

http://www.aldata.com/com/about/news/swiss-retail-consultancy-adroplan-selects-aldata-as-its-software-partner-for-space-optimization

http://www.aldata.com/com/about/news/aldata-takes-category-optimization-to-the-2011-category-management-conference-in-atlanta-us

Aldata Solution

http://www.aldata.com/com/about/news/aldata-hosts-fifth-annual-us-customer-event

http://www.aldata.com/com/about/news/bel-uk-goes-live-with-aldata-to-optimise-its-category-management-process-across-uk-supermarkets

• Système U Ouest had used Aldata’s voice directed operations in its warehouses for seven years, but business change meant that for efficiency there was a need for operators to prepare multiple orders simultaneously. The co-operative installed the Aldata Pack to Light option in its first warehouse in May 2011. The solution is now live in five of its distribution centers. Just three months after go live; Système U has seen operator productivity increase by 5%.

• With Aldata Pack to Light, after being directed to a picking address, the preparation operator confirms their position by voice and then validates it by scanning or declaring a unique pivot code. Each customer tray or carton has its own unique display, which is linked by WIFI to the operator’s voice-directed terminal. Once the operator has validated their position, the display indicates the quantity of products to place in the tray or carton.

http://www.aldata.com/com/about/news/systeme-u-selects-aldatas-pack-to-light-solution

http://www.aldata.com/com/about/news/aldata-launches-category-optimization-program-to-convenience-stores-at-nacs-show-2011

“As a business we were faced with the need to pick and dispatch an increasing number of orders, particularly for fresh goods, with a limited number of order preparation clerks. We had also decided against warehouse automation.

"We were already working with Aldata who recommended the Pack to Light solution – it has met our requirements perfectly. Today, we have saved 3 minutes per order, which means that we have gained an extra 90 minutes per employee, per day, for order preparation. Overall, this represents a 31% improvement in productivity which is fantastic.” Sylvain David, Head of the Fresh Goods warehouse for Degrenne Distribution.

About Degrenne Distribution

Degrenne Distribution is a distributor of fresh, frozen and household cleaning products. Based in Villiers Bocage, Degrenne distributes to supermarkets and minimarkets across 19 regions in France. From its 15000m2 distribution centre, Degrenne supplies a wide selection of products: grocery, dairy, meats, frozen foods, beverages and household cleaning products to over 1,200 customers.
http://www.degrenne-distribution.fr/

How has Aldata Pack to Light helped Degrenne Distribution:

• Degrenne already uses Aldata’s solution for voice directed operations in its warehouse. By adding the Pack to Light option, Degrenne order preparation operators are now able to prepare multiple orders for customers simultaneously. This has improved efficiency and gained an extra 90 minutes per day, per operator. Degrenne is now able to fulfill more orders with the same number of employees.
• With Aldata Pack to Light, after being directed to a picking address, the preparation operator confirms their position by voice and then validates it by scanning or declaring a unique pivote code. Each customer tray or carton has its own unique display, which is linked by WiFI to the operator’s voice-directed terminal. Once the operator has validated their position, the display indicates the quantity of products to place in the tray or carton.
• Aldata Pack to Light is the result of research and development collaboration with CIPAM, the market-leading mobility solutions provider in France. CIPAM is a member of the Aldata Mobility Alliance (AMA).

Please read the original press release in French
 

http://www.aldata.com/com/about/news/distribution-degrenne-uses-aldata-pack-to-light-to-streamline-order-preparation-2

“Using Aldata’s Space Optimization solutions we will be able to create store specific shelf and space plans,” stated Antje Wuensche, responsible for goods analysis and shelf management at real,- Germany. “This will enable us to guarantee even higher inventory availability than we already have today."

About real,-
real,- SB-Warenhaus GmbH is a member of METRO GROUP. real,- stands for a wide range of branded products, high levels of competency in freshness and good value for money. Under the umbrella of real,- Group, the company manages about 320 hypermarkets in Germany as well as another 109 in Poland, Romania, Russia, the Ukraine and Turkey. In fiscal year 2010, with about 70,000 employees the company reached net sales of € 11.5 billion. www.real.de, www.real-hypermarket.com and www.metrogroup.de

What has real,- purchased and how will it help their business

• real,- will use Aldata’s Space Optimization suite to automate planogram production, enabling consistent and accurate execution of category plans and new product launches across all stores. This will help real,- to strengthen its customer orientation in Germany, “enabling every shopper to find exactly what they require and what meets their personal needs when they visit a real,- hypermarket.”
• With Aldata, real,- is now able to optimize space and category planning across its stores that range from 4,000m2 to 15,000m2 as well as generate individual plans, at the shelf as well as product level, for every single store. Consequently, costs can be reduced and losses can be prevented. In addition, product availability for the customer will be improved because of store specific days of supply.

To read the full release in German, please click here. 

http://www.aldata.com/com/about/news/assortment-planning-real-selects-aldata-for-retail-space-optimization

http://www.aldata.com/com/about/news/seicomart-selects-aldata-to-optimize-replenishment-and-procurement-for-its-1000-stores-and-7-distribution-centers

http://www.aldata.com/com/about/news/mercator-extends-its-aldata-deployment-to-croatia

In addition to being the lead organization behind the NTL association, NTL is also an independent retailer within the group. NTL has implemented Aldata’s Store Operations and Mobility solutions in its own stores to improve employee productivity and provide real-time control over daily store operations. The store-based solution went live in under three months across their retail outlets. This implementation is the second within the group to link directly to the Aldata Master Data Management solution, with Gavrilovič – Diona being the first to go live earlier this year. Gavrilovič – Diona, a delicatessen retailer, also use Aldata’s solutions to manage their retail operations.

The next project phase will see the other members of the NTL association connecting to the group managed Aldata Master Data Management solution.

http://www.aldata.com/com/about/news/ntl-a-leading-croatian-association-of-retailers-advances-its-aldata-implementation

“The Kesko Group now has a new payment terminal solution that meets the security requirements of the international card providers, represents the latest in technology and ensures the future development needs of the business,” Päivi Kukkonen, Project Manager, Kesko.

About Kesko

Kesko (www.kesko.fi) is a leading Finnish provider of trading sector services. It operates in the food, home and specialty goods, building and home improvement, car and machinery sectors. Kesko has approximately 2,000 stores across Finland, Sweden, Norway, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Russia, and Belarus.

What has been implemented and how will it help their business:

• Kesko selected the YOMANI payment terminals from Banksys
• The project objective was to reduce the security risks of card payments
• Kesko chose trusted solutions partner Aldata to implement the new system
• The solution went live in under one year across 1000 of the group’s retail outlets thanks to close co-operation between Aldata and Kesko

To read the full release in Finnish please click here

http://www.aldata.com/com/about/news/kesko-select-aldata-to-implement-new-payment-terminals-at-over-1000-stores

Nelt, a leading distributor and 3PL provider in the Balkan region for brands including Procter & Gamble, Kraft Foods, Wrigley and Dr Oetker, has extended its roll-out of Aldata to support its operational growth in the region. Aldata’s warehouse management solutions are now live in four of the company’s regional distribution centers, with the latest center in Sarajevo going live in less than 3 months. Previous to this implementation, warehouse activities were managed manually at the Sarajevo site. Improved efficiency in warehouse operations was visible by the second day after the new system was implemented. The solution was implemented by the joint Nelt and Aldata team.

As part of Nelt’s continued expansion plans in the region, the company will establish a competence center for Aldata’s warehouse management solutions in Belgrade and will offer first line support in Serbia. The center will support Nelt’s distribution centers as well as being available to other companies in the region using Aldata’s warehouse management solutions. Nelt has been an Aldata customer since 2004.

http://www.aldata.com/com/about/news/nelt-extends-its-deployment-of-aldata-to-support-its-regional-growth

"I compared solutions from several vendors, and the natural choice was Aldata – who showed great confidence combined with a depth of understanding regards store processes. Instead of thinking POS, I realized the importance of having a more complete retail store solution at the heart of the business from the start. I want to work proactively with my customers and Aldata’s solution will give me the visibility and flexibility I need to achieve this." Lisa Brandt, owner of Cranberry Corner.

About the company
Cranberry Corner is an independent Swedish design retailer for the home and garden which opens its doors for the first time in September. Through the company’s store, Cranberry Corner will offer a wide range of furnishings and interior design advice, a public schedule of courses, as well as acting a meeting hub for those individuals and organizations with an interest in interior design.

What have they purchased and how will it help their business

• Aldata SIR - Store & Chain Management Solution for Service Intensive Retail, part of Aldata’s 1-2-1 Retail family of products.
• With Aldata in place, Cranberry Corner will be equipped with full insight and direct access to operational intelligence enabling the retailer to offer proactive customer service, recommend additional services and increase store-based sales.

To view the full release in Swedish please click here

http://www.aldata.com/com/about/news/cranberry-corner-a-new-home-decorating-garden-retailer-selects-aldata

Aldata, a provider of retail and distribution improvement software and Dacos Software, a leading provider of Retail Intelligence solutions, today announce a software partnership designed to help retailers gain competitive price advantage and improve results by optimizing price lines in product categories.

Through the partnership, Aldata will supply the Dacos Price Engine enabling retailers to manage and optimize prices with respect to consumer buying behavior, price strategy, price rules and rival prices to compete more effectively. The Dacos Price Engine offers ease-of-use and a runtime measured in seconds, simplifying the process of daily pricing decisions by simulating and optimizing prices in real-time.

“As raw material and fuel prices soar across the globe, retailers are looking at alternative ways to ensure pricing remains competitive and that they can react to market changes quickly and effectively,” said Allan Davies, Aldata’s EVP Optimization Solutions. “This partnership support’s Aldata’s strategy of offering complementary best in class technology that enables our customers to optimize key processes for fast return on investment.”

Traditionally European retailers have lagged been behind the US when it comes to adopting price optimization solutions. The trend is now swinging, with 54% of European retailers currently looking to upgrade or implement for the first time price optimization solutions, according to Martec International research conducted amongst 130 global CIO retailers.

Prof. Dr. Joachim Hertel, CEO with Dacos Software, added: “The Dacos Price Engine offers retailers a highly intelligent and intuitive price optimization process. The solution does not require much training and can be used by decision makers autonomously. Moreover, the Aldata and DACOS solution allows flexible connection with external data sources.”

The partnership will initially be rolled out across France, aiming at a subsequent international rollout via Aldata’s subsidiary operations and distributors worldwide.
 

http://www.aldata.com/com/about/news/aldata-and-dacos-announce-a-software-partnership-to-help-retailers-gain-competitive-price-advantage-and-improve-results

Schiever will use Aldata’s solutions to manage its entire fresh produce supply chain from the point at which the product is first listed to when it’s received in the store. This includes the management of daily supplier bids, store orders and receipts, as well as item-level tracking throughout the supply chain. This will provide Schiever with real-time visibility and management of product availability across its stores and warehouses.

View the original Schiever announcement in French.
 

http://www.aldata.com/com/about/news/schiever-selects-aldata-to-manage-its-fresh-produce-supply-chain

About the company
Avesina has, for many years, been one of Nordics largest suppliers of hearing rehabilitation products and services. In addition to working closely with The local Swedish Health Centre “Landstinget”, Avesina also operates a business in the private sector called Avesina Snäckan aimed at companies and private individuals, offering them a broader range of tailored solutions and products.

What have they purchased and how will it help their business

• Aldata SIR - Store & Chain Management Solution for service intensive retail, part of Aldata’s 1-2-1 Retail family of products.
• With Aldata in place, at the group level Avesina will gain transparency across the business as well as better business control
• Within the store environment, the solution will equip personnel with instant access to the information they need to offer proactive customer service, recommend additional services and increase store-based sales

Read the full release issued in Swedish

http://www.aldata.com/com/about/news/avesina-a-leading-nordic-supplier-of-hearing-rehabilitation-products-and-services-selects-aldata

Aldata Solution, a global leader in retail and distribution improvement software, announced today that Action West Group, a food broker specializing in the representation of both branded and corporate brand perishable retail grocery product lines, is using its Apollo Space Optimization solution to increase production and provide deeper analysis of product plans in order to improve sales and profitability for its customers.

Action West Group, which was founded in 2007, specializes in perishable food departments including meat, seafood, bakery and service deli. As a broker between more than 150 food manufacturers and thousands of retail locations, Action West Group delivers the expertise and knowledge required to help manufacturers ensure that their products make it into the mix at retail in the most efficient and effective manner. With Apollo, Action West Group brokers can quickly and easily create planograms and schematics for retail customers, ensuring that selection and space planning reflects individual store shelf layouts and customer shopping preferences.

“We now have a tool that allows us to create opportunities to sell our clients’ products based on facts and accurate information. Automating the planogram process from traditional spreadsheets and drawings provides us with a competitive advantage, especially within the perishable goods department,” said Andy Keeler, president of Canyon State Sales for Action West Group’s Arizona division. “With Apollo, we know our plans are going to work properly providing benefit to both our manufacturing clients and retail customers. Apollo takes us to the next level.”

Aldata’s Apollo Space Optimization is a collection of powerful, market-proven software solutions that give customers the ability to automate planogram production while enabling consistent, accurate execution of category plans and new product launches at any required granular level.

“We are pleased that Apollo is becoming the de facto standard when it comes to space optimization for Action West Group,” said Shaun Bossons, senior vice president, Aldata. “They understand the value that technology can bring to perishables, a traditionally difficult area of the retail industry when it comes to planning, and have taken advantage of the capabilities that Apollo provides. We are looking forward to a continued partnership that keeps Action West Group ahead of the competition.”

http://www.aldata.com/com/about/news/action-west-group-selects-aldata-space-optimization

“By using Aldata’s solution to automate our space planning process and planogram production we are able to free up time and focus on those areas of our business that add real value to our retail partners,” said Isabelle Schneider, Marketing Manager, Laboratoires Forté Pharma. “We are now able to collaborate even closer with our retail partners and offer more category advice, further strengthening relationships.”

About the company
Forté Pharma, the market leader for Slimming products in France, offers dietary supplements to aid slimming, energy, health and beauty. Forte Pharma operates in a highly competitive market where new product introductions are frequent.

What have they purchased and how will it help their business:

• Forte Pharma will use Aldata’s Space Optimization solutions, part of the Aldata Category Management & Optimization suite, to automate their space planning processes and planogram production
• This will enable the manufacturer to provide its retail partners with store-specific merchandizing plans based on local demand
• It will also enable the company to easily introduce and delist products from its range and reflect this through its merchandising plans
• By selecting Aldata, the company is also able to extend the model into its other European and US locations when needed

Read the full release issued in French
 

http://www.aldata.com/com/about/news/leading-slimming-products-manufacturer-forte-pharma-selects-aldata-for-space-optimization

Booth #431 – Aldata Solution, a global leader in retail and distribution improvement software, today announced details of its participation at the NACStech 2011 event. As consumers start to use convenience stores to satisfy their weekly shopping needs as “one-stop shops,” it’s more important than ever that store owners and decision makers look to professional assortment and space solutions. Aldata Solution (booth #431) will demonstrate the “Starter Pack” and “Advanced” versions of its Category Optimization Solutions for convenience stores and explain how these solutions can be used to tailor assortments to meet the needs of demanding local shoppers, reduce overall costs and create operational efficiencies to help convenience stores compete with big box retailers to meet the needs of the changing market.

What: Customers’ increased reliance on convenience stores drives the need to deliver a diverse, cost-effective product assortment. At NACStech 2011, Aldata will conduct live demonstrations of its C-Store Solutions which help convenience stores address category and inventory optimization challenges. Achieving an optimal product balance requires customer-centric execution that improves sales and profits, keeps inventory at optimal levels, increases operational efficiency and maximizes customer satisfaction. Aldata’s solutions help store managers and head offices with all of these areas whether they are just developing their stores’ category planning capabilities or looking to take it to the next level.

When: May 16-18, 2011

Where: Aldata will be at booth #431 during NACStech 2011 which is taking place at the Mirage Las Vegas in Las Vegas, Nevada.

NACStech brings together the most influential IT leaders in the convenience channel to learn about technology trends and evaluate technology products and services. Retailers can see firsthand IT best practices that will enhance their operations. For more information, visit www.nacsonline.com.

http://www.aldata.com/com/about/news/aldata-takes-category-and-inventory-optimization-to-nacstech-2011

Microsoft Dynamics® is a registered trademark of Microsoft Corporation in the United States and other countries. All other product names may be registered trademarks of their respective owners.

***********************************

Helsinki, Finland, 10 May 2010:  Aldata Solution, a global leader in retail and distribution improvement software, today announces that Granit, a homewares chain within the Bergendahls group in Sweden and Norway, has selected Aldata and Microsoft Dynamics® AX for Retail to improve inventory management across the group, increase store productivity and enhance its customer service by gaining real-time access to critical data from the back office and the point of sale (POS).
Granit is part of the larger Bergendahls Group, which is active in Norway, Denmark, Finland and Poland, and has a turnover of 10 billion SEK. Granit offers storage and home decoration products, and also supports its customers by offering creative advice on their home furnishing decisions.

"Our stores and staff offer a bespoke experience to every customer” said Peter Sjöberg, Bergendahl Home Deco AB's Finance Director. “We needed a partner with a wealth of knowledge and experience about the retail environment, but which also understood our approach and vision for the future. Aldata’s 1-2-1 retail approach and vision was the only one which met our current needs and could also support our future plans. This partnership will ensure that our 1-2-1 customer relationship model continues to grow and develop as our business grows.”

Granit is currently rolling out Microsoft Dynamics AX for Retail across its fifteen stores and it is expected that the Store and POS systems will go live in autumn 2011. Once complete, the organisation will be able to manage its POS terminals centrally, gaining superior inventory visibility and improving store operations.

In future, the retailer is also keen to investigate additional modules available as part of Aldata’s 1-2-1 Retail solutions, which will enable the retailer to better analyse, market, communicate and retain its most profitable customers.

“It’s rewarding to see our investment and co-operation with Microsoft pay off, “ said Ari Saapunki, Director of Aldata 1-2-1 Retail Solution. “We can now deliver an ERP solution for retailers combining our specialist retail knowledge with the power and depth of Microsoft’s product.”

Aldata’s more than 20 years of retail best practice experience, combined with Microsoft Dynamics AX for Retail, provides a next generation of integrated retail solutions that includes Replenishment and Merchandising Optimization, Store and POS Management that are rapid to implement and easy to use for mid-size and speciality retailers.

About Granit
Granit was born in 1997 at Götgatan in Stockholm, Sweden. In the Granit stores you will come across many smart solutions for storage in cardboard, plastic and wicker. Good storage is closest to our hearts but we also have many other functional products for your home or office. Today we have 15 stores in Sweden and Norway.

About Microsoft
Founded in 1975, Microsoft (Nasdaq “MSFT”) is the worldwide leader in software, services and solutions that help people and businesses realize their full potential. Microsoft Dynamics® is a registered trademark of Microsoft Corporation in the United States and other countries.

http://www.aldata.com/com/about/news/bergendahls-granit-selects-aldata-to-streamline-retail-operations-and-enhance-customer-service

Aldata Solution, a global leader in retail and distribution improvement software, today announced that Manitoba Liquor Control Commission (MLCC) has selected Aldata’s retail supply chain suite for Merchandizing Optimization and Demand-Based Replenishment to its 50 liquor stores.

The Manitoba Liquor Control Commission, based in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, is mandated with regulating, distributing and selling alcohol in the Manitoba province. With annual sales of more than $580 million, the MLCC is one of the largest single buyers of beverage alcohol in the world, purchasing product from more than 2,900 suppliers in 56 countries. The MLCC supplies approximately 1,700 customers and annually processes more than 63,000 orders. The organization will use Aldata to improve assortment and Liquor Mart replenishment processes, improve supply chain efficiency and improve retail reporting and analytics.

“We were impressed with the range of functionality that Aldata’s retail supply chain suite offers in the areas of merchandising optimization and automated store replenishment, which will allow us to effectively centralize our related business operations. With Aldata, we will be able to improve visibility into our supply chain process and introduce improvements to expedite our ordering and replenishment processes. This will help to ensure that we have the right products in the right place at the right time,” said Gerry Sul, chief corporate services officer, Manitoba Liquor Control Commission.

“We are very pleased to welcome MLCC to the Aldata retail customer community,” said Brendan Lowe, president, Aldata North America. “MLCC’s selection of our integrated merchandizing optimization and retail supply chain solutions will enable the Commission to reduce costs and manual processes, helping them to better serve their customers across the Province of Manitoba.”

http://www.aldata.com/com/about/news/manitoba-liquor-control-commission-selects-aldata

Who is Renk AG
RENK is one of the worldwide acknowledged manufacturers of high-quality special gears, components of propulsion technology and test systems. RENK products excel by highest precision and reliability as well as excellent quality. Experience and creativity in development, design and manufacture guarantee RENK products a top position on the international market.

What did they buy?
Together with a main contractor – Hoermann Logistik, Aldata is modernizing, expanding and automating the 27-year-old central warehouse of Renk in Augsburg, Germany. Renk is increasing warehouse capacity by building a new facility including an automated pallet warehouse. Main objectives of this modernization project are the optimization and expansion of the warehouse volume while improving operating reliability. The project is scheduled to be complete by Summer 2012.

Click here to read the full release issued in German
 

http://www.aldata.com/com/about/news/renk-modernizes-and-automates-its-central-warehouse-with-aldata

Aldata Solution, a global leader in retail and distribution improvement software, today reveals that mid-size retailers, are being affected much more than larger retailers by the economic downturn, according to its 2011 Global Retail CIO Survey. To combat this threat, mid-sized retailers are reacting fast and are investing more to get closer to their customers, with close to a quarter prioritizing IT spend on store and ERP systems, as well as solutions available through the Cloud which will address this challenge.

Economy keeps retailers awake at night
The research of more than 130 retail CIOs globally, conducted by retail research specialist Martec, reveals that almost double the amount of mid-size retailers (38%), consider the economy to be the biggest issue affecting their business, compared to only 22% of all retailers.

Allan Davies, EVP Market Development at Aldata Solution comments: “Being a mid-sized retailer has never been harder than it is today, but a key differentiator is the close relationship they can have with their customers by being more local and this is where the larger retailers are trying to play catch up. The old 80-20 rule is still valid and retailers able to pinpoint the 20% of customers generating 80% of their revenues will be able to serve better and make more money.”

Specialist retailers more open to new technologies
As rising costs threaten specialist stores it seems that they are turning to new systems to drive efficiencies, with almost double (20%) planning to invest in ERP and cloud computing (15%), compared to 11% and 5% of all retailers, in a bid to improve store-based customer service and to reduce their existing IT costs.

Dilip Popat, Industry Principal, Retail and Distribution, Microsoft Business Solutions added: “Mid-size retailers are looking at a new generation of connected IT solutions because their existing software is not giving them the visibility, integration, or ROI that they need to compete effectively in these tougher times.”

Customer dedication by Veikon Kone
One example of a mid-sized retailer serving and retaining its customers is exclusive Finnish retailer Veikon Kone. The 20 strong electronics chain recently implemented Aldata’s new digital loyalty systems, which enabled them to focus tailored offers to specific customer groups via their preferred communications channels (email, SMS, direct mail, phone). They saw a major upswing in sales from both existing and new customer introductions.

Davies concludes: “The survey clearly shows that specialist retailers are prepared to take on the ‘major players’ in the fight for customers and while they are being hit hard by the economy they are finding new and different ways to retain and win new customers. The next phase of retail IT innovation is being driven by necessity and mid-size retailers are leading the way.”

Methodology
The Aldata Global Retail CIO Survey was conducted by retail industry research specialists Martec International to assist retailers in benchmarking their IT strategy and use of technology against their peers. The 2011 Global Retail CIO Survey incorporates the views of retailers from 26 countries generating from US$50 million in annual revenue, whose combined sales represent $555 billion from more than 117,000 stores. This equates to 8 percent of the total retail market in the Americas and Europe by sales. A total of 136 CIOs and IT directors in category-management-style retailers were interviewed for this report. Participants included a mix of both food and non-food retailers from across the Americas and Europe. The survey provides insights into current retail spending plans and priorities.

About Microsoft
Founded in 1975, Microsoft (Nasdaq “MSFT”) is the worldwide leader in software, services and solutions that help people and businesses realize their full potential.

http://www.aldata.com/com/about/news/retail-downturn-hits-specialist-midsize-retailers-hardest-says-aldata-cio-survey

ProMat 2011, McCormick Place South, USA
Booth #3081

Aldata Solution, a global leader in retail and distribution improvement software, announced today its participation in ProMat 2011, being held at McCormick Place South in Chicago from March 21-24, 2011. Aldata (booth #3081) will demonstrate its Voice Directed Warehousing solution, used to improve productivity, accuracy and traceability with multi-modal voice technology. Whether replacing or using an existing warehouse solution, Aldata’s Voice Directed Warehousing easily plugs in and serves as an important means for capturing vital data in order to ensure compliance with the latest industry and government traceability regulations.

Aldata’s Voice Directed Warehousing is a single solution for warehouse applications and easily integrates with legacy or commercial warehouse management systems. Its multi-modal capabilities enable users to interact in multiple ways including screen, keyboard and barcode reader. Operators only need to learn how to use one device for multiple levels of applications, including voice-directed operations. This means they are faster and more effective, user-based fatigue is reduced, and there are short- and long-term productivity gains. Additionally, retailers can use the same hardware across all tasks in stores and throughout the warehouse, providing substantial savings on support and infrastructure costs.

“We’ve had a tremendous response to our Voice Directed Warehousing technology. Retailers that use our solution achieve up to an 80% reduction in error rates and up to a 30% improvement in productivity,” said Alain Poirier, vice president, Aldata Solution. “Beyond the improved voice capabilities, customers now have a streamlined way to comply with recalls and other traceability requirements, providing them with a competitive advantage. Our demonstrations will illustrate the innovative ways we can help streamline operations in the supply chain.”

Conference attendees who stop by Aldata’s booth can experience first-hand how the Voice Directed Warehousing system operates. Visitors will have an opportunity to wear an operator headset and experience how a warehouse worker is prompted through a variety of job tasks in real time.

http://www.aldata.com/com/about/news/aldata-demonstrates-voice-directed-warehousing-at-promat-2011

Aldata Solution, a global leader in retail and distribution improvement software, today reveals that retailers are suffering from ‘Promotion Fatigue,’ according to its 2011 Global Retail CIO Survey. Almost half (46%) of retailers surveyed plan to switch their attention to gaining a 360˚ view of their customers (in-store, online, and via catalogue), following two years of focusing on promotions.

Getting the customer 360˚ overview right
The research of more than 130 retail CIOs globally, conducted by Martec, reveals that after the initial emphasis on promoting products through the current recession, retailers are now turning their attention to gaining a complete 360˚ customer view to better understand buying patterns and improve margins.

Allan Davies, CMO of Aldata comments: “The ongoing economic situation has altered the way the retail industry operates and forced a change in tactics in the fight for customer spend. Promotion management changing from the number one investment priority in 2009, fourth in 2010 and ninth in 2011, is just one example of this change in tactics.
“Going forward into 2011 and during the coming three years, ‘Promotion Fatigue’ will give way to more focus on understanding consumer buying behavior better and getting a full view of what, how, and where, customers are buying,” said Davies.

Forecast for demand
Other key findings show that as the cost of raw materials and fuel dramatically increases, 39% of CIOs will invest in enterprise demand forecasting to reduce overstocking and optimise the frequency and delivery of supplier orders to meet customer demand, to further reduce transport and wastage costs. This together with implementing a complete 360˚ view of customers and their buying patterns, will give decision makers improved visibility and improve customer satisfaction across all channels.
Davies concludes: “The 2011 survey clearly shows that retailers are reducing the emphasis on promotions and are now prioritising customer knowledge to support the optimization of demand-driven supply chains. The new retail reality is to gain competitive edge by enabling customers to buy exactly what they want, when and how they want it and above all, manage goods flows more efficiently."
 
Methodology
The Aldata Global Retail CIO Survey was conducted by retail industry research specialists Martec International to assist retailers in benchmarking their IT strategy and use of technology against their peers. The 2011 Global Retail CIO Survey incorporates the views of retailers from 26 countries generating from US$50 million in annual revenue, whose combined sales represent $555 billion from more than 117,000 stores. This equates to 8 percent of the total retail market in the Americas and Europe by sales. A total of 136 CIOs and IT directors in category-management-style retailers were interviewed for this report. The survey provides insights into current retail spending plans and priorities.

Martec International
Over the last 20 years, Martec has become the leading firm of retail business process experts in the world. It is also the world leader in training and consulting services for companies that sell to retailers. For more information, visit http://www.martec-international.com/index.htm
 

http://www.aldata.com/com/about/news/retailers-suffering-promotion-fatigue-and-focusing-on-better-customer-insight

“To visually merchandise products on shelf without the support of a software solution is time consuming and demands considerable resources. Thanks to Aldata, we are now able to easily bring together financial analysis and planogram design, which will give us a competitive advantage.”

About the Company
For over 30 years, KARLIE has set the standard in pet accessories. Starting with grooming articles for dogs the company now distributes exclusive and original pet access, with more than 8000 articles for dogs, cats, rodents, birds and fish in 60 countries.

What have they purchased and how will it help their business:

• Aldata for Space Planning
• Maximize analysis to make better decisions for store merchandising and shelf re-stocking
• Decrease time in planning categories and enable valuable resources to be utilized more effectively

Read the full press release in German.

http://www.aldata.com/com/about/news/pets-accessories-manufacturer-karlie-standardizes-on-aldata-for-space-planning

About the customer

Group Aoste, is a subsidiary of Campofrio, a European leader in the processed meats industry. Group Aoste’s brands include: Justin Bridou, Cochonou and Jean Caby.

What have they purchased and how will it help their business?

• Group Aoste have purchased Aldata’s Assortment Optimization solution to drive greater category insight and are now able to simulate the impact of assortment changes at the store and category level
• Group Aoste has outsourced its category data management process to Aldata. The time saved means the team at Group Aoste are now able to spend more time on category analysis and adding value to its retail partners.

Read the original release in French

http://www.aldata.com/com/about/news/group-aoste-selects-aldata

Aldata Solution, a global leader in retail and distribution improvement software, today announced that Harold W. Young Inc., a leading independent food broker in the Northeast, has selected Aldata Apollo Space Optimization. The deployment will help to enhance collaboration with retailers, provide deeper insights on merchandising, category management and increase sales overall.

Harold W. Young is an independent broker working closely with several leading retailers including Ahold USA, Market Basket, CVS, BJ’s Wholesale Club, Hannaford and Cumberland Farms. The company serves more than 50 manufacturers of food, HBC, general merchandise and confectionery products. Harold W. Young Inc. plans to use the Aldata Apollo Space Optimization solution to provide guidance to its retail customers on merchandising and category management, and ensuring that customers’ shopping patterns are reflected.

“After a comprehensive review process, we selected Aldata Apollo because we believe it will help us forge closer relationships with our retail customers and provide them even greater value,” said Betsy Harris, co-president, Harold W. Young. “We were impressed with Aldata’s ease of use, and expect to be fully operational within weeks of our implementation. With Aldata, we can help retailers ensure that their merchandising and selections reflect customer demand and their evolving shopping behavior.”

Aldata’s Apollo Space Optimization is a collection of powerful, easy-to-use software solutions that give customers the ability to automate planogram production while enabling consistent, accurate execution of category plans and new product launches at any required granular level.

“Retailers increasingly rely on their partners for their guidance and knowledge in category management and space optimization to ensure they are meeting the needs of consumers,” said Shaun Bossons, senior vice president at Aldata, Apollo Solutions Group. “Harold W. Young Inc. is committed to providing its customers unparalleled service and goods. They understand the importance of working closely with their retail partners to ensure that they are providing the goods customers want, when they want them.”

http://www.aldata.com/com/about/news/harold-w-young-inc-selects-aldata-for-enhanced-retailer-collaboration

Gardner said, “All retailers, regardless of their size, complexity or location are looking for ways to become ever more customer-centric. Aldata Category Optimisation has the proven capability to deliver quick ROI scaling easily from desktop to enterprise. Supply chain efficiency and good category optimisation are key in delivering the right product to every customer at the right price and I am looking forward to helping retailers achieve this with Aldata.”

http://www.aldata.com/com/about/news/aldata-appoints-category-optimisation-sales-director-for-northern-europe

London, UK, 25 January 2011: Aldata Solution, a global leader in retail and distribution improvement software, today announces that Waitrose, the fastest growing grocery retailer in the UK, has now gone live with the updated ordering system for its frozen warehouses. Waitrose is now using the Aldata system to calculate, optimise and manage supplier orders to replenish its frozen warehouse, enabling the retailer to adapt to its new multi-channel environment, maintain high availability and low inventory, whilst delivering excellent levels of customer service.

Waitrose has 241 shops across the UK, employs over 44,000 people, and has its own online ordering service for products which can then be collected in-store or delivered, as well as selling products through partnerships with Welcome Break Motorway Service Stations and Boots. The project, which commenced at the start of the year, has seen a rapid turnaround and Waitrose has increased the efficiency with which suppliers deliver to its warehouse and its branches are stocked.

“We knew that this was an ambitious project, but we’re pleased to have seen it through to successful completion,” said Liz Gemmill, Head of Supply Chain Operations at Waitrose. “The design of Aldata’s solution allowed us to integrate with our existing systems effectively within the necessary timeframe. We employed third-party testers to supplement the team and were very happy with the quality of the Aldata software which allowed testing to be completed very quickly. Results so far have been very encouraging, with most orders being left unchanged and we are achieving an excellent balance between high availability and low inventory levels. The time taken to review orders has halved.”

The Implementation phase of project began in January 2010, with the first warehouse going live for two suppliers in September 2010 and the roll-out for remaining suppliers being completed for end of October. Waitrose has already begun preparing to rollout the system in its ambient warehouses, and in the future, will be looking to implement Aldata in fresh and bonded warehouses, covering its entire warehouse estate.

Allan Davies, Chief Marketing Officer for Aldata commented “Maintaining customer satisfaction in the multi-channel age is a great challenge for grocery retailers, and optimising the supply chain and warehouse environment underpins all of this. We’re very pleased to have helped Waitrose to support its evolving strategy and stay at the forefront of customer service and quality.”

About Waitrose
Waitrose is the supermarket division of the John Lewis Partnership, with over 240 branches across England, Scotland and Wales. The supermarket is synonymous with high quality produce, and is particularly noted for its wine and beverages and has regular won awards at the International Wine and Spirit Competition and from Wine Magazine. Waitrose also strives to promote seasonal produce, locally sourced produce and organic produce.

The John Lewis Partnership is one of the UK's top ten retail businesses and Britain's biggest and longest surviving example of worker co-ownership. All 72,000 plus permanent staff are Partners in the business and share in its profits - that's why they care about the customers - and the suppliers - and the future

http://www.aldata.com/com/about/news/waitrose-goes-live-with-new-warehouse-ordering-from-aldata

The original shortlist of 27 was reduced to 8 by a panel ahead of Tuesday. On the day, eight finalists presented to an auditorium of over 800 supply chain and logistics professionals who voted after each presentation. Aldata demonstrated their ability to develop and deliver effective solutions for their customers. Learn how Aldata can help.


 

Watch the video filmed onsite at the University Hospital of Stasbourg /CHU Strasbourg

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NEW YORK, January 10, 2011 (Booth #259) -- Aldata Solution, a global leader in retail and distribution improvement software, today announced its participation at the NRF 100th Annual Convention & Expo, being held at the Jacob K. Javits Center in New York from January 9-12, 2011. Aldata will unveil the solutions and approaches that have helped its customers stay ahead of the competition today and prepare for the future. Aldata will offer insights on The Food Safety Modernization Act, unique approaches to category and assortment optimization, promotional forecasting, and information about new technologies in voice-directed warehousing. For more information or to set up a meeting with Aldata, visit www.aldata-solution.com/NRF2011.

“We are looking forward to this year’s NRF conference. Through organic growth as well as strategic acquisitions, we offer retail, wholesale, logistics and marketing service organizations the best integrated retail business solutions on the market today,” said Allan Davies, CMO, Aldata. “Visitors to our booth will see why we continue to attract industry-leading customers such as Dollar General and will leave the conference with actionable cost- and time-saving information they can immediately put into play.”

Aldata will present the following at NRF:

TRACEABILITY/FOOD SAFETY
With years of food safety experience with its European customer base, Aldata has taken the lead when it comes to research and advice with the game-changing Food Safety Modernization Act by providing answers when most in the industry are still asking questions. Aldata will offer its free white paper that provides strategies for transforming new traceability requirements into a competitive advantage. http://www.aldata.com/com/resources/details/food-traceability.

ASSORTMENT OPTIMIZATION
Aldata’s Assortment Optimization allows retailers and manufacturers to fully automate and dramatically improve the category management process, achieving bottom-line gains as a result. Manufacturers can reduce the time required to perform reviews by up to 80 percent.

VOICE DIRECTED WAREHOUSING
Aldata’s next-generation voice directed warehousing solution has been proven to reduce error rates by up to 80% and increase productivity by up to 30%. The company has introduced a unique promotion to help companies transition from outdated voice terminals to Aldata’s Multi-Modal Voice Directed Warehousing Solutions.

ALDATA APOLLO 11
Today, Aldata announced availability of a new, enhanced version of its Space Optimization software specifically designed to accelerate how retailers add, remove and change the mix and layout of products in supermarkets, convenience stores and other retail locations reducing delays by up to 50 percent.
Aldata Apollo Designer Workstation version 11 automates the process of introducing individual items at the retail level while minimizing shelf disruptions. As a result, the time required to add and remove products is reduced, helping increase overall efficiency by decreasing the amount of time required to implement changes. View the full press release at www.aldata-solution.com/news/aldata_apollo_v11.

Aldata
Aldata is a global leader in supplier to consumer business process optimization. Our people and software help reduce costs, time, and waste, for retailers, distributors, and manufacturers, while improving availability, service, and customer retention. Founded in 1986, Aldata has an unparalleled track record of delivering successful projects for the world’s leading retail and consumer brands, product distributors, and store chains.
More at: www.aldata-solution.com.

http://www.aldata.com/com/about/news/aldata-showcases-new-products-promotions-customers-and-unveils-food-safety-recommendations-at-nrf-100th-annual-convention-expo

NEW YORK, January 10, 2011 (Booth #259) -- Aldata Solution, a global leader in retail and distribution improvement software, today announced availability of a new, enhanced version of its Apollo Space Optimization software specifically designed to accelerate how retailers add, remove and change the mix and layout of products in supermarkets, convenience stores and other retail locations reducing delays by up to 50 percent.

Apollo Designer Workstation version 11 automates the process of introducing individual items at the retail level while minimizing shelf disruptions. As a result, the time required to add and remove products is reduced, helping increase overall efficiency by decreasing the amount of time required to implement changes.

“The new version of Apollo Designer Workstation will reduce the amount of time needed to revise planograms by almost half,” said Richard White, category analyst, Flowers Food. “I’ve already used the beta version on several occasions and liked the way it added, swapped and deleted products across more than 130 planograms. This easy-to-use tool will boost overall productivity and enable us to easily update multiple planograms.”

Apollo Designer Workstation version 11 meets the continued rise in demand for automated planograms to enhance and monetize the shopping experience. Aldata’s continued investment in both new features and the underlying architecture explain why it is the acknowledged best-of-breed leader in retail space optimization.

“We rely on Aldata Apollo to help us work closely with retailers and manufacturers to create a unique shopping experience for consumers,” said Jim Hanson, vice president, Space Technology Services, Acosta. “The Designer Workstation’s new maintenance features should make it easier to integrate new products on the shelf. This will help us react more quickly to the constantly changing demands of today’s consumer.”

“Space optimization is increasingly becoming a strategic differentiator for our customers, and our technology is a solution that delivers the results they need,” said Shaun Bossons, senior vice president of Aldata Apollo. “Version 11 now delivers those results even faster than before.”

Aldata’s Apollo Space Optimization is a collection of powerful, easy-to-use tools that automate planogram production while enabling consistent, accurate execution of category plans and new product launches at any level of granularity required. Available as a full suite or as powerful stand-alone products, Apollo Space Optimization includes manual and automated space planning, database management, web distribution and analytic reporting tools.

Aldata
Aldata is a global leader in supplier to consumer business process optimization. Our people and software help reduce costs, time, and waste, for retailers, distributors, and manufacturers, while improving availability, service, and customer retention. Founded in 1986, Aldata has an unparalleled track record of delivering successful projects for the world’s leading retail and consumer brands, product distributors, and store chains.
More at: www.aldata-solution.com.

http://www.aldata.com/com/about/news/new-aldata-apollo-v11-cuts-planogram-revision-times-up-to-50-percent-manufacturers-and-retailers-can-react-faster-to-customer-demand

Aldata Solution

With sales of $12.7 billion over the last twelve months ending October, 2010 and over 9,200 stores in 35 states, Dollar General is the nation’s largest small box discount retailer. This agreement will enable Dollar General to utilize Aldata Master Data Management and Synchronized Store and Warehouse Demand Based Replenishment to improve supply chain efficiency across their business, providing total inventory visibility across nine distribution centers and its store base with optimization of inventory levels from supplier through to the store shelf.

“We are very pleased to welcome Dollar General to the Aldata retail customer community,” said Bertrand Sciard, president and CEO, Aldata. “Dollar General’s choice of our integrated retail supply chain solutions will enable them to reduce manual processes, improve visibility and eliminate costs, enabling them to better serve their customers across the USA.”
 

About Dollar General
Dollar General Corporation has been delivering value to shoppers for more than 70 years. Dollar General helps shoppers Save time. Save money. Every day!(R) by offering products that are frequently used and replenished, such as food, snacks, health and beauty aids, cleaning supplies, basic apparel, house wares and seasonal items at low everyday prices in convenient neighborhood locations. With more than 9,200 stores in 35 states, Dollar General has more retail locations than any retailer in America. In addition to high quality private brands, Dollar General sells products from America's most-trusted manufacturers such as Procter & Gamble, Kimberly-Clark, Unilever, Kellogg's, General Mills, Nabisco, Hanes, PepsiCo and Coca-Cola. Learn more about Dollar General at www.dollargeneral.com
 

About Aldata
Aldata is a global leader in supplier to consumer business optimization. We help reduce costs, time, and waste, for retailers, distributors, and manufacturers, while improving availability, service, and customer retention. Founded in 1986, Aldata has an unparalleled track record of delivering successful projects for the world’s largest retail and consumer brands, wholesale and distribution organizations, and specialist store chains. More at: www.aldata-solution.com

http://www.aldata.com/com/about/news/dollar-general-selects-aldata-for-its-next-generation-retail-supply-chain-solution

Who is the customer?
Moët Hennessy Diageo (MHD) was founded in 1999 as a joint venture between LVMH, a world leader in luxury brands, and Diageo, the world’s leading premium drinks business. Today MHD offers a unique collection of prestigious international brands such as J&B, Smirnoff, Baileys, Talisker as well as globally recognised premium brands such as Moët & Chandon, Veuve Clicquot, Dom Perignon.

What have they purchased and how will it help their business?

• With Aldata Cosmic, Moët Hennessy Diageo is able to maximise category insight and deliver specific and tailored offers to its retail partners. An approach that sets the company apart.
• During deployment, Aldata and Moët Hennessy Diageo collaborated on best practices in terms of the solution and category management processes
• Moët Hennessy Diageo continues to collaborate closely with Aldata and outsources its data manipulation to Aldata
• Moët Hennessy Diageo purchased Aldata Cosmic software tools in 2007

Please click here to view the full release issued in French

http://www.aldata.com/com/about/news/moet-hennessy-diageo-france-optimizes-its-category-management-process-with-aldata

Who is the customer?
Valeo Service, part of the Valeo Group, sells a wide range of products and services (catalogues, marketing tools, training and diagnostic tools) to car dealerships, spare parts distributors and independent garages in more than 100 countries around the world.

What have they purchased and how will it help their business?

• For six of its key operations in Europe, Valeo Service has standardized on Aldata Apollo for manual space planning
• Today Valeo Service distributes its products through the specialist value-add automotive aftercare market. To grow its business, Valeo Service wants to expand its sales channels to include direct reach to the consumer through the retail channel
• With Aldata Apollo, Valeo Service are now able to apply their category expertise and knowledge of the consumer buying decision cycle to optimize shelf-layouts for their retail partners

More information? Please read the full Valeo Service release in French or contact us.

http://www.aldata.com/com/about/news/valeo-service-standardizes-on-aldata-for-space-planning

http://www.aldata.com/com/about/news/franz-bakery-deploys-aldata-for-space-optimization

http://www.aldata.com/com/about/news/aldata-helps-us-retailers-to-increase-food-safety

About Aldata
Aldata is a global leader in supplier to consumer business process optimization. Our people and software help reduce costs, time, and waste for retailers, distributors, and manufacturers, while improving availability, service, and customer retention. Founded in 1986, Aldata has an unparalleled track record of delivering successful projects for the world’s leading retail and consumer brands, product distributors, and store chains.

Aldata’s Voice Directed Warehousing solution is used by operators around the globe to transform warehouse operations and improve productivity, accuracy and traceability using multi-modal voice technology.
Learn more at: www.aldata-solution.com/voice.
 

http://www.aldata.com/com/about/news/new-dollars-for-dinosaurs-program-incentive-for-warehouse-managers-from-aldata

http://www.aldata.com/com/about/news/aldata-announces-reseller-partnership-with-lxe-for-voice-directed-warehousing

http://www.aldata.com/com/about/news/aldata-named-premium-sponsor-of-annual-category-management-conference

With sales of €1,170m in 2009, Alko is one of the largest wine and spirit retailers in the world. It is a state-owned, independent company which reports to the Finnish Ministry of Health and Social Affairs. The new agreement with Aldata includes supply chain management, demand forecasting, replenishment optimization, master data management and space optimization technology. It will provide total inventory visibility across all stores and optimization of inventory levels from supplier through to the store shelf. It also ensures that the brand carries the correct selection of products in all its stores.

“This is the largest technology project we have undertaken in the last decade,” said Jaakko Uotila, President and CEO, Alko. “Because of its scope, and business critical nature, we needed to ensure that our partner was a perfect fit. We evaluated a number of market-leading software suppliers and Aldata was the clear choice.”

Alko has been an Aldata customer for over 6 years and currently uses Aldata solutions for in-store operations including, POS, perpetual inventory management (with handheld technology), assortment management, automated store replenishment, and digital gift cards.

“Retailers today need to know exactly what local customers need on the shelf and the ability to deliver it on time every time, whether in food, drinks or speciality products” said Allan Davies, CMO, Aldata. “Alko’s choice of our integrated inventory, space, and assortment solutions will enable them to reduce waste, cost, and manual processes, and provide the optimal mix of products to better serve their customers across Finland.”

About Alko
Alko Inc. is an independent, entirely State-owned company. Alko is administered and supervised by the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health. The company has been formed in 5th April, 1932. Alko has 344 stores all around the country and the number of employees is about 2,700.The company's function is laid down in the Alcohol Act and Degree. The function of the company and the fact that Alko has a sole right in Finland on the retail sale of alcoholic beverages containing over 4.7 per cent of alcohol by volume are based primarily on reasons related to social and health politics.The satisfaction of our customers is essential for the function of the company in the future. Alko is prepared for maximum performances in all areas that will help make it the world's best chain of shops in retail sales of alcoholic beverages. More at: www.alko.fi

About Aldata
Aldata is a global leader in supplier to consumer business optimization. We help reduce costs, time, and waste, for retailers, distributors, and manufacturers, while improving availability, service, and customer retention. Founded in 1986, Aldata has an unparalleled track record of delivering successful projects for the world’s largest retail and consumer brands, wholesale and distribution organizations, and specialist store chains. More at: www.aldata-solution.com
 

http://www.aldata.com/com/about/news/alko-chooses-aldata-for-integrated-inventory-space-and-assortment-optimization

About R.T.S. Consulting Inc.
RTS is an organization that specializes in retail from a business and user perspective, incorporating people, process, and technology for value. RTS consultants have over 300 years combined experience in the retail industry, from store operations to warehouse, vendor technologies, product and project implementation, and project alignment. More at: www.rtsretail.com.
 

http://www.aldata.com/com/about/news/aldata-and-rts-form-consulting-partnership-boost-bottom-line-for-retailers

During the conference, which is being held at the Four Seasons Resort & Club in Dallas, participants will have an opportunity to learn more about Aldata’s corporate strategy and direction for the coming year. Sessions will highlight critical areas for businesses such as customer loyalty, warehouse automation and traceability and food safety. Leading retailers including Delhaize, Heinen’s, Kroger and Smart & Final will provide insights on a variety of topics including leadership and managing effective teams, increasing efficiency in the warehouse and replenishment optimization throughout the supply chain. There will also be an executive round table on promotional forecasting. Panelists will discuss current trends and best practices for successful promotions.

“Retailers are emerging from a challenging economy with an even stronger emphasis on utilizing technology to fulfill consumers’ evolving needs,” said Tim Millen, Aldata’s User Group chairman. “This event is a wonderful opportunity to share insights and discuss critical issues with our peers.”

This year’s conference unites Aldata G.O.L.D. and Aldata Apollo Space Optimization customers. In addition to general sessions, there will also be product-specific sessions on the supply chain, logistics and space and category management. Aldata executives will also provide an operational overview of the company and map out the company’s product road map.

Aldata customers directly influence the product development for Aldata’s products by sharing their perspectives on retail and technology trends, challenges and best practices. This ensures that Aldata’s products support evolving business requirements and challenges.

“Aldata remains committed to ensuring our customers have the tools and support they need to succeed by enhancing business processes, streamlining the supply chain and optimizing store and shelf space,” said Brendan Lowe, vice president, North America, Aldata. “Our customers provide invaluable insights into their experiences with our solutions and on critical issues facing retailers, helping ensure that we can continue to meet their needs.”

This year’s event is sponsored by Platinum Partner IBM, Premier Partners Acosta Sales & Marketing and Simplain and Silver Partners DecisionPoint Systems, Inc., HP, LXE, R.T.S. Consulting, Inc. and TEC (Technical Education Consultants) Inc.
 

http://www.aldata.com/com/about/news/kroger-smart-final-and-heinens-to-present-at-aldata-customer-event-in-dallas

Who is the customer?

Plan + Impuls are an independent Category Management specialist, based in Germany, that supports their clients in creating sales & promotional merchandising concepts either through the implementation of category management processes and software, or acting as an outsourced category management department.

Customer include Osram, Red Bull and Vileda.

What have they purchased and how will it help their business?

• Aldata Apollo for manual space planning
• Plan + Impuls purchased the solution to support their clients in creating sales & promotional merchandising concepts either through the implementation of category management processes and software, or acting as an outsourced category management department.
• With Aldata Apollo, Plan +Impuls now act as a vital link between manufacturers and their retailer accounts

Click to view the original release in German

http://www.aldata.com/com/about/news/category-management-specialists-plan-impuls-select-aldata-as-software-partner

Daymon is a private label broker for several prominent retailers in the United States. The company serves more than 6,000 manufacturers of food and all types of private brand products. Daymon utilizes Apollo to help effectively manage retailers’ portfolios and merchandise for private label brands. As part of its relationship with a leading grocery retailer, which has more than 2,400 supermarkets and multi-department stores in 31 states, Daymon manages thousands of SKUs for a diverse portfolio of private label products.

“Interest in private-label brands continues to grow as cost-conscious consumers strive to maximize their shopping dollars. Aldata provides us with a cost-effective, easy-to-use solution to ensure that retailers are offering consumers the private brand products they want,” said Dan Ratterman, senior business manager, Daymon. “With Aldata, we are able enhance inventory management, helping reduce excess inventory and waste, while meeting consumers’ evolving demands, increasing overall customer satisfaction.”

Aldata’s Apollo Space Optimization is a collection of powerful, market-proven software solutions that give customers the ability to automate planogram production while enabling consistent, accurate execution of category plans and new product launches at any required granular level.

“Retailers strive to provide consumers with a diverse selection of products in a challenging economy,” said Shaun Bossons, senior vice president at Aldata, Apollo Solutions Group. “With our space optimization, retailers can ensure that they are providing the mix of items in a wide price range that suits a range of customer needs. Aldata also helps suppliers and manufacturers closely collaborate with retailers to help streamline inventory management and enhance merchandising.”

About Daymon
Daymon Worldwide Inc. is an employee-owned company headquartered in Stamford, CT specializing in the sales and marketing of Private Brand consumer products and consumer marketing events. Daymon serves more than 6,000 manufacturers of food and all types of private brand products. The company employs over 19,000 associates and has operations in 23 countries on six continents. Daymon services over 100 customers across 11 channels of trade. Though once known solely for its brokerage business, it is now more globally diversified, and includes its own design company (Daymon Design) and events marketing (Daymon Interactions).

Daymon Interactions is the largest international consumer marketing experience company in the world, conducting over one million interactions a year and more than 500,000 consumer interactions every day in stores in South Korea, Japan, Taiwan, Mexico and the U.S. We partner with our clients to deliver innovative customized marketing solutions with measurable results.

For over 25 years Daymon Worldwide Design has achieved both commercial and critical success around the globe, developing brands and executing package designs for the Private Brand industry. Our design work has been recognized and awarded by dozens of industry organizations, such as Mobius, American Corporate Identity and American Institute of Graphic Arts, as well as nearly all Private Brand publications.
 

http://www.aldata.com/com/about/news/daymon-worldwide-deploys-aldata-for-space-optimization

http://www.aldata.com/com/about/news/aldata-to-showcase-its-innovative-voice-directed-warehousing-technology-at-cscmp-conference

http://www.aldata.com/com/about/news/republic-national-distributing-company-selects-aldata-for-optimizing-category-management

WHO IS THE CUSTOMER?

Delphin-Amazonia AG is Switzerland’s leading pet food and accessories wholesaler serving retailers and specialist outlets throughout Switzerland and Liechtenstein. Customer include leading retailers Qualipet, Fressnapf and Manor.

WHAT HAVE THEY PURCHASED?

• Aldata Apollo for manual space planning
•  Apollo will be used to plan the shelf layouts for its retail clients throughout Swtizerland

Click to view the original release in German

http://www.aldata.com/com/about/news/pet-accessories-wholesaler-standardizes-on-aldata-for-space-planning

http://www.aldata.com/com/about/news/aldatas-promotional-forecasting-takes-guesswork-out-of-inventory-management

http://www.aldata.com/com/about/news/retail-specialist-aldata-and-microsoft-announce-agreement-to-deliver-new-solutions-for-microsoft-dynamics-ax

http://www.aldata.com/com/about/news/frucor-beverages-selects-aldata-apollo-space-optimisation-software

http://www.aldata.com/com/about/news/aldata-named-to-supply-demand-chain-executive-100

The combination of Aldata, which provides world leading retail space and supply chain management solutions that optimize the placement and replenishment of products in the store, and Cosmic, which provides innovative analytical software that calculates the optimum mix of products to meet shopper, supplier and retailer objectives, creates a world leading Integrated Category Management solution. This new solution will allow manufacturers and retailers to have the right product, in the right place, at the right time, and in the right quantity on supermarket shelves.

“This announcement is important for the retail and CPG industry as it combines best of breed technology to help reduce waste and costs in the supply chain, increase customer satisfaction, and optimize product profitability at a time when competition for customers is at an all time high and economic recovery is creating major changes in buying behavior,” said Allan Davies, Chief Marketing Officer of Aldata. “It is now even more critical than ever to ensure products are available to meet customer demand.”

Aldata and Cosmic have already cooperated on joint customer engagements and have carried out collaborative marketing, and training activities based on their combined capabilities. Some of Cosmic’s current customers include many of the world’s leading consumer goods companies such as, Unilever, Diageo, Johnson & Johnson, Glaxo-Smith-Kline, United Biscuits, Heinz, Kimberly Clark, Carlsberg, and Constellation Wines, plus regional brands including Kerry Foods, Findus, John West, Britvic, and Aunt Bessies.

Global Retail CIO Survey 2010 (Martec International)
(Survey of 109 Retail CIOs representing over $500 billion in revenues and 62,000 stores)
Optimizing the product / place / promotion offer remains key, with retailers upgrading or implementing new systems for Automated Replenishment (52%), Assortment Optimization (58%), Promotions Optimization (56%), Promotions Management (54%).

“The acquisition of Cosmic represents the second step in our Integrated Category Management strategy following the acquisition of Apollo Space Management in 2008,” said Bertrand Sciard, President and CEO of Aldata. “Combined with our best of breed retail Space, Replenishment and Supply Chain suites it will provide our customers with unique capabilities to plan and deliver accurately across multiple store sizes and formats.”

On completion of the transaction, Cosmic staff will join Aldata in a discrete business unit headed by Cosmic Managing Director, David Wilkins. Aldata’s global marketing, sales channels and support network will add depth and breadth to Cosmic’s international distribution while maintaining the high levels of flexibility and service which Cosmic customers are accustomed to receiving.

“We are very excited to be joining a business with the same focus, dedication, and values that Cosmic has held for 18 years. Our long and trusted relationships with CPG suppliers reflect Aldata’s similar relations with global retailers,” said David Wilkins, Managing Director of Cosmic. “Together we can deliver new levels of effective category management optimized for both sets of customers.”

About Cosmic
Cosmic Solutions, based near Nottingham, England, is a global specialist in consumer product category management, calculating the optimum mix of products to meet shopper, supplier and retailer objectives. Cosmic has an 18 year track record of improving category profitability for the world’s major consumer product companies and their retail partners. Today Cosmic products are used in over 30 countries worldwide.
More at: www.cosmic-solutions.com

About Aldata
Aldata is a global leader in the supply of integrated business solutions to organizations that serve the retail consumer and wholesale distribution markets. Aldata has an unparalleled 20-year track record of delivering targeted software projects that substantially improve our customers’ businesses, from supplier to shopper. Today, Aldata customers include 15 of the World’s 30 largest retailers, thousands of retail brands, and hundreds of national and regional chains. More at: www.aldata-solution.com  

http://www.aldata.com/com/about/news/aldata-acquires-uk-assortment-management-specialist-cosmic-solutions-ltd

“Having someone with Alain’s skills is a boost to Aldata’s stellar sales team. As the economy begins to strengthen, the market is primed for solutions like ours that give retailers a competitive edge by helping them respond quickly to customers’ evolving shopping patterns and streamline their supply chain operations,” said Jean-François Le Garrec, executive vice president, Aldata Solution. “With his strong background and depth of knowledge about the supply chain and retail industry, Alain is an extremely strong addition to our executive team.”

Prior to joining Aldata, Poirier was vice president of sales at TrueDemand Software. He was with Manhattan Associates for seven years, serving as vice president of sales, retail and Latin America. While at Manhattan Associates, he was instrumental in driving tier-one sales, resulting in record sales performances. During Poirier’s tenure at Manhattan Associates, sales more than quadrupled, increasing from $50 million to $240 million. Poirier has an extensive background in supply chain management software and solutions that includes project management, client management and business development experience in various industries.

“Aldata is clearly a leader in software solutions for retailers and understands the importance of providing retailers with greater visibility into their supply chain,” said Poirier. “I look forward to working closely with our sales team creating new sales strategies, increasing overall sales and pushing deeper into the industries we serve.”

Aldata supplies integrated business solutions that make retail consumer and wholesale distribution companies more efficient and profitable while helping them to better service their customers. With customers including 15 of the World’s 30 largest retailers, Aldata has a 20-year track record of delivering software projects that improve our customers’ businesses.

http://www.aldata.com/com/about/news/aldata-expands-executive-team-with-addition-of-new-vice-president-of-sales-logistics

http://www.aldata.com/com/about/news/acosta-sales-marketing-selects-aldata-to-satisfy-its-space-planning-needs

"Managing our master data in SAP did not respond to our needs,” said Jean-Michel Colas, IT Director, Telemarket. “We made the decision to broaden our Aldata implementation to include master data management for functional and technical reasons. Now all our master data and replenishment optimization is centralized into one system enabling real-time visibility across our operations.”

WHO IS THE CUSTOMER?
France’s leading online grocery retailer. Telemarket offers over 8000 products to more than 400,000 families in France.

WHAT HAVE THEY PURCHASED AND HOW WILL IT HELP THEIR BUSINESS?
• Telemarket are an existing Aldata customer for DC replenishment optimization
• They took the decision to upgrade to the latest version of Aldata Replenishment to take advantage of new functionality and to support the business’ growth plans
• As part of this upgrade, Telemarket made the decision to review its master data strategy
• After completing a market study, Telemarket chose Aldata for its master data management for functional and technical reasons
• With Aldata, Telemarket now gains real-time visibility of inventory and the power to centralize, manage and control key organizational data to provide visibility and a shared data structure throughout the business.

To view the full release issued March 30th in French, please click here.

http://www.aldata.com/com/about/news/online-grocery-retailer-telemarket-standardizes-on-aldata-for-master-data-management

“Working with a dedicated software provider who counts several hundred international brand leaders amongst its customers, means it’s a secure investment for us. Using Aldata Apollo allows us to improve collaboration with our retail partners now and in the future.”
Dirk Hannappel, CFP Brands

http://www.aldata.com/com/about/news/cfp-brands-selects-aldata-for-space-planning

http://www.aldata.com/com/about/news/motonet-selects-aldata-to-spearhead-new-customer-loyalty-scheme

http://www.aldata.com/com/about/news/natrol-standardizes-merchandising-with-aldata-for-retail-space-planning-bolsters-customer-service-and-collaboration-with-retailers

http://www.aldata.com/com/about/news/fashion-department-store-veljekset-halonen-oy-and-department-store-oy-carlson-select-aldata-for-its-loyalty-scheme

The implementation will help Yoplait achieve two key objectives. Firstly, it will save significantly on the time the company’s category managers were spending developing planograms manually for each individual store. Secondly, Aldata Apollo will enable Yoplait to collaborate more effectively with the retailer’s trading teams to deliver store-specific planograms that take into account shelf space size, fixtures and local consumer demographics.

Automating planogram production for Yoplait is critical. Its merchandise has a short-shelf life, is highly seasonal, with out of stocks and wastage eroding revenue and margin potential. With Aldata Apollo, Yoplait will be able to collaborate more effectively with its retail accounts and allow its customers to maximise sales and better manage inventory through store-specific planograms.

Julien Crespel, Head of Merchandising at Yoplait, said; “Aldata is the only software vendor offering automated planogram production capable of integrating with our retail partners’ own systems. Our partnership with Aldata goes beyond that of a solution vendor, as Aldata is also facilitating contact with their retail customers.”

Allan Davies, CMO, Aldata Solution, said, “Yoplait joins a growing number of suppliers and retailers across Europe who are making automated space planning an integral part of their business and are realising the benefits of better managed inventory, improved collaboration and category sales growth.”

About Yoplait
Yoplait offers some of the most famous yogurt brands in the world and is sold in over 50 countries globally. Yoplait was originally formed when 100,000 French Farmers decided to join together to better market their products in France.
Yoplait makes popular brands such as Petits Filous, the number one children's dairy pot brand, Petits Filous Frubes, the best-selling fromage frais brand for children's lunchboxes, Wildlife and Yop. Yoplait also makes, under license, Weight Watchers chilled yogurts and fromage frais, as well as a range of chilled pot desserts.
More at: www.yoplait.fr

http://www.aldata.com/com/about/news/yoplait-selects-aldata-to-help-its-customers-optimize-retail-space

http://www.aldata.com/com/about/news/sprouts-farmers-market-selects-aldata-for-space-planning

Methodology
The Aldata-IBM Global Retail CIO Survey was conducted by retail industry research specialists Martec International to assist retailers in benchmarking their IT strategy and use of technology against their peers. The 2010 Global Retail CIO Survey incorporates the views of retailers from 28 countries generating at least $100 million in annual revenue, whose combined sales represent $528 billion from more than 62,000 stores. This equates to 8 percent of the total retail market in the Americas and Europe by sales. A total of 109 CIOs and IT directors in category-management-style retailers were interviewed for this report. Participants included a mix of both food and non-food retailers from across North America and Europe. The survey provides insights into current retail spending plans and priorities.

The survey can be downloaded at www.globalretailciosurvey.com.

About IBM
For more information about IBM, visit http://www.ibm.com/services  .

Martec International
Over the last 20 years, Martec has become the leading firm of retail business process experts in the world. It is also the world leader in training and consulting services for companies that sell to retailers. For more information, visit http://www.martec-international.com/index.htm . 

http://www.aldata.com/com/about/news/recession-what-recession-aldata-ibm-retail-cio-survey-shows-increased-it-spending-and-focus-on-optimizing-processes-for-fast-roi

http://www.aldata.com/com/about/news/delhaize-group-signs-major-contract-with-aldata-update

http://www.aldata.com/com/about/news/aldata-and-amr-research-podcast-series-highlights-key-retail-supply-chain-strategies-for-fueling-profits

STOCK EXCHANGE RELEASE

19 January 2010 at 9.00 a.m. (EET)

ALDATA SIGNS USD 1.5 MILLION LICENCE DEAL WITH SYMPHONY SERVICES

Symphony Services and Aldata have signed an agreement for the purchase of USD 1.5 million of licenses of Aldata G.O.L.D., the world leading retail business optimization solution.

Symphony Services Corporation, based in Palo Alto, California, is a global provider of software engineering services employing over 3500 people. It is dedicated to helping its clients compress time to market, achieve higher innovation yields and improve productivity to increase the value from their R & D investments. Symphony Services provides Aldata with development services for G.O.L.D.

Symphony Services belongs to Symphony Technology Group, which through its group companies owns and controls in total 15,089,175 Aldata shares, representing 21.95% of the voting rights and shares of Aldata Solution Oyj.

The licence revenue from this contract will be taken in Q1 2010. There will be no services revenue from the contract.

Aldata has not provided any full year outlook for 2010 and will first do so with the Q4 interim results announcement scheduled for Thursday 18th February 2010.

Aldata Solution Oyj
Graham Howell
CFO

Further information:
Aldata Solution Oyj, Graham Howell, CFO, tel. +33 633 057 620

Distribution:
NASDAQ OMX Helsinki Ltd
Media
 

http://www.aldata.com/com/about/news/aldata-signs-usd-15-million-license-deal-with-symphony-services

The company selected Aldata’s premium space optimization offering, Apollo Designer Workstation, which uses automation to dramatically improve the retail space planning process. Designer Workstation reduces the amount of time it takes to generate a planogram from days to minutes using strategic merchandising rules, category assortments, performance criteria and space constraints. Tallink will be using the system to optimize both store-level shelf space utilization and the overall consumer buying experience.

Managing Director of Tallink Duty Free, Aimar Pärna said: “The broad supply chain expertise of the Aldata team supports us to understand how to thoroughly implement and gain full value from the Apollo system. We are confident that by increasing the efficiency of our store layouts, and planning at a more specific level, we will soon experience further improved in-store execution. The solution will enable us to plan stock more accurately, and provide granular data for our replenishment system, which in turn will minimize potential wastage, as well as ensuring that our best sellers are always available to our customers.”

Shaun Bossons, Senior Vice President of Aldata Apollo, said; “Aldata already has a strong presence in the Nordic region, and we’re delighted that our Apollo Space Optimization solution is gaining a strong foothold in the market since its recent launch. Retailers and Suppliers here are beginning to see what a critical difference space planning makes as the link in the supply chain that places products in front of potential buyers. If shelf space is not optimized, and a generic planogram is sent to store, not only is revenue lost but customer satisfaction is damaged also. This is what Apollo is addressing, and we are confident that companies like Tallink will quickly see the financial and strategic benefits of our solution.”

About AS Tallink Grupp   
AS Tallink Grupp is one of the largest passenger and cargo shipping companies on the Baltic Sea Northern region, with 19 ships offering customers year round mini-cruises, passenger transportation and cargo services. The company operates on seven shipping routes under the brands of Tallink and Silja Line. Additionally Tallink operates four hotels in Tallinn under the hotel chain brand Tallink Hotels.
http://www.tallink.com  

Press Contact
Luulea Lääne, Communication Director of AS Tallink Grupp
Tel: +372 55 21296
Luulea.laane@tallink.ee   

http://www.aldata.com/com/about/news/tallink-selects-aldata-for-space-planning-expertise

WHO IS THE CUSTOMER?
Simply Market is part of the Auchan Group – a global top 30 retailer. Through its 303 stores in France, Simply Market prides itself on offering customers ‘market fresh’ produce at ‘permanently low’ prices.
For more information, visit www.simplymarket.fr  

WHAT HAVE THEY PURCHASED AND HOW WILL IT HELP THEIR BUSINESS?
• Aldata Warehouse Management System (WMS) for real-time inventory management.
• Aldata PDA-based Voice Directed Warehousing (VDW) to improve order accuracy and picker productivity.
• Aldata Radio to improve stock handling and location via fork-lift truck on-board terminal management.
• Both the Voice and Radio solutions update the Aldata WMS in real-time.
• Aldata will be deployed across all eight Distribution Centers in France. Roll-out is already complete at three of these.
• With Aldata, Simply Market gains real-time visibility of the entire inventory processed through its distribution centers – from the point that stock is received to the point that it’s dispatched. 
 

http://www.aldata.com/com/about/news/grocery-retailer-simply-market-gets-realtime-inventory-management-for-its-distribution-centers

NRF Annual Convention 2010

Aldata Solution, a leading provider of software solutions for the retail industry, announced today that grocery retailer Northgate Markets has deployed Apollo Space Optimization from Aldata. The grocery chain, which has 30 stores in California, relies on Aldata to create and share detailed planograms helping reduce out of stocks and increase revenue.

Northgate Markets relies on Apollo Space Optimization to create schematics, update and share planograms with its stores and to create reports evaluating space usage and sales. Northgate Markets features a large service meat department, bakery, tortillería and prepared foods, in addition to a sizeable selection of domestic and imported Latin American grocery goods. With Aldata, Northgate Markets is able to organize and create displays for the thousands of products it sells.

“With Aldata, we’re able to share planograms with all our stores ensuring that they have access to the most up-to-date information regarding stocking and displaying merchandise. This has helped us decrease out of stocks and increase revenue,” said Steve Ferraiuolo, shelf management supervisor, Northgate Markets. “Apollo Space Optimization is also an easy-to-use solution that helps us enhance merchandising and shelf usage.”

Aldata’s Apollo Space Optimization is a collection of powerful, easy-to-use software solutions that give customers the ability to automate planogram production while enabling consistent, accurate execution of category plans and new product launches at any required granular level.

“From family-owned grocery stores to country-wide chains, Aldata helps retailers gain the maximum value from their retail space, increasing sales and enhancing inventory management,” said Shaun Bossons, senior vice president at Aldata, Apollo Solutions Group. “With Aldata, Northgate Markets is able to create a consistent merchandising process, ensuring all its stores are able to meet evolving consumer demand.” 

http://www.aldata.com/com/about/news/northgate-markets-selects-aldata-for-space-planning

NRF Annual Convention 2010

Results from The Second Annual Global Retail CIO Survey, conducted during Q4 2009 and sponsored by Aldata Solution and IBM, will be revealed at the National Retail Federation (NRF) 99th Annual Convention & EXPO at the Jacob Javits Center. The survey results will be available at the show in the Aldata booth (#2453) along with a brief podcast.

Highlights from the extensive new survey include:

• The mood is optimistic. The average IT spend for all retailers interviewed has increased from 1.0 percent of sales last year to 1.3 percent.
• The average IT spend for food retailers has increased from 0.9 percent of sales to 1.1 percent from last year. The non-food IT spend average has remained at 1.4 percent.
• There is little difference in IT spends between Europe and the Americas. European retailers spend marginally more (1.3 percent of sales), compared to the Americas (1.2 percent). This is unchanged from the previous survey.

The Aldata-IBM Global Retail CIO Survey was conducted by retail industry research specialists Martec International to assist retailers in benchmarking their IT strategy and use of technology against their peers. The 2010 Global Retail CIO Survey incorporates the views of retailers from 28 countries generating at least $100 million in annual revenue, whose combined sales represent $528 billion from more than 62,000 stores. This equates to 8 percent of the total retail market in the Americas and Europe by sales.

A total of 109 CIOs and IT directors in category-management-style retailers were interviewed for this report. Participants included a mix of both food and non-food retailers from across North America and Europe. The survey provides insights into current retail IT investments and predicted investments for the next three years.

To request an early copy of the full Annual Global Retail CIO Survey results, please contact Info.us@aldata-solution.com.

About the Survey
The Survey examined a wide range of key issues and spending plans, including:

• IT spend;
• Sustainability, IT spend and strategy;
• Most important applications;
• Most important issues by business area;
• Summary of applications used and planned to be used;
• Top 10 applications retailers plan to implement;
• Top 10 applications retailers plan to upgrade;
• Top 10 applications retailers are least likely to implement;
• Main differences between food and non-food retailers; and
• Main differences between Europe and the Americas.

The Survey also examined nine key business areas, including:

• Store operations and efficiency;
• Multi-channel retailing;
• Replenishment optimization, stock and space management;
• Pricing and promotions;
• Marketing and loyalty;
• Logistics, distribution and transportation;
• Supplier management;
• Product safety; and
• IT and data architecture.

About IBM
For more information about IBM, visit http://www.ibm.com/services.

Martec International
Over the last 20 years, Martec has become the leading firm of retail business process experts in the world. It is also the world leader in training and consulting services for companies that sell to retailers. For more information, visit http://www.martec-international.com/index.htm.

http://www.aldata.com/com/about/news/annual-global-retail-cio-survey-improving-climate-for-it-investment-trends

NRF Annual Convention 2010

Aldata Solution, a leading provider of software solutions for the retail industry, today announced the availability of Aldata Voice Directed Warehousing, the second generation of Aldata’s Voice solution that is used by more than 6,000 picking operators daily for order preparation, order splitting and inventory management. The solution was developed in partnership with IBM and Motorola and is certified for use on the industry’s leading hardware.

Aldata Voice Directed Warehousing combines voice technology with existing mixed data collection methods (such as screen, pistol, keyboard, barcode reader and others) on a single mobile computing device to deliver multiple capabilities at substantially lower costs than traditional voice-only units. Multi-modal devices can be used in all facets of the business, from the receiving dock and onboard picking vehicles to the shipping docks and retail locations. Aldata Voice Directed Warehousing is useable by any operator right out of the box with no voice recognition training required. This drives down employee training costs and enables operator interoperability.

In addition to operator benefits, Voice Directed Warehousing simplifies operations for organizations. Some companies have a dozen or more different handheld devices, each with its own supplier. The new system from Aldata enables companies to standardize on one type of system. As a result, they are able to reduce maintenance costs and the number of supplier contracts they maintain.

“Our customers are looking for efficiencies across their businesses and are moving towards multi-modal devices that leverage existing investments but also allow them to take advantage of new processes and retail best practices,” said Allan Davies, CMO, Aldata Solution. “In conjunction with Motorola and IBM, we’ve developed a next generation technology that will drive savings for our customers today while future-proofing their investments for tomorrow.”

Creating next generation Voice Directed Warehousing was made possible by a three-way collaboration between Aldata, Motorola and IBM. Aldata provided its latest Voice Directed Warehousing application, Motorola offered its wide selection of wireless mobile computing devices and communications infrastructure and IBM designed and built the solution and developed key integrations in order to bring the solution to market.

Aldata 100% Retail-Wholesale
Aldata is a global leader in the supply of integrated business solutions to organizations that serve the retail consumer and wholesale distribution markets. Aldata has an unparalleled 20-year track record of delivering targeted software projects that substantially improve our customers’ businesses, from supplier to shopper. Today, Aldata customers include 15 of the World’s 30 largest retailers, thousands of retail brands, and hundreds of national and regional chains.
More at: www.aldata-solution.com. 

http://www.aldata.com/com/about/news/aldata-teams-with-ibm-and-motorola-for-next-generation-voice-directed-warehousing-technology

Shaun Bossons, Senior Vice President of Aldata Apollo, said; “Space Optimization is a growing business for Aldata, especially in the Nordic region. Not only do we have the leading space planning solution on the market, but we combine that with a deep expertise in supply chain management, which helps our customers see the benefits of Apollo in a broader context.”

About Oy Anglo-Nordic Ab
Anglo-Nordic is an importer and wholesaler of high quality brand consumer goods such as multimedia, mobile phones, tools, sport equipment, business gifts and stationery. Turnover is 147 M€ and the company has 75 employees.
www.anglo.fi

Press Contacts
More information:
Emma Easterbrook
Fieldworks
Tel: (+44) 1435 873080
emma@fieldworksmarketing.co.uk

http://www.aldata.com/com/about/news/anglonordic-selects-aldata-apollo-to-help-customers-optimize-retail-space

Preuss said: “Aldata’s acquisition of the Apollo retail space planning suite provides retailers with a broad selection of solutions that enables best of breed integrated planning, optimisation, delivery and replenishment of retail merchandising operations. At a time when retailers are looking to reduce costs while still delivering customer satisfaction, the Aldata Apollo offering has to be the obvious choice when looking for a solution that delivers a rapid ROI. My experience at Nielsen in working with leading retailers on their Replenishment, Master Data Management and Space Optimisation strategies means that I am well placed to help drive the Aldata Apollo business forward in Germany.”

Preuss brings to Aldata extensive knowledge of the retail market, with over 15 years experience in the Category management area, working with large international customers.

Shaun Bossons, SVP Apollo, of Aldata, said, “Following the announcement of Enzo Facchini joining our Italian team from Nielsen, it is fantastic news that Udo is also joining us. Based on Undo’s knowledge and experience in the German market, combined with the leading Space Automation solution, we are expecting an exciting future ahead for Aldata in this region.”

Press Contacts
Emma Easterbrook
Fieldworks
Tel: (+44) 1435 873080
emma@fieldworksmarketing.co.uk

http://www.aldata.com/com/about/news/aldata_appoints_german_sales_director_to_support_growing_european_apollo_business

The Auchan Group took the decision to equip all stores with Aldata’s G.O.L.D. retail optimization software as part of the rollout of the new Simply Market store concept and as part of a systems integration project that has been underway since 2005.

With Aldata G.O.L.D., Simply Market is now able to manage products at the unit level. This provides real-time insight into sales of each product, making it easier to optimize store stock levels, ensure on shelf availability and avoid unnecessary mark-downs. In addition, the group is live with Aldata’s Master Data Management and Invoice Matching, which together provide timely insight into supplier transactions, resulting in dramatically increased purchasing efficiency. Aldata G.O.L.D. is also now operational at two of the organisation’s six warehouses.

Charles Henri Fournier, IT Project Manager at Simply Market, said: “We took the decision to move ownership of stock management – from the back room onto the shop floor - down to the individual category managers within each store, through the use of mobile terminals. We’ve been able to empower more than 3,000 staff to operate in this way, and the reaction we have had so far has been extremely positive. Specifically, it enables our staff to assure on-shelf availability whilst minimising mark-downs.”

Dominique Chambas, SVP G.O.L.D. General Business, Aldata, said: “This project is a good example of Aldata’s ability to collaborate closely with our customers. Our deep expertise in the retail business has meant that we have been able to work with Simply Market to optimize key business processes in their supply chain.”

About Simply Market
Simply Market was established in 2005 in Italy, Spain and France, with a focus on the provision of fresh produce at low prices. Simplicity, welcoming customer service and active participation in local life, are also key characteristics of the Simply Market brand.

The stores ensure the freshest possible quality by stocking seasonally and in step with local markets. Simply Market is specifically focused on ‘market fresh’ produce at ‘permanently low’ prices.

At the end of 2008, the ATAC brand comprised 297 integrated stores, 35 franchises and 82 associates across France. 303 of those now carry the Simply Market brand. For more information, visit www.simply-market.fr

http://www.aldata.com/com/about/news/aldata_helps_auchans_supply_market_to_deliver_market_fresh_produce

http://www.aldata.com/com/about/news/raleys-taps-aldata-to-take-guesswork-out-of-category-management-in-133-stores

http://www.aldata.com/com/about/news/aldata_appoints_new_human_resources_leader_2

Waitrose has selected Aldata, the retail software specialist, as part of a major IT initiative aimed at optimising replenishment and supplier ordering for its six warehouses across the UK. The new Aldata solution is expected to go live in time for Christmas 2010, with legacy systems being progressively replaced over a period of two years. Aldata was selected following an exhaustive evaluation of the major software vendors in the supply chain space.

Waitrose recently reported a 10.2 percent increase in sales, making it the fastest growing of all the UK’s leading grocers. In addition to the growth of its core business, the retailer is also diversifying its business model, with the expansion of its online shopping business, and the opening of smaller format convenience stores. This growth, combined with an increase in price-led, in-store promotions, the high percentage of fresh produce the retailer carries, and significant commitments to reduce transport-related CO2 emissions, has created significant supply chain complexity.

“With the growth we’ve enjoyed across the business, and the ambitious plans we have for the next few years, we knew we had to overhaul our supply chain IT systems in readiness for the future,” said Liz Gemmill, Head of Supply Chain at Waitrose. “We chose Aldata because they had the best solution for Warehouse Replenishment, but also because the modularity of the system gives us clear options for extending its use across the whole supply chain when the time is right for Waitrose.”

Mark Croxton, Managing Director at Aldata UK, added: “Successful businesses are rarely complacent, and we’re delighted to be partnering with Waitrose as they look to grow and diversify their already formidable operations in the UK. Our goal is to show business benefits quickly, specifically in terms of inventory savings. And of course, with that comes an improvement in the availability of products to customers, leading to improved customer satisfaction.

Waitrose
UK supermarket chain Waitrose operates 217 supermarkets in the UK. It is part of the John Lewis Partnership, one of the UK’s largest retailers. Focusing on fresh, high quality produce, Waitrose aims to “combine the convenience of a supermarket with the expertise and service of a specialist shop”.

http://www.aldata.com/com/about/news/waitrose_selects_aldata_to_maximise_supply_chain_efficiency_as_part_of_growth_drive

Moore-Hirst said, “After my first few weeks within the business, I am very excited about the potential for Aldata’s space management solutions, Apollo in the UK region, especially now that I have used their innovative Space Automation tools, such as Designer Workstation. Based on this, I am looking forward to collaborating with the Sales and Marketing team to develop new campaigns that will educate the market and increase the awareness of Aldata and its solutions,”

Moore-Hirst has spent the last eight years as a Customer Development Executive at JDA International, where her role included Business Development, Pre-Sales, Sales and Account Management for prospects and customers, mainly in the Space and Category Management area.

Mark Croxton, UK MD of Aldata, said, “Karen’s appointment is further proof that Aldata continues to entice the best Business Professionals in the industry to join our team, further strengthening our UK business. She will play a key role in working with our UK customers, educating the market in relation to the Global success our solutions have achieved and managing key sales opportunities, a vital function for any company.” 
 

http://www.aldata.com/com/about/news/aldata_expands_uk_management_team_2

Aldata Solution, a leading provider of software solutions for the retail industry, today announced the availability of “Replenish Better,” the third in a series of ‘Retail Business Briefs,’ exploring the use of new approaches, strategies, best practices and technologies to help retailers improve their long-term competitive position. “Replenish Better” provides insight into how retailers in the United States and Europe can more tightly control excess inventory while still meeting customers’ demands. “Replenish Better” is available at www.aldata-solution.com/RBB.

Aldata’s “Replenish Better” business brief discusses how the amount of inventory that retailers carry is often tied to their product delivery cycle and order processes, such as how long it takes to fill orders and how often orders are placed. By implementing replenishment best practices, retailers can improve their cash flow, accelerate response to store demand and increase customer loyalty.

“Replenish Better” stresses the importance of accurate forecasting and automatic replenishment, and how these disciplines can improve inventory turnover and reduce slow-moving stock. This is especially critical in perishables and promotions, which should be incorporated into a retailer’s overall replenishment strategy. When done correctly, managing fresh and perishable items helps retailers to reduce expenses while providing customers with the fresh items they desire. A diverse fresh food selection, in conjunction with smart promotions, can boost customer loyalty and sales.

“Today’s retailers are grappling with tighter profit margins and waning customer loyalty. In order to succeed, they need to reduce the amount of profit tied up in inventory while keeping the right products on the shelf at the right time,” said Allan Davis, CMO of Aldata. “Aldata’s ‘Replenish Better’ Business Brief is designed to help retailers to rethink how they are stocking inventory, from the warehouse to the store floor, ultimately boosting profit margins while satisfying demand.”
 

http://www.aldata.com/com/about/news/aldata_white_paper_identifies_methods_for_retailers_to_increase_profits_and_consumer_satisfaction

The new Hugo Boss scheme delivers full Loyalty functionality – including web club, digital marketing, and Aldata Loyalty management. The new scheme operates on two levels: standard and VIP. Standard members receive information about new products and offers. When a customer’s spending with Hugo Boss reaches an agreed amount, they can move up to VIP level and join the Black Card Club. Here they enjoy more privileges such as access to the web club, where they can view details of more exclusive offers on high-end goods.

Aldata Loyalty is a digital marketing and eCRM solution that enables retail organisations to analyse customer behaviour and buying patterns and reach out to them immediately via their preferred digital communications channels. Marketers are able to create highly targeted and effective campaigns and deliver them into the customer's hands at the most relevant time to influence purchase. Aldata Loyalty is a Software as a Service (SaaS) solution, which means that customers do not incur software licence or systems infrastructure costs.

“The new Aldata Loyalty scheme is an exciting step forward for us,” said Jukka Holkeri, Store Manager of Hugo Boss Store. “With our old system, all we had was a simple registry within our POS system. With Aldata Loyalty we can now target our customers to more effectively meet demand, as well as cross-selling our product more effectively and encouraging more repeat purchasing. Furthermore, the two-tier level of membership enables us to improve our multi-channel marketing programmes and enjoy increases in ROI across all campaigns.”

About Hugo Boss in Finland
Hugo Boss is one of the world’s leading fashion retailers. The only official Hugo Boss Store in Finland has operated at Eteläesplanadi 24 since 1998. The store has recently been refurbished according to the latest Hugo Boss Store concept and is now also serving female clients. The store offers Boss Black and Hugo collections for men and women, as well as Boss Orange for men. www.boss-shop.fi/

http://www.aldata.com/com/about/news/hugo_boss_store_selects_aldata_loyalty

The new system, which will include 60 MC3090 PDAs from Motorola, to be used by 60 Poundstretcher operatives across 3 shifts, will integrate in real-time with the company’s existing Warehouse Management System, Aldata G.O.L.D Stock, which went live in May 2008. This will give Poundstretcher complete visibility of stock levels across the warehouse and the status of any pick process. It will also enable Poundstretcher to run an automatic replenishment process, resulting in a faster turnaround in getting the right product out to its stores and on to its customers.

“When we trialled Aldata’s G.O.L.D Vocal PDA solution, we saw that it delivered improved pick accuracy, to the extent that we fully expect the new system to reduce the number of pick gaps to less than 1%,” said Fran Gledhill, IT Change Manager at Poundstretcher. “The Aldata solution will also deliver real-time updates and automatic allocations for picking lists, which will significantly reduce manual administration time.”

“With our current paper based system, it can take around 40 minutes for a picker to pick an order, which means that problems aren’t flagged with a supervisor until the pick is complete,” continued Gledhill. “With the new system, replenishment can take place as soon as an out of stock is flagged up on the PDA. Ultimately, we know from the trial that this technology will enable us to cut costs, and that directly supports us in our efforts to run a tight, low cost operation so we can pass the best prices on to our customers.”

Mark Croxton, Managing Director, Aldata UK, said, “Poundstretcher is a great example of a retailer looking for an innovative way to drive down costs, so it can deliver greater savings to its customers and ensure that the right product is always available in the store. By investing in the PDA technology, Poundstretcher is investing for the future, as the PDA can be used to support multiple warehouse processes in addition to voice-directed picking. And finally, at a time when retailers are looking to reduce costs by carrying less inventory, the auto-replenishment will help Poundstretcher manage stock levels in the warehouse.”

About Poundstretcher
Instore plc operates a countrywide network of retail outlets, trading under the Poundstretcher brand, providing variety retailing across an extensive range of products, all at exceptional prices, since July 2005. Poundstretcher offers fantastic variety at exceptional prices on an extensive range of products for the home and all the family.
Poundstretcher’s aim is to offer value for money on a great range of products at affordable prices to everybody. The company keeps up with the latest trends and add value to our range by having an in-house design team who develop products across a number of key categories.
Poundstretcher’s continually growing retail estate currently consists of 326 stores located throughout UK. The largest store at 16,000 square feet is located in Milton Keynes. www.instoreretail.co.uk

http://www.aldata.com/com/about/news/poundstretcher_selects_aldata_for_pdabased_voicedirected_warehousing

Delhaize Group is a Belgian international food retailer. In 2008, Delhaize Group posted EUR 19.0 billion in revenues and net profit of EUR 467 million. Delhaize Group employs approximately 141,000 people.

http://www.aldata.com/com/about/news/delhaize_group_signs_major_new_contract_with_aldata

Aldata Solution, a leading provider of software solutions for the retail industry, today announced that Cincinnati, Oregon-based National Marketshare Group Inc. and Milwaukie, Oregon-based Signature Sales Group, have both selected Aldata’s Apollo Space Optimization products to provide their retail accounts with the analysis, information and recommendations that drive the highest level of category performance.

National Marketshare Group represents dozens of consumer product categories – including baby care, consumables and general merchandise – within convenience stores, mass merchandisers, supermarkets and other retail stores. National Marketshare Group and its retailers use Apollo to exchange category plans, share ideas and conduct “what if” analysis to select the optimal combinations of SKU, shelf inventory and merchandising to improve category performance and ensure customer satisfaction.

“Apollo allows us to provide consulting services to key accounts from a space management and category development perspective,” said Tom Koopman, president of National Marketshare Group. “It has become one of our ‘core’ services that we provide and has also given us a very competitive approach to our business in key accounts. It is the de facto standard for space optimization and planogram development in our industry.”

Signature Sales Group focuses on the consumer packaged goods industry, representing 25 – 30 general merchandise manufacturers, including Crayola, Igloo coolers and Top Flight stationery. Signature Sales Group uses Apollo as its primary tool to work hand-in-hand with analysts at its key accounts, providing the planograms necessary to optimize and consistently merchandise through all of their stores. With Apollo, discontinued products, new product introductions, updated UPC codes and other ongoing product changes are dealt with at the planogram level so that individual stores can avoid timely and costly manual changes to the merchandising mix. Apollo also helps with the planning process for seasonal goods, merchandise offered to particular geographies or any other store-specific requirements.

“The Apollo Space Optimization products are recognized as the gold standard when it comes to assortment and space planning,” said Debbie Berglund, sales support and analyst for Signature Sales Group. “It is easy to use, simplifies my job and delivers benefits to both suppliers and retailers. It is a critical component of my job and opens the door to continuing to grow our influence in the brokerage industry.”

Used by thousands of space planners worldwide, Aldata’s Apollo Space Optimization products enable companies to manually create and analyze planograms. Its solutions provide the power to not only build virtual planograms that realistically and accurately represent retail space but also to evaluate and optimize plans through a “what-if” process. Apollo Space Optimization products also offer comprehensive, customizable reporting capabilities that quickly and easily translate complex business data into user-friendly reports that can easily be tailored by audience. Reports can also be distributed via email, Web, screen or hard copy.

“Adoption of our space optimization products touches all areas of the retail supply chain, helping companies cut time, reduce costs, improve customer satisfaction and boost bottom line revenue,” said Shaun Bossons, senior vice president at Aldata, Apollo Solutions Group. “We are excited to have National Marketshare Group and Signature Sales Group on board. We will continue to innovate our products in order to give a strategic edge to these two businesses and the rest of our valued customers.”

http://www.aldata.com/com/about/news/retail_brokers_national_marketshare_group_inc_and_signature_sales_group_select_aldatas_apollo

WHO IS THE CUSTOMER?

Neolog, a subsidiary of the French Post Office (La Poste). Neolog delivers 270 million documents and around 12 million sorted parcels each year from its 10 distribution centres across France. Neolog’s industry strategy is integrated into La Poste Group’s Cape Qualité Mail programme, which aims to improve the performance level of the company for the opening of the market in 2011.

WHAT HAVE THEY PURCHASED AND HOW WILL IT HELP THEIR BUSINESS?

• G.O.L.D. Vocal PDA, to be deployed in nine of Neolog’s distribution centres
• Follows successful pilot at the company’s Garonor hub
• System to run on MX8 PDA’s from LXE
• Goal is to improve Neolog’s sorting and dispatch accuracy to a service level of 99% in advance of 2011, when the French postal market is opened to international competition
   

http://www.aldata.com/com/about/news/neolog_adopts_aldatas_pdabased_voicedirected_warehousing_in_preparation_for_postal_deregulation

Aldata Solution, Inc., a leading provider of software solutions for the retail industry, today announced that Marie Robinson, Senior Vice President, supply chain operations, for Aldata customer Smart & Final, has been selected by Progressive Grocer magazine as one of the 2009 “Top Women in Grocery.” Robinson and fellow nominees appear in the June/July 2009 issue of Progressive Grocer magazine and will be honored on November 2, 2009 at Progressive Grocer’s Corporate Social Responsibility Awards, which will be held during the Grocery Manufacturers Association (GMA) Merchandising, Sales, and Marketing Conference at the Biltmore Hotel in Phoenix, Ariz.

Selection for the Top Women in Grocery list is a meticulous process based on nominations from within the industry and on strict criteria set out by Progressive Grocer’s team of editors. “I was more involved than ever in this year’s judging for our third Annual Top Women in Grocery and the entries were incredible,” said Olivia Wilson, publisher of Progressive Grocer. “We received more than 400 entries and it was very difficult to select the top 100. They are all very deserving in one way or another.”

Robinson assumed the task of re-engineering Smart & Final’s supply chain operations, including the location and design of distribution centers, product flow channels and system infrastructure. Robinson’s initiatives to consolidate all of Smart & Final’s supply chain operations into a single system helped streamline company operations, save money and position the company for growth.

“The ability to undertake a significant project such as overhauling an entire supply chain required support and commitment from everyone at Smart & Final as well as our technology partners, such as Aldata and its G.O.L.D. retail suite,” Robinson said. “While I have been singled out for this award, it is really a testament to the hard work and efforts of everyone at Smart & Final. I thank Progressive Grocer for this recognition and will continue to help push the boundaries within the grocery industry.”

“Marie Robinson and Aldata have had a long-standing relationship, and during that time, we have known her to be a visionary in every way. She understands grocery inside and out and knows what it takes to streamline operations,” said Brendan Lowe, Vice President, Aldata, North America. “We’re thrilled that Marie and Smart & Final have been honored by Progressive Grocer magazine and pleased that the Aldata G.O.L.D. retail suite has been an integral part of Smart & Final’s evolution.”

About Smart & Final
Founded in 1871 in downtown Los Angeles, Smart & Final, Inc. operates non-membership warehouse stores for food and foodservice supplies in California, Oregon, Washington, Arizona, Nevada, Idaho and northern Mexico. For more information, visit the company’s website at www.smartandfinal.com

http://www.aldata.com/com/about/news/progressive_grocer_selects_smart_final_senior_vice_preseident_to_top_women_in_grocery_list

Aldata Solution, a leading provider of software solutions for the retail industry, announced today that home entertainment and electronics chain Hifi Studio 17 has selected Aldata Loyalty to deliver greater value to its 42,000 customers and boost profitability across its stores.

Aldata Loyalty is a digital marketing and eCRM solution that enables retail organisations to analyse customer behaviour and buying patterns and reach out to them immediately via their preferred digital communications channels. Marketers are able to create highly targeted and effective campaigns and deliver them into the customer's hands at the most relevant time to influence purchase. Aldata Loyalty is a Software as a Service (SaaS) solution, which means that customers do not incur software licence or systems infrastructure costs. Hifi Studio 17 will go live with Aldata Loyalty in June and will add an additional Web Shop module later this year.

Marko Nykänen, Managing Director of Hifi Studio 17, said: “This new investment will bring us closer to our customers where it matters – in store. Since Loyalty is linked into our POS system, it provides us with instant visibility of our campaigns, enabling us to carry out meaningful, targeted analysis of customer behaviour in real-time. We selected Aldata because of their proven record in retail and for the value Aldata Loyalty delivers by enabling such precise customer segmentation. And as we access Loyalty on a Software as a Service basis, we are able to strip out all the infrastructure and maintenance costs associated with licensed software.”

Jorma Tukia, SVP Loyalty at Aldata, added: “Our Loyalty solution enables organisations in the retail and hospitality sectors to better meet customer demand, as well as cutting out infrastructure costs, to focus on driving greater profitability for their businesses. Hifi Studio 17 will soon be seeing dramatic improvements in their targeted multi-channel marketing programmes and measurable increases in the ROI for individual campaigns.”

Hifi Studio 17
Hifi Studio 17 is a leading consumer electronics retailer in Finland. The company serves consumers and businesses in Helsinki, Tampere and Oulu, offering a wide range of products including hifi and home theatre systems, multi-room systems, corporate AV systems, as well as custom installation services. The product brands are f.e. Bang & Olufsen, Bose, Sony and loudspeakers from all the high-quality Finnish brands. The company has supplied and installed thousands of AV systems in private homes and companies since 1981. More information at www.hifistudio17.fi

Press Contacts
Hifi Studio 17: Marko Nykänen, tel +358 (0)9 5860 1214, marko.nykanen@helsinginhifi.fi 
 

http://www.aldata.com/com/about/news/hifi_studio_17_aims_for_closer_customer_relationships_with_aldata_loyalty

With the new system, the salesperson will now be able to view a customer’s entire purchase history on their PC instantly, offer a far more personalised service and cross-sell the company’s products with greater confidence. Aldata signed the agreement with the company’s marketing director and head of store operations in February 2009 and completed integration work in April. It’s planned that the Loyalty scheme will manage 2 to 3,000 members.

A key benefit of Aldata Loyalty, part of the Aldata G.O.L.D. product family, is that it incorporates a Digital Marketing Platform and support for real-time analytics. This enables retail organisations to analyse customer behaviour and buying patterns and reach out to them immediately via their preferred digital communications channels. Marketers are able to create highly targeted and effective campaigns and deliver them into the customer's hands at the most relevant time to influence purchase. Aldata Loyalty is a Software as a Service (SaaS) solution, which means that customers do not incur software licence or systems infrastructure costs. 

http://www.aldata.com/com/about/news/aldata_supports_instore_loyalty_scheme_for_luxury_skincare_manufacturer

WHO IS THE CUSTOMER?

Mir Detstva is a children’s goods retail and wholesale distribution company. Its retail business consists of eight superstores operating under the brand “Boobl-Goom”. Mir Detstva also wholesales a number of Japanese and Chinese goods for children throughout Russia.

WHAT HAVE THEY PURCHASED AND HOW WILL IT HELP THEIR BUSINESS?

• G.O.L.D. is being deployed at the head office in Vladivostok for Master Data Management, Merchandise Management and Inventory Management.
• G.O.L.D. is also being piloted in one of the company’s stores for automated replenishment and PDA-based real-time inventory management. Once the pilot is complete, roll out will continue across all the company’s stores.
• G.O.L.D. will then be deployed in the company’s warehouses to complete the company’s objective of real-time inventory visibility and control across its supply chain.
   

http://www.aldata.com/com/about/news/russian_toy_retailer_mir_deststva_selects_aldata_gold

WHO IS THE CUSTOMER?

Cucina is an Italian self-service restaurant chain based in Germany, with restaurants in Berlin, Hanover and Cologne, and plans to open 150 locations over the next four years with three tills in each restaurant.

WHAT HAVE THEY PURCHASED AND HOW WILL IT HELP THEIR BUSINESS?

• Aldata G.O.L.D. to provide a centralised system for optimising inventory management across its entire supply chain
• Aldata installation includes central data manage¬ment, order management, store inventory man¬agement, automated replenishment, point of sale and payment systems
• Central control of processes, in real-time, will allow Cucina to make substantial cost savings across the business, whilst delivering the best possible service to its customers at point of sale
• Tight control, from warehouse to restaurant, sets Cucina up for growth, as it opens new restaurants over the next four years

http://www.aldata.com/com/about/news/cucina_selects_aldata_gold_to_optimize_supply_chain_efficiency_in_preparation_for_growth_drive

Aldata Solution, a leading provider of software solutions for the retail industry, announced today that Delhaize Belgium, the international food retailer, has selected Apollo Designer Workstation – part of Aldata’s Apollo Space Optimization offering – to improve category and shelf performance. This investment will enable Delhaize to better respond to customer demand, improve inventory planning and efficiently deliver tailored assortments, by creating customer-centric planograms at the store level.

“The one-size-fits-all approach to store planning is no longer effective. Ensuring that we have the right products in the right place at the right time is critical to the success of our brands,” said Tanguy t’Serstevens, vice president, Supply Chain for Delhaize. “We evaluated several solutions and Apollo Designer Workstation appears to be the one that could provide us with the granular level of detail and functionality we required. It seems to be user-friendly, scalable and quick to implement.”

Apollo Designer Workstation is the market leader in Space Planning Automation and is used by manufacturers and retailers globally. With Designer Workstation, Delhaize will automate planogram production, enabling consistent and accurate execution of category plans and new product launches at the individual store, product and shelf level. The new technology will help Delhaize to reduce ‘out of stocks and ensure that any redundant shelf space being taken up by over-stocking of slow moving items is released for fast moving goods.

“Delhaize is constantly innovating to meet the needs of its customers while at the same time, running its business smartly,” said Shaun Bossons, senior vice president of Aldata Apollo. “With Apollo Designer Workstation, Delhaize will be able to reduce costs, reduce waste and increase product availability. Delhaize will also be able to increase the effectiveness of its merchandising collaboration with suppliers, as both parties will be able to work strategically using the same solution to assure the best performance. We are pleased to be expanding our relationship with Delhaize.”

About Delhaize Belgium
At the end of 2008, the Delhaize Belgium network consisted of 775 stores. With its various store formats (Delhaize supermarkets, AD Delhaize, City Delhaize, Proxy Delhaize, Shop ’n Go and Tom&Co), Delhaize Belgium has generated revenues of 4.4 billion euros in 2008. In 2008, Delhaize recorded a market share of 25.1%* in Belgium. The company employs more than 17 000 people. Delhaize Belgium is part of the Delhaize Group, which is active in eight countries on three continents. At the end of 2008, the Delhaize Group’s sales network included 2,673 stores. The Group employs 138 000 people. www.delhaize.be

* source AC Nielsen 

http://www.aldata.com/com/about/news/delhaize_selects_aldatas_apollo_designer_workstation_to_improve_space_management_at_the_store_level

Henderson Group, which distributes food and grocery related products to the convenience retail sector, will initially be deploying the Aldata G.O.L.D. solution across its own stores, with the potential to extend the roll-out to its independents. By using automated store replenishment and mobile PDAs for real-time inventory management, Henderson Group expects customer service to improve as a result of better product availability while at the same time enabling them to hold less inventory in the supply chain, leading to lower costs.

Andrew Logan, IT Director for Hendersons, said; “This current investment enables us to further optimise our supply chain in Northern Ireland to assure on-shelf availability whilst driving down inventory costs. We selected Aldata due to their proven references in grocery, as well as G.O.L.D.’s scalable nature, ease of use and centralised model, which delivers real-time visibility across the business.”

Allan Davies, CMO for Aldata, said; “Our solutions enable retailers to dramatically accelerate their stock to cash cycle, through inventory management systems that cut inventory in the supply chain and ensure that it is where it needs to be - meeting consumer demand at the shelf. The Henderson Group will soon be enjoying the benefits of a highly scalable solution that will enable visibility of stock across its estate.”

Henderson Group
Family-owned Henderson Group are the owners of the SPAR, EUROSPAR, VIVO and VIVOXTRA franchises in Northern Ireland and have been distributing food and grocery-related products to the convenience retail sector for over 100 years. Henderson Group introduced symbol group trading to Northern Ireland and is now the largest operation of its kind in the country, supplying over 400 stores.

Henderson Wholesale boasts 230,000 sq feet of ambient, fresh and frozen warehousing, situated outside Belfast at Mallusk, and offers over 5,000 ambient lines, 1,200 fresh food lines and 500 frozen food lines to the retailer. The company achieved a turnover of £376m (published April 2007) and employs 1,900 through its network of company-owned stores and at its headquarters in Mallusk. www.henderson-group.com

http://www.aldata.com/com/about/news/hendersons_selects_aldata_gold_for_store_replenishment_and_mobile_inventory_management

Aldata Solution, a leading provider of software solutions for the retail industry, announced today that the Dr Pepper Snapple Group, one of the largest beverage companies in the Americas, advances to the Apollo Designer Workstation, Enterprise version, the next step in Apollo Space Optimization that enables retailers and manufacturers to improve category performance and shelf reach. The Dr Pepper Snapple Group will use Aldata’s Apollo Designer Workstation, Enterprise version to support customer-centric initiatives starting with the country’s largest grocery retailer in its 2,000-plus stores.

“In today’s challenging economy, it’s more important than ever for Dr Pepper to work closely with its retailer customers in order to track and respond to ever changing consumer shopping habits,” said Chris Hopkins, director, category management, Dr Pepper Snapple Group. “Based on the success we have had with the desktop version of Apollo Designer Workstation, we anticipate that the enterprise solution will help us to ensure retailers capitalize on their existing shelf space in order to optimally market and sell our diverse line of soft drinks, juices and premium beverages.”

Aldata’s Apollo Space Optimization suite provides retailers and manufacturers with the ability to automate planogram production to enable consistent and accurate execution of category plans and new product launches at any required granular level. It provides the ability to combine key assortment decisions, merchandising strategy and inventory control throughout the planogram automation process and can be adapted to fit a specific retailer or manufacturer’s needs. Aldata’s Apollo Designer Workstation Enterprise version is the next step in space automation, providing a fully scalable, server-based solution for planogram automation built on the market leading Apollo Designer Workstation platform.

“Aldata’s Apollo Designer Workstation, Enterprise version is the best possible framework for Dr Pepper Snapple Group to collaborate strategically with its retailer customers,” said Shaun Bossons, senior vice president at Aldata, Apollo Solutions Group. “Dr Pepper is a perfect example of how to adopt and embrace space planning automation to drive high levels of success. Based on the excellent work they have done, collaborating with key retailers, using Apollo Designer Workstation, Desktop version, this was the obvious next step for them to continue to drive rapid return on investment and benefits for their business partners.”

About Dr Pepper Snapple Group
Dr Pepper Snapple Group, Inc. is an integrated refreshment beverage business marketing more than 50 beverage brands to consumers throughout North America. In addition to its flagship Dr Pepper and Snapple brands, the company's portfolio includes 7UP, Mott's, A&W, Sunkist Soda, Hawaiian Punch, Canada Dry, Schweppes, Squirt, RC Cola, Diet Rite, Penafiel, Rose's, Yoo-hoo, Clamato, Mr & Mrs T and other well-known consumer favorites. Based in Plano, Texas, Dr Pepper Snapple Group employs approximately 20,000 and operates 24 bottling and manufacturing facilities and more than 200 distribution centers across the United States, Canada, Mexico and the Caribbean. For more information, please visit www.drpeppersnapplegroup.com.

http://www.aldata.com/com/about/news/dr_pepper_advances_to_aldatas_apollo_designer_workstation_enterprise_version

Aldata Solution, a leading provider of software solutions for the retail industry, announced today that MCA Logistics, a third-party logistics provider dedicated to servicing grocery customers, has gone live with Aldata G.O.L.D. in a customer’s Phoenix, Ariz., distribution center. The Phoenix DC will be a training center for facility managers at three additional warehouses, which all will convert to G.O.L.D. by February 2010.

 In each customer warehouse, G.O.L.D. is replacing a 20-year-old, homegrown legacy system. Altogether, the four DCs service a total of 250 stores west of the Mississippi for one grocery chain. The G.O.L.D. Warehouse Management System (WMS) provides multi-site, multi-organizational, multi-principal, multi-system and multi-lingual capabilities for the management, control, execution and processing of logistics operations.

“When it was time to upgrade the WMS systems in these four customer warehouses, MCA Logistics selected Aldata G.O.L.D. because of its grocery industry expertise,” said Robert Camarena, president of MCA Logistics. “At a time when more grocery chains plan to simplify their operations and get out of the warehousing business, G.O.L.D. gives us the power to cost-effectively assume inventory replenishment activities for our grocery customers with more accuracy and speed than ever before.”

MCA Logistics has integrated G.O.L.D. WMS with their customer’s G.O.L.D. system via electronic data interchange (EDI) at the front end and with their shipping software on the back end. G.O.L.D. also interfaces with a radio system for DC receiving and replenishment and the Vocollect picking system for order fulfillment. MCA’s G.O.L.D. WMS manages a diverse inventory that includes both dry and fresh goods, as well as just-in-time or ready-made items, such as salads, for the grocery chain. By next spring, G.O.L.D. will help move approximately 200,000 shipping units a day across all four DCs.

“MCA Logistics is demonstrating the power of the Aldata G.O.L.D. WMS in a multi-property, large scale grocery warehousing operation," said Brendan Lowe, vice president, Aldata, North America. "With G.O.L.D., MCA Logistics is far better positioned to automate and manage warehouses for its existing customers and to bring on new customers who want to reap the business and cost benefits of outsourcing their warehousing operations to a 3PL."

MCA Logistics
MCA Logistics was launched in 1971, by an innovative CSULB graduate with a mind for business. Mike Campbell saw the opportunity that got the company off the ground. In its early years, the company mainly dealt with supplying paper bags to grocery stores, but found a niche in an emerging Southern California specialty market in the early 1970s. At that time, there were few of these stores, as they were still adapting to their present format. Mike Campbell helped some of these stores grow from their "mom and pop" beginnings to their present status as household names in the grocery business. For more information, go to www.mcalog.com. 

http://www.aldata.com/com/about/news/mca_logisitics_goes_live_with_aldata_gold_warehouse_management

Aldata G.O.L.D. will be used at Syngenta’s warehouse in Saint-Pierre, France, which is the company’s principal site for producing plant protection products used by growers. In addition to warehouse management, Aldata G.O.L.D. will ensure all of the products created have labels displaying product origins and source, and that they are continuously tracked. From 2012 onwards, this will be mandatory in line with SEVESO II, the European legislation that aims to improve the safety of sites containing large quantities of potentially dangerous substances.

Aldata G.O.L.D. will enable Syngenta to have full traceability within its warehouse, and will integrate seamlessly with company’s ERP system. Another key purchasing criterion for Syngenta was the ability to roll out the Aldata solution across multiple markets. The company is considering further installations in a number of offices outside France.

Stephane Hameau, Logistics Manager, Saint-Pierre la Garenne, Syngenta, said, “We selected Aldata G.O.L.D. due to the company’s ability to deliver proven technology into our business. It was also able to integrate quickly and effectively with our ERP system.”

“This project will play a key role in supporting Syngenta as it puts technology at the heart of its business,” said Allan Davies, CMO, Aldata. “The delivery of Aldata G.O.L.D will also ensure that the company is fully prepared to meet all the necessary European legislative demands.”

About Syngenta
Syngenta is a world-leading agri-business, committed to sustainable agriculture through innovative research and technology. The company is a leader in crop protection, and ranks third in the high-value commercial seeds market. Sales in 2008 were approximately $11.6 billion. Syngenta employs over 21,000 people in more than 90 countries of which over 4,000 are in R&D. Syngenta is listed on the Swiss stock exchange (SYNN) and in New York (SYT). More information at www.syngenta.com
 

http://www.aldata.com/com/about/news/syngenta_selects_aldata_for_warehouse_management_and_to_meet_european_traceability_legislation

http://www.aldata.com/com/about/news/systme_u_adopts_aldatas_pdabased_voicedirected_warehousing_to_increase_warehouse_operation

Aldata Solution, a leading provider of software solutions for the retail industry, today announced the availability of its Aldata Apollo Space Optimization suite, a collection of powerful, easy-to-use software modules that enable retailers and manufacturers to improve category performance and shelf reach. When used in conjunction with the Aldata G.O.L.D. retail suite, Aldata Apollo Space Optimization benefits from optional demand forecasting, replenishment optimization and inventory planning to efficiently deliver tailored assortments and customer-centric planning in each store. This results in high availability, reduced waste and mark-downs, as well as high levels of compliance and customer satisfaction.

“Eighty percent of consumer packaged goods are sold at the retail shelf, making this a critical part of any retailer’s business,” said Shaun Bossons, senior vice president of Aldata, Apollo. “Aldata’s Apollo Space Optimization suite enables retailers to better react to changes in customer shopping habits, improve the retailer-manufacturer category collaboration process and ensure that corporate plans are executed at the shelf level.”

The core component of Aldata’s Apollo Space Optimization suite is Apollo Designer Workstation, which is available in both desktop and enterprise versions. Apollo Designer Workstation gives retailers and manufacturers the ability to automate planogram production, enabling consistent and accurate execution of category plans and new product launches at any required granular level. It creates an accurate display of in-store merchandising, and all of its components can be adapted to fit a specific retailer or manufacturer. As a result, Apollo Designer Workstation provides the catalyst to improve strategic collaboration between the manufacturer and retailer throughout the category management process, ensuring strategy and retail operations are optimized.

Aldata’s Apollo Space Optimization suite empowers retailers to:

• Drive high availability levels, reducing lost sales revenue opportunities by ensuring products receive required levels of inventory to meet local demand;
• Ensure high levels of customer satisfaction by tailoring assortments, based on key consumer insight at the required granular level;
• Reduce essential cost from the business by minimizing waste and mark-down in store through accurate unit levels for all products based on local demand;
• Implement effectively in the store by ensuring planogram-to-store accuracy and merchandising compliance, leading to maximized marketing impact;
• Collaborate strategically with key category captains and advisors, throughout the merchandising process resulting in category insight meeting operational excellence; and
• Drive rapid return on investment, with an affordable, flexible, proven solution that can be implemented and live within days.

“This combination of space optimization and supply chain efficiency now enables retailers to confidently execute optimal product assortment and placement as customer demand changes,” said Allan Davies, CMO, Aldata Solution. “This is critically important in today’s economy when shopping behavior, loyalty and frequency is changing faster than ever before.”

Apollo Breakout Session at IRI Summit 2009
Shaun Bossons, senior vice president of Aldata, Apollo, and Jyrki Ihanainen, senior vice president of Aldata, North American Sales, will present the Apollo breakout session “Demand-Driven Inventory Management and Optimization” at the IRI Summit 2009. The session will be presented at two convenient times: Tuesday, March 24 at 4:30 p.m. and Wednesday, March 25 at 4:30 p.m. Bossons and Ihanainen will provide insight into the changing role of Space Planning within the increasingly challenging economic climate and describe how manufacturers and retailers are collaborating more than ever to meet the needs of demanding consumers. Learn how to gain a competitive edge by combining supply chain and merchandising optimization including demand-forecasting, assortment planning and execution. Register today at www.cpgsummit.com

http://www.aldata.com/com/about/news/aldata_announces_combined_apollo_space_optimization_and_gold_retail_supply_chain_capability

Aldata Solution, a leading provider of software solutions for the retail industry, today released findings from the first annual global retail CIO survey, jointly sponsored with IBM. Despite difficult economic conditions, the survey found that more than half of the retailers interviewed (51%) expect their IT budget as a percent of sales to stay the same for next year, while 26% believe their IT budget will actually increase, due to projects already underway. The survey of retail CIOs and IT directors in both the United States and Europe was undertaken in Q4 2008 by retail industry research specialists Martec International.

The Aldata/IBM Retail CIO Survey indicates that most retailers are looking to use IT investment to squeeze greater returns out of assets they already own, such as inventory and space. IT investment is planned for systems that help improve stock management and availability, increase sales from new channels and improve promotional effectiveness. The survey also revealed that retailers are far less likely to consider investing in areas that do not deliver short-term ROI.

“This survey was carried out at the end of 2008 when retailers were feeling the full force of the recession, which makes the results all the more encouraging,” said Allan Davies, CMO, Aldata. “It is quite clear that CIOs are not losing their nerve, and that retailers continue to see IT investment not as a luxury, but as a means of reducing cost and improving business performance over a comparatively short time period. This certainly fits with our experience over the last few quarters. There is little appetite to rip and replace entire systems, but a real focus on putting in solutions in specific areas such as automatic replenishment, where the gains can be felt in months, rather than years.”

Replenishment
Globally, the survey showed that 87% of retailers either have, or plan to have automatic replenishment applications within the next three years. The results were particularly striking in EMEA, where the figure was 97%, with almost half of the respondents either in the process of implementing upgrades or planning new systems. Thirty percent of retailers considered automatic replenishment as the most important replenishment optimization and stock management application, followed by demand forecasting (27%).

Logistics & Distribution
In terms of logistics and distribution applications, the top application was real time warehouse management, with 84% of U.S. respondents already using such systems and a further 11% planning upgrades. Mobile applications also featured strongly, the data again showing U.S. retailers further advanced than their EMEA counterparts. While in EMEA, 62% of retailers surveyed have already implemented mobile applications, with a further 29% planning to upgrade or implement new systems, 100% of U.S. retailers surveyed are already using mobile applications in logistics and distribution, with 16% planning to upgrade over the next three years.

IT & Data Architecture
Enterprise Master Data Management (MDM) was shown to be the most important application in this area, scored as such by 36% of respondents. This is the only instance in the survey where an application that is not the most widely implemented – only 28% of the sample have already implemented MDM – was the top priority for most retailers with 48% of retailers either planning to upgrade or implement MDM within the next three years.

For the global retail CIO survey, senior level IT executives were interviewed between September 2008 and January 2009, from North America and Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA). Retailers interviewed had sales exceeding $100 million for non-food category management retailers and $250 million for food retailers. The sales of the companies interviewed totaled $265 billion and represents 5% of the North American and EMEA retail market. The total number of stores for all retailers interviewed was more than 40,000. Survey highlights can be downloaded at www.GlobalRetailCioSurvey.com

Aldata 100% Retail-Wholesale
At Aldata 100% of our business is dedicated to retail and wholesale business improvement. We provide our customers with modern, flexible and integrated software solutions specifically designed to increase productivity, performance and profitability. With over 24,000 successful installations across 52 countries, from convenience store to hypermarket, 480+ live warehouses and customers with 5 to 5,000 outlets, we consistently deliver the goods for retail and wholesale business improvement. Aldata Solution is a public company quoted on NASDAQ OMX Helsinki Ltd with the identifier ALD1V. More information at www.aldata-solution.com

http://www.aldata.com/com/about/news/aldata_ibm_survey_shows_retail_cios_in_bullish_mood

http://www.aldata.com/com/about/news/constellation_wines_us_adopts_apollo_space_management_from_aldata

Aldata Solution, a leading provider of software solutions for the retail industry, today announced that it has received the 2008 Frost & Sullivan Product Line Strategy Award in the Retail Software Market for the Aldata G.O.L.D. retail enterprise software suite. The award calls out Aldata’s commitment to technological innovation and development of new solutions for retailers and specifically cites the G.O.L.D. Mine and G.O.L.D. Vocal for PDA solutions.

The Frost & Sullivan Award for Product Line Strategy is presented annually to a company that has demonstrated the most insight into customer needs and product demands. Recipients have optimized their product lines by leveraging products with various price, performance and feature points required by the market.

“Aldata’s flagship solution, G.O.L.D., caters to the entire retail spectrum, right from in-store and consumer centric solutions to logistics, distribution and other headquarter solutions and enables seamless transition between the various applications… Their newly introduced G.O.L.D. Mine is a data warehouse solution, which is used for retail business intelligence. It not only facilitates retailers in transforming their data from a relational model to an OLAP model, but also provides quick access to the relevant data without disrupting other real time processes… G.O.L.D. Vocal PDA is an innovative PDA based voice solution used by retailers and wholesalers for order picking and to support their operations,” wrote Frost & Sullivan on award recipient Aldata Solution.

The Aldata G.O.L.D. retail suite provides a unified retail architecture with multiple modules that can be implemented in rapid ROI stages. Applications include: master data management, forecasting and replenishment, logistics and distribution, store and merchandising, supplier and order management, plus loyalty and marketing systems. Aldata solutions are deployed at more than 24,000 store locations worldwide.

“The Frost & Sullivan 2008 North American Product Line Strategy Award recognizes Aldata’s commitment to ongoing research and development as well as the exceptional value that Aldata delivers to our customers through our enterprise software suite,” said Allan Davies, chief marketing officer, Aldata. “Our new G.O.L.D. Mine retail analytics and Vocal for PDA offerings are part of a long and continuing tradition of updating and adapting the G.O.L.D. retail suite with new technologies and applications that ensure our retail customers have the tools they need to continuously improve their business processes.”

About Frost & Sullivan
Frost & Sullivan, the Growth Partnership Company, partners with clients to accelerate their growth. The company's TEAM Research, Growth Consulting and Growth Team Membership(TM) empower clients to create a growth-focused culture that generates, evaluates and implements effective growth strategies. Frost & Sullivan employs over 45 years of experience in partnering with Global 1000 companies, emerging businesses and the investment community from more than 30 offices on six continents. For more information about Frost & Sullivan's Growth Partnerships, visit www.frost.com 

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Aldata Solution, a leading provider of software solutions for the retail industry, today announced that Netto Marken-Discount has signed an enterprise agreement for the complete Aldata G.O.L.D. Retail Suite. A division of Edeka Group, one of the world’s largest retail companies, Netto Marken-Discount operates more than 3,800 convenience grocery stores and employs 50,000 people across Germany.

Netto has previously deployed several G.O.L.D. Retail Suite modules across its business. Following the enterprise agreement the retailer has extended the use of G.O.L.D. to the distribution centers of the Plus grocery chain, which it recently acquired. As a result, Netto will use Aldata G.O.L.D. in its head office and across all its warehouses to manage integrated merchandising, warehouse management, replenishment and forecasting optimization.

Netto decided to commit 100 percent to Aldata based on the company’s detailed knowledge of the grocery business, use of best practices and ability to deliver a holistic supply chain solution. The benefits to its business will be demonstrated in cost savings and more efficient control over its processes.

“Using Aldata’s Retail Suite for integrated merchandising and replenishment optimization, Netto will be able to capitalize on the increased visibility across the entire supply chain,” said Allan Davies, chief marketing officer, Aldata. “As a result, Netto can build upon that visibility to improve inventory management and better understand its customers' buying habits."

About Netto Marken-Discount
Netto Marken-Discount, as a part of Edeka Group, is a successful, growing discounters in Germany with a turnover of EUR 3,7 billion in 2007. Netto’s success is based on a variety of branded goods from leading manufacturers as well as quality store brands, plus a daily offering of high quality fresh fruits and vegetables, fresh meat and dairy products. All products are subject to permanent high quality controls. Netto also offers a local product assortment and has a variety of Light & Fit products, light sausages assortment as well as many organic products.

http://www.aldata.com/com/about/news/netto_markendiscount_selects_aldata_gold

Aldata Solution, a leading provider of software solutions for the retail industry, announced today that Cumberland Farms, Inc. the largest convenience store/petroleum marketer in the Northeast, has purchased Aldata’s Apollo Web Publisher, a centralized merchandising collaboration platform for retail space planning. With approximately 1,000 outlets and 7,000 employees, Cumberland Farms will use Web Publisher to manage and distribute planograms (POG), reports and merchandising information at each retail outlet to ensure greater levels of execution of customer-centric assortment and merchandising strategies. Apollo is an operating unit of Aldata Solution.

“Apollo Web Publisher enables Cumberland Farms to react more quickly to customer shopping trends, and tailor our assortments based on our customers’ needs,” said Ari Haseotes, president and chief operating officer. “These customer-centric merchandising practices help us to continue our pledge of providing every day value to our customers.”

Apollo Web Publisher lets organizations manage and distribute POGs to all levels of the business responsible for merchandising and new product implementation via the Web/Intranet. Stores, field execution teams and suppliers receive merchandising information immediately, resulting in increased productivity, profitability and merchandising conformance.

Apollo Web Publisher leads to:

• removal of products that customers no longer purchase, based on de-selection caused by the economy;
• the ability to tailor assortments based on the needs of price-sensitive consumers and execute to the required customer-centric level;
• the elimination of time, costs and potential user error associated with mass printing and mailing of merchandising information.

“Fundamentally, the Apollo Web Publisher is about reducing costs and keeping price-sensitive shoppers happy,” said Shaun Bossons, senior vice president at Aldata, Apollo Solutions Group. “For Cumberland Farms, Apollo Web Publisher will drive higher levels of compliance and in-store efficiency, ensuring that every shelf in every store has the right products at the right price to keep customers coming back for more.”

About Cumberland Farms
Cumberland Farms is committed to providing its customers with value, convenience and unparalleled service. Its network of retail stores, gas stations, and a support system including petroleum, dairy and grocery distribution operations spans 11 states across the Northeast and Florida, making it the largest convenience store/petroleum marketer in the Northeast.
Cumberland Farms takes pride in its corporate citizenship. Through its Corporate Giving Program for Youth, the Company is working to improve the prospects for young people, to encourage and support young people’s achievements in business and leadership, and to provide educational opportunities for young people. Cumberland Farms is a proud sponsor of 4-H, the Muscular Dystrophy Association and Making Strides for Breast Cancer and provides college scholarships. In addition to annual corporate contributions, Cumberland Farms is active at the local level, building awareness and supporting worthy organizations in the communities where we live and work.

http://www.aldata.com/com/about/news/cumberland_farms_selects_aldatas_apollo_web_publisher_2

http://www.aldata.com/com/about/news/aldata_gold_validated_for_ibm_retail_integration_framework

Aldata Solution, a leading provider of software solutions for the retail and wholesale industries, today announced that its Aldata G.O.L.D. retail suite is now fully operational on IBM Websphere integration and application infrastructure software. Aldata G.O.L.D. also conforms to the technical requirements of the IBM SOA environment and is now listed in the IBM SOA Business Catalog.

With more than 150 joint customers worldwide—including Price Chopper, Smart & Final, Elephant Pharm, United Supermarkets and Nash Finch in the United States—IBM and Aldata have a long and successful relationship serving the retail sector. They now embrace a more formal relationship for technology, hardware, services and training cooperation to better service their current and future joint customers.

“Aldata’s investment in IBM Websphere and SOA provides our joint customers with industry leading middleware that fully supports Aldata G.O.L.D.’s integrated retail application backbone,” said Allan Davies, CMO, Aldata. “This makes it easier for new customers to integrate G.O.L.D. with administrative applications such as finance and HR, and existing customers to adapt or change that integration as their business changes.”

Aldata supplies the world’s leading retailers and wholesalers with the systems that manage the core of their business, enabling visibility and optimization of their entire supply chain from supplier to customer. Aldata G.O.L.D. provides a unified retail architecture with multiple modules that can be implemented rapidly in incremental stages in order to address a company’s greatest business constraints. Modules include: master data management, forecasting and replenishment, logistics and distribution, store and merchandising, supplier and order management, plus loyalty and marketing systems.

Aldata 100% Retail-Wholesale
At Aldata 100% of our business is dedicated to retail and wholesale business improvement. We provide our customers with modern, flexible and integrated software solutions specifically designed to increase productivity, performance and profitability. With over 24,000 successful installations across 52 countries, from convenience store to hypermarket, 480+ live warehouses and customers with five to 5,000 outlets, we consistently deliver the goods for retail and wholesale business improvement. Aldata Solution is a public company quoted on NASDAQ OMX Helsinki Ltd with the identifier ALD1V. More information at www.aldata-solution.com
 

http://www.aldata.com/com/about/news/aldata_gold_retail_suite_now_available_in_ibm_websphere_platform

Key survey findings to be discussed at the NRF seminar on January 12th include:

• The relationship between IT spending and value for retailers.
• Comparisons between North American and European IT strategies.
• Planned IT investment priorities over the next three years by application area.
• Relative importance of retail applications within retail businesses.
• Satisfaction ratings of existing retail IT investments.

The survey results have been analyzed by Martec International and will be presented at the seminar by its President Brian Hume with assistance from IBM’s Retail Strategist Rob Garf.

Seating is limited due to space. Please email Info.us@aldata-solution.com to pre-book a seat for the Global Retail CIO Survey seminar.

To request an early copy of the full Global Retail CIO Survey results, please contact info@aldata-solution.com

About IBM
For more information about IBM, visit www.ibm.com/services

Martec International
Over the last 20 years, Martec has become the leading firm of retail business process experts in the world. It is also the world leader in training and consulting services for companies that sell to retailers. For more information, visit www.martec-international.com/index.htm 

http://www.aldata.com/com/about/news/global_retail_cio_survey_results_released_at_nrf

“Heinen’s selected the Aldata retail suite for its comprehensive supply-chain coverage, the full functionality of each module—from central operations to store and warehouse management—as well as the ability to tightly integrate all those capabilities across all aspects of our business,” said Louis Penny, Director of IT, Heinen’s Fine Foods Inc. “We also are extremely impressed with Aldata’s deep grocery domain expertise.”

Heinen’s expects its initial Aldata rollout to “go live” in 2009.
 

http://www.aldata.com/com/about/news/heinens_selects_aldata_gold_enterprise_retail_suite

Apollo Space Planning software is used by more than 300 retail and CPG companies with over 8,000 individual users worldwide and contains over 20 years of accumulated retail planning and optimization domain knowledge. It dramatically improves the retail space planning process utilizing advanced merchandizing rules, category assortments, performance criteria, and space constraints. Recent major investments in ease-of-use, speed of deployment and web publishing further confirm Apollo’s global leadership position.

In today’s challenging economic climate, customers are looking to reduce costs, while ensuring customer satisfaction. The combination of supply chain optimization offered by Aldata with space planning automation offered by Apollo ensures that true customer-centric planning can be executed at the optimal granular level. Forecasted demand levels based on local requirements can now be seamlessly integrated into the assortment and space planning process, and then automated planograms produced to ensure high levels of compliance and ROI.

“The addition of the Apollo business is a natural fit for Aldata” said Bertrand Sciard, President and CEO of Aldata, “Firstly, the combination of products provides best-of-breed integrated planning, optimization, delivery, and replenishment of retail merchandizing operations. Secondly, Apollo’s substantial U.S. customer base fits Aldata’s stated strategy to build a larger presence in the U.S. market. And thirdly, both companies have shared heritage, experience, and customers in the high-volume food, grocery and CPG market sectors.

Mike Duffey, CFO of IRI, stated, “The agreement to divest our Apollo software division is part of IRI’s overall strategic plan to further increase focus and investment in our core businesses that are vital to our CPG and retail clients including comprehensive marketing information, consumer and shopper insights, predictive analytics automation, price and promotion optimization, shopper loyalty and consulting services. Aldata has a rich history of developing and delivering high-quality software solutions for the retail and wholesale sectors, making them a natural candidate for the acquisition of Apollo. Their commitment to further expanding the Apollo portfolio of capabilities will provide enhanced value to Apollo users, enabling the next generation of space planning and optimization.”

The transaction is anticipated to close on or before December 17th 2008. Employee transfers will occur once all local employment law and EC jurisdiction requirements have been properly met.

About Information Resources, Inc.
IRI is the world’s leading provider of consumer, shopper, and retail market intelligence and insights supporting 95 percent of the FORTUNE Global 500 consumer packaged goods (CPG), retail and healthcare companies. Only IRI offers the unique combination of integrated market information, automated and predictive analytics, innovative enabling technologies, and domain expertise. With IRI, leading retailers and manufacturers are able to quickly discover breakthrough insights driving smarter decisions and actions across the enterprise for breakthrough results. Companies around the world depend on IRI for improved productivity, stronger brands, and dramatic revenue growth. For more information, visit us.infores.com.

CONTACTS:
For IRI
John McIndoe
john.mcindoe@infores.com
Phone: (312) 474-3862

http://www.aldata.com/com/about/news/aldata_acquires_apollo_retail_space_planning_business_from_iri

Aldata Solution, a leading provider of software solutions for the retail industry, today announced that it has successfully completed several benchmark tests on Oracle, demonstrating that the Aldata G.O.L.D. retail suite runs with high reliability and performance on Oracle® Fusion Middleware with Oracle Real Application Clusters (RAC). The Aldata benchmarks are the result of a successful relationship with Oracle extending over 18 years supporting more than 250 customers at over 20,000 sites.

By confirming that Aldata G.O.L.D. retail modules run on Oracle Fusion Middleware for J2EE and reaffirming the fact that the latest version of Aldata G.O.L.D. can be fully optimized on Oracle RAC technology, the benchmarks demonstrate the high degree of interoperability between Aldata G.O.L.D. and Oracle technology.

“Our long association and investment with Oracle as a database supplier to Aldata customers is further enhanced by these integration results,” said Allan Davies, CMO, Aldata. “Achieving maximum performance from the database and ease of integration with other applications are key requirements for our retail customers.”

Aldata is a member of the Oracle PartnerNetwork, and supplies the world’s leading retailers and wholesalers with the systems that manage the core of their business, enabling visibility and optimization of their entire supply chain from supplier to customer. Aldata G.O.L.D. provides a unified retail architecture with multiple modules that can be implemented in rapid ROI stages. Applications include: master data management, forecasting and replenishment, logistics and distribution, store and merchandising, supplier and order management, plus loyalty and marketing systems.

About the Oracle PartnerNetwork
Oracle PartnerNetwork is a global business network of more than 20,000 companies who deliver innovative software solutions based on Oracle software. Through access to Oracle’s premier products, education, technical services, marketing and sales support, the Oracle PartnerNetwork program provides partners with the resources they need to be successful in today’s global economy. Oracle partners are able to offer their customers leading-edge solutions backed by Oracle’s position as the world's largest enterprise software company. Partners who are able to demonstrate superior product knowledge, technical expertise and a commitment to doing business with Oracle qualify for the Certified Partner levels. www.oraclepartnernetwork.oracle.com

Trademarks
Oracle is a registered trademark of Oracle Corporation and/or its affiliates.

http://www.aldata.com/com/about/news/aldata_gold_completes_benchmarks_for_oracle_fusion_middleware_oracle_real

Aldata Solution, a leading provider of software solutions for the retail industry, today announced Fozzy Group, the Ukraine’s leading grocery wholesale and retail operator, has successfully completed its deployment of Aldata G.O.L.D Central and Stock. Fozzy will now roll out the Aldata G.O.L.D Shop module in Silpo, the country’s largest supermarket chain, to manage store operations, automate replenishment, reduce out-of-stocks and improve customer satisfaction. Fozzy expects to have G.O.L.D. Shop deployed to all 170 Silpo stores within the next two years.

“With Aldata G.O.L.D in place, we’ve gained real-time insight across our entire supply chain, and as a result, we have significantly improved operations from our headquarters to the warehouse and now it’s time to extend those efficiencies to our stores,” said Ury Gorgo, CIO, Fozzy. “In the past year, we’ve increased productivity in the warehouse, reduced out-of-stocks, and improved stock management and ordering. This has helped us to achieve our primary goal – providing excellent customer service.”

In 2007, Fozzy implemented the Aldata G.O.L.D. Central and Stock modules to centralize back-office operations, align ordering, improve warehouse and store operations and streamline inventory management. Using Aldata G.O.L.D., Fozzy was able replace its legacy, disparate, systems to build a single, scalable, platform for its warehouses, hypermarkets, superstores and c-stores. With the addition of G.O.L.D Shop, Fozzy will have a complete and scalable solution that will facilitate growth as the company continues to expand operations.

“Aldata provides Fozzy with a central, scalable foundation that integrates operations that were previously managed in multiple systems,” said Dominique Chambas, senior vice president, Aldata Solution. “By unifying operations and creating a single view into the entire supply chain, Fozzy can continue to dominate the Ukrainian market by providing first-rate customer service and a wide assortment of items through better stock and inventory control and enhanced warehouse operations.”

http://www.aldata.com/com/about/news/fozzy_goes_live_with_aldata_gold

Aldata Solution, a leading provider of software solutions for the retail industry, today announced the availability of “Sell Better” the second retail business brief available as part of a series that explores the use of new approaches, strategies, best practices and technologies that help retailers improve their long-term competitive position. “Sell Better” provides insight into how retailers in the United States and Europe use technology to adopt a customer-centric approach that enables them to increase top line sales and maintain margins while retaining and attracting new customers.
The “Sell Better” business brief is available at www.aldata-solution.com/RBB

 “In the present trading environment, retailers are developing new ways to boost sales by adopting more customer-centric approaches to bring customers into stores and serve them better,” stated Allan Davies, CMO of Aldata. “The most successful retailers are using new methods of ensuring shelf availability, competitive pricing, relevant assortments and e-marketing to keep ahead. They are simply able to sell better and exceed customer expectations even in these tough times.”

 Aldata’s “Sell Better” business brief highlights customer-centric strategies that leading retailers are using to increase sales revenue. Examples include:

1. Motivating customers to buy- Beyond advertising, retailers are using business intelligence to match price and promotion to customers spending and profile.
2. Delivering on the promise- Beyond low pricing, customers. Automating central buying, promotional and replenishment functions enable retailers to be much more responsive to customer needs.
3. Focusing on customer experience- Adopting new technology to improve staff productivity, so they can focus on customer service. Wireless PDAs enables staff to perform stock and price-checking, point-of-sale and store management.
4. Using retail intelligence to measure, monitor and adjust- Customer requirements are not static. Successful retailers are building intelligence from instant feedback and loyalty programs, enabling real-time response to changing needs.

“Reducing costs is a major focus for all retailers today, but understanding the best practices of selling better is just as important,” continued Davies. “The proof is in the facts shared in the ‘Sell Better’ business brief. It’s a good read.”

http://www.aldata.com/com/about/news/retailers_sell_better_to_beat_the_credit_crunch

About Nash Finch
Nash Finch is a Fortune 1000 company and one of the leading food distribution companies in the United States. Nash Finch's core business, food distribution, serves independent retailers and military commissaries in 31 states, the District of Columbia, Europe, Cuba, Puerto Rico, the Azores and Egypt. The Company also owns and operates a base of retail stores, primarily supermarkets under the Econofoods(R), Family Thrift Center(R), AVANZA(R) and Sun Mart(R) trade names. Further information is available on the Company's website, www.nashfinch.com

Aldata 100% Retail-Wholesale
At Aldata 100% of our business is dedicated to retail and wholesale business improvement. We provide our customers with modern, flexible and integrated software solutions specifically designed to increase productivity, performance and profitability. With over 24,000 successful installations across 52 countries, from convenience store to hypermarket, 480+ live warehouses and customers with 5 to 5,000 outlets, we consistently deliver the goods for retail and wholesale business improvement. Aldata Solution is a public company quoted on NASDAQ OMX Helsinki Ltd with the identifier ALD1V. More information at www.aldata-solution.com  

http://www.aldata.com/com/about/news/nash_finch_company_selects_aldata_gold

Aldata Solution, a leading provider of software solutions to the retail industry, today announced that Nelt, the leading Serbian distribution company, will improve its warehouse capacity planning and productivity management by taking advantage of advanced features in G.O.L.D. Stock and by implementing G.O.L.D. C-Plan. Using G.O.L.D. Stock’s traceability functionality, Nelt can now track healthcare and medical products by unique unit-level identifiers and across links in the supply chain. This, along with the ability to analyze stock data in real time, ensures Nelt can respond to product recalls quickly and efficiently as well as meet European healthcare traceability legislation.

With more than 1000 employees and 50,000 square meters of warehouse space, Nelt is a leading 3PL and distributor for Kraft Foods International, Wrigley and Procter & Gamble products, in Serbia, Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Macedonia. Nelt originally deployed Aldata G.O.L.D. Stock, G.O.L.D. Radio and G.O.L.D. Transport in its central warehouse in Belgrade in 2004.

“Using Aldata G.O.L.D., we have successfully improved our supply chain operations through optimized costs, quality of service delivered, and by tracking key information in warehouse operations,” said Zoran Orlić, Nelt’s Supply Chain Manager. “Thanks to that, our current accuracy index is 99.6%, and we will further improve the quality of our services by implementing the module for enhancing productivity and dynamic routing of shipments.”

In addition to the traceability functionality, Nelt will use Aldata’s C-Plan to improve its warehouse capacity planning and productivity management. With C-Plan, warehouse managers in Nelt’s logistics network can assess their daily workload and resource performance for the short and long term. Managers can identify potential anomalies related to the different handling capacities, both human and material resources, assess the impact and recalibrate plans as necessary.

“Nelt is one of the most prestigious companies in the retail and logistics industry in this region,” said Ivan Guzelj, managing director of Aldata Solution Slovenia. “Nelt embraces technology, best practices and new standards of excellence including traceability requirements. Aldata successfully supported Nelt’s tremendous business growth in Serbia and the region, and I’m confident the results of this project will demonstrate equal performance with respect to aligning its business with European standards and legislations.”

G.O.L.D. ® is a registered trademark of Aldata Solution.
 

http://www.aldata.com/com/about/news/nelt_tracks_healthcare_products_and_enhances_logisitics_management_with_aldata_gold

Aldata Solution, a leading provider of software solutions to the retail industry, today announced that M.H. Alshaya Co., one of the major retail companies operating in the Middle East, has deployed Aldata G.O.L.D. Central, Shop and Mobile to manage supply chain operations for its new Dean & Deluca franchise. Alshaya, which also operates the Boots, Mothercare and Starbucks Coffee franchises in the Middle East, will open its first Dean & Deluca store in Kuwait before the end of 2008 and additional stores in Dubai and Qatar within a year.

“Alshaya selected Aldata G.O.L.D. for our Dean & Deluca rollout because of its rich functionality, superior technology and for Aldata’s impressive track record supporting retailers especially in the grocery sector,” said K. R. Narayanan, director solutions, Alshaya Group. “We will be optimizing our supply chain processes and centralizing procurement functions for the new stores with Aldata G.O.L.D.”

Aldata and its Gulf Region partner, KOL Corporation FZ-LLC, collaborated to ensure a rapid Aldata G.O.L.D. implementation so that Alshaya would meet its aggressive store opening deadlines.

“Alshaya’s accelerated store opening schedule provided another opportunity for us to get Aldata G.O.L.D. up and running in time to meet the business needs of our customers,” said Dominique Chambas, SVP Sales EMEA, Aldata. “Once again, we were able to complete the deployment within six months.”

Offering complete management of central head-office operations, G.O.L.D. Central enables the control, management and optimization of logistics and commercial flows and facilitates stock level management, pricing, ranges and assortments and replenishment. G.O.L.D. Shop complements G.O.L.D. Central with back office management, centralized POS management and business reporting for a complete in-store solution. G.O.L.D. Mobile is dedicated to mobile shop floor operations such as stock and item checking, store ordering, store receptions and helps to minimize out-of-stocks as well as empowering store associates to spend more time selling, servicing and building relationships with consumers.

About M.H. Alshaya Co.
M.H. Alshaya Co. is one of the leading retail companies operating in the Middle East, and is the franchisee for more than 40 international retailer brands including H&M, Starbucks Coffee, Mothercare, Debenhams, Boots, The Body Shop and Foot Locker. Based in Kuwait, Alshaya operates more than 1400 internationally branded stores across 16 countries, including the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Qatar, Oman, Lebanon, Jordan, Cyprus, Turkey, Russia, Egypt and more recently Poland. This network of stores is supported by an integrated pan-regional infrastructure, incorporating best practice activities in Retail Operations, Merchandising, Marketing, IT, Logistics, Real Estate, Human Resources and Financial Control. Alshaya’s Retail Division employs more than 14,000 employees from 37 nationalities.

About Kol Corp
KOL Corporation FZ–LLC is an information technology company that develops, customizes and implements business solutions and products across different business verticals and technologies. In its sixth year of operations, KOL has a team of over 65 people best defined as talented, enthusiastic, committed and driven. This team comprises of people with outstanding computer science and specialist business domain backgrounds.
KOL range of services includes ERP/SCM Implementation and Business Consultancy. Apart from development, customizations and implementation on Microsoft technology platform we do have expertise and major projects in other technologies and are involved in significant corporate projects.
KOL has served the technology needs of customers in industries across various domains. KOL’s client list ranges from Government to Multinationals to Regional Corporate Powerhouses.
 

http://www.aldata.com/com/about/news/leading_middle_east_retailer_mh_alshaya_deploys_aldata_gold

Aldata Solution, a leading provider of software solutions for the retail industry, today announced that Interex, the trading entity of global retailer Intermarche and one of the largest international supermarket chains in Serbia, has successfully piloted Aldata G.O.L.D. Central to optimize replenishment at its Šabac store and plans to extend its replenishment capabilities to its other Serbian stores. G.O.L.D.’s Master Data Management (MDM) backbone and international support will enable Interex to continue to extend the single G.O.L.D. replenishment solution into its other Balkan countries.

Interex will deploy the Aldata replenishment capabilities to all six of its retail stores in Čačak, Belgrade, Niš, Zaječar, Šabac and Priština by the end of 2008. Following its G.O.L.D. rollout to Serbia, Interex also plans to extend G.O.L.D. Central to its Romanian stores.

G.O.L.D. Central is a complete management solution for central head-office operations that enables the control, management and optimization of logistics and commercial flows and facilitates stock level management, pricing, ranges and assortments and replenishment.

To optimize replenishment and improve efficiencies, Interex initially licensed Aldata G.O.L.D. in 2005 for its stores in Bosnia and Herzegovina in order to more efficiently manage its head-office, logistics and store operations.

“As we extended Aldata G.O.L.D. across our Balkan stores, Interex has progressively improved the efficiency and quality of our supply chain business processes and improved customer satisfaction too,” said Milan Dobrota, Interex IT director after successfully completing the Serbian pilot program. “Thanks to the training and support of Aldata's experienced professionals during the Bosnia and Herzegovina implementation, our team is qualified to implement and maintain Aldata G.O.L.D. on its own in both Serbia and Romania.”

“We are extremely satisfied with the Aldata G.O.L.D. implementation at Interex, and their team confirmed once again that our product takes much less time to be deployed than our competitors’, considering comparable projects,” said Ivan Guzelj, Managing Director of Aldata Solution Slovenia. “With Aldata G.O.L.D., Interex can operate its supply chain more efficiently, and this expertise gives them a tremendous competitive advantage in the market as well.”

About Interex
Interex is the trading entity of the global retailer Intermarché for its operations in the Balkans. One of the largest food and non-food products retailers in the region, Interex predominantly runs a low price policy in its stores in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia and Romania. Intermarché is a chain of supermarkets noted for their convenient locations. Interex is a part of Intermarche, French leading retailer with business in 10 European countries, annual revenue of 32 billion EUR and 112.000 employees. For more information, go to www.intermarche.com

http://www.aldata.com/com/about/news/interex_serbia_optimizes_replenishment_with_aldata_gold

Terraventum in brief
Terraventum is a software company specializing in digital marketing solutions. The company is established in 2003. In co-operation with its customers, Terraventum develops solutions that help the customers to exploit the possibilities of digital media and different marketing channels in their business. 
 

http://www.aldata.com/com/about/news/aldata_acquires_digital_marketing_specialist_terraventum

Veronique reports to Bertrand Sciard, President and CEO of Aldata, and has responsibility for the global structure, management and development of human resources in Aldata. She has previously held senior international HR roles in global organizations including BT, Boston Scientific and General Electric. Veronique is of dual French and Italian nationality and is fluent in Italian, Spanish, French and English.

Bertrand Sciard said “Veronique will provide a key role in helping Aldata to attract, retain and develop the best people in our industry as we grow our global business.”
 

http://www.aldata.com/com/about/news/aldata_creates_new_human_resources_leadership_role

PARIS, Tuesday, Sept. 2 -- Aldata Solution, a leading provider of software solutions for the retail industry, has achieved Symbol PLUS validation for its G.O.L.D. Vocal solution by successfully completing Motorola’s Solution Validation Program. This designation will help assure customers of system interoperability between selected Motorola mobile computers and the G.O.L.D. Vocal solution.

Aldata’s G.O.L.D Vocal is an innovative PDA-based voice order picking solution, which recently won Best Solution in the ISV category, communications and mobility at IT Europa’s European IT excellence awards. Aldata, a Premier ISV within Motorola’s PartnerSelect program, won against competition from 49 organizations in 16 countries for the implementation of the G.O.L.D Vocal solution at Leclerc Lecasud, the central buying and distribution group of French hypermarket chain, E Leclerc.

“The benefits brought by the implementation of G.O.L.D. Vocal include increased quality because the error rate is divided by eight,” said Alain Robeau, support services director, Leclerc Lecasud. “It has increased productivity by approximately 12 percent and improved stock management because we can integrate perpetual inventory during order picking. The multi-modal opportunities offered by G.O.L.D. Vocal also enable us to consider redesigning other processes, such as truck loading. We can certainly see there may be additional gains in quality and productivity due to multi-modal processes, something which is not available in a voice-dedicated environment.”

“Motorola’s validation of Aldata G.O.L.D. Vocal demonstrates the strength and capabilities of our product to complete a rigorous testing program successfully,” said Jean-Francois Le Garrec, product director, Aldata Solution. “Our customers and partners will view this as another example of our commitment to enable the PDA to become the universal terminal for multi-modal voice solutions for warehouse operations.”

Motorola’s Solutions Validation Program enables partners to test and validate their mobility solutions on Motorola products to help ensure interoperability and meet the customer application-specific needs, as well as reduce both the risk level and the time to deployment for the customer. Working closely with the Motorola Solution Centre engineering team, Aldata G.O.L.D. Vocal has been tested and co-validated on the WT4090, MC3090 and MC9090.

About Motorola
Motorola is known around the world for innovation and leadership in wireless and broadband communications. Inspired by our vision of Seamless Mobility, the people of Motorola are committed to helping you get and stay connected simply and seamlessly to the people, information, and entertainment that you want and need. We do this by designing and delivering "must have" products, "must do" experiences and powerful networks -- along with a full complement of support services. A Fortune 100 company with global presence and impact, Motorola had sales of US $35.3 billion in 2005. Fr more information visit www.Motorola.com
 

http://www.aldata.com/com/about/news/motorola_awards_symbol_plus_validation_to_aldata

PARIS, 25. August 2008 -- Aldata Solution, a leading provider of software solutions for the retail industry, announced today that Système U, one of France’s largest grocery retailers, has selected the Aldata G.O.L.D. Vocal PDA. After a successful pilot program, Système U has begun operating Vocal PDA with voice-order picking on 50 PDA units.

“The Aldata G.O.L.D. Vocal PDA is delivering both business and IT benefits to the Système U warehouse operations,” said François Lesieur, IS director for Système U. “Our warehouse workers are seeing efficiency gains at the same time that IT is enjoying the flexibility that Aldata’s open architecture affords.”

Fast growing Système U already used G.O.L.D. Stock to manage its warehouses and, since 2000, has deployed Aldata G.O.L.D. Vocal in a proprietary environment to manage its fresh, dry and perishable products, plus seafood and fresh fish within its warehouses. Adding the Aldata G.O.L.D. Vocal PDA to its existing warehouse systems has allowed Système U to increase both the flexibility and cost-effectiveness of its warehouse systems.

Système U chose the Aldata G.O.L.D. Vocal PDA for the following reasons:

• The PDA solution is compatible with Système U’s current proprietary-based solution, which frees the retailer to replace its current technology investment step by step—in line with its hardware replacement strategy—or supplement the existing investment as new needs arise;
• Aldata frees Système U from proprietary hardware and systems integrator choices;
• The PDA’s multi-modal functionality provides greater flexibility and enables Système U to study how the PDA can be used in support of other warehouse processes;
• The PDA generates real productivity gains in voice-order picking by enhancing the performance of the solution and improving ergonomics. PDAs are proven to improve long-term and short-term productivity by engaging workers on multiple levels.

Aldata collaborated on the Système U implementation with TIMCOD, which is the hardware supplier and mobile systems integrator responsible for Système U’s WiFi infrastructure and network equipment. The Motorola WT4090 was selected for the voice-order picking project. Both TIMCOD and Motorola are members of the Aldata Mobility Alliance.

François Lesieur added, “TIMCOD was chosen for its proven ability in this area and their high levels of customer service.”

“Système U is an existing Aldata G.O.L.D. customer that is taking advantage of Aldata’s flexible implementation services to build out a warehouse system that meets their inventory management needs,” said Allan Davies, CMO, Aldata. “In combining G.O.L.D. Stock for WMS management with G.O.L.D. Vocal PDA for inventory selection, Système U has created a sophisticated system that optimizes the movement of product and workers so that inventory gets to stores as quickly and accurately as possible.”

Complementing Aldata’s existing G.O.L.D. Vocal environment for dedicated voice terminals, the G.O.L.D. Vocal PDA extension permits a wider choice of operator terminals and enhances the potential for new business processes based on multi-modal applications integrating voice and other data management methods (keyboard, barcode reader—1D and 2D—Datamatrix), electronic tag reader (RFID), voice and photography. Aldata offers its customers both dedicated and multi-purpose voice solutions. Its G.O.L.D. Vocal is used by more than 6,000 operators worldwide thanks to its support for first and second generation voice-order picking.

About Système U
Système U is a French retailer cooperative with over 885 independent members and 2007 revenues of more than €16.76 billion. It owns the Hyper U (hypermarket), Super U (supermarket), Marché U (convenience) and Utile trademarks, which are used by its members. The group targets a 10% market share and a network of 1,000 stores in France by 2010. For more information on Système U, go to http://www.magasins-u.com/

http://www.aldata.com/com/about/news/systme_u_selects_aldata_gold_vocal_pda_to_increase_warehouse_operations_flexibility

Aldata Solution, a leading provider of software solutions for the retail industry, today announced a retail business briefing series that offers examples of how leading retailers are positioning for long-term competitive advantage. “Survival of the Fittest,” the first in the series, is compiled from industry and customer research to highlight how retailers can survive and prosper in the present tough economic climate. The business briefing is available for download at www.aldata-solution.com/RBB

“Retailers across the United States and Western Europe suffer from a combination of shrinking customer demand, high costs of goods and increasing energy challenges that are unprecedented in recent history,” stated Allan Davies, CMO of Aldata. “We want to help our customers survive and even prosper during this recessionary period. Therefore, we commissioned research to analyze best practices for retail fitness in conjunction with leading retail industry analysts and will publish the results in a four part series.”

“Survival of the Fittest” provides an easy-to-read summary of the strategies retailers have successfully deployed to increase retail fitness and to optimize technology investments for efficient operations. Topics and customers covered include:
 

1. Buying Better- Thorntons, a UK-based chocolatier with 400 shops and cafes, recently replaced its outdated legacy system and manual processes with an integrated supply-chain suite. The new system enables the retailer to better manage seasonal fluctuations for goods, to improve its ordering and replenishment processes, and gain a better view of merchandise and demand.
2. Stocking Better- Groupe Casino, a €25 billion retailer with operations in 15 countries, integrated its merchandise flow management across a common backbone to automate warehouse and store replenishment, reduce errors and improve visibility into inventory and product information. The company reduced food stocks by 20 percent over a two-year period.
3. Selling Better- Elephant Pharm, a savvy California-based retail pharmacy focused on creating a pleasant and memorable shopping experience, recently deployed a mobility solution that empowers associates with access to better information while interacting with customers. Associates can perform stock re-ticking and promotional pricing via PDAs while moving freely around the store floor.

“For retailers, the objective is no longer market share; it’s about maximizing margins in a cutthroat environment,” said Davies. “Forward-thinking retailers view the challenging economy as an opportunity to invest in category and market expansion and online development, so that they will be better positioned for growth once the economy picks up again.”

http://www.aldata.com/com/about/news/survival_of_the_retail_fittest

http://www.aldata.com/com/about/news/annoucement_from_symphony_technology_group_regarding_its_ownership_in_aldata

Aldata Solution, a leading provider of software solutions for the retail industry, today announced that MSF Supply, a humanitarian relief supplies center created by Médecins Sans Frontières Belgium, will use Aldata G.O.L.D. Stock, to manage the delivery of its emergency supplies throughout the world and to improve the traceability of its operations in line with European healthcare traceability legislation. The project will start immediately.

Like many organizations, MSF Supply must now put traceability at the forefront of its operations. Pierre-Paul Lamotte, Logistics & Operations Director for MSF Supply, said, “G.O.L.D Stock will enable our humanitarian center to respond to the exacting legislative requirements we face.”

MSF Supply will use Aldata G.O.L.D. Stock to run the logistics of its relief supplies center in Merchtem, Belgium. Specifically, G.O.L.D. Stock will be used to distribute more than 19,000 items, including emergency kits, medicines, medical-surgical material, vehicles, food and shelter material, more easily as part of its daily missions. The solution will allow the center to react immediately to emergency situations and ensure items are delivered as quickly and effectively as possible - wherever they are needed in the world.

“This agreement builds upon our growing work with healthcare organizations to enhance traceability and shows that groups such as Médecins Sans Frontières Belgium increasingly turn to Aldata to help them manage their logistics in the most efficient, cost-effective and transparent way possible,” said Allan Davies, CMO of Aldata Solution.

About Médecins Sans Frontières Belgium and MSF Supply
Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) is an international humanitarian aid organization that provides emergency medical assistance to populations in danger in more than 70 countries. MSF Supply, centre for humanitarian relief supplies, was created by Médecins Sans Frontières Belgium.

http://www.aldata.com/com/about/news/msf_supply_selects_aldata_for_item_management_and_traceability_of_its_humanitarian_aid

Strasbourg’s University Hospitals (SUH) are to deploy solutions from Aldata for the management and distribution of products to the 250 operational units within the six hospitals that are supplied by SUH in order to improve efficiency and meet traceability obligations.

An initial evaluation of SUH’s logistics resulted in a series of organisational recommendations including the construction of a new 22,000m2 distribution facility as well as a software solution to manage and support their stock and central pharmacy, catering, transport, depot and waste treatment services.

For the real-time management of its distribution activities, SUH chose the Aldata G.O.L.D. Stock warehouse management system and a mobile RFID solution from CIPAM, a member of the Aldata Mobility Alliance, for hospital equipment management. Many of these activities will be executed on multi-modal PDA terminals giving SUH the option to deploy voice-directed operations and benefit from additional efficiencies.

Delivery and laundry trolleys will be equipped with RFID tags for traceability management within SUH’s logistics network. In addition, warehouse management functions will integrate and communicate with the on-board computer systems of the Auto-Guided Vehicle network that serves the different hospital functional units. In the future, Aldata will also support the implementation of an automatic dispensary, which will prepare prescriptions for each individually named patient.

In line with European healthcare traceability legislation and SUH’s own stringent quality standards, the Aldata and CIPAM solution will enable the hospital to ensure traceability of all its products and specific operational flows via the use of traceability indicators, outgoing flow indicators, serial numbers, batch recall, traceability of secondary flux flows and follow-through of urgent orders.

The project will start immediately.

About Strasbourg’s University Hospitals
Strasbourg’s University Hospitals consists of the Nouvel Hôpital Civil and the hospitals at Hautepierre, Lyautey, de L’Elsau, de la Robertsau and CCOM. Total bed capacity is 2,540 and the group employs 11000 people.

About CIPAM
With more 15 years of experience, CIPAM conceives and realizes specialized solutions for integration of tracability and mobility applications combining various identification technologies like 1D or 2D barcodes, RFID, vocal solutions.
Our applications are installed within great French and international groups in spheres of activities like industry, automotive, aeronautics, logistics, health, transport, pharmacy, petrochemistry and distribution. For more information www.cipam.com

Press Contact:
Véronique Rataille –Communications Manager
Tél : (+33) 4 73 26 96 16 – veronique.rataille@cipam.com
CIPAM S.A.S: 9 rue Valentin Haüy- 63064 Clermont-Ferrand

http://www.aldata.com/com/about/news/university_hospitals_strasbourg_france_selects_aldata_for_centralised_logistics

An innovative PDA-based voice order picking solution from Aldata is the industry-best according to European publisher and market intelligence company, IT Europa. Aldata’s G.O.L.D Vocal PDA won Best Solution in the ISV category, communications and mobility, at IT Europa’s European IT excellence awards. The company won against competition from 49 organizations in 16 countries for the implementation of the G.O.L.D. Vocal solution at Leclerc Lecasud, the central buying and distribution group of E.Leclerc.

At Leclerc Lecasud, the G.O.L.D. Vocal solution is used for all order picking in the dry goods warehouse. The solution enables Warehouse operators to use PDA terminals with headsets to receive and transmit voice commands to the Warehouse Management System, which has complete visibility of the operators and the warehouse stock. This enables the operators to carry out order picking assignments in real-time for maximum efficiency and productivity without the administrative overhead of paper-based operations. It has also been proven to reduce the number of pick rate errors.

Alain Robeau, Support Services Director, Leclerc Lecasud, said: "The voice order picking solution which has recently gone into production at Leclerc Lecasud operates in a PDA environment. We already have experience of a voice solution with voice-dedicated terminals but Aldata’s PDA solution appealed to us for many reasons:

• Compatibility with existing systems: G.O.L.D. Vocal in a PDA environment is compatible with other picking systems that we are already using. This allows us to protect existing investments
• Independence in hardware selection: G.O.L.D. Vocal now enables us to be independent of the hardware supplier
• Speech recognition system: G.O.L.D. Vocal is a system that operates without any voice pre-registering. This represents significant gains in time for temporary and seasonal personnel
• Second generation voice solution future-proofs our investment: G.O.L.D. Vocal’s ability to fully utilise the PDA multi-modal applications (screen, pistol, keyboard, voice, scanning, RFID and barcodes, etc) means that we can apply this technology to operations other than order picking and inventory"

Mr Robeau concluded: "The benefits brought by the implementation of this system include increased quality because the error rate is divided by eight. It has increased productivity by approximately 12 per cent and improved stock management because we can integrate perpetual inventory during order picking.

The multi-modal opportunities offered by G.O.L.D. Vocal enable us to consider redesigning other processes, such as truck loading. We can certainly see there may be additional gains in quality and productivity due to multi-modal processes, something which is not available in a voice-dedicated environment".

Jean-François Le Garrec, G.O.L.D. Vocal Development Director, Aldata Solution, added: "We are very proud of this award. It recognizes that Aldata increases efficiency in warehouses.”

A film showing how the solution was implemented at Leclerc Lecasud is available at:
http://www.aldata.com/com/Customers/Customer Videos/

http://www.aldata.com/com/about/news/aldata_wins_at_european_it_excellence_awards

During the second-half of 2008, T. Choithram & Sons will open new hypermarkets in the region and has selected Aldata’s G.O.L.D. Shop software to manage its back-office operations.The wholesaler has other ongoing hypermarket projects and G.O.L.D. Shop will be used for all retail outlets following this format. The company is also reviewing whether to replace its in-house developed supply chain software with the G.O.L.D. suite to manage its other retail and warehouse formats.

"Aldata’s G.O.L.D. Shop has already proven itself in the area of retail commerce, and particularly in the food sector, and is already used by most of our colleagues. As T. Choithram & Sons wishes to work with a company which has significant experience in this area, we contacted KOL Corporation FZLLC, Aldata’s partner in the Gulf region, to benefit from the best practices on the market and thus reduce implementation time", indicates M. Manoj Thanwani, Import & Hypermarket Project manager, T. Choithram & Sons.

http://www.aldata.com/com/about/news/t_choithram_sons_choose_aldata_gold_for_its_uaebased_hypermarkets

G.O.L.D. Central is already live at Midlands Coop and G.O.L.D. Shop, POS and Mobile covering EPoS, automatic store replenishment and store inventory management on a PDA, are currently being implemented for a roll-out in 2008.

Commenting on their purchase, Mark Ruttley, Head of IT at Midlands Coop stated “G.O.L.D. Mine gives us an affordable and effective means of gaining a deeper understanding of what is happening in our business. This additional knowledge will help us improve the quality of our decision-making and ensure that we better serve our customers. The full integration with the rest of G.O.L.D. was an attraction as well as the ability to link it in to our existing reporting front-end.”

Mark Croxton, Managing Director at Aldata Solution UK added “I am excited by the additional opportunities this will afford the Society. G.O.L.D. Mine is a recently released product and we confidently expect that this software will be in great demand by both existing and future customers.”

The project starts immediately. 

http://www.aldata.com/com/about/news/gold_mine_in_the_midlands

Several times a day, the pharmaceutical distributor CERP Lorraine delivers to the pharmacies of 27 French departments from its 14 distribution centres.

In view of European legislation concerning traceability in the area of health, CERP Lorraine decided to equip its order preparation operators with G.O.L.D. Vocal in a PDA environment to obtain traceability information during preparation, without a loss of productivity and with the aim of decreasing the rate of errors.

Mr Lopez, IT Manager of CERP Lorraine, explains why this innovative solution was selected:

"The G.O.L.D. Vocal PDA was chosen for several reasons: the multimodal possibilities of this terminal in data capture and retrieval encouraged us to envisage the PDA on different warehouse workstations, and not only on that of the order preparation operator. Also, the use of a speech recognition engine will help in the training of new order preparation operators."

He adds: "Aldata impressed us with their knowledge of our logistics business, the high level of parameterisation and the ease of implementation of their G.O.L.D. Vocal software and their implementation methodology. The implementation of a proof of concept model reassured us as to the acceptance of future users of this preparation process".

G.O.L.D. Vocal will be operational on the first site in January 2008. Deployment on other sites will be completed before the end of 2008.

http://www.aldata.com/com/about/news/pharmaceutical_group_cerp_lorraine_chooses_aldata

Selver has currently 23 stores in Estonia and is planning to open 15 stores in Latvia by the end of 2009. G.O.L.D. will first be deployed in Latvia and is scheduled to be taken into production in fall 2008. The Estonian G.O.L.D. implementation will take place after that in 2009.

Aldata Solution will provide the following G.O.L.D. solutions:

• G.O.L.D. Central for centralised master data, buying, assortment management and price management
• G.O.L.D. Shop to manage the store back office of sales outlets including store replenishment management
• G.O.L.D. Mobile for in-store mobile operations such as store reception and re-ordering management

"After an in-depth selection process, Aldata was chosen as a partner based on their long term cooperation with large international customers and extensive experience and knowledge in food retail sector, which Selver will benefit when going international itself. Aldata's G.O.L.D. is specifically retail application and has most if not all functionalities Selver needs, already included in its standard package. Selver will also make use of modern retail work processes implemented in G.O.L.D." says Toomas Mändla, the IT Manager of A-Selver AS.

"We are very excited about our new partnership with Selver. This is our first customer in the Baltic countries and an important opening for us in the region. Selver has a strong market position in Estonia and it is growing rapidly. We want support Selver to succeed in existing and future businesses" says Jorma Tukia, the Managing Director of Aldata Solution Finland Oy.

Selver in Brief
The Selver chain of supermarkets and hypermarkets is part of the group of publicly traded company Tallinna Kaubamaja AS. The Selver chain includes 23 stores, which are located in Estonia. By the end of 2009, Selver plans to open 15 stores and a central kitchen in Latvia. 2100 people are employed by Selver. The net sales of the company for 2006 were 186 million euros. More information at: www.selver.ee.

http://www.aldata.com/com/about/news/retail_chain_selver_selects_aldata_gold

Like all of LXE’s range of computers, the MX7 and HX2 are rugged, and include Intel® XScaleTM processors with Microsoft® Windows® CE.net. They offer multiple options such as a colour touch screen, an alphanumeric keyboard and an integrated scanner.

The Aldata G.O.L.D. Vocal solution can be used on the voice-and-data multimodal, mobile computers, as well as on equipment specifically dedicated to voice, which makes it possible for the order preparation centres to be equipped with voice recognition technology that can function in the two environments simultaneously.

Aldata Solution has verified the compatibility of the LXE MX7 and HX2 computers with the G.O.L.D. Vocal solution. These computers include ToughTalk™ technology, a specialised combination of LXE's trademark rugged system design, advanced audio circuitry and noise cancelling techniques, allowing it to easily interface with the Aldata G.O.L.D. Vocal solution.

Until now, voice applications required customers to acquire computers exclusively dedicated to voice. With the Aldata Solution voice application integrated into the MX7 or HX2, customers can take advantage of voice as well as traditional data collection on the same multi-usage terminal.

“Users can either utilise a single multimodal computer, or several, to carry out the various logistics applications. This significantly reduces the requirements in terms of training, and assists companies to get the most from the technology they have,” explains Noëlle Esnault, General Manager of LXE France.LXE and Aldata Solution have come together to collaborate on the development of multimodal voice solutions in industrial and logistics environments.

“Our partnership with LXE fits in our strategy to position the PDA as standard equipment for logistics throughout the supply chain. Aldata is pleased to be associated with LXE in this fast-growing market," concludes Robert Husset, Director of Logistics Solutions, Aldata Solution.

About LXE
LXE drives Supply Chain excellence, with more than 30 years of experience in the development of wireless products and services – from rugged wireless computers, advanced auto-ID technology and secure wireless network infrastructures to a complete range of turnkey services.

Based in Norcross, Georgia, LXE is a wholly-owned subsidiary of EMS Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ: ELMG). The headquarters for Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Asia are located in Mechelen, Belgium.
For more detailed information, visit the company’s website at www.lxe.fr

LXE France press contact
Corinne APPLAINCOURT – Marketing Assistant
Tel; (+33) 1 41 47 99 94
Applaincourt.c@lxe.com

http://www.aldata.com/com/about/news/aldata_solution_and_lxe_join_forces_to_offer_a_voice_solution_for_warehouses_and_logistics_2

ATLANTA—September 26, 2007-Aldata Solution, Inc., a leading provider of software solutions for the retail industry, today announced the formation of the American chapter of its G.O.L.D. User Association (GUA), the American G.O.L.D. User Association (AGUA). The AGUA will facilitate product development as well as industry practices and process developments-related communication among a growing base of North American Aldata customers in coordination with their peers globally. Kim Means, Director, Project Management Office at Giant Eagle Super Markets, will serve as the AGUA Chairman. The first AGUA Conference will take place October 10-12, 2007, in Pasadena, California.

“As founding Chairman of the AGUA, I’ll work with Aldata customers in North America to identify the business processes and challenges that can best be addressed through enhancements to the Aldata Core Retail Suite,” said Kim Means. “I’ll also coordinate with the global GUA to communicate American customer recommendations and best practices and, in turn, bring their global insight back to our constituency.”

Building on the success of the global GUA, the AGUA provides an American forum to address the needs of an active and growing community of American retailers who have implemented the Aldata G.O.L.D. Core Retail Suite. Participation in the GUA provides both American and international Aldata customers with an effective way to collaborate on resolutions for common and complex supply chain related issues. Inaugural members of the AGUA include Elephant Pharm, Giant Eagle, MCA Logistics, Smart & Final, Trader Joe’s and United Supermarkets.

“The opportunity to extend the GUA to include North American retailers is especially timely as more of our members operate on a global basis,” said Hubert Carpentier, chairman of the global GUA. “We look forward to receiving a fresh perspective on the American marketplace and expect that our established exchange of ideas and experiences will be helpful to all Aldata customers.”

GUA participants can directly influence development of the Aldata G.O.L.D. Core Retail Suite. Their input and perspective on current supply chain challenges ensures that Aldata continually aligns improvements to its global software and service offerings with real business needs.

“Over time, customer feedback has made a huge impact on our ability to create a leading retail software suite that supports our retail customers in an increasingly competitive marketplace,” said Rene Homeyer, COO of Aldata. “Global GUA expansion is a necessary complement to Aldata’s reach into North America, and we look forward to continuing to fulfill the unique needs of our American customers.”“Aldata’s North American user base has reached the critical mass necessary to support an active AGUA, and Kim Means is the ideal leader for the group,” said Brendan Lowe, Vice President, Aldata, North America. “I expect the AGUA will hit the ground running with a lively and productive first meeting in October, and I look forward to their feedback.”

For more information, please visit GUA’s web site at http://www.goldua.com/.

http://www.aldata.com/com/about/news/aldatas_us_customers_launch_american_gold_user_association_agua_2

Aldata today announced the availability of the next release of its G.O.L.D. supply chain software application – G.O.L.D. V5.07. This release contains functional enhancements in terms of retail, logistics, demand-based replenishment optimisation and support tools.

The RETAIL enhancements include:

• Textile and apparel article workflow and pre-referencing integrated within G.O.L.D. PIM (Product Information Management/ Pre-referencing)
• Sales management of multiples (example: 3 articles for 1 euro)
• Management of warehouse production orders
• Article end-of-life management

The LOGISTICS enhancements include:

• Voice operations now available on a PDA / mobile environment
• Extensions to dangerous goods management with G.O.L.D. Track
• Co-packing

DEMAND-BASED REPLENISHMENT OPTIMISATION enhancements include:

• Impact of external factors (weather, …) integrated within G.O.L.D. Forecast
• Stock cover visual support tools in G.O.L.D. Topase

SUPPORT TOOLS enhancements include:

• Management of merchandise recall with G.O.L.D. Track.
• The new module G.O.L.D. Mine - a data warehouse cube for business reporting. 

http://www.aldata.com/com/about/news/aldata_gold_version_507_3

The Aldata G.O.L.D. Vocal solution is available on mobile multi-mode voice and data terminals (PDAs) as well as on specific voice-dedicated equipment, thus allowing order preparation centres to operate simultaneously in both mobile and dedicated environments and so protect existing and future investments.

One of the most recent successes of this tripartite partnership was the decision by the leading French retailer E. Leclerc to use the Aldata G.O.L.D. Vocal module in a PDA environment in its dry goods warehouse situated in the Var region of France (the Leclerc Lecasud warehouse at Le Luc).

Nomadvance and Aldata have already collaborated on other warehousing voice projects in several business sectors: retail (Leclerc Scalandes, Carniato), industry (Senoble) and logistic services (Daher, Sofrino-Sogena).

“This partnership allows us to consolidate our position in vocal technology and offer to our customers the solution which best meets their needs. Our main objective is to implement voice recognition solutions at our customer’s warehouses which are open, lasting and adaptable and to accompany our customers in the development of their business”, says Philippe Briantais, Business and Marketing Director at Nomadvance.

“This partnership allows Aldata to offer the G.O.L.D. solution to new markets. Because of its flexibility and functional richness, the G.O.L.D. suite offers many possibilities to companies who are not necessarily looking for a complete package but modules which allow them to optimise their existing systems”, adds Robert HUSSET, Assistant General Manager at Aldata Solution S.A.

Press contact:
Céline Tavernier – Communication manager
Tel: (+33) 1 46 48 28 10 - press@aldata-solution.com
Aldata Solution S.A - 37, rue du Colonel Pierre Avia – 75015 Paris

Nomadvance in brief
Born of the fusion of Raisonnance and A3dis in March 2007, Nomadvance is the leading French integrator of automatic identification and mobility solutions, integrating both traceability applications of physical flows, within and outside the company, and mobility applications for mobile personnel.

The company has extensive experience in high-tech areas, such as automatic identification, voice recognition, the implementation of radio infrastructures, the supervision, administration and management of mobile PDA stock.Nomadvance has more than 7,000 customers in the transport, logistic, industry, health, retail and food processing industries.
For further information, please see the website:www.nomadvance.com
Press contact: Valérie Gauderon – Tel :04 26 68 03 08
Email :valerie.gauderon@nomadvance.com

Motorola in brief
Motorola is renowned worldwide for its innovation and leadership in wireless and broadband communications. Inspired by their vision of seamless mobility, the people at Motorola are committed to helping their users to connect and stay connected, simply and seamlessly. Motorola designs and delivers original communication products and experiences, powerful networks and support services which allow users to access the content, information and people they want, anytime, anywhere. A Fortune 100 company, Motorola had sales of 42 billion US dollars in 2006.

For further information: www.motorola.com and www.motorola.fr

Press contact:
Motorola - Delphine Degrelle - T. : 01.69.35.78.55
Lindecker agency - Audrey Boutron - T. : 01 42 04 29 17 - Mobile: 06 12 82 17 39

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First success for G.O.L.D. Vocal in a PDA environment.

Leclerc Lecasud has been using the G.O.L.D. Vocal module for several years with Vocollect dedicated terminals for its order preparation activities in its fresh and frozen product warehouse. In extending its vocal technology environment (for grocery and household cleaning products), the French retailer decided to select Motorola’s multi-mode mobile terminals or PDAs. The Aldata G.O.L.D. Vocal solution is now available and operational in both dedicated and PDA environments, whether stand-alone or simultaneously.

This advanced technology has brought other advantages:

•  The voices of the preparation operators no longer have to be initially recorded for identification purposes, saving time and costs for temporary and seasonal personnel
• The multi-mode voice and data functions of the Motorola WT4090 mobile terminal provide preparation operators with one unique terminal to carry out different tasks alternating between voice and ‘traditional’ barcode reading.

‘The Motorola mobile terminal WT4090 was chosen for its technical and economic criteria. The PDA enables multiple data retrieval (screen, voice etc.) and data capture elements (bar code, RFID, voice, keyboard etc.). Furthermore, the availability of the PDA in a voice environment allows a much greater choice of terminal’, says Alain Robeau, Support Services Manager, Leclerc Lecasud.

Designed for logistics applications, Motorola’s WT4090 portable terminals are adapted for difficult environments (dusty atmosphere, refrigerated warehouses, etc.) and are very rugged. The WT4090 is attached to the forearm or to the waist to leave the user’s hands free to handle the merchandise.

Nomadvance, the leading French integrator of automatic identification, traceability and mobility solutions, will ensure system integration and radio coverage at the site.

Press contact:
Céline Tavernier – Communication manager
Tel: (+33) 1 46 48 28 10 - press@aldata-solution.com
Aldata Solution S.A - 37, rue du Colonel Pierre Avia – 75015 Paris

Nomadvance in brief
Born of the fusion of Raisonnance and A3dis in March 2007, Nomadvance is the leading French integrator of automatic identification and mobility solutions, integrating both traceability applications of physical flows, within and outside the company, and mobility applications for mobile personnel.

The company has extensive experience in high-tech areas, such as automatic identification, voice recognition, the implementation of radio infrastructures, the supervision, administration and management of mobile PDA stock. Nomadvance has more than 7,000 customers in the transport, logistic, industry, health, retail and food processing industries. For more information, please see the website: www.nomadvance.com

Press contact:
Valérie Gauderon – Tel : 04 26 68 03 08
Email : valerie.gauderon@nomadvance.com

Motorola in brief
Motorola is renowned worldwide for its innovation and leadership in wireless and broadband communications. Inspired by their vision of seamless mobility, the people at Motorola are committed to helping their users to connect and stay connected, simply and seamlessly. Motorola designs and delivers original communication products and experiences, powerful networks and support services which allow users to access the content, information and people they want, anytime, anywhere. A Fortune 100 company, Motorola had sales of 42 billion US dollars in 2006.
For further information: www.motorola.com and www.motorola.fr

Press contact:

Motorola - Delphine Degrelle - T. : 01.69.35.78.55
Lindecker agency - Audrey Boutron - T. : 01 42 04 29 17 - Mobile: 06 12 82 17 39

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Aldata Has Entered into a Global Agreement with Auchan

Aldata has reached an agreement with Auchan Group on the supply of Aldata G.O.L.D. software for Auchan's operations in France and in selected other countries.

Auchan has decided to implement G.O.L.D. CENTRAL, PIM and SHOP modules to support its business, both in its domestic market France and in selected other countries. The delivery covers execution functions both at headquarter level and in the stores. The project's initial phase covers Auchan's French operations and will start immediately, with the roll-out planned to take place stepwise during the coming three years. International implementations are planned to start in 2008. The project is managed by a dedicated business team from Auchan, which is supported by Aldata resources for delivery and support services.

Auchan selected G.O.L.D. after an extensive study of solutions available. A significant factor in the decision for Aldata G.O.L.D. was Aldata's extensive experience within the retail area.

Auchan, an international retailer with 42 billion Euro revenues in 2006, 389 hypermarkets, 717 supermarkets and 175,000 employees in 12 countries, is one of the world's largest retail groups.

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Aldata G.O.L.D. Selected by Two French Speciality Retailers

Aldata Solution and Conforama, the French leader and the world's second largest retailer of home furnishings and appliances have signed an agreement on the supply of Aldata G.O.L.D. software.

Aldata is providing software and services to manage Conforama's central head-office operations including inventory, replenishment, article, assortment and price management. The project is to start immediately and full roll-out will be completed through 2007 and 2008.

Conforama, a subsidiary of the PPR group, with 15,000 employees and sales of 3,275 million euros in 2006, has 216 directly-operated stores and 31 affiliates in France and 58 stores outside France. Conforama provides a one-stop shopping solution for a full range of products for the home: traditional and contemporary furnishings, large and small home appliances, consumer electronics and decorative items.

Aldata Solution has signed an agreement on the supply of G.O.L.D. to Mr. Bricolage, the leading mid-size retailer in France for do-it-yourself household improvement, hardware and garden products.

For Mr. Bricolage Group, Aldata is providing software and services to manage its centralised supply chain operations including purchasing, article, assortment and price management as well as inventory and replenishment management. The project is to start immediately and full roll-out will be completed by the end of 2008 at the latest.

Mr. Bricolage Group, with 10.000 employees and sales of 1.8 billion euros in 2006, has 537 stores in France, in the French overseas territories and internationally (Andorra, Belgium, Bulgaria, Madagascar, Morocco, Romania, Spain and Uruguay). The Group operates under two brand names, Mr. Bricolage for mid-size towns and Catena for small-size towns and rural communities.

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The agreement covers the supply of Aldata G.O.L.D. Shop and the project has already started.

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The Moroccan food and daily good convenience store retailer, Hanouty Shop, has successfully gone into live production in just 4 months. The Aldata G.O.L.D. software is now in operation in 100 Hanouty-owned stores and Hanouty’s objective is to have 500 stores - both Hanouty-owned and franchises – operational by the end of 2007.

At the start of the project in January 2007, the Hanouty and Aldata project teams quickly established a set of joint best practices which have been very successfully deployed to achieve another Aldata Rapid Implementation project.

The Aldata G.O.L.D. software currently includes:

• G.O.L.D. Central for master data, buying, category, warehouse and store replenishment management,
• G.O.L.D. Mobile for in-store mobile operations such as store reception and re-ordering management,
• G.O.L.D. POS for full point-of-sale front-office and back-office management.

The original agreement with Aldata, signed in January 2007, covers 3000 stores in Morocco over 3 years as well the 12 countries of North Africa and Middle East where Hanouty is planning to implement the same concept.

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- Our Group has provided Aldata G.O.L.D. solution to hundreds of clients all over the world. The cooperation with Tokmanni strengthens Aldata's position also in Finland, says Jorma Tukia, Managing Director, Aldata Solution Finland.

In later phases, Aldata Solution Finland provides Tokmanni also store back office system and centralized point-of-sale system. Also, all the Tokmanni's back office systems will be transferred to Aldata.

Tokmanni in brief
Tokmanni is Finland's biggest discount chain. Tokmanni Group includes brands like Tokmanni, Maxi-Makasiinit, Säästötalo Robin Hood, Tarjoustalo, Maxi-Kodintukku and Vapaa Valinta. Group's pro forma turnover will be 530 million euros in the year 2007. Group has 118 stores in Finland and 2400 employees. Tokmanni Group's owners are Capman Oyj, Joensuun Kauppa owned by Kyösti and Kari Kakkonen, Kone Oy, RH-Yhtiö Oy -company owned by family of Seppo Saastamoinen and the rest of the company's active management. More information: www.tokmanni.fi

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Aldata, one of the leaders in voice-directed logistics solutions, today announced the availability of G.O.L.D. Vocal in a PDA environment. Complementing Aldata’s existing G.O.L.D. Vocal environment for dedicated voice terminals, the PDA extension permits a wider choice of operator terminals and enhances the potential for new business processes based on multi-modal applications integrating voice and other data management methods (keyboard, barcode reader (1D and 2D (Datamatrix)), electronic tag reader (RFID), voice, photography). Aldata is now able to offer to its customers both dedicated and multi-purpose voice solutions.

In line with the existing Aldata G.O.L.D. Mobile PDA solution for in-store operations, Aldata G.O.L.D. Vocal on PDA extends Aldata’s capability in ‘mobility’ solutions as well as supporting market trends in the adoption of the PDA as the universal terminal.

Aldata is also developing a program of technical certification for G.O.L.D. Vocal on PDA with leading industry PDA manufacturers. A short film of the Aldata G.O.L.D. Vocal on PDA solution is available at http://bee.aldata-solution.com/tools/Aldata_Live_At/PDA_Vocal/

G.O.L.D. Vocal, used by more than 5000 operators, is currently used by Aldata customers such as Casino, Coop Normandie, Delhaize Le Lion, Detailresult Services B.V., Leclerc, Match, Migros, Smart & Final and Système U.

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Aldata Solution, a leading provider of software solutions for the retail industry, today announced that Elephant Pharm, the leading one-stop wellness store and pharmacy, has chosen the Aldata G.O.L.D. Retail Supply Chain Suite for its stores. Elephant Pharm has licensed the G.O.L.D. Central and Shop modules to manage data and inventory as it expands to new locations in Northern California.

“As a store dedicated to wellness that encourages customers to make informed decisions about their individual health needs, Elephant Pharm is growing rapidly and we needed a system that could keep up,” said Tim Millen, VP of IT for Elephant Pharm. “Elephant carries customer assortments based on specific customer needs at each of our locations, ranging from medicines, books, health aids, produce, dairy, apparel, body care, cosmetics and grocery, and Aldata can handle anything we throw at it,” added Millen. “We are looking forward to improving our already outstanding customer service through the implementation of Aldata G.O.L.D.”

With the number of stores expanding quickly, including a new store opening in Walnut Creek, Calif., Elephant turned to Aldata for a centralized, real-time supply chain system that could grow with it. Aldata is delivering Elephant the Master Data Management, store inventory management and store replenishment applications by way of its Rapid Implementation (RI) Toolkit. Using the Aldata RI Toolkit’s auto-configuring questionnaires, data conversion tools, project management tools and techniques, Elephant will be able to realize G.O.L.D’s benefits quickly at the lowest possible risk.

“As an innovative retailer with a fresh approach to customer service and a unique and diverse inventory, Elephant Pharm will maintain a distinct advantage over its larger competitors by employing Aldata’s advanced technology,” said Neil Thall, CEO of Aldata Solution Inc. “With its implementation of Aldata G.O.L.D. Central and Shop, Elephant Pharm can uphold its unparalleled standards for inventory management and customer service across its existing stores and in each of the new stores as they open. In addition, Aldata’s work with Elephant Pharm demonstrates how our technology—a well known leading solution in the grocery industry that has been implemented in huge retailers as well as small ones—can be quickly, easily and successfully applied to any sized retailer.”

About Elephant Pharm
Elephant Pharm — the leading one-stop wellness store and complementary pharmacy—provides a vibrant alternative to typical chain drug stores. Founded in Berkeley, CA in 2001, Elephant acts as a bridge for customers between the best of both natural and conventional products, helping people make informed decisions about their health. In addition to both traditional Rx and herbal pharmacies, customers will also find a selection of lifestyle products far beyond the typical drugstore offerings, from natural and organic foods to healthy household supplies; from yoga gear to eco-friendly home accessories. The carefully-selected team of wellness practitioners offers free, one-on-one consultations every day, and visiting experts lead hundreds of free classes and clinics every month. Elephant Pharm stores are natural community hubs, dedicated to people seeking a good long life, well lived. Elephant Pharm stores are located in Berkeley, San Rafael, and Los Altos, CA. A new store will open in Walnut Creek, CA (2007). For more information, visit www.elephantpharm.com .

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Aldata Solution has signed an agreement on the supply of G.O.L.D. Supply Chain Management and In-Store software to Midlands Co-operative. The order covers Aldata G.O.L.D. modules for central data management, order management, store inventory management, automated replenishment and point of sale and payment systems. The agreement includes options for further G.O.L.D. modules. The project will start in early 2007.

Midlands Co-op, with over 400 trading outlets and gross sales in excess of GBP 750 million, is the second largest independent Co-operative Society in the UK and operates supermarkets, convenience stores and department stores.

Distribution:
OMX Helsinki Stock Exchange
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Swedish Railways, SJ AB, has chosen Aldata and its product Megadisc as Swedish Railway's mobile POS solution for onboard use by its staff on all SJ's trains in Sweden. The new PDA based Megadisc solution will function together with the existing Megadisc POS for bistro sales. The project will start immediately.

SJ AB has a turnover of over 600 million euros and over 100 000 people travel daily with SJ's trains to about 350 destinations.

Distribution:
OMX Helsinki Stock Exchange
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Aldata today announced the general availability of the latest release of its G.O.L.D. software application – G.O.L.D. V5.06. This release contains functional enhancements as well as strengthening Aldata’s position in being the first supply chain software vendor to deliver SOA solutions and not just SOA platforms. This release also sees the full integration of the Aldata G.O.L.D. POS solution.

Functional enhancements include:

• In-store product transformation traceability (recipes, kits)
• Packaging extensions to take account of environmental issues
• Already N° 1 in perishables management, Aldata provide major extensions to daily goods cost and price management
• Transit flow management, promotions pre-ordering optimisation and order management discounts for G.O.L.D. Topase, Aldata’s replenishment optimisation engine
• Extensions to warehouse management and labour management / warehouse capacity planning

For Aldata’s SOA software modules, the enhancements include:

• Extensions to G.O.L.D. Mobile, Aldata’s in-store mobile operations solution
• Extensions to G.O.L.D. PIM (Product Information Management / Pre-referencing), Aldata’s solution for supplier collaboration and workflow

In line with Aldata’s pre-integrated modular approach, Aldata G.O.L.D. POS, which provides full store front-office management, is now an organic and fully integrated module of the Aldata G.O.L.D. software family.

“G.O.L.D. version 5.06 affirms our focus with respect to our markets and our customers in retail and retail supply. As well as continually providing enhancements for business optimisation, we have extended the business footprint of G.O.L.D. with G.O.L.D. POS”, says Patrick BUELLET, Aldata Group Development Director and General Manager of Aldata Solution S.A. “Furthermore, we have progressed in our SOA strategy”.

References :
Ahold, Akzo, Albertsons, Alinea, Alko, Alliance Santé, ATAC, Auchan, Carrefour, Casino, Groupe CAT, Clarins, Delhaize Le Lion, Detailresult Services B.V., Dorma, Dynadro, Emona Obala, Era, FNAC Junior, Franken Brunnen, Giant Eagle, Instore, Intermarché, Lactalis, Leclerc, Lekkerland, Lloydspharmacy, Mestdagh, Migros, Musgrave, Nelt, Niedermeyer, Senoble, Smart & Final, SNCF, Supermarchés Match, Système U, Terrena, Tesco, Thorntons, Top Office (Groupe Auchan), Tradeka, Trader Joe’s, Unicarepharmacy, Uniland, United Supermarkets, Vivendi Universal, Yves Rocher…

G.O.L.D. ® is a registered trademark of Aldata Solution.

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Aldata Solution today announced the opening of its Russian subsidiary, OOO Aldata Solution. Located in St. Petersburg, OOO Aldata Solution will deliver Aldata’s software solutions and services for the retail, wholesale and logistics markets throughout Russia.

For René Homeyer, CEO of Aldata Solution: “By opening an office in Russia, we are demonstrating the significance of the Russian market in terms of its potential for growth and in terms of the ambitions of Russian companies to develop and expand their business operations”. He adds, “Our decision to launch a Russian subsidiary not only differs radically from rival software providers who only rely on partners but also reflects our commitment to this fast-developing region”.

Jorma Tukia, Aldata VP of Finland, the Baltic countries and Russia and the Managing Director of Aldata Solution Finland Oy says: “Our objective in Russia is to become the leading software supplier in our target markets of retail, wholesale and logistics. We already have customers there - Tradeka, Rautakesko, and ZAO Uniland – and are now reinforcing our direct sales and support presence”.

Marita Koskinen, the Managing Director of OOO Aldata Solution adds: “We will continue to build our local presence and will augment our professional services and personnel necessary for Russia. Through supporting our existing customers, Aldata has been in Russia for some years now and this credible expertise will serve us well as we grow”.

Further information:
Jorma Tukia, VP, Aldata Finland, the Baltic countries and Russia, Tel. +358954225006
Marita Koskinen, Managing Director, OOO Aldata Solution, Tel. +7 8123375147

References :
Ahold, Akzo, Albertsons, Alinea, Alko, Alliance Santé, ATAC, Auchan, Carrefour, Casino, Groupe CAT, Clarins, Delhaize Le Lion, Detailresult Services B.V., Dorma, Dynadro, Emona Obala, Era, FNAC Junior, Franken Brunnen, Giant Eagle, Instore, Intermarché, Lactalis, Leclerc, Lekkerland, Lloydspharmacy, Mestdagh, Migros, Musgrave, Nelt, Niedermeyer, Senoble, Smart & Final, SNCF, Supermarchés Match, Système U, Terrena, Tesco, Thorntons, Top Office (Groupe Auchan), Tradeka, Trader Joe’s, Unicarepharmacy, Uniland, United Supermarkets, Vivendi Universal, Yves Rocher…

G.O.L.D. ® is a registered trademark of Aldata Solution.

http://www.aldata.com/com/about/news/aldata_opens_a_subsidiary_in_the_russian_federation_3

September 15th, 2006 at 10.30 a.m.

Aldata to Supply G.O.L.D. to Auchan France

Aldata has reached an agreement with Auchan on the supply of G.O.L.D. software for replenishment optimisation.

Auchan France has decided to implement G.O.L.D. Topase, Aldata's replenishment optimisation solution, throughout its French warehousing operations with the possibility of extending this to the rest of Europe in the future. The pilot is planned to be completed in 2006 and the full rollout is planned to take place in 2007. The project is managed by a dedicated Auchan business team and Aldata is providing delivery and support services.

Auchan selected G.O.L.D. Topase after an extensive study of the solutions available in the market. A significant factor in the decision was Aldata's experience in retail and the fact that G.O.L.D. Topase is operationally well-established for both food and non-food products. The Aldata G.O.L.D. Topase solution was felt to be the most suited to the desired business objectives of stock level optimisation and replenishment productivity.

Founded in 1961, Auchan is today one of the world's leading retail groups. It is established in 11 countries across the world with a workforce of 175,000. Auchan has two retail trading formats: hypermarkets and supermarkets.

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Aldata Solution, Inc., a leading provider of software solutions for the retail industry, today announced the results of an AberdeenGroup report, “Building the Agile Retail Supply Chain,” which found that Aldata customers’ performance levels met or exceeded those of companies that AberdeenGroup deemed Best in Class Performers in previous studies. The integrated set of supply chain applications provided by Aldata enabled retailers to manage their business processes in a consistent standard way and realize impressive results.

According to the AberdeenGroup report: “The advantages that standardized process and information integration provide supply chain managers are significant. Aberdeen has found that companies exhibiting these traits are three times as likely to have on-time delivery and order fill rates above 97%. Nearly three quarters of Aldata customers also say that they have realized reduction in both inventory and inventory cycle times, resulting in lower operating costs and improved customer service.”

“This AberdeenGroup report provides significant insight into the competitive advantages that the Aldata retail supply chain suite brings to our customers with its completely integrated applications,” said Neil Thall, CEO of Aldata Solution, Inc. “Strong vendor management and collaboration, on-time delivery, order compliance and tight alignment between IT and business all contribute overall high performance ratings for Aldata customers.”

AberdeenGroup found that a large percentage of Aldata customers exhibited operating characteristics that contributed to enhanced performance and differentiated them from the peer group they are being compared to. For example:

• Performance measurement – Aldata survey respondents measure corporate and partner performance much more frequently and on a much broader scope. Almost 40% of them measure it on a weekly or daily basis, and three quarters of Aldata companies say that they measure performance enterprise wide, twice the rate of other companies to whom they are being compared.
• Common Platform – To reach their supply chain planning goals, nearly 66% of Aldata customers feel that integrating applications on a common platform is the best approach in deploying enabling technology. This same segment feels strongest about the need for integration of supply chain processes and information within the enterprise. The benefits of an integrated platform extend further than that for most Aldata customers. Examples include improving data quality by more than 7%, reducing invoice matching error rates by more than 5% and lowering pricing errors by more than 6%.
• Aldata customers excel at vendor collaboration – Aldata customers demonstrate a much higher rate of electronic data integration with their trading communities than their counterparts.
• Inventory Turnover – Aldata users far out-distanced best in class companies in how quickly inventory moved through their supply chains. Almost half of Aldata users turn their inventories more than 10 times annually. In comparison, 20% of best in class companies claimed the same level of performance.
• On-time Delivery – Over two thirds of both Aldata users and best in class companies say that their on-time delivery rates are between 97% and 99.9%. To compare how high a level of performance the majority of the two groups are operating at, only 21% of average and poor performers said that they maintained the same level of service. Interestingly, almost three quarters of Aldata users felt that they exceeded the on-time delivery performance of their European peers.
• Cash to Cash Cycle Time – High inventory turnover accounts for the very short cash to cash cycle times Aldata users enjoy. Almost 75% of them say that it is on average 30 days or less. Those companies identified as best in class operate at a lower level of performance when measured by this Key Performance Indicators (KPI’s). Only 31% say that their cash to cash cycle times are less than 30 days, with the majority of companies, 44%, saying that 60 days is the average.

The Aldata retail supply chain suite is a single, integrated system that helps retailers and grocers generate, manage and fulfill consumer demand by automating their merchandising and supply chain operations. By enabling flexible, exacting control over the flow of data and goods throughout the supply chain, Aldata gives retailers improved visibility across their supply chain, helps increase operational efficiency and enables them to achieve greater differentiation and competitive advantage.

About AberdeenGroup
For more information about Aberdeen Group, and to access the research library go to: www.aberdeen.com.

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Collaborative Product Introduction Management / Pre-Referencing
Enhancing collaboration between retailers and suppliers, this permits full product pre-referencing - the commercial activity between a supplier and a retailer before the product is included in the retailer’s catalogue. It is workflow-enabled with a parameterisable set of business process steps.

Store Traceability
Traceability extensions for store operations via the capture of traceability indicators within G.O.L.D. Shop, Aldata’s store management software, and the generation of traceability messages, via XML, to G.O.L.D. Track, Aldata’s traceability archival and analysis system.

Enhancements
Functional highlights include:

• Home delivery and returns within the assisted sales process
• Enhancements to Open To Buy (OTB) management
• Franchising extensions enabling local product, supplier and pricing management
• Additional processes for G.O.L.D. Mobile, Aldata’s web-services architected software for in-store mobile operations, including clearance sales management
• Demand forecasting improvements for sales history smoothing
• Seasonal sales operation planning management

Technology enhancements include:

• Oracle 10g and Oracle RAC support
• Linux support : Red Hat under Itanium for the database server and Suse 8.0 and Mandrake 10.1 for the client
• Inbound and outbound XML interfaces

“Our product development continues strongly in both technology and business functionality. Version 5.0.5 of G.O.L.D. is the latest step in our overall strategy to constantly add value to the richness of our solutions for our customers”, says Patrick Buellet, Aldata Group Development Director and General Manager of Aldata Solution S.A.

“Once again, this latest release of Aldata G.O.L.D. is right on target with respect to our markets and our customers. It confirms our dedication to supporting our customers in taking full advantage of state-of-the-art technology and in the optimisation and execution of their supply chains”, says René Homeyer, CEO of Aldata Solution.

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« Legislation requires us to provide traceability throughout our supply chain and so we selected the Aldata G.O.L.D. Stock solution to provide logistics flow and process management and traceability in our packaging, dairy and UHT goods warehouses at our production site in HOERDT » says Serge LUCAS, Manufacturing Director of Alsace Lait.

« The implementation of traceability provided Alsace Lait with the opportunity to reorganise its logistics processes and take advantage of technology for productivity improvements » declares Robert HUSSET, Logistics Solutions Director at Aldata Solution S.A. He adds « Elcimai, Aldata’s partner, will provide implementation support and, ultimately, provide a managed service to Alsace Lait for systems operation ».

About Alsace Lait
Alsace Lait is a French agricultural co-operative with a turnover of 80M Euros in 2005. It is unique in Alsace in providing the full range of dairy services: animal rearing, milking, collection, pasteurisation, production and commercialisation. Its product range has real points of distinction which are recognised by their partners: quality, authenticity, natural, local, traceability and security. Its customers include retailers, wholesalers and industrial groups for branded goods and own goods.
For more information: www.alsacelait.fr

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Aldata to Supply G.O.L.D. Logistics Solutions to New Customers

Aldata will supply its G.O.L.D. supply chain management software to three new customers in Europe. The agreements have been signed with Box Solutions AS in Norway, Agravis Raiffeisen AG in Germany and Atoy Oy in Finland. All projects will start during the second quarter of 2006.

Box Solutions AS, a third party logistics company owned by the Norwegian Post, has decided to implement Aldata G.O.L.D. for the management of its logistics operations. The project consists of Aldata G.O.L.D. for warehouse operations, purchasing, order management and logistics. "By implementing G.O.L.D, we can expand into providing value-added services for our customers, such as purchasing, order management and web-shopping. With this new range of services we will attract both existing and new customers and significantly strengthen our position in the market. This was the main reason in selecting Aldata", states Erik Mørch, Managing Director at Box Solutions.

Agravis Raffeisen AG, a German agricultural retailer and service provider, will implement G.O.L.D. Stock, Radio and Pick for warehouse administration, mobile fork lift control and paperless picking and optimization of the picking zone. "With G.O.L.D. logistics solutions we will modernise our business processes, improve efficiency and usability and fulfil all the external requirements for managing a hazardous materials' warehouse", comments Torsten Oldhues, Head of Logistics at Agravis Raiffeisen AG.

Atoy Oy, a car parts and accessories importer as well as distributor for Finland, Sweden and Estonia, has decided to implement G.O.L.D. Vocal into all its warehouses. Atoy has over 80.000 SKUs in stock and will streamline its warehouse operations by reducing picking errors and improving the performance in its warehouses. "Aldata has a proven track record world wide as a reliable supplier of tested, business improving warehouse solutions. That Aldata also have strong local representation convinced us to choose Aldata as our preferred partner" says executive vice president of Atoy Oy, Jussi Eerikäinen.

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The Gold User Association and Aldata Solution , a leading provider of software solutions for the retail industry, hosted their annual Global User conference, Club G.O.L.D., March 15-16, 2006 in Paris, France. The conference featured presentations by leading retailers, solution providers and industry analysts on leading-edge supply chain innovations, best-practice strategies and results-oriented implementations of Aldata’s solutions.

“Club G.O.L.D. was a wonderful opportunity for our customers to share information, learn about our plans for the future and hear from our partners about complementary solutions,” stated René Homeyer, president and CEO of Aldata Solution . “The year 2005 was a year of good progress for Aldata and our customers and we were pleased to celebrate our mutual success.”

Highlights of Club G.O.L.D. included:

• Customer presentations by leading retailers on reducing costs, returns management, simplifying retail operations, retail in the Balkans, and automated order preparation.
• Supply chain management roundtable discussion of food traceability, RFID and upstream traceability.
• Presentations by Aldata partners Mike Campbell & Associates on distributing goods in a high-demand environment; Vocollect on warehouse voice recognition; Sun Microsystems on the networked retailer; Ilem on optimizing G.O.L.D., CSC on new retail technology; and Oracle on Integration with Aldata G.O.L.D.
• Keynote speech given by Bulent Ergin, Chairman of the Gold User Association and Casino Application Development Director
• Detailed roadmaps for implementing Aldata’s newest release of Aldata G.O.L.D. supply chain and merchandising solution.
• G.O.L.D. User Association Subgroup meetings of users from across the world.

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Established in 1978, COOP Jednota Bratislava, s.d., a member of COOP Jednota Slovakia group, is a daily goods retailer with 26 stores in Bratislava, the capital city of the Slovak Republic. In 2004, sales at COOP Jednota Bratislava amounted to 64M EUR (95% in food) and the company was N° 13 in the Slovak TOP 50 retailers.

COOP Jednota Bratislava has selected the Aldata G.O.L.D. software and U&SLUNO a.s., Aldata’s partner for the Central European region, to supply the system for its 3 hypermarkets and 23 supermarkets. After a comprehensive selection process, Aldata G.O.L.D. was chosen as it best addressed and fulfilled all the business and project requirements of COOP Jednota Bratislava in order to improve its business operations management.

The Aldata G.O.L.D. modules Central, Shop and Mobile will assure the key operational issues of COOP Jednota Bratislava such as purchase management including discount and rebate management, management of store formats, promotion control and evaluation, amongst others. The implementation also includes the installation of radio frequency PDA terminals for G.O.L.D. Mobile to enable real-time access to the central system directly from the sales-floor.

Ing. Anna Grollová, General Manager of COOP Jednota Bratislava explains: “As part of the I.T. system selection process, we examined in detail system functionalities and the skills of the partner who will manage the project. This pre-implementation study has proved that the new information system will bring our company the advantages of an integrated solution, which will lead to improvements in quality across the entire business operations process at COOP Jednota Bratislava.”

The implementation project started in February and roll-out is expected to start in the second half of this year.

COOP Jednota Bratislava in brief
COOP Jednota Bratislava, a member of COOP Jednota Slovakia group, has been operating on Slovak food retail market for more than 25 years. In the territory of Slovak capital city Bratislava it runs the biggest network of food stores. With its 3 hypermarkets and 23 supermarkets and achieved turnover in the amount of 64 MEUR it reached the 13th place in Slovakian TOP 50 retailers.

U&SLUNO in brief
U&SLUNO a.s. offers high-quality and technologically advanced software products and high-quality services in the field of information technology. The activity is focused on development and implementation of information systems supporting company processes in retail, wholesale and distribution centres and business and logistic chains. The company uses knowledge capital that is composed by its employees’ long-term practical experience in information technology in both national and international retail chains.
U&SLUNO a.s. has been operating on the market since 1991 and specializing in business processes in retail and wholesale from its beginning. It develops and delivers its own information system OBIS and as a partner of Aldata it supplies and implements G.O.L.D. within the frame of Central European region. In 2005 it reached the turnover in the amount of 3,3 MEUR and consisted of 60 employees.

More information at www.u-sluno.cz

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Aldata Solution Oyj Stock Exchange Release
1(1)

2nd January 2006, 09:00 am

Carrefour has decided to implement G.O.L.D. Central and G.O.L.D. Shop, for centralised retail execution and optimised replenishment of the stores. With this agreement Carrefour is continuing its strategic deployment of Aldata G.O.L.D. as part of the global agreement signed with Aldata in December 2003.

The first phase of the implementation, aimed at automatic replenishment and just-in-time flow management, starts immediately. The complete roll-out is planned by mid-2006. The project is managed by Carrefour with Aldata and Carrefour IT service suppliers providing delivery and support services

René Homeyer, CEO and President of Aldata Solution Oyj: "This decision by Carrefour to use Aldata G.O.L.D. also in its home-market proves the strength of our product and our project delivery capabilities. It shows that Aldata can act as a global strategic partner even for the largest retailers.

Carrefour, with net sales over 72 billion euros in 2004, is active in all types of retaildistribution, primarily food retailing. It is the largest retailer in Europe and the second largest retailer worldwide.

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References:
Ahold, Akzo, Albertsons, Alinea (Groupe Auchan), Alko, Alliance Santé, ATAC, Carrefour, Casino, Groupe CAT, Caval, Clarins, Danzas, Delhaize Le Lion, Dorma, Emona Obala, Era, Essilor, FNAC Junior, Franken Brunnen, Giant Eagle, Jardiland, Kronenbourg, Lactalis, Leclerc, Lekkerland, Lloydspharmacy, Mars, Mestdagh, Migros, Musgrave, Nelt, Niedermeyer, Senoble, Smart & Final, SNCF, Supermarchés Match, Système U, Tesco, Thorntons, Top Office (Groupe Auchan), Tradeka, Trader Joe’s, Unicare Pharmacy, Uniconsult, Uniland, Vivendi Universal, Yves Rocher…

G.O.L.D. ® is a registered trademark of Aldata Solution S.A.

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The implementation of G.O.L.D. Stock, Radio, Billing and Transport modules is planned to be completed by the end of this year. All services are provided by Aldata's Slovenian subsidiary.

Altantic Trade, Croatia
Atlantic Trade, one of the largest wholesale and distribution companies in food and cosmetics in Croatia, has signed a contract to use Aldata G.O.L.D. for the management of Atlantic Trade's purchasing, warehousing and distribution operations.

"We are convinced that by implementing Aldata's internationally acclaimed supply chain software solution we will be able to improve both the efficiency and the quality of our SCM processes. As well as having modern and state-of-the-art software, we will be supported by experienced Aldata professionals for our business and I.T." says Mr. Mladen Veber, CEO of Atlantic Trade.

The first phase of the project includes the installation of G.O.L.D. Central in the head-office and the G.O.L.D. Stock, Radio and Transport modules in the central warehouse. The first phase of the project is planned to be finished by autumn this year. Services will be delivered by Aldata's partner in Croatia, InfoOpus, and Aldata's Slovenian subsidiary.

References:
Ahold, Akzo, Alinea (Groupe Auchan), Alliance Santé, ATAC, Carrefour, Casino, Groupe CAT, Caval, Clarins, Danzas, Delhaize Le Lion, Essilor, FNAC Junior, Jardiland, Kronenbourg, Lactalis, Leclerc, Lekkerland, Lloydspharmacy, Mars, Mestdagh, Migros, Niedermeyer, Smart & Final, Senoble, SNCF, Supermarchés Match, Système U, Tesco, Thorntons, Top Office (Groupe Auchan), Uniconsult, Vivendi Universal, Yves Rocher…

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