Vertical industry brief

Consumer durables

Production and design: Global Sales and Marketing department IBS, ASW and IBS VIRTUAL ENTERPRISE are registered trademarks of IBS AB, in the European Union and in other countries. IBM, AS/400, iSeries, Lotus Notes, and WebSphere are registered trademarks of International Business Machines Corporation. All other trademarks or registered trademarks mentioned herein are the property of their respective holders. The information contained in this document is summary in nature, subject to change and intended for general information only. The details pertaining to functionality and routines are based on IBS software, post release 5.50. For updates of this information, please contact your local IBS representative. Copyright IBS 2005.

Content
Introduction Market situation and trends
Global economic factors Commercialisation of consumer durables Seasonal influences on supply Customer dynamics

IBS software - a competitive advantage Tailored for the consumer durables industry

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Introduction
In the 1990s, ERP software solutions catered to a broad range of requirements, including manufacturing, order processing, distribution and financial accounting. As the decade drew to a close, many companies had to replace their old legacy software systems with ERP solutions that were Y2K-compliant, while others were caught in the dash to become dot.com-enabled. ERP implementations took much longer than planned, consuming more staff time and resources. The objectives and expectations of many companies were not met, because the ERP functionality did not match specific business requirements without extensive modifications, which had negative impacts on both costs and timelines. Companies have become more cautious with their IT spending, looking for a faster ROI and solutions that are attuned to critical business needs. They now want a payback in less than twelve months, requiring a better fit without time for extensive customisation. What is required is a software solution aligned to business requirements that can actually solve business problems. Companies want to partner with people who really understand what their business is about. This vertical industry brief highlights some best practices and current trends specific to the consumer durables distribution sector. It is directed toward distributors who are faced with industry-specific challenges and opportunities and who are looking for solutions. It focuses on competitive advantages to be gained from a fully integrated, demand-driven business solution specifically designed for consumer durables distribution.

Global indicators: Diverse manufacturing and distribution patterns Production is increasing in line with disposable incomes and health and fitness trends Manufacturing and distribution are spread worldwide Many companies have moved production to Southeast Asia.

Market situation and trends

Consumer durable goods consist of products that are often expensive for the average household, and that are usually expected to last for two or three years. These goods are often purchased as gifts on a seasonal basis or for special occasions. The category includes but is not limited to: recreational goods, sporting equipment, toys and hobby goods, jewellery, watches, kitchenware and other durable household goods with long product life. White goods such as washing machines, refrigerators and coffee machines, as well as brown goods such as DVD players, televisions and stereos are often grouped into this category. (For more information on white goods and brown goods, please refer to the IBS electrical products vertical industry brief.) The consumer durables market is huge, as high as EUR 3,500b and growing by five percent annually, as family disposable incomes increase and people devote more time to leisure, fitness and sporting activities. The increase in GDP of many developing countries has also created a new, buoyant market for consumer goods, with a steadily growing demand for consumer durables. In Shanghai, for example, disposable income per citizen rose by almost 10 percent in just one year, from 2000 to 2001. These developing markets will spur further demand for consumer durable goods of high quality.

Global economic factors

The distribution and manufacture of consumer durables occurs in different patterns for various categories of products. China has a long tradition of producing toy merchandise, and now almost all children's toys are stamped 'made in China'. Technology innovations, along with competitive labour and overhead costs, have helped to foster new consumer goods industries in Southeast Asia and other regions. The development of the digital watch, for example, sparked a whole new generation of digital timepieces from Malaysia, reducing the demand for the low-end analogue clocks and watches. While some corporations retain partial production in the U.S. or Europe, others have transferred lock, stock and barrel to such countries as Malaysia and China. Expensive, high-end luxury branded items, such as watches and jewellery, have a tradition of being individually crafted. They have exclusive profit margins, so high labour costs are not as important as using horologic craftsmen whose skills are handed down through generations. The manufacture of giftware and kitchenware products is often tied to specific locations where they have been made for centuries, often using locally available raw materials and craftsmen who traditionally belonged to city guilds. Typical examples are European-based manufacturers of high-quality porcelain and cutlery. Distribution for these highly crafted goods, however, usually involves a worldwide network to move goods to both existing and emerging markets. The distribution infrastructure that is required for global business depends heavily on automated IT solutions that link distributors, manufacturers, business partners and consumers.

The focus that IBS has on the wholesale distribution environment will allow us to move our systems forward in line with our business goals. Lawrence Jennings,
Chief Operating Officer, Enesco

Commercialisation of consumer durables

Over the last twenty years the consumer durables industry has become more and more commercialised. Marketing and advertising have targeted the middle to upper income groups that have the disposable income to purchase durable goods and luxury items. The film industry is now closely aligned to the toy industry, and merchandising revenue from new film releases often exceeds movie ticket revenue. Crazes for the BMX bike, roller blades and skateboards have created a whole new sporting category, so-called X sports, fostering a boom in sales of sport and leisure equipment. The consumer durables industry and the media now influence our lifestyles more than ever. Product lifecycle management and three-way collaboration between retailers, distributors and manufacturers are vital if consumer durables are to be manufactured and distributed in sufficient quantities to satisfy consumer demand. Product lifecycles are short and consumer requirements change quickly. The market's window of opportunity is sometimes no more than a few months, especially in conjunction with goods that are produced as part of marketing campaigns for new films. New products have to be designed and their sales forecast in short cycles that require extensive supply coordination. Consumer durable goods are often shipped around the world to be available in retail stores to coincide with a film's release country by country. A resurgence in demand is probable when the video is later released. This requires careful planning and coordination between the film industry, advertisement agencies, merchandisers and the whole supply chain.

Commercialisation: Film industry closely aligned with toy industry Growth of X Sports sector Product lifecycle management is essential Three-way collaboration between retailers, distributors and manufacturers is crucial Short window of opportunity Sales forecasting is vital.

Integrated product and services management

Extremely thin margins and increased global competition are forcing consumer durables distributors to adopt new strategies for survival. Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) and Professional Services Automation (PSA) are two emerging concepts that can help to secure bottom-line benefits for the consumer durables industry. IT systems that support PLM and PSA can help businesses to integrate project planning and reporting with production and distribution processes. These systems allow companies to gain tighter control of time, materials and material sourcing, processes, and costs. The benefits to be gained include shorter lead-times, reduced costs and increased revenue. IT business solutions that integrate PLM and PSA with sales order management, product configuration, inventory control and other processes offer more than margin protection and resultant profitability potential. They also let companies take advantage of value-added revenue possibilities. Many consumer durable goods - such as kitchenware, recreational equipment and vehicles - offer clear profit incentives and CRM advantages through service and maintenance opportunities. These solutions can also help the industry create quick responses to consumer demand through the automated management of product portfolios, customer needs, collaborative product design, and integrated data. For companies that manufacture and distribute consumer durables, PLM and PSA provide ways to integrate product engineering and after-sales service directly into the supply chain. These same companies often rely heavily on outsourcing and collaboration with business partners, suppliers and customers. Consultants ranging from legal firms to PR and advertising agencies are often partners in the consumer durables industry. Integrated software that supports PLM and PSA can provide maximum control and oversight of costs, schedules and all phases of product development, production, distribution and service.

Product and services management: Two emerging concepts: PLM and PSA Tighter control of time, materials, processes, costs Margin protection along with value-added revenue possibilities Project planning, product engineering and service integrated into supply chain.

Seasonal influences: 70% of consumer goods sold during Christmas season Plans are made 12 months in advance Unsold items are returned Requires extended payment terms Need for efficient receiving and dispatch operations Fast pace requires efficient software solution.

Seasonal influences on supply

The sales of many consumer durable products are highly seasonal, with more than seventy percent taking place in the three months before Christmas. Plans for new products are made twelve months in advance, so that they can be displayed at annual trade shows where retail buyers congregate to place their orders. Production is scheduled over the summer, and wholesalers stockpile the product in time for the Christmas rush. After Christmas, the industry focus is on returns from mail order companies and retail stores for redistribution to the secondary markets. It is common practice for payment terms to be extended: this enables retailers to take product deliveries early, on the understanding that they will not have to settle invoices until their own cash tills are full. Wholesale distributors of consumer durables need extremely efficient receiving and dispatch operations to handle the throughput velocity of pallets, cartons and cases. During peak periods, nothing stays on the shelf for long: in fact, many products are cross-docked or delivered back-to-back, direct to customers. The importance of having efficient supply chain software aligned to warehouse operations is crucial in avoiding peakseason bottlenecks.

Customer dynamics
Most consumer durables customers are retail operations, both large and small, requiring outstanding service, just-in-time product availability and customised value added services. The customers can be grouped into four main categories: Major retail chains, many of which have separate toy, craft, sport and fitness and jewellery departments Mail order companies which sell through catalogues, direct mail and internet web stores Tele-commercial operations, using third-party logistics (3PL) operations to manage their order fulfilment Smaller specialist retail stores, typically gift shops, toy and hobby stores and jewellery outlets. All expect outstanding service, but larger customers will inevitably get special attention, especially when consumer demand for a new product exceeds supply and some form of rationing is unavoidable. Efficient technology solutions play a key role in catering to the needs of consumer durables customers. Products must be labelled and packaged to customers' individual requirements, including bar coding and retail price labelling. Most of the major retail chains interact with their supply chain partners electronically, via EDI or XML messaging. Customer delivery forecasts (efficient consumer response), purchase orders, pricing and catalogue information, advanced shipment notifications and POD payments are normally transmitted electronically. Wholesale distribution companies that are unable to process business transactions electronically and deliver as promised will not survive in today's competitive marketplace.

Customers demand: Outstanding service Just-in-time product availability Customised labelling and packaging Communication via EDI or XML Consumer demand forecasting.

IBS software - a competitive advantage

IBS provides complete solutions for supply chain management and distribution, including application software, implementation, training and service support. With 25 years of research and development, the company's products have a solid history of supporting the specific requirements of the consumer durables supply industry. IBS consultants have considerable domain experience helping our customers who are suppliers and distributors of consumer durables. ASW from IBS is world-leading business software suite for distribution and supply chain management. It is designed to fulfil the requirements of worldwide business-to-business trading. According to recent studies conducted by AMR Research and Frost & Sullivan, IBS is a consistent top market leader and supplier for supply chain execution and management software.

IBS solution for consumer durables distribution Solution: Software: ASW 5.50+ Modules: ASW DISTRIBUTION ASW FINANCIALS ASW INVENTORY CONTROL ASW NETSTORE ASW SERVICE ASW SUPPLIER MARKETING SUPPORT ASW WAREHOUSE MANAGEMENT IBS BUSINESS INTELLIGENCE Hardware: IBM eServer i5

Software that aims for business value

Supply chain software from IBS is designed to help your company increase your profits and be flexible in managing your business operations. Our vertical market solution enables you to achieve a faster return on your technology investment. We also work with you to identify the business benefits and returns you can expect. The database structure of our software and our own IBS Business Intelligence module can enable you to set targets and measure performance over a period of time to monitor actual ROI. The IBS solution provides you with a comprehensive modular solution that can be customised to your needs. IBS' intelligent supply chain software automates and optimises routines and is completely scalable, able to grow with your business. The solution helps to streamline processes through automation and real-time control of information. IBS gives you software that pays for itself, helping to reduce operating costs and capital outlay without cutting service. You can allocate more resources to setting and fulfilling goals for products, sales and customers. The IBS solution fits any size of enterprise, including global multi distribution systems with full language, currency and regulatory support. In addition, IBS provides top-level hardware and after-the-sale service support, including project management and implementation through the IBS Implementation Control Process, which has a proven success record. IBS consultants work on-site with your company to provide a smooth transition to an integrated solution. Your business processes drive the system and we work with you to implement best practices for your industry.

The system paid for itself in the first year. Chuck Wright,
VP of Operations Roland US

Tailored for the consumer durables industry

Consumer durables suppliers and distributors can benefit from the integrated IBS business software solution in these major functional areas: Customer relationship management Sales order management Reverse logistics support Inventory control and collaborative planning, forecasting and replenishment Warehouse management Procurement Service management Financials and business intelligence. This section highlights some of the many advantages that your consumer durables business can gain with IBS software.

Customer Relationship Management (CRM)

Distributors of durable goods must seek out new ways to sell products and to attract and retain customers. As a result of this pressure, you must have a more intense focus on CRM. Many major account customers have large buying departments, often for different branded products, and staff rotation is to be expected. You need to be able to manage your contacts, because the consumer durables business thrives on maintaining close personal relationships. IBS' solution addresses specific CRM needs, storing and automatically optimising information about your customers and their employees. The IBS solution enables you to manage customer relations with these benefits: A complete chronological history of all contact information relating to meetings, phone calls, emails, mail and quotations. You can create user-defined views of this information to easily organise it for your needs. Portable customer information that can be stored locally on a laptop so that it is always accessible for customer meetings. Event management - Marketing events, such as toy fairs and trade shows, can be managed, invites or mail-shots sent out to selected contacts, event activities planned and follow-up actions documented. Sales promotions and campaigns management, with costs and sales recorded to measure success. This may help you manage joint marketing campaigns where media material has to be provided for the retail outlets. You are likely to be called on to manage the media distribution and there is usually an agreement to share costs. Automatic generation and submission of quotations with supporting technical documentation. Follow-up can be prompted with alerts. Your lost sales can be recorded and analysed by reason code. Call scheduling, activity lists and calendars all help to make sure you maintain regular contact with your customers, making sure they remain loyal to you, not your competition.

Sales order management

Sales order management is at the heart of the IBS solution for the consumer durables industry. The solution is designed to handle very large transaction volumes and to communicate electronically with suppliers, business partners and customers. This means that order processing is as efficient as possible, providing excellent service and follow-up for your customers. Some of the IBS solution's enhanced order fulfilment features include: Electronic order entry - For your company to process a large volume of daily orders, it is both necessary and a great advantage to receive orders electronically. You can receive orders via EDI, XML, web services, direct communication lines, PC or PDA devices. Electronic communication can shorten lead-times and help to reduce errors, which can result in increased customer satisfaction. Manual orders can be taken over the phone with built-in features to make sure that the call-centre operator has the right information to service the customer's requirements quickly and with no need to call back. Customer's shopping lists, quick look-up of previous order history with copy functions and quick order scheduler are three ways the order can be entered quickly. Flexible order types to control the business process and the order flow. Special order types can be used to process trade show orders, one for forward orders and another for cash and carry sales with credit card payment support. Time axis allocation (sometimes called 'availability to promise') directly benefits the consumer durables business, especially in regards to long forward-order booking for seasonal inventory. This capability makes sure that you can monitor predicted stock situations at any time. Time axis soft-allocates stock and can show the stock availability position by warehouse by day, week or month on your calendar. This information feeds the inventory control demand-forecasting model, generating purchase suggestions or supplier delivery schedules. Replanning, priority rationing and inventory reserving are optimised through automatic monitoring and routines. Order line pricing - Pricing in the durable goods industry needs to be flexible, allowing for various pricing models. Your software solution must be able to handle contract pricing, multiple price lists, sales promotions, rebates and discounting. Automatic order line pricing results in faster invoicing, improved accuracy and reduced days outstanding. Flexible credit checking lets you create different credit profiles for individual customers or group them under a common profile. Credit checks need to be performed in different ways - the order entry function might check current orders but ignore forward order, or re-checks may be required before pick lists are printed. The toy industry's supply chain is such that products are often shipped well before they are required for sale. Customers normally take the delivery on the understanding that payment terms can be extended or even paid by instalment.

Nautor has had a 15-year association with IBS. When we had a need for new solutions to cope with increased requirements for flexibility and process orientation, it was very natural for us to turn to IBS again. Mikael Still,
Financial Director, Nautors Swan

Reverse logistics support

Through its ASW BUSINESS PARTNER REQUEST module, the IBS solution enables you to log all customer incidents, requests and complaints. Specifically, you can manage returned product in close collaboration with your warehousing operations. When an incident is logged a request number (RMA number) is issued, and the returns process can be managed in the most efficient way. Mail-order companies have a tendency to return products in bulk, with no attempt to reference previous orders or invoice information, and claiming a credit on their next remittance advice. High-value consumer durables, such as jewellery and watches, require much closer individual attention, which could involve returning the item to the suppliers for repairs. Either way, IBS software helps you to manage the incident and the physical movement of any associated items. The IBS solution's enhanced functionality for reverse logistics support includes: RMA request number - A Return Merchandise Authorisation (RMA) number can be assigned and used to track and facilitate product returns.

We can track product now from purchase order to warehouse, to bin location, to customer order - with just a few simple inquiries. We need tools and a good infrastructure to be successful. IBS software is part of that infrastructure, without it, we could not operate as a business. John Henkel,
CFO and VP Logistics, Zwilling J.A. Henckels

Full text notes - These can be entered as either internal or external comments on returns. External text is visible to the customer should they log on to view the order status via web-enabled ASW NETSTORE. Internal text might contain discrete confidential information that the customer should not see. Incident time - The amount of time spent on any incident with each person working on its resolution can be recorded. This information is invaluable when evaluating the true cost of a returns request. Automatic request routing - Requests can be automatically routed to other departments or levels if they require specific attention or if they are delinquent. This ensures that the customer does get the best attention and prompt follow-up to their issues. Return credit updates - When products are returned, credits can be raised and sales statistics updated. These credits can be matched and settled against customer debit notes that have been deducted from customer payment remittances. This process can save time and effort when trying to reconcile customer accounts and their claims. Return batching - Returned products can be batched together for return to suppliers or for resale to secondary markets.

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Inventory control and collaborative planning

Excellent inventory control and forecasting with business partners, who collaborate to minimise total procurement costs, is the key to efficiently managing the durable goods supply chain. Where demand is highly seasonal, suppliers, distributors and retailers must share information to achieve a common objective of getting products to consumers just when they want to buy. Major retailers have point of sale information and sales analysis data that can be transmitted electronically to distributors in the form of delivery forecasts. Distributors can consolidate it and translate last year's product lines into this year's equivalent products, submitting their own supplier delivery forecasts to the manufacturers. This whole process, sometimes called 'efficient consumer response', feeds the production planning process so that the products are made and delivered in time to the consumer. IBS' solution can help you manage this whole process with the minimum amount of staff resources. One certainty is that nothing ever remains static information relating to changed delivery dates and quantities must be fed back down the supply chain to keep customers informed. Specific inventory control and planning support for consumer durables includes: Product segmentation, which lets you separate low-value, highturnover products from high-value, slow-moving items. You can classify all stock items based on volume value classifications, helping balance your inventory holding and fill rates. Time axis forward sales orders, combined with customer delivery schedules, update the inventory control demand information feeding the forecasting process. This saves time and effort when producing purchase suggestions and supplier delivery schedules. Seasonal and promotional profiles will help you adjust the demand information. Also, manual adjustments can be added, such as when new store openings are planned and have to be stocked. Demand copy forecasting - If your products have a short product lifecycle because last year's model is replaced by this year's equivalent, you can use demand copy function to create a new forecast.

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Warehouse management
IBS software supports advanced, automated warehousing to increase response times, helping to manage throughput velocity while keeping errors and inventory to a minimum. The IBS solution helps you control warehousing operations and inventory levels throughout both the internal and external internal supply chain, ensuring that products can be easily located and dispatched to where they are needed. The automated warehousing solution handles all phases of product distribution, from reception all the way through put-away, picking and dispatch. Specific warehouse management advantages for durable goods distributors include: Full pallet and package tracking with information on inner and outer configurations from reception to warehouse location and out to dispatch. Whether you handle pallets or break-bulk to forward pick locations, warehouse management will help you automate your operations, maintaining visibility of inventory movements and your warehouse staff. Bar code and radio frequency (RF) support - Fully integrated support for bar coding and RF handling automates the recognition, tracking and communication of serial and batch codes. This helps to avoid pick and put-away errors, provide labelling accuracy and, ultimately, promotes higher customer satisfaction. Repackaging and labelling - You can benefit from customer-specific value-added services like repackaging and the printing of customer labels. Simple assembly to dispatching can be handled using order structures. Item serial number tracking provides total support for serial numbered products, required by the jewellery industry. IBS can also provide automated support for servicing or repairs, which helps you keep a complete service history during the lifetime of an item. Full support for inbound shipments and landed costs, as part of the receiving process. Outbound shipment preparation with route planning and shipment documentation enables you to build outbound loads. Both of these functions enable you to move product quickly, helping to avoid bottlenecks during peak periods.

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Procurement
The IBS solution is built to allow procurement on a wide-ranging basis, including strategic sourcing, to help your business secure products at the best price. Coupled with automated warehousing and inventory routines that maintain optimal stock levels, IBS' procurement measures help your business to minimise total supply chain costs through lower inventory holding costs, operating costs and the most efficient purchasing methods. The IBS solution gives you access to advanced purchasing methods, such as automated sourcing categories, that drive down costs through better procurement processes and reduced overheads. The IBS procurement solution includes: Advanced purchase simulation - Based on current information from throughout the system, this analysis helps you to determine real procurement costs. It also gives you the capability for direct automatic replenishment based on the analysis results. Purchase suggestion management - The IBS solution provides suggestion management capabilities with automatic review codes for product lines, helping to ensure accuracy, maximum line value, stock levels and optimised reorder values. Functions include special buy evaluation and interactive line buying to help you benefit from supplier discounts or to fill a container. Automated purchase order creation - Purchase orders can be created automatically, based on system suggestions when user-defined criteria are satisfied. The automated routine enables you to reduce labour costs and errors. Landed cost - IBS software automates the calculation of landed cost, which can be spread over several purchase order lines in a container or a reception. This helps to lower indirect overhead through more accurate inventory costing at goods reception. Advanced RFQ capabilities - Requests for quotations can be generated automatically and sent to suppliers through EDI, XML, web-service communications, fax or email. This quick creation and transmission can result in lower administrative costs, better prices and the ability to negotiate more favourable conditions and agreements. In addition, the IBS solution includes other automated solutions for strategic sourcing, including powerful reporting that helps you to follow up rejected deliveries, back-orders, discounts and prices as well as provide information on supplier lead-times and service level analysis.

The system gives us more timely management data. It allows our managers to identify and react to problems instead of pooling information together and crunching all the numbers to have a report. Mark Hester,
Implementation Manager, Maui Jim

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Service management
IBS provides an all-in-one service solution that handles both field service and internal service maintenance. The software's automatic functionality helps you to schedule and perform installations, preventive service and urgent maintenance both internally and out in the field. On-line call centre functions let you provide immediate responses to customer service requests. On-call engineers have instant access to all service information needed for the job, with the ability to enter reports and invoices from customer sites. Support for replenishing van inventory (work tools and spare parts) helps to ensure high levels of job quality and customer satisfaction, as well as reduced return visits. Transparency, scalability and easy-to-use features let your company integrate its service operations with the entire system. The IBS service solution includes agreement and warranty handling, extensive CRM functionality, graphical tools for resource planning, office-field entry and information updating, service kits handling, resource planning, flexible pricing and charging methods, advanced follow-up capability, time reporting and communications with EDI, XML, web services and other methods.

Financials
Consumer durable goods suppliers must be able to analyse costs and margins by customer and product. Complete accountability and control of internal and external costs and billable revenue is also vital. In addition to comprehensive General Ledger, reconciliation and banking functions, plus powerful reporting capabilities, ASW FINANCIALS handles specific problems that can help you improve your profitability and cash flow: Accounts receivable - Automated routines help your credit controllers manage their average days debt outstanding and their cash-tocash cycles. Automatic G/L journal creation. Every time inventory moves or changes in value, from receipt to sales and service, invoicing will trigger the creation of a G/L journal. Physical inventory will always reconcile to G/L stock. Invoice registration and authorisation with three-way supplier invoice matching, including matching of landed cost items. A/P payment scheduling to pay on time by cheque or electronic transfer, updating the cashbook for easy bank reconciliation. Full VAT analysis and reporting, country specific Intrastat reports, including plant and machinery movements across borders, and quarterly sales reports. Processing debit claims through the A/R ledger for returned product, without slowing down the cash posting and allocation process. Debit notes can be automatically cleared by credits raised when product is returned to the warehouse and examined.

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Business intelligence
IBS BUSINESS INTELLIGENCE uses information from throughout the system to

let you mine and use all the day-to-day transactions, suitably summarised to make the best informed decisions. Accurate, timely analysis is critical to the decision making process. All transactional information in the IBS data warehouse can be analysed according to your own requirements. IBS can deliver business intelligence to your desktop and lets you easily distribute reports and graphs to your organisation. The IBS solution includes many useful features to help you analyse and measure your business to the fullest: Customer and product net margin analysis, ranking your customers according to the contribution they are making to your profits. The cost information is generated as a by-product of daily transaction processing, so that costly, time-consuming, activity-based costing exercises can be avoided. Measure actual performance trends against set targets and industry standards, providing real metrics KPIs and ROI. Critical Success Factor panels provide a graphical and numeric presentation of current vital business factors. It can be used to monitor time-sensitive information such as number of sales orders entered today, orders on credit hold, aged debt balances and critical stock balances. Management Report Writer enables you to construct your own reports, which can be viewed on-line, letting you drill down to the underlying details and the original source documents. Single click download to spreadsheets, conversion to graphs or HTML format for emailing or web publication.

ASW has proved to be very flexible in coping with our ever-changing requirements. Mikael Leckstrm,
Logistics Manager, Duka

IBS has the right software for you, and the experience of worldwide installations. Are you interested in finding out more? Contact IBS today - consumerdurables@ibs.net or visit www.ibs.net

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IBS is a world leading provider of supply chain management solutions for distribution, demand-driven manufacturing, financials and business intelligence. IBS delivers measurable value through software solutions, services, hardware, outsourcing and financing. IBS offers industry solutions for electrical products and consumer durables with Cartier, Maui Jim, Maxell, Miele, Roland, Royal Scandinavia and Scribona among its 5,000 customers in 40 countries.

IBS corporate headquarters: +46-8-627 2300 consumerdurables@ibs.net www.ibs.net