Synectics Group, a division of AFS Technologies, Inc.

AFS Technologies 2012 Industry Conference & User Exchange

noreply@blogger.com (Synectics Group) — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 17:34:00 +0000

In 2012, we're TURNING VISIBILITY INTO INTELLIGENCE! Join AFS and other industry leaders as we delve into topics such as distributor and operator intelligence analysis, the next phase of trade promotion management, supply chain productivity from factory to customer, mobility visibility through current technology offerings, AFS best practices, and more. This is your chance to gain the latest insight from industry experts, network with your fellow industry leaders, and learn the latest tips and tricks of AFS products.

Don’t miss this valuable networking opportunity—over 200 key executives from all channels of the food & beverage supply chain are expected to attend!

CLICK HERE for more information

POI Summit and 2011 SGI User Conference in Chicago This Week

noreply@blogger.com (Synectics Group) — Tue, 08 Nov 2011 20:04:00 +0000

Synectics Group, a division of AFS Technologies, participated in “The Predictive Path to Promotion Optimization Summit” this week in Chicago, IL. Also in Chicago this week is our 2011 Synectics Group User Conference.

POI Summit: The topics covered at the POI conference included (but were not limited to) Trade Promotion Optimization, Trade Promotion Management, Predictive Analytics, Price Optimization, and Demand Planning. This conference began on Sunday evening, November 6th, and wrapped up today, November 8th.

The conference offered excellent information on moving from retrospective analysis, to predictive analytics and optimization, as well as Best Practices for increasing profits through Planning & Optimizing Promotions. It also provided a great networking forum for all that attended.

2011 Synectics Group User Conference: The 2011 User Conference, will also be held in Chicago, November 8th and 9th, following the POI Summit. The results from the 2011 Customer Care Survey and the direction from our Advisory Council both pointed toward the value and importance of an opportunity to discuss and share experiences, challenges, and solutions to better manage trade promotions and to maximize benefit from Account Review™, our trade promotion management (TPM) software.

We are excited to bring together our talented and diverse client base while remaining conscious of the professional and ethical guardrails for discussions involving business practices among groups of manufacturers that may include competitors.

AFS Technologies Signs Top Regional Broker to Software Suite

noreply@blogger.com (Synectics Group) — Thu, 27 Oct 2011 14:41:00 +0000

PHOENIX, AZ – AFS Technologies Inc. ("AFS"), the leading provider of end-to-end, real-time business software solutions for brokers in the food and beverage industry, announced today that it has signed Wolff Group to several of their software applications. Wolff Group, a premier regional broker in the Midwest, will use AFS Technologies’ Genweb™, Easy Operator™, Discovery™, and AFS Data Exchange to maximize profits and discover unparalleled efficiencies across all of their business operations.

“Sales agents form an integral part of the CPG order-to-cash cycle, and we are excited to partner with Wolff Group. AFS and Wolff Group both seek the importance of connected solutions throughout the supply chain. AFS has over 70% of the food orders for retail and food service using our AFS Genweb™ solution, which connects agents, manufacturers and distributors to key tools like Profile® (data pool and product synchronization) and Discovery™ (BI, trade promotion and claims). We see Wolff Group as a great contribution to our current AFS sales agent community and we’re looking forward to a long-term partnership,” said Lisa Whinnie, EVP at AFS Technologies.

“For years prior to using AFS as a broker software provider, the AFS Team had always exceeded Wolff Group expectations as we’ve integrated three acquisitions into the Wolff Group Process. These acquired companies were former AFS customers, and not only did the AFS Team go above and beyond with respect to assisting us in the data integration process, they provided assistance to us in core processes beyond data integration of the acquired companies that proved to be very valuable to Wolff Group. In short, we’re very excited to enter into a partnership with AFS and we feel strongly that their value added services and products will be an integral part of Wolff Group’s platform going forward,” stated Mike McDonald, EVP/CFO of Wolff Group.

AFS Technologies’ profit maximizing solutions can be purchased together or individually - at initial system implementation or later as an add-on. Applications can also be interfaced to those from other non-AFS suppliers. AFS Technologies excels above the competition to bring their customers superior solutions and increased profits through leading edge technology, food industry experience and focus, and unmatched customer support and implementation.

About AFS Technologies Inc.

AFS Technologies is the leading provider of business enterprise and Software as a Service (SaaS) solutions. The company now serves nearly 1,500 customers across the Americas with a portfolio of solutions for the food and beverage and supply chain segments. AFS Solutions are designed to improve profitability, grow revenue, and assist in regulatory compliance. AFS Profile® offers the food industry’s largest single source for product information and data synchronization with GS1. All AFS solutions utilize service-oriented architecture (SOA) built with Microsoft .NET framework technology. With a focus on modular design, the solutions allow customers in manufacturing, sales agencies and distribution, the flexibility to upgrade specific elements of the software without affecting the rest of the system. To match the needs of our diverse customer base, products are available on both a license and true SaaS model basis.

For more information, visit us online at www.afsi.com or call (602) 522-8282

About Wolff Group

Wolff Group is a leading Midwest-based foodservice sales and marketing agency that provides superior services to foodservice manufacturers, distributors, and operators in Michigan, Indiana, Ohio, Kentucky, and Western Pennsylvania. Wolff Group provides exactly what today’s rapidly evolving foodservice marketplace requires - greater efficiencies, enhanced service solutions and seamless coverage over a regional geography. The Wolff Group offers their customers a unique combination of local expertise, customized marketing tools and a segment-focused approach designed to help their customers meet their business objectives.

For more information visit www.wolffgroupinc.com

Several of our clients are currently participating in Account Review™ trade promotion management training sessions.

noreply@blogger.com (Synectics Group) — Thu, 01 Sep 2011 15:16:00 +0000

Synectics Group offers a variety of options when it comes to training our clients on how to use Account Review™, our software for trade promotion management (TPM). Our training sessions are highly customized to cater to our clients’ different needs and wants. This kind of flexibility and customization maximizes the effectiveness of training, while providing a more enjoyable learning experience.

Synectics Group often conducts one or two-day traditional training classes. These classes are either held at training facilities across the country, at our state-of-the-art, in-house training facilities at SGI's main offices, or even on-site at individual client locations. These classes provide the opportunity for users to learn the application “hands on”, working side-by-side with experienced Synectics Group trainers. The personal interaction between the trainees and instructors helps to enhance and enliven the classroom experience.

In addition to the live, “hands on” training, every Account Review™ training session is supplemented with a client-specific, Account Review™ User/Training Manual. These manuals provide details in a step-by-step manner that show the capabilities of the application covered in class for each module included in Account Review™ training. Even after the initial training is completed, these manuals functions as a quick and easy-to-use reference guides.

Beside the traditional classroom training format, we offer web-based training as well. Web-based training is a cost-efficient option for simultaneously training users in multiple locations. We have found that it is best suited either for refresher courses, or for training on individual modules within Account Review™. This training method allows all participants to hear the trainer's instruction as they watch the step-by-step process on their own computer screen. The opportunity to ask questions and focus on areas of specific interest makes this method extremely flexible for both the trainer and the participants. Through our web-based training, an option exists to have an individual trainee take over the instructor's system in order to reinforce through practice the procedures covered in the training.

All of our training personnel are recognized as industry experts in the area of trade promotion management. This expertise is reflected in our commitment to superior training. Our trainers have extensive experience, not only with the software itself but also with trade promotion issues relevant to the successful utilization of the product. Account Review™ TPM training covers the functionality and navigation within the software, while emphasizing the business aspects of the interpretation and the application of the results.

To learn more about our different training class formats, click here. If you are not yet utilizing Account Review™ for your trade promotion management needs, click here to request a software demo.

Novamex is now live in Account Review™ 7, our trade promotion management software

noreply@blogger.com (Synectics Group) — Fri, 19 Aug 2011 19:21:00 +0000

Novamex went live this month with Account Review™ 7, our trade promotion management (TPM) software. We are proud to have Novamex as a client and have enjoyed working with them since 2004.

This software upgrade from version 6 allows Novamex to utilize the most advanced SmartClient technology for maximizing the end-user TPM experience. The Account Review™ software suite is based on the Microsoft .NET and SQL Server 2008 platform, and is true closed-loop, world-class trade promotion software. Novamex and our other CPG clients use Account Review™ to manage all aspects of their trade promotion spending, including promotional event planning, budgeting, payment requests, deduction settlements, and post-promotion analysis.

Novamex is the leading marketer of Branded Mexican Food and Beverage products in the USA. As a marketer, Novamex focuses on all aspects of brand management, from production in Mexico to consumption in the USA. As a distributor, Novamex manages a network of over 50,000 distribution points from coast to coast.

For more information on Novamex, click here.

Invitations sent for the 2011 User Conference

noreply@blogger.com (Synectics Group) — Tue, 02 Aug 2011 16:59:00 +0000

Synectics Group recently sent invitations to our clients for the 2011 User Conference, which will be held in Chicago, November 8-9. The results from the 2011 Customer Care Survey and the direction from our Advisory Council both pointed toward the value and importance of a forum to discuss and share experiences, challenges, and solutions to better manage trade promotions and to maximize benefit from Account Review™, our trade promotion management (TPM) software.

We are excited to bring together our talented and diverse client base while remaining conscious of the professional and ethical guardrails for discussions involving business practices among groups of manufacturers that may include competitors.

At the end of the User Conference, TPO Planner™, our new trade promotion optimization software, will be showcased during a brief software demo. If you are not fortunate enough to be attending the User Conference, or are not yet a client, click here to schedule a software demo for TPO Planner, Account Review, or both.

Complimentary registration to “The ‘Predictive’ Path to Promotion Optimization Summit”, held November 6-8, at the same venue, is also included. If you are interested in learning more about "The 'Predictive' Path to Promotion Optimization Summit", please visit http://www.p-o-i.org/ for more information.

Synectics Group is pleased to announce new functionality in Account Review™, our trade promotion management software

noreply@blogger.com (Synectics Group) — Thu, 14 Jul 2011 22:05:00 +0000

Synectics Group is pleased to announce new functionality in Account Review™, our trade promotion management software, which has been released in our latest Service Pack. Available now in Account Review is the new Express Planner, which lets users to plan in a spreadsheet-style view. This allows users to view budget, plans, and plan details all on one screen! With the Express Planner, the user can enter plans and quickly see the impact of that volume/revenue/spending. Users can perform “what-if” analysis in one environment, eliminating the need to run multiple reports. Along with these additional features, all of the same functionality that our clients are used to (lump sum wizard, volume allocation, etc.) is also available in this view.

All of our clients have the opportunity to utilize this new software functionality if they choose, and as always, this update is available at no incremental cost to all our clients. If you are an existing client, a video showcasing the new Express Planner feature in Account Review™ has been added to the Synectics Group Client Portal. If you are not currently using Account Review, click here for a software demo.

The Synectics Group Client Portal is the newest way for our clients to get up to the minute updates on Account Review™

noreply@blogger.com (Synectics Group) — Fri, 17 Jun 2011 13:55:00 +0000

The Synectics Group Client Portal is the newest way for our clients to get up to the minute updates on Account Review™, our trade promotion management software. Clients can log-in through www.trade-promotion.com to view vital information on Account Review™, like constantly updated server reports, release notes for new service packs, and report documentation.

Clients will also have access to the “What’s New with Account Review” section and our Knowledge Base where users can search for informational documents and “how to’s”. The client portal is also eco-friendly providing the clients with access to electronic documents such as paper-less change request forms.

Synectics Group is certified SAS 70 compliant again in 2011

noreply@blogger.com (Synectics Group) — Mon, 11 Apr 2011 17:21:00 +0000

Synectics Group continues SAS 70 compliance into 2011, and in doing so, continues to meet the needs of our publicly traded corporations. SAS 70 has become one of the most widely recognized auditing standards for service companies. SAS 70 audits must be conducted by certified professionals to strict standards set by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA). The 2010–2011 Synectics Group audit was conducted by IS Partners.

Our SAS 70 Type II audit included comprehensive reviews and tests of Synectics Group’s infrastructure, including power, physical and electronic security measures, backup and recovery procedures, customer setup, network security, maintenance procedures, infrastructure and software development change management, environmental safeguards, communications, customer service, management and user controls.

The current Synectics Group Type II SAS 70 audit report with the auditors’ expert opinions are now available upon request to our clients and potential clients.

Synectics Group, River Logic and clients to participate in Trade Promotion Optimization Summit.

noreply@blogger.com (Synectics Group) — Thu, 03 Mar 2011 13:22:00 +0000

Synectics Group is proud to participate in the POI’s Trade Promotion Optimization Summit 2011. This CPG centric event is in entitled, Charting Your Course to Trade Promotion Optimization Summit. This premier event will be held March 13th through the 15th, 2011 at the Chicago Marriott Downtown Magnificent Mile in Chicago Illinois. The TPO summit is designed to help participants move from just managing payments to maximizing promotion effectiveness. Retailers and manufacturers will be discussing collaborative approaches to increase profits, drive loyalty and optimize their significant promotional investment.

Also participating in the TPO Summit is our optimization partner, River Logic. It is easy to claim to have functionality, but significantly more difficult to deliver results in the CPG sector. Clients from Synectics Group and River Logic will be presenting success case studies in trade promotion management and optimization. Both organizations look forward to a successful and productive inaugural conference.

For more information and to register for the event, go to www.p-o-i.org

Synectics Group and Account Review™ again voted a Top 10 Readers’ Choice for Trade Promotion Management.

noreply@blogger.com (Synectics Group) — Tue, 22 Feb 2011 19:45:00 +0000

For a ninth year in a row, Synectics Group earns an industry award from CGT. The January 2011 issue of Consumer Goods Technology Magazine recognizes Synectics Group services and the Account Review™software as a Top 10 Readers’ Choice software solution for trade promotion management. We appreciate being recognized by CGT even though we are perhaps the only awarded TPM vendor that did not purchase advertising in Consumer Goods Technology magazine.

The 2011 Readers’ Choice survey also confirmed the importance of trade promotion optimization to the CPG industry. Synectics Group and our partner, River Logic is proud to be among the first TPM vendors to offer true optimization for CPG trade promotion. Our TPO Planner helps our clients create optimized trade calendars.

We are proud that the market place continues to confirm Synectics Group as one of the leading trade promotion management software and services providers. Synectics Group is a trade promotion management software market leader in the United States with one of the largest market shares of referenceable CPG manufacturers in live production with true closed-loop trade promotion management software.

For more information, go to http://consumergoods.edgl.com/home

Chicken of the Sea upgrades to Account Review™ Version 7.2

noreply@blogger.com (Synectics Group) — Thu, 17 Feb 2011 16:45:00 +0000

November, 29, 2010 -

We are proud to have Chicken of the Sea as a Synectics Group client since 2002. Today Chicken of the Sea goes live in Account Review™ Version 7.2. We appreciate the many years that Chicken of the Sea has been a client. We will continue our long-term commitment to meet the trade promotion management needs of Chicken of the Sea and the consumer packaged-goods industry for many more years to come.

This software upgrade from version 6 puts Chicken of the Sea into the most advanced SmartClient technology for maximizing the end-user TPM experience. The Account Review™ software suite is based on the Microsoft .NET and SQL Server 2008 platform, and is true closed-loop, world-class trade promotion software. Chicken of the Sea and our other CPG clients use Account Review™ to manage all aspects of their trade promotion spending, including promotional event planning, budgeting, payment requests, deduction settlements, and post-promotion analysis.

For more information, go to www.ChickenOfTheSea.com

Full Article: http://www.trade-promotion.com/news/templates/?a=216

Pfizer Consumer Health Care Canada upgrades to Account Review™ Version 7.2

noreply@blogger.com (Synectics Group) — Thu, 17 Feb 2011 16:43:00 +0000

October, 29, 2010 -

We are proud to have Pfizer Consumer Health Care Canada as a Synectics Group client since 2004. Today Pfizer goes live in Account Review™ Version 7. We appreciate the many years that Pfizer has been a client. We will continue our long-term commitment to meet the trade promotion management needs of Pfizer and the consumer goods industry for many more years to come.

This software upgrade from version 6 puts Pfizer into the most advanced SmartClient technology for maximizing the end-user TPM experience. The Account Review™ software suite is based on the Microsoft .NET and SQL Server 2008 platform, and is true closed-loop, world-class trade promotion software. Pfizer and our other CPG clients use Account Review™ to manage all aspects of their trade promotion spending, including promotional event planning, budgeting, payment requests, deduction settlements, and post-promotion analysis.

For more information, go to www.pfizer.ca

Full Article: http://www.trade-promotion.com/news/templates/?a=215

Welcome to the Synectics Group Blog!

noreply@blogger.com (Synectics Group) — Wed, 26 Jan 2011 15:35:00 +0000

Get the latest information about our solutions for Trade Promotion Management and Trade Promotion Otimization. We plan to post information on new enhancements to our products Account Review™ TPM and TPO Planner™.