Customer stories

GRUPPO MONTENEGRO DIGITIZES
AND STREAMLINES TRADE PROMOTION MANAGEMENT PROCESS

New enterprise apps that streamlined trade promotion management helped to achieve an improved centralized planning that lead sales managers to more traceability and to better plan inventory and future campaigns.

Digitizing the trade promotion management process to support and improve centralized planning doesn’t have to be complex or strain your budget. Learn how Gruppo Montenegro, Dyna Brains and Neptune Software Software to create modern, easy-to-use apps that streamlined trade promotions across its spirits and food lines.

«We wanted to give the company the right information at the right time in the right way, that was only possible with apps created on Neptune DXP»

LORENZO CHIARI, ICT Manager Gruppo Montenegro

NUMBERS

• 4 months of project
• 50 Users
• 14K documenti creati per le promozioni
• 4 divisioni commerciali

CHALLENGE

Information Silos Obscure Trade Promotion

Gruppo Montenegro’s brands are beloved household names across Italy and Europe – and icons of the “Made In Italy” label across more than 70 countries globally.

Supporting a robust national and international distribution network requires a comprehensive long-term strategy and being able to adapt quickly to changing market needs at any time.

But predicting consumer demand isn’t easy. For Gruppo Montenegro’s key account managers, the ability to manage, scale, and adjust the trade promotions for their product lines is critical to the company’s success. It’s a complex effort that takes centralized planning – and more than just a spreadsheet.

Already using SAP’s ERP solution since 2004, it was time for an overhaul of old outdated and inefficient processes.

Gruppo Montenegro needed an easy way for account managers to unite the information about trade promotions and seamlessly manage orders. Greater visibility across
the sales cycle and throughout the warehouse was key, especially since each account and organization has a unique set up and promotions move at a rapid pace.

With no in-house development staff and a right budget, Lorenzo Chiari, Responsible of ICT Service, knew he needed the support of strong industry partnerships to tackle this challenge. That’s when Gruppo Montenegro turned to Ugo Romano, CEO and SAP SCM Consultant at Dyna Brains as a company specializing in Digital Innovation Solutions and partner of Neptune Software.

«Neptune Software si è dimostrato in grado di rendere SAP uno strumento di facile utilizzo, garantendo una UX intuitiva tanto all’utente finale quanto ai business manager»

LORENZO CHIARI, ICT Manager Gruppo Montenegro

APPROACH

Create Unified Trade Promotion Management Processes that Scale

Working collaboratively, Gruppo Montenegro and Dyna Brains began a digitization effort, implementing sales and retail applications using the Neptune DX Platform on SAP as a rapid application development [RAD] tool.

Neptune Software’s DX Platform (DXP)
for SAP is a RAD/low-code platform that provides a single UI for the SAP landscape and enables a rapid build and deployment cycle.

To get started, Ugo provided design thinking based on the stakeholders’ requirements and enlisted developers skilled in using and building apps with the Neptune DX Platform.

The approach, said Lorenzo, was to connect sales promotions and calendars with order management, and integrate all of the processes involved across applications. “The flow is integrated, it starts with the new Neptune Application, a second step in another system used by the sales force to insert the order, and is completed with the shipping and billing documented in SAP.”

«If you need to create a user experience quickly, Neptune Software provides a new and better way to work in SAP and create additional usability, preserving both user and organizational points of view»

LORENZO CHIARI, ICT Manager Gruppo Montenegro

RESULTS

More Fluid, Transparent Approach that Supports Better Planning

Today, seamless technology is their key to scale and adjust promotions for all distribution channels Gruppo Montenegro serves.

“User adoption was easy and quick because information was presented visually in a
way that made sense,” said Lorenzo. “Sales managers were immediate advocates of the new apps and system, which meant we were able to achieve 100% utilization quickly among their teams.”

With accurate and timely information at their fingertips, Gruppo Montenegro can better manage sales performances and sales budgets throughout the calendar year.

“With a more fluid process, we now have full transparency of what’s happening at any point in time. That leads to better planning for our sales account managers. And over time as we build the data, with this app we should be able to see which promotions are most effective, and link certain promotions to profitability and revenue – with real proof points,” said Lorenzo.

In an industry that struggles with access to accurate sell-out data, any additional insights are highly valuable. “With consumer product goods, you don’t always know who is buying what when,” added Lorenzo. “It’s a constant battle to find granular data around what sells best, what format works, and what sells on a particular date. This promotional management and planning application enables more traceability, so we can better plan our inventory and future campaigns.”

«The key success of the project has been the big flexibility of Neptune Software’s DX Platform to fit Gruppo Montenegro’s needs according to their digital transformation requirements.».

UGO ROMANO, CEO Dyna Brains

The work at Gruppo Montenegro continues as Lorenzo keeps evaluating ways to create more robust experiences for a diverse set of users.

“It’s important that each reality is met, so our goal is to experiment and implement functionality for different processes and needs,” he said.

«Neptune Software represents an easy way to leverage the power of SAP with modern user interfaces and mobility» 

LORENZO CHIARI, ICT Manager Gruppo Montenegro