Information Builders Announces New Business Intelligence Customers in Consumer Packaged Goods Sector

Utz, Coty Inc., Food Lion and Others Select WebFOCUS for Business Intelligence and Competitive Advantage


NEW YORK, NY--(Marketwire - September 18, 2007) - Information Builders, the leader in production business intelligence (BI) solutions, today announced that Utz Quality Snack Foods and Coty Inc., one of the world's largest and most successful cosmetics companies and an award-winning customer of iWay Software solutions, have selected Information Builders WebFOCUS for business intelligence. The companies join dozens of existing consumer packaged goods (CPG) companies that use WebFOCUS -- including Food Lion and many others -- to ensure delivery of critical business information across the enterprise to increase competitive advantage amid growing regulatory parameters and narrowing margins.

"WebFOCUS, which was developed with mobile reports in mind in order to meet the needs of enterprises with employees in the field, is a logical BI choice for CPG companies that must stay on top of inventory, distribution, and overall supply chain functions to be at the top of their game," said Gerald Cohen, CEO of Information Builders. "E. & J. Gallo Winery, the world's largest wine maker, has harvested a tremendous return on its investment in WebFOCUS software. The winery rolled out more than 300 WebFOCUS reports to 3,000 users across 19 business units and as a result, improved customer service, quality assurance, shipping, inventory control, and regional distribution. Having one accessible version of the truth in shared reports has reduced inefficiencies and inaccuracies across departments."

Utz Quality Foods Stays Fresh in the Field

Utz Quality Foods, Inc. manufactures and distributes potato chips and other snack foods in the mid-Atlantic U.S. The company services large retail customers like Sam's Club, Costco, and supermarket chains. It also coordinates sales and production of more than 20,000 pounds of potato chips every hour, managing 600 delivery routes to 30,000 stores. See www.utzsnacks.com for more information.

"In the snack food industry, service and quality are key. Timing is a crucial element in keeping fresh product on store shelves," said Ed Smith, CIO, Utz. "Utz enlisted Information Builders' help to optimize company growth and improve distribution and sales processes for better decision-making. The company uses WebFOCUS to coordinate the timing between production, marketing, sales, and distribution operations. We have already realized significant company growth and distribution and sales process improvements because our employees are able to more rapidly make informed decisions."

Coty Takes BI to the Next Level

Coty delivers innovative products to consumers in 91 markets worldwide. The world's largest fragrance company, Coty is a recognized leader in global beauty with annual net sales of $3.2 billion. Based on the incredible success that Coty experienced with Information Builders subsidiary iWay Software, during its acquisition of Unilever Cosmetics, the fragrance giant has enlisted WebFOCUS to provide better business insight on the reporting front.

"We would not have been able to integrate Unilever's infrastructure so quickly without iWay Software. Having to code manually would have taken at least a year. Missing our target date would have cost us several million dollars and possibly impacted revenues," said Dave Berry, senior vice president and Global CIO, Coty Inc. "iWay has lived up to its reputation for handling large, complex integration projects, and has already given Coty great ROI, including project payback within two months."

Food Lion Quickly Hunts Down Data with BI

Food Lion LLC, a subsidiary of Brussels-based Delhaize Group (NYSE: DEG). Food Lion operates 1,300 supermarkets, either directly or through affiliated entities, and employs approximately 73,000 associates in 11 Southeast and Mid-Atlantic states. The company's self-service reporting system and online BI environment have given managers sales results and other financial data days to weeks sooner affording better analysis of weekly store promotions and the ability to quickly detect buying patterns and respond to changes in the marketplace.

About Information Builders

Information Builders' award-winning combination of business intelligence and enterprise integration software has been providing innovative solutions to more than 12,000 customers for the past 30 years. WebFOCUS is the world's most widely utilized business intelligence platform. It provides the security, scalability, and flexibility needed at every level of global extended enterprises. Its simplicity helps create executive, analytical, and operational applications that reach dozens to millions of users. Information Builders subsidiary iWay Software provides state-of-the-art, multi-purpose integration engines that address all SOA, application, data, and information management requirements. Its integration adapters have been adopted by the leading software platform providers. Together, these products give Information Builders' customers the ability to live up to the company motto: Your business. No barriers.

Information Builders' customers include most of the Fortune 100 and U.S. federal government agencies. Headquartered in New York City with 90 offices worldwide, the company employs 1,600 people and has more than 350 business partners.

Contact Information: Press Contacts: Kathleen Moran Information Builders (212) 736-4433 Liza Colburn Emerge PR (617) 729-3177