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Blacksmith Introduces Advanced Capabilities for Pricing and Freight Management
December 1, 2008
Boston, MA [December 1, 2008] With the release of FORGE Trade 5.0, Blacksmith Applications customers can capitalize on a range of new features designed to sharpen the accuracy of their pricing actions while accounting for freight-related cost fluctuations in the supply chain.
According to Milan Mushran, the development leader for the new package, the value for Blacksmith's customers is both substantial and immediate. "Our customers are under tremendous pressure to insure both the inbound and outbound freight rates are accurate and taken into consideration when pricing to their accounts. With FORGE 5.0, the pricing actions they take each day consider the current fuel and freight conditions for their supply chain and 'build up' the final FOB and delivered prices for each delivery point from the forward distribution center. Prior to these tools, most of our clients were left to load Excel sheets and calculate the pricing manually, which was prone to error, difficult to execute on time and very labor intensive. Given the volatile nature of freight costs, these features deliver a great deal of value for them."
In addition, FORGE 5.0 provides capabilities for Blacksmith customers to execute pricing actions across customers, consistently and quickly. Kalyan Vangapalli leads the Blacksmith team in executing 'mass contract updates' and understands first-hand the value of the capability. "With the speed at which freight costs have risen the past 18 months, manufacturers in the industry have struggled to increase their prices rapidly enough to recover their costs on a timely basis. Leveraging the capabilities of FORGE 5.0, they are able to define the 'right' price and get it into the market very quickly. Without this capability, many companies are at the mercy of a resource-intensive process that is slow and cumbersome. We are able to save them time and money."
About Blacksmith Applications
Blacksmith Applications provides software solutions and strategic consulting to empower clients to manage their trade incentives more profitably. Blacksmith specializes in solving the unique needs of foodservice manufacturers, while also meeting client's needs for CPG and other lines of business.
FORGE Trade supports distributor pricing, trade program and operator contract management, including profitability evaluation and approval routing prior to deal approval. FORGE Settlements offers tools for claim validation, deduction resolution, and settlement processing. FORGE Analytics offers robust enterprise reporting for managing across the transactions involved.
Blacksmith solutions enable profitable decision-making, provide visibility into promotion performance and offer flexible configuration of process controls.
For more information, visit www.blacksmithapps.com.
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