IBM to help consumer firms

IBM Business Consulting Services global consumer products industry leader Patrick Medley said that significant changes in the consumer-products industry are expected to happen in the next decade, which include a rising number of consolidations, emergence of niche players and increased partnering.

Consumer-products businesses should prepare themselves to take over other companies or to be taken over.

"They should be clear what businesses they want to be in and need to understand what they do well and partner with others for the rest of the processes," Medley said.

IBM's component business models offer a tried and tested approach for driving a specialised focus, both internally and externally.

Internally, components help companies rethink the leverage they can achieve through the assets and capabilities they own. Externally, components help companies source specialised capabilities that they cannot feasibly create themselves.

Combining these types of specialisations allows companies to redefine their competitive positions in the face of the sweeping changes in their industries, while simultaneously achieving the competing benefits of scale, flexibility and efficiency.

"We offer expertise and solutions for every aspect of the consumer industry to help them prepare for the future. Solutions are such as IT operations, CRM, outsourcing solutions, linking remote sales offices, infrastructure overhaul, inventory management and, designing and developing wireless warehouses," Medley said.

Meanwhile, integrating IT services will help the consumer-products industry to manage and utilise their most important asset - information - through the use of technology.

Medley said consumer-products businesses have to capture information and use all information available throughout the supply chain efficiently.

"They have to integrate information both inside and outside the organisation but the problem for them is information management. We can offer them information on demand that allows them to get to the information instantaneously and effectively," he said.