CPG & Retail EIIR (Engineering, IoT, Industry 4.0 and R&D) Trends Q-3 2019

How are CPG and retail enterprises leveraging EIIR providers? (Deals/Contracts/ Partnerships)

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  LTTS is setting up a greenfield food manufacturing plant for a global consumer goods firm. The project is expected to be completed over a period of two years.

• 2

  TCS is selected by a leading American multinational confectionery, food, and beverage company, to improve the security infrastructure across its plants. TCS will standardize the current security landscape and provide IoT-based remediation services to minimize vulnerabilities and reduce plant down time.

• 3

  Accenture and Coles partnership is going strong. Accenture will provide roll-out following services – Microsoft Cloud, SAP S/4 HANA, Retail specific platforms, and Digital Projects. Icing on the cake is Joint Innovation Fund.That’s how large deals are structured.

• 4

  A leading US-based quick-service restaurant chain selected HCL to create flexible and scalable digital platforms that will help the company personalize its customer experience to create new business models and a unified experience across all channels

• 5

  APP Group has selected Infor Retail CloudSuite to support their exponential growth and global expansion. APP Group manages two global leading brands, Mackage and SOIA & KYO, and is dedicated to the design, production and wholesale and retail commercialization of luxury outerwear and accessories.

• 6

  HiQ is initiating a partnership with Orkla Foods to explore future digital solutions that help consumers make smart, sustainable choices in the food jungle.

• 7

  TCS expanded its strategic partnership with Posten Norge AS, a Nordic postal and logistics group, to build a digital stack that will enable product innovation and a superior customer experience.

• 8

  TCS expanded its strategic partnership with Posten Norge AS, a Nordic postal and logistics group, to build a digital stack that will enable product innovation and a superior customer experience.

How are CPG and retail EIIR providers building their solutions and capabilities?

• 1

  A.P. Moller – Maersk got success in transporting mangoes in containers leveraging Remote Container Management (RCM) and Controlled Atmosphere (CA) containers. It will help improve export of perishable fruits and vegetables which currently needs to airlift which makes them costly. A good example how IoT, smart logistics can help farm produce.

• 2

  Walmart Labs, the technology arm of US retail giant Walmart, has acquired two Bengaluru-based startups – FloCare and BigTrade – for an undisclosed sum. FloCare is a health-tech company that organises all the work a clinician needs to do in one place and aims to make “ageing at home” more affordable and scalable. BigTrade offers a wholesale trading platform which provides an “end-to-end” business solution from the discovery of the product or supplier to payment of the product.

• 3

  First come first serve using facial recognition technology from DataSparQ. Interesting usecase!

• 4

  Nike acquires A.I. platform Celect, hoping to better predict shopping behavior.

• 5

  IKEA is doubling down on smart home tech with new business unit. Earlier there was a news of Tata Croma, electronic retailer in India getting into smart home. Can retailers become significant players in smartphone segment?

• 6

  Coca-Cola trials robot deliveries at Alton Towers theme park. The robot can collect products from distribution center and deliver them to drink outlets across the park using AI to manoeuvre around visitors.

• 7

  IoT enabled smart luggage from Samsonite and Panasonic. Automatic weight measurement, bluetooth for power charging, tracking, biometric security.

• 8

  OYO acquires Danamica, a Danish data analytics firm. Interesting acquisition from.many angles – location, capability, technology stack.

• 9

  PepsiCo to setup one of its largest business services hub in Hyderabad which will hire 2500 people in next three years across BPO, IT and digital.

• 10

  Deem, which offers solutions for business travel industry, will invest $10 million in its relocated R&D Centre of Excellence (CoE) in Bengaluru and plans to hire over 100 professionals.

How are CPG and retail EIIR providers building their solutions and capabilities?

• 1

  ITC Infotech becomes first IT services firm in the world which plans to give each of its employees a personal bot from Automation Anywhere. The personal bot can increase employee experience and engagement. The productivity can also increase by 12%. Use cases are across CPG and retail.

• 2

  Accenture has introduced AFLS Exchange, a new cloud-based connectivity and collaboration platform that enables air cargo carriers to seamlessly integrate with their partner networks, helping them expand their footprint and create new business opportunities.

CPG and retail industry news

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  Hasbro accelerating plans to shift away from China in favor of new destinations, India and Vietnam. The trade war is changing the landscape of toyland.

• 2

  Chinese group Fosun to rescue Thomas Cook with $940 million fund infusion.

• 3

  Reliance is set to acquire an 87.6% stake in fashion ecommerce platform Fynd. Presumably, Fynd’s ecommerce platform would be integrated with Reliance Retail and the conglomerate’s upcoming ecommerce service, which would work on an offline-to-online (O2O) model, which Fynd also operates in.

• 4

  FedEx ends ground-delivery deal with Amazon.

• 5

  As-a-service business model comes to shoes. Nike launches a sneaker subscription service for kids.

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  Tastemakers raises $1.4M to sell Africa experiences to the world

• 7

  A creative and clever marketing strategy by German rail operator Deutsche Bahn to sell tickets to destinations which resemble famous foreign destinations. Use of marketing technologies such as image recognition, AI, ad targeting, etc. Results 24% revenue jump.

• 8

  Anti slavery blockchain startup Lumachain tracks food items in supply chain for their compliance to Australia’s Modern Slavery Act.

• 9

  Alibaba acquires Netease Kaola. The largest player in cross border commerce acquires second largest player. The combined entity will have more than 60% share.

• 10

  McKinsey is opening a retail store at the Mall of America in Minneapolis.

CPG and retail resources: consultant/ analyst updates

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  McKinsey: The endgame for postal networks: How to win in the age of e-commerce (Link)

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