The Grocery Revolution requires new approaches and new business skills. Excelerated Learning Systems has designed a custom business simulation that creates an understanding of the new business model and develops business skills to adapt from the manufacturer to the store shelves.

Kraft Foods

Operations 
ELS partnered with Kraft Foods in 1997 to design a custom delivery of a business simulation that demonstrated to plant operations how their daily activities contributed to the operating profits of the plant. Integrating the plant’s cost of production statement, introducing key financial measures in terms that associates can relate to and using the simulation as a way for them to “discover” how cash flows through operations has contributed to improved productivity.

Over 100 instructors across 68 plants are certified to deliver Apples and Oranges: Manufacturing.™ Kraft’s distribution centers focused on the productivity of shipping cases. Apples and Oranges: Service™ was designed to reflect the key productivity measures of the warehouse. The warehouse budget was included in the activities so that each associate could see how their role impacted the business results.

Sales 
The movement in the industry to customer collaboration opened an opportunity for Customer Category Managers to experience Financial Firepower™ designed to allow participants to experience the pressure points of their customer’s business by managing a retail simulation model. Gaining the perspective of the customer’s financial measures and increasing the ability to demonstrate how Kraft solutions impact the financial statements of the customer builds business knowledge across the collaborative relationship.

The custom program was designed in 2004 and is currently offered as part of their management curriculum.

Supply Chain 
Each chain is searching to streamline its supply chain impacting the velocity of inventory turns. Kraft’s supply chain team certified 12 instructors in February 2005 to deliver a custom design of Apples and Oranges: Retail™ to their staff to increase the business knowledge of their customer. By demonstrating how Kraft’s supply chain initiatives benefit the financial health of the customer, stronger relationships are formed and a win-win strategy is accomplished.

Dean Foods

Margins are slim in the food business and sales professionals have an impact on operation results. ELS created a custom design of Apples and Oranges:Manufacturing™ for the national sales meeting of Dean Foods in December 2000. Sales people “discovered” how their trade promotions, discounts and delivery schedules impact production and corporate profits.

Giant Food

After being purchased by Ahold, Giant store managers were held accountable for profit and loss and a new financial reporting system at the store level. In February 2001 ELS created a custom delivery of Apples and Oranges: Retail™ to help managers understand the components of the financial statements and the drivers behind them. Out of stocks, shrink, inventory turns, SGA all contribute to operating profit. Store managers were able to see the critical impact of managing their inventory to meet expected operating profits.

In August 2001 ELS was asked to take the learning to a more tactical level.

ELS designed a session to help store managers understand the components of their new store inventory system, its link to their gross profit by department and its link to their financial statements.

AholdUSA

Building on the success at Giant Food, ELS was invited to present their solution to rapidly deploy a learning program that would engage all store management across its five operating companies to clearly understand the drivers of EVA and each person’s link to that financial measure.

A Connections Booklet™ linked the corporate strategy, business initiatives, elements of EVA and store operating statement to the Apples and Oranges: Retail™ model. ELS designed a custom train the trainer program that transferred the Connections Process™ to each of the operating companies to update with local information. Over 2500 managers participated in the training within a six month implementation schedule.

Dial Corporation

In the fall of 2002, ELS designed a custom session for managers at the corporate headquarters. The impact on managers increased their ability to make better business decisions with a broader perspective of total operations.

Roundy’s

The competency of business acumen was identified as a development need for managers. Apples and Oranges: Service™ was selected as the platform for the distribution managers to better see the link between daily activity in the warehouse and the impact on the financial results.

The Kroger Company

The Delta marketing area of Kroger identified building business thinking across store management as an essential competency to build sustainable competitive advantage.

Excelerated Learning Systems, Inc. designed a custom session of Apples and Oranges:  Retail™ for store operations unraveling the mystery behind the data of the store operating statement and its component financial statements.  The session was delivered to store managers in 2005 and continued with department managers in 2006.

The Wrigley Sales Company and Organization

As one of the premiere sales teams in the confectionery market sector, the Wrigley Sales Company has created a Customer Management College to support the development of its team.  Apples and Oranges:  Retail™ was adopted in 2006 to enhance business thinking skills and contribute to customer collaboration to impact sales and value to the customer.