Accenture To Help AB Inbev Improve Sales And Distribution Operations In Africa With New Distributor Management System

Accenture (NYSE: ACN) is helping AB InBev (Euronext: ABI) (NYSE: BUD) (MEXBOL: ANB) (JSE: ANH), the world’s largest brewer, better manage its sales and distribution operations in Africa with the Accenture NewsPage Distributor Management System (DMS).

A fully integrated distributor management and sales force automation system, Accenture DMS covers the complete down-stream supply chain, providing consumer goods companies with accurate, reliable data on secondary sales to help them control promotions; improve productivity; and streamline inventory and sales processes and distributor claims.

Under the terms of the three-year contract, Accenture is helping AB InBev implement the latest version of DMS for its operations in Africa. This includes the initial roll-out of the system in Mozambique, Zambia, Ghana and Nigeria, as well as the upgrade of the system in Tanzania and Uganda, where AB InBev has already been using DMS for more than three years.

The DMS implementation will enable AB InBev to track its distributor network and increase visibility into its product stock and sales in Africa. By consolidating all product transactional information — from activities of the sales force and distributors— DMS gives AB InBev’s sales teams the data they need to build relationships with distributors and customers and to closely track product promotions and performance.

The DMS software — which is integrated with the Salesforce-based solution that ABI uses to drive its contact strategy with its customers — will be used by more than 1,570 mobile and 620 back-office users and made available to more than 100 of AB InBev’s distributors.

Accenture has already completed the upgrade of DMS in Tanzania and Uganda, with the implementations in the other four countries taking place over the next several months. Once Accenture has implemented the DMS solution for AB InBev in the six countries, it will continue to support the solution, providing continued hosting, maintenance and application support for the duration of the contract.

“Accenture’s DMS solution has enabled us to enhance our sales and distribution operations in Tanzania and Uganda over the past three years, and we’re excited to upgrade to the latest version and expand its use to other countries in Africa,” said Lee Dawson, Vice President, AB InBev. “With DMS, we’re better positioned to achieve our goal of becoming the number one brewer across the continent.”

Marlize Claasen, managing director at Accenture, said, “AB InBev understands that expanding sales, enhancing efficiency and improving profitability requires full visibility into its sales and distribution operations. We’re excited to be able to continue our successful collaboration with them as they seek to expand their market share in Africa, while developing a more connected and modern relationship with consumers.”