NEWS For Release: Immediate

Contact: Alice Greene 

412.362.2000 ext. 1265

info@msa.com 

MSA Announces Daily Invoice-Level Shipment Processing Capabilities

Now Benefiting Beverage Industry 

Pittsburgh PA – November 15, 2012 – Management Science Associates, Inc. (MSA)

announced that it has "gone live" with the next generation of its Data@Factory™

, now

processing daily, invoice-level shipment data. Leveraging the proven infrastructure firstestablished in 1993, continuously improved through seven major releases, and currently

serving 25 leading consumer products companies for the management of weekly,

SKU/store sequence-level shipments, the "NeoCore" Data@Factory addresses today'spervasive need for more granular and timely data. NeoCore's first implementation

supports the beverage industry; however, these advanced capabilities can extend to any

industry craving more precise shipment tracking to drive further efficiencies throughout

the demand chain.

Daily data processing is the latest example of MSA’s commitment to continuous

investment and improvement in its Reseller Information Systems™ (RIS) product,exploiting new technologies as they become proven. Today, despite rapidly increasing

data volumes and complexities, MSA is focused on faster delivery of more granular

information to suppliers and their trading partners – anytime, anywhere.

“Technologies for ‘big data’ have exploded over the last several years and can divert a

company’s attention from the main goal of using information to make great decisions,”said Karl Herleman, MSA Vice President of IT. “C-level leaders understand that it’s best

to rely on data management experts like MSA to do the heavy lifting on their large data

sets.”

The invoice-level platform brings new flexibility in the areas of distributor input formats;

new fields can be added or removed easily; error types are parameterized; and processing,accepting and rejecting data can be done at the transaction-level, rather than file-level, ascan resubmissions. This collaborative platform also satisfies a long sought-after

desire – supplier and distributor visibility into data status through MSA’s 24/7 DIY

(Do It Yourself) Dataservices Portal. With this capability, field sales inquiries to

corporate are greatly reduced.

The RIS solution was first built in VMS with proprietary programs and databases in

1993. With its ability to help suppliers understand trade-program ROI based on store-

 

 

level performance, the solution drew the attention initially of all leading cigarettemanufacturers. RIS went on to be adopted by the snack and confection industry starting

in 1997, the publishing industry in 2001, beverages in 2005 and others in ensuing years.

Today’s platform is standards-based with relational and multi-dimensional database

deliverables. Clients benefit from fully integrated data sets that include distributor

shipments as well as manufacturer shipments, syndicated and store-level scan data, andaudit and call-frequency information, among others.

All data processing and master-data management is performed at MSA’s PittsburghPennsylvania headquarters, supported by a separate redundant data center. A 30-person

Distributor Support Center (DSC) works with some 2,500 distributor warehouses, Route

Automation Software vendors, direct-store delivery operations, club stores and other

sources of supply to ensure the smooth reception and processing of shipment-datasubmissions on a daily and weekly basis. The DSC’s Dataservices web portal provides

regular feedback to distributors on data-file integrity and item classifications as well as

early reads on promotion compliance, supplier-sponsored benchmark reporting anddistributor-directed services.

About MSA MSA is the acknowledged leader in data management, integration and analysis in the

consumer goods, media and metals industries. Since its incorporation in 1963, MSA has

partnered with customers to identify areas where innovative uses of data can foster

growth or drive efficiency. Combining its expertise with the tools of informationmanagement, analytics, data management, and software and systems technology, MSA

develops, integrates, implements and maintains products and services in various

functional and vertical domains. Within processes, departments, across large and smallenterprises, and throughout demand and supply chains, MSA helps customers put their

data to work.

With 850 professionals, MSA provides solutions for over 300 clients, including some of 

the largest U.S. and foreign corporations and institutions. Headquartered in Pittsburgh,

MSA also has offices in New York; Atlanta; High Point, NC; Las Vegas; Cardiff, UK;Shanghai, China and Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

For more information about MSA’s RIS services in the beverage and other industries,

please contact Account Group Director Alice Greene at  AGreene@MSA.com or 412-362-2000 ext. 1265.

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