75233877
Jan 30, 1997
Jan 13, 1998
computer programs, namely, decision support software applications for forcasting, demand planning and management, sales query and sales analysis, profitability planning, profitability monitoring and analysis, and for integrated trade promotion, planning, management and evaluation, utilizing multi-dimensional OLAP (On Line Analytical Processing) databases configured to fit users' business operations with large, multiple data sources determined by users, to - forecast and plan demand, sales and inventory cycles; analyze and evaluate the forecast performance; communicate changes in demand throughout a business organization; generate, refine and execute inventory, financial and operational plans; allow the creation of forecasts using statistical techniques, models, and analyses; allow multi-dimensional forecasting and demand planning; provide a "pick best" function that offers a technique to support the demand pattern; allow access to sales data by many remote and dispersed users to provide access to sales information, and the ability to compare statistics; review sales quotas and expectations against actual performance; plan and monitor the financial aspects of product management; determine customer, trade channel, and product profitability; analyze, plan, monitor and manage multiple products; plan, manage and evaluate trade deals and trade promotions; allocate funds and manage trade negotiations; analyze the profitability and effectiveness of trade promotions; analyze complex queries such as forward-buy, cannibalization, division recognition, and promotion lift matrix impact; provide "best spend" functions that recommends an optimal trade spending mix; provide "bookmark" capabilities to allow users to sort and recall analyses, which can be viewed in any manner of time; and to organize data in multiple dimensions, views and levels, including reporting and presentation functions; and computer utility programs that facilitate data administration and other tasks related to the foregoing applications, including the movement of data into and out of said applications, realigning, recording, and changing the hierarchies and performing periodic updates to the databases
Electrical and Scientific Apparatus