Accenture Helps Hostess Brands Deliver the "Sweetest Comeback in the History of Ever"

Business Wirevia The Motley Fool
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Accenture Helps Hostess Brands Deliver the "Sweetest Comeback in the History of Ever"

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Accenture (NYS: ACN) has teamed with Hostess Brands, LLC to design and implement a new operating model and business processes, and deliver end-to-end information technology (IT) transformation. The work helped Hostess Brands to successfully relaunch Twinkies®, one of America's most iconic products, and get them back on store shelves in less than three months. Financial terms of the contract were not disclosed.

Under the terms of the multi-year agreement signed in April 2013, Accenture designed, built, and implemented a new operating model, including a new distribution system and IT systems, across all aspects of the Hostess Brands enterprise, including the sales and marketing, merchandising, manufacturing, finance and order management functions. The speed of the implementation enabled Hostess Brands to get their products onto store shelves in time for the back-to-school shopping season, a crucial period for U.S. retailers and brands.


Dean Metropoulos, owner and CEO of Hostess Brands, said, "Accenture played an invaluable role in helping bring these much-loved products back onto store shelves and into the hands of U.S. consumers. The speed and precision of the delivery was crucial, so that our products were available for the back-to-school sales period. Within the first two weeks of reintroducing Twinkies to the shelf we had five times more Twinkies® on the market than during the same period last year, and Accenture played its part in helping us make this the sweetest comeback in the history of ever."

Accenture's work to help rebuild Hostess Brands included the following initiatives:

  • Design and implementation of end-to-end front- and back-office processes, including finance, procurement, sales, transportation management and distribution functions.

  • Development of a new distribution system, moving from a direct store delivery (DSD) model to warehouse delivery, helping to improve efficiency and speed to market.

  • Creation of a new data center, hosted on Accenture's private cloud, to manage all business applications and support functions.

  • Design, development and coordination of all IT infrastructure, such as shop floor automation and plant infrastructure, and including the set-up of IT systems to support basic company functions such as email, help desk and telephone system.

  • Building of a multi-year support model to manage all applications and processes.

  • Systems support and training of all Hostess Brands's employees.

  • Software and hardware vendor and tool selection.

Harin Shetty, a managing director in Accenture's Consumer Goods & Services practice said, "The breadth of this engagement made it comparable to starting up a new company, so we are delighted to deliver it successfully and to such a tight timetable. Accenture has helped Hostess Brands go from a standing start to producing and shipping 100 million snack cakes during the first two weeks of the relaunch."

Under the terms of the contract, Accenture will also continue to manage all IT applications, infrastructure, and data center services on behalf of Hostess Brands.

To read about Accenture's work with other clients in the consumer goods industry, click here or follow Accenture Consumer Goods & Services on Twitter or Google+.

About Accenture

Accenture is a global management consulting, technology services and outsourcing company, with approximately 266,000 people serving clients in more than 120 countries. Combining unparalleled experience, comprehensive capabilities across all industries and business functions, and extensive research on the world's most successful companies, Accenture collaborates with clients to help them become high-performance businesses and governments. The company generated net revenues of US$27.9 billion for the fiscal year ended Aug. 31, 2012. Its home page is www.accenture.com.



Accenture
Matt Samuel, + 44 20 7844 2055
+ 44 7717 866766
matt.samuel@accenture.com
or
Burson-Marsteller
Nancy Goldstein, + 212 614 4827
nancy.goldstein@bm.com

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