Consumer Goods Overview

This chapter provides a brief overview of the Consumer Goods application. Topics include:

About Siebel Consumer Goods

Oracle’s Siebel Consumer Goods is a multichannel application designed for the consumer goods industry. These products help consumer goods manufacturers manage relationships across the entire demand chain. Marketing, sales, and customer service applications are fully integrated and are designed to manage the various complex interactions and relationships between brand owners, their partners (including brokers and distributors), their customers, and the end consumer. Siebel Consumer Goods provides customer, partner, and employee relationship management solutions for companies in the following industry segments:

Food, beverage, and tobacco
Over-the-counter (OTC) drugs and health-and-beauty aids (HBA)
Household goods
Consumer media
Appliances and electronics

Business Solutions for Siebel Business Applications

You can purchase many Siebel Business Applications modules to use with Siebel Consumer Goods. You can also purchase modules specific to Siebel Consumer Goods to provide enhanced functionality for various business processes. For information about the modules that you can use with the Siebel Consumer Goods application, contact your Oracle sales representative or local Oracle Sales Office.

The following table describes how the Siebel Business Applications can provide solutions for business issues. These solutions include optional features and modules.

Business Issue	Siebel Business Applications Solutions
Account management	Management of accounts through multilevel account hierarchies based on complex account relationships Management of account and customer information through profiles
Agreement management	Automated production of agreements from accepted quotes Coordination of pricing information Assignment of standard terms, conditions, and features Tracking to make sure that agreements and service entitlements are fulfilled
Analytics	Encapsulation of best practices across Siebel Business Applications Self-service access to intelligence across business applications Proactive intelligence for trade funds, trade promotion evaluation, sales performance, and retail execution Use of existing enterprise data sources
Audit trail	Creation of a history of all the changes that were made to various kinds of information Record of who accessed an item, the operation performed, when it was performed, and how the value was changed Security maintenance, examination of the history for a record, and modification documentation for future analysis and record keeping
Billing management	Integration with back-office billing systems Query and display of billing information Management of payment information, payment plans, bill adjustments, and bill profiles
Brand management	Management of brands through account distribution lists and personalization attributes Dynamic matching of accounts and products to make sure that accounts get the appropriate products
Call center optimization	Single desktop to manage multiple types of customer interactions Computer telephony integration (CTI) to connect callers with the most qualified agent Integrated Web and Interactive Voice Response (IVR) self-service functionality
Credit management	Integration with a back-office credit system Management of credit alerts Notification of customers who are delinquent in payments
Customer acquisition	Analytical tools for segmenting prospects and developing targeted campaigns Campaign management tools for developing and executing multichannel campaigns Prebuilt performance analysis tools Call scripting, which delivers messages that use proactive selling and retention techniques during customer contacts Intelligent territory assignment, lead scoring, and routing
Customer and partner applications	Self Service, which allows your customers to create and track their trouble tickets and service requests and to search for answers to frequently asked questions (FAQs) through the Internet eSales, which allows your customers to browse though your company’s products and services, customize them, and purchase them through the Internet
Customer retention	Comprehensive customer profile that is shared throughout the enterprise Sales tools that increase sales effectiveness and maximize time spent building relationships Tools for marketing analysis, campaign development, and execution
Equipment and infrastructure	Management of physical assets available at a customer site Tracking of equipment sales to accounts Management of meters and assets
Fraud management	Integration with a back-office fraud management system Management of fraud alerts Definition of relevant thresholds for customer fraud profiles Classification of customer accounts to indicate the likelihood of fraud Management of customer accounts that are late in settlement or delinquent
Information analysis and marketing	Analysis of customer information and measurement of campaign results with marketing analytics Creation and execution of targeted marketing campaigns Internet marketing with Siebel Marketing: integrated email campaigns, customized Web offers, personalized Web pages, Internet newsletters, and Internet surveys
Order configuration and management	Automated generation of quotes and sales orders with Siebel Configurator Tracking of relationships between sales, sales orders, and work orders Definition of process rules and automatic escalation of open sales orders Use of product parameters in generating sales orders Provisioning of sales orders through work orders Incorporation of complex attributes such as style, color, size, and multiple ship-to destinations
Pricing management	Set of tools for defining pricing adjustments and the conditions under which they are applied Engine that evaluates condition statements and determines the pricing adjustments to apply Testing area that allows assessment of the pricing adjustments Integration with end-user interfaces such as Quotes, Orders, Siebel eSales, and Siebel Configurator
Service request management	Single platform for logging, assigning, managing, and resolving customer problems Online solutions search capability Proactive customer notifications through email, pager, fax, and Internet Automatic escalation of overdue service requests
Third-party and legacy integration	Prebuilt COM interfaces to leading Operating System Software (OSS) and Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) applications Integration mapping tools for cross-application process integration Bidirectional data exchange and synchronization provided by Siebel Enterprise Integration Manager (EIM) Credit verification and address validation Maintenance of billing accounts through an external billing system
Up-selling and cross-selling	Scripting engine that identifies up-sell and cross-sell opportunities with every customer contact Building of complex assortment plans to provide an atmosphere of suggestive selling

Business Functions of Screens

The Siebel Consumer Goods interface includes task-specific screens. Only administrators use some screens. For introductory information about using the Siebel Consumer Goods standard interface, see Siebel Fundamentals.

Note: This guide documents the preconfigured Siebel Consumer Goods application with all of the optional modules specific to Consumer Goods functionality. The sample database includes data for these optional modules. If your installation does not include some of these optional modules, your software interface will differ from the interface described in some topics of this guide.

The following information lists the most frequently used Siebel Consumer Goods screens and the business functions of the views in those screens. The exact configuration of Siebel Consumer Goods screens, views, and fields depends on your company’s configuration of the application. This table also lists screens for Siebel Business Applications that you can use with Siebel Consumer Goods and the business functions of the views in those screens.

Screen	Functions of the Screen Views	Information About the Screen
Accounts	Create, view, and update accounts. Set up and maintain account hierarchies. Define and maintain account profile information.	Managing Accounts Product Distribution
Activities	Manage activities with accounts, contacts, opportunities, and service requests, and create contact and account calls (with or without Smart Calls).	Siebel Applications Administration Guide
Agreements	Manage information about agreements, administrative contracts, and entitlements.	Siebel Field Service Guide
Assets	Manage information about products sold to accounts.	Siebel Field Service Guide
Audit Trail	Create automatically a history of the changes in the application.	Siebel Applications Administration Guide
Calendar	Create and display activities (including to-do activities) and share calendar information with co-workers.	Siebel Fundamentals
Campaigns	Manage outbound communications with prospects targeted for a marketing effort.	Siebel Applications Administration Guide
Contacts	Record and track business and personal contact information associated with an account, an opportunity, a trouble ticket, or a service request.	Siebel Applications Administration Guide
Cycle Counting	Manage inventory by grouping assets into classes and counting each class’s assets over a period and at designated intervals.	Siebel Field Service Guide
Expense Reports	Manage expense-report information for your own expenses or your team’s expenses.	Siebel Applications Administration Guide
Forecasts	Create business forecasts based on opportunities or products.	Siebel Applications Administration Guide
Groups	Create buying groups and planning groups, which allow account managers to plan for aggregate demand from multiple accounts.	For information about buying groups, see Product Distribution
Home	Configure the Home screen to display data and reports.	About the Home Screen
Inventory Location Management	Associate assets with inventory locations.	Inventory and Order Management
Literature	Display company- and industry-related literature that the administrator catalogs.	Siebel Applications Administration Guide
Objectives	Help drive corporate goals by defining objectives for contacts and accounts. Monitor progress toward meeting sales goals.	Objectives
Opportunities	Manage sales opportunities for business and residential customers.	Siebel Applications Administration Guide
Part Browser	Check on-hand inventory.	Siebel Field Service Guide
Plans	Organize account promotions.	Trade Promotions
Products	Enter and maintain products, product images, product lines, product features, and price list definitions.	Products
Promotions	Plan and manage corporate promotions and account promotions.	Trade Promotions
Quality	Manage information about adverse events or reactions related to products.	Siebel Applications Administration Guide
Receiving	Record and review information relating to a physical receipt of material.	Siebel Field Service Guide
Repairs	Track defective products returned to a service center for repair.	Siebel Field Service Guide
Routes	Manage retail outlets by creating sales routes. Add individual accounts to a specific Route. Incorporate the route into a mobile field professional's routine visit schedule. Use these routes to schedule store visits at regular, predefined intervals.	Routes
Sales Orders	Create sales orders and track order status. Generate order summaries.	Siebel Order Management Guide
Sales Volume Planning	View data related to sales volume planning.	Sales Volume Planning
Service Inventory	Manage the service parts inventory process.	Siebel Field Service Guide
Service Requests	Create, display, and update customer requests for information about or assistance with products or services.	Siebel Field Service Guide
Settlements	Manage deductions and claims.	Deductions and Claims
Shipping	Record and review information relating to a physical shipment of material.	Siebel Field Service Guide
SmartScript	Define the application workflow for an interactive situation in a script. These interactive situations can include inbound communications (such as customer service calls) and outbound contacts (such as telemarketing calls).	Siebel SmartScript Administration Guide
Solutions	Search, organize, and add to a knowledge base of answers to service requests and trouble tickets.	Siebel Field Service Guide
Target Accounts	Identify accounts by querying profile information (such as sales volumes or location) to generate a list of accounts. Use the list to schedule visits and plan routes.	Account Targeting
Visit Execution	Perform activities for sales visits to retail outlets.	Retail Execution

About the Home Screen

The Home screen is the first screen that users see when they start Siebel Consumer Goods. The Home screen is customized to a user’s needs. Additionally, users can personalize the layout of the Home screen by removing unwanted forms, changing field widths, and changing sort orders. For more information on customizing the Home screen, see Siebel Applications Administration Guide.

Administrators can configure the Home screen to display My Inbox, My Deductions, and so on. The forms that appear on the Home screen are based on the role of the user who is logged in, such as account manager, sales manager, claims manager, or brand manager.

The data that appears in the forms is specific to the position of the user, such as an account manager for specific customer accounts. The data that appears in the Home screen is also specific to user, time, and priority, for instance:

Only the Account Manager's Planning level accounts appear in the My Accounts form.
A predefined query for the Home Page plan is available in the preconfigured application. The query sorts the plan start date by descending order. Records are displayed in the order of start date.
Claims that are listed in My Claims are not sorted by priority.

Reports

The Home screen can also contain different types of reports that users can use to check the progress of their business. The reports can be in the form of Microsoft Excel spreadsheets, bar charts, line graphs, speedometers, pie charts, and bubble charts.

The reports have the following interactive functionality:

Reports are dynamically generated, and colored up and down arrows show when business is increasing or decreasing.
Hyperlinks allow users to drill down on more detail, such as from a monthly view of the data to a weekly view.
Action links lead users to the area of the application where an issue can be resolved. For instance, if forecasted sales are low for a particular month, an action link can take the user to the Promotions view with lists of promotions occurring that month. The user can then adjust the promotions.
Pop-up boxes appear when the cursor pauses on graphical objects, giving the user details about data without needing to navigate to another view.
Reports can be refined with drop-down boxes to filter returned records.
Reports can be exported to Microsoft Excel, Microsoft Word, and Microsoft PowerPoint. The export process can be automated and the data refresh can be called from the third-party application.
Report data can be sourced from multiple databases, such as Siebel OLAP, Siebel OLTP, Demantra, SAP, or EDW.
Reports can be contextual, so the data that appears in the report can be in the context of the record which the user currently has highlighted.