Analysis of Kellogg's Databases and Database Application Programs

Analysis of KelloggЎ¦s Databases and Database Application Programs

Ў§Consumer product companies have one mission: to build a customer base by giving customers the products they need ЎV fastЎЁ (www.sap.com). In order to achieve this mission, real-time sales information needs to readily available of analysis. The purpose of this paper is to illustrate what databases Kellogg Company currently uses at their Wal-Mart field sales office, in order to build a customer base and provide customers with the products they need. In addition, the paper will explain what database application programs are utilized when working with the databases.

Kellogg Company Background Information

Ў§With 2004 net sales of nearly $10 billion, Kellogg Company is the worldЎ¦s leading producer of cereal and a leading producer of convenience foods, including cookies, crackers, toaster pastries, cereal bars, frozen waffles, and meat alternativesЎЁ (Kellogg Company 2004 Annual Report). Their business goals in 2005 include growing their cereal business and expanding their snacks business. In order to achieve this, KelloggЎ¦s will need the assistance of numerous information systems to ensure that sales forecasting is accurate, budget goals are met, trade spend is on target, and business is trending in the right direction.

The databases and database applications that are utilized the most at KelloggЎ¦s are:

„« Wal-MartЎ¦s custom data warehouse ЎV Database

„« DB2-Database

„« Retail Link ЎV Database Application Program

„« SAP-Database Application Program

KelloggЎ¦s Databases

Ў§A database is a collection of data and relationships between the data stored in secondary storageЎЁ (Nickerson, 2001, p 114). At KelloggЎ¦s Wal-Mart field sales office, they employ the use of Wal-MartЎ¦s custom data warehouse and DB2 databases.

Wal-MartЎ¦s custom database

Wal-MartЎ¦s custom database is the worldЎ¦s largest database. The vendor supporting this database is NCRЎ¦s Teradata division. NCR Ў§is a primary thought leader for active data warehouses and a paradigm shift toward trickle feeds and event-driven exploration. Application servers, message-based middleware, and business rules engines are tools of the trade for next-generation data warehousesЎЁ (http://www.intelligententerprise.com/040101/701dozen1_11.jhtml). Not only is this system used as customer CRM system, but is the base for Wal-MartЎ¦s Retail Link decision-support system that is utilized by Wal-Mart and their suppliers, such as KelloggЎ¦s. Wal-MartЎ¦s database gives Wal-Mart the ability to make critical business decisions based on real-time information. The only problem is the real-time information does not get inputted into Retail Link until the following day. Therefore, KelloggЎ¦s data retrieved from Retail Link is a day behind and can cause problems which will be noted later in this paper.

DB2

DB2 is one of the worldЎ¦s leading relational database management systems that assist small orgainizations as well as large global enterprises meet their business demands (http://www-1.ibm.com/solutions/sap/us/en/db2). At KelloggЎ¦s the DB2 database platform is utilized by their SAP system. The DB2 database Ў§reduces the complexity of data management by eliminating, simplifying and automating many task traditionally associated with maintaining an enterprise class databaseЎЁ (http://www-1.ibm.com/solutions/sap/us/en/db2). At the current time, there does not seem to be a need to improve or change the current database used by KelloggЎ¦s SAP system. The problems KelloggЎ¦s deal with is more related to SAP rather that the DB2 database. These problems will be discussed in later portion of this paper.

KelloggЎ¦s Database Application Programs

Database application programs allow users to manipulate data available in databases. In the case of KelloggЎ¦s, they utilize Retail Link when manipulating data stored in Wal-MartЎ¦s custom data warehouse. In addition, they use the SAP system to work with data in the DB2 database.

Retail Link

Retail link is a tool that is provided via Wal-MartЎ¦s custom database to all customers that service Wal-Mart. There is a multitude of information available to all suppliers, and can be used with much detail to drive business needs. For example, Retail Link provides suppliers with a forecast by item, by store for their planning purposes. The data is drilled down