Retail and Hospitality
Asda works more and pays less with Odin
25 July 2008
Sun Brand Technologies has extended its partnership with Asda to roll out the Odin brand management software across all of the retailer’s non-food product range.
Further roll out of the Odin application will help the company make significant savings through the removal of duplication, increased departmental compliance, faster speed to market and the global online sharing of information. This follows on from the successful adoption of the Odin application into all areas of the food design to print process.
Odin is a Microsoft .NET solution and ensures delivery to market faster, more efficiently and with decreased costs, whilst giving visibility and control of the entire process to the brand manager. Comprising four modules: Odin On Time, Odin Assets, Odin Spirit and the recently added Brand Toolbox, the framework provides an easy-to-use, flexible system to suit companies’ requirements.
Asda's Graham Hursthouse said: “Given that the majority of our non-food products are sourced abroad, we realised a more efficient solution was needed to control the brand management process effectively, increase speed to market and keep costs down. The communications and planning benefits of the system are numerous, with teams able to monitor the complete process from anywhere in the world – an enormous advantage when much of the supply chain is global.”
All colleagues working across the portfolio have access to the Odin system, along with product suppliers, printers and other external agencies. They are able to see the real-time status of projects, any brand guidelines and briefs on line, ensuring consistency across the range. Multiple agencies can also work on the same brand, giving ASDA complete control of its own artwork and brand imagery.
Martin Hawkins, executive director of Sun Brand Technologies, said: “By providing transparency, control, efficiency and cost savings, Odin is helping ASDA compete in a crowded retail marketplace and we are delighted to have been involved with Asda on this ambitious project.”
Asda’s non-food portfolio includes thousands of items, ranging from toiletries to furniture. A large percentage of these are sourced abroad, with a number of different agencies involved from the procurement and production stages to the product arriving in-store.