Kenneth Cole Selects SAP for Retail to Support Growth Strategy
Global Fashion Company to Implement SAP's End-to-End Retail Solution
NEW YORK, Jan. 16 -- SAP AG (NYSE:SAP) today announced that Kenneth Cole Productions, Inc. (NYSE:KCP), a leading designer of apparel, shoes and accessories, will implement SAP(R) software to support its growth strategy and integrate its global sourcing, retail and wholesale operations. SAP for Retail, SAP Apparel and Footwear (AFS) and SAP Triversity point-of-sale (POS) solutions will provide Kenneth Cole Productions with an integrated, end-to-end view of its multiple businesses. The announcement was made at the National Retail Federation (NRF) Conference, being held in New York, January 15-17.
The SAP solutions comprise the seamless and best-in-class foundation that will enable Kenneth Cole Productions to increase sales, streamline and optimize its operations and improve customer service. The solutions are designed to coordinate across all aspects of the business, including product development, merchandising, customer relationship management, supply chain and inventory management, store operations and labor optimization as well as financial reporting.
Kenneth Cole Productions will adopt the SAP NetWeaver® platform as the foundation of its system. This base will provide greater process agility and system flexibility, replacing various disparate legacy systems. Kenneth Cole Productions expects to obtain quicker and better visibility to data across its 85 retail stores and outlets, catalog and Web operations, and to improve its wholesale systems as a supplier to thousands of department and specialty stores worldwide.
"We look forward to a partnership with SAP and to building systems that can support our growing business and worldwide operations," said Harry Kubetz, senior vice president of Operations, Kenneth Cole Productions.
The initial phase of implementation will include SAP's integration services and solutions for retail merchandise management, workforce deployment, financials, business warehouse, POS data management and SAP Triversity POS solutions. Once completed, the SAP solution will enable Kenneth Cole Productions to expand its presence in the retail and wholesale markets and to manage its brand portfolio to maximize profitability.
"Kenneth Cole needed an integrated business platform capable of supporting a fast growing midmarket retail business that was flexible enough to gradually roll out across the rest of its business, as needed," said Jim McMurray, senior vice president, Retail, SAP America, Inc. "SAP will provide Kenneth Cole Productions with an end-to-end, open, integrated solution that fits its current and future needs. SAP software will serve as a foundation that supports future opportunities for store openings and worldwide growth."
About Kenneth Cole Productions:
Kenneth Cole Productions, Inc. designs, sources, and markets a broad range of footwear, handbags, and accessories under the brand names "Kenneth Cole New York," "Kenneth Cole Reaction," "Unlisted," and "Tribeca," as well as footwear under the licensed trademark "Bongo." Spring 2006 will mark the launch of Kenneth Cole Reaction Sportswear for men and women. The Company has also granted a wide variety of third-party licenses for the production of men's, women's and children's apparel as well as fragrances, timepieces, eyewear, and several other accessory categories. The company's products are distributed through department stores, better specialty stores, and company-owned retail stores as well as direct-to-consumer catalogs and e-commerce. Further information can be found at www.kennethcole.com.
About SAP for Retail
SAP for Retail is a solution portfolio that combines mySAP(TM) Business Suite solutions with a broad set of integrated retail applications to help retailers profitably serve consumer demand across multiple channels. With the acquisitions of Triversity and Khimetrics, SAP's end-to-end solution now includes SAP Triversity Point of Sale (POS) and SAP Khimetrics Demand Intelligence. Today, more than 2,900 retailers worldwide are SAP customers, more than 450 of which are using industry-specific applications from the SAP for Retail solution portfolio. Built on the open architecture of the SAP NetWeaver(R) platform, SAP for Retail includes core capabilities for financial management, human resources, supplier relationship management and customer relationship management, as well as support for industry-specific merchandise management and planning, store and channel management, demand forecasting, replenishment, sophisticated allocation, workforce management, POS and POS data management, demand intelligence and RFID. (Additional information at http://www.sap.com/retail/)
About SAP
SAP is the world's leading provider of business software solutions*. Today, more than 29,800 customers in over 120 countries run more than 100,600 installations of SAP® software-from distinct solutions addressing the needs of small and midsize enterprises to suite solutions for global organizations. Powered by the SAP NetWeaver® platform to drive innovation and enable business change, mySAP(TM) Business Suite solutions are helping enterprises around the world improve customer relationships, enhance partner collaboration and create efficiencies across their supply chains and business operations. SAP industry solutions support the unique business processes of more than 25 industry segments, including high tech, retail, public sector and financial services. With subsidiaries in more than 50 countries, the company is listed on several exchanges, including the Frankfurt stock exchange and NYSE under the symbol "SAP." (Additional information at http://www.sap.com/)
(*) SAP defines business software solutions as comprising enterprise resource planning and related software solutions such as supply chain management, customer relationship management, product life-cycle management and supplier relationship management.
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Source: SAP AG
CONTACT: Evan Welsh, +1-610-203-9742, or evan.welsh@sap.com, EST, or SAP Press Office, +49-6227-7-46315, CET, or +1 (610) 661-3200, EST, or press@sap.com, all of SAP AG; or Sabine Hollstein of Burson-Marsteller,
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Web site: www.kennethcole.com/
Web site: http://www.sap.com/
