International Dairy Queen, Inc selects Instill's Promotion Management Solution
Instill® Corporation, the leading provider of technology solutions and services for the foodservice industry, today announced that International Dairy Queen, Inc., has selected Instill's Promotion Management solution to improve the administration and maximize the value of the franchisee's limited time offers.
December 5, 2005
Increases Promotion Effectiveness through Automated Inventory MonitoringREDWOOD CITY ,CA(December 6, 2005) ----Instill® Corporation, the leading provider of technology solutions and services for the foodservice industry, today announced that International Dairy Queen, Inc., has selected Instill's Promotion Management solution to improve the administration and maximize the value of the franchisee's limited time offers."Promotions and limited time offers are an important part of our business," said John Gainor, Chief Supply Chain Officer at IDQ. "Instill is the only company who could deliver a proven solution for foodservice companies that addressed all of the key issues. Within six months of working with Instill we were able to eliminate stock-outs of promotional products, dramatically reduce our administrative costs and realize substantial savings by reducing product obsolescence," Gainor added.Instill's Promotion Management solution aggregates daily inventory-levels of proprietary products across the operator's distributor network. It then standardizes and translates the disparate data into meaningful information, making it available to both the operator and their trading partners to enable the collaboration required to more effectively manage promotions and limited time offers. As inventory issues must be addressed near real time to mitigate the impact of potential problems, the daily collection of inventory level data is a key aspect of the service, as is the fact the solution eliminates the need to pour through voluminous reports to identify an issue. Operators can establish inventory level thresholds and receive alerts when product levels exceed or fall below predetermined values, and work with distributors and manufacturers to update delivery volumes, reroute product supply, or take other actions necessary to head off costly problems."When it comes to effectively managing promotions and limited time offers, everyone involved - operators, franchisees, manufacturers and distributors - benefits from access to timely, accurate inventory level data," saidJeff Smith, Vice President of Marketing at Instill. "Operators and manufacturers need timely visibility into distribution center inventory levels to effectively match supply with demand, but distributors struggle to provide this data in a cost effective and timely manner. Lack of a standard product nomenclature further complicates the issue – it's impossible to address inventory issues in a timely manner when everyone is speaking a different language," added Smith. "We're excited to be the first to offer the foodservice industry a solution that addresses these issues, allowing our customers and their trading partners to drastically improve the return on promotions and limited time offers."Added Gainor, "At IDQ, we've been able to increase our restaurant's profitability, improve our relationships with our supply chain partners and deliver value back to our franchisees – all within a very short period of time.""We are excited that IDQ chose to work with us to reduce the costs and increase the profitability of their promotions and limited time offers," saidAnthony Wilson, CEO and President of Instill. "Many foodservice companies are placing increased focus on these programs, and it's reflected in the growing adoption of our solution."Instill's Promotion Management solution is part of a comprehensive, integrated suite of proven solutions for foodservice operators that includes Food Spend Management, Procurement, Quality and Compliance Management and Product Information Management.About Instill CorporationInformation to Understand Your BusinessFor more than a decade, Instill has been helping customers build enterprise value by applying innovative technology and industry expertise to address the unique challenges facing foodservice companies. Instill is the only technology company focused exclusively on the foodservice industry, providing a proven, comprehensive set of solutions for leading companies such as Hardee's, Applebee's International, IPC/SUBWAY®, YUM! Brands' UFPC and UPGC, Centerplate, General Mills and Procter & Gamble. Instill is headquartered inRedwood City,California, and can be reached at 1-888-Instill or at www.instill.com.About IDQInternational Dairy Queen, Inc. (IDQ), which is headquartered inMinneapolis,Minn., develops licenses and services a system of more than 5,700 Dairy Queen® stores in theUnited States,Canadaand other foreign countries, offering dairy desserts, hamburgers, hot dogs and beverages. IDQ is part of the Berkshire Hathaway family, a company owned by Warren Buffett, the legendary investor and CEO ofBerkshireHathaway (NYSE: BRKa). In 2001, IDQ launched a new concept called DQ® Grill & Chill® that blends the best of the Dairy Queen brand's heritage with the most modern innovation in quick service food and design, featuring an all new expanded menu and newly designed restaurant interiors.© Instill Corporation 2005. All rights reserved. Instill, the Instill logo, Food Spend Management, Procurement Management, Promotion Management, Quality and Compliance Management and Product and Supplier Master Data Management are registered or unregistered trademarks or service marks of Instill Corporation. 
