Embargoed Release: 07:00hrs Tuesday 16 October 2007
Sopheon plc
(‘Sopheon’)
Beiersdorf Implements Sopheon System in Support of
Product Innovation Strategy
Accolade® Helps Skin Care Market Leader Integrate Management
of Global Product Development Process
Sopheon, the international software and services company, announced today that Beiersdorf AG, a
leading manufacturer of skin and beauty care products, has deployed Sopheon’s Accolade product life
cycle management (PLM) system to support the company’s implementation of an enhanced, integrated
process for developing and launching new products. The solution is also being used to strengthen
product portfolio decision-making and reporting.
Founded in Hamburg, Germany in 1882 by pharmacist Carl Beiersdorf, Beiersdorf’s original product
patents were for bandages and wound coverings. By the turn of the century, the company had expanded
into consumer skin care and beauty products. Today Beiersdorf is a $7B global producer of regionally
branded consumer goods with approximately 100 locations and more than 17,000 employees. The
company has a reputation for strong customer and product focus, an orientation that has helped, for
instance, make NIVEA® the best-selling body care brand in the world.
Cosmetics is a highly competitive, global industry. It is also among the fastest-moving markets in the
consumer goods sector. The life of a typical cosmetic product is only about four years, which means that
ongoing, rapid innovation is a prerequisite to achieving sustained business growth. Beiersdorf is
addressing this imperative as a core aspect of its consumer business strategy, labeled “Passion for
Success.” The strategy calls for the company to focus on fewer but more significant innovations and
deliver them to market faster. Beiersdorf has long regarded continuous improvement of its new product
development processes as a key factor in maintaining brand superiority.
Beiersdorf’s adoption of Accolade has allowed the company to advance not only its processes for product
creation, but its portfolio management capabilities as well. One principal benefit of the system is that it
has given the cross-functional teams engaged in product development across the Beiersdorf organization
a common platform through which to access and share project data. The result has been greater
transparency and an improved ability to track the progress of projects in the developmental pipeline.
Accolade has also helped to raise the efficiency and accuracy of portfolio reporting and strengthen the
company’s portfolio management and decision-making processes.
Sopheon partners Sopheon Vertriebs GmbH and Sopheon Business Applications GmbH were
responsible for the sale, implementation and support of Accolade at Beiersdorf. Dieter Jaeger, chief
executive officer of Sopheon Vertriebs GmbH, said, “Beiersdorf has commanded a top position in the
international personal care market for many years, and innovation-led product development has been a
hallmark of their success. When we were introduced to Beiersdorf, they already had in place a
standardized, global product development process anchored in best practices. With Accolade, we were
able to give them a single, user-friendly software system that integrated the management of that process
with portfolio management and comprehensive decision-support. Beiersdorf chose Accolade because it
could match their specific, demanding process requirements. They have subsequently embraced it
because it has proven that it helps to ensure superior process performance.”
Accolade® is a registered trademark of Sopheon plc.
NIVEA® is a registered trademark of Beiersdorf AG.
All other trademarks and registered trademarks are the sole
property of their respective owners.
About Beiersdorf AG
Founded in Hamburg, Germany in 1882 as a small pharmacy, Beiersdorf has grown to become a global
company of branded consumer goods with approximately 100 affiliates. Since its founding, Beiersdorf
has concentrated on skin and beauty care. Beiersdorf is focused on dynamic regions that have aboveaverage developmental potential, including Asia, South America and Eastern Europe. Beiersdorf is
particularly focused on China, Russia, Brazil and India. Beiersdorf products include NIVEA®, Eucerin®,
Curad®, Labello®, 8x4®, JUVENA®, la prairie®, atrix® and FUTURO®. For more information, please
visit www.beiersdorf.com.
About Sopheon
Sopheon (LSE:SPE) is an international provider of software and services that help organizations improve
the business impact of product innovation. Sopheon’s solutions automate and govern the innovation
process, enabling companies to increase revenue and profits from new products. Sopheon is listed on
the AIM Market of the London Stock Exchange and on the Euronext in the Netherlands. For more
information, please visit www.sopheon.com.
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FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Barry Mence, Chairman
Arif Karimjee, CFO
Andrew Tan
Sopheon plc
Tel :
Hansard
Tel :
Floor van Maaren
Citigate First Financial
+ 44 (0) 1483 685 735
+ 44 (0) 207 245 1100
+ 44 (0) 7957 203 685
Tel : + 31 (0) 205 754 010