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Proctor & Gamble Has System Glitch

Story Filed: Monday, November 22, 1999 9:11 AM EST

NEW YORK (AP) -- A new computer system designed to collect data on worldwide operations for Proctor & Gamble Co., the maker of Crest toothpaste, Tide detergent and Pampers diapers, has produced flawed internal data because of glitches, The Wall Street Journal reported today.

Procter & Gamble told the newspaper the problems are isolated and that it is working to remove the flaws in the SourceOne global database system.

SourceOne is a central data repository. It is part of a business reorganization Procter & Gamble is implementing worldwide.

The computer system has produced incorrect cost allocation data and has responded slowly to data retrieval requests in the four months since it was activated, the Journal said.

``Like with any system you put in, you have some work in the beginning to make it all work smoothly,'' Procter & Gamble chairman Durk Jager told the Journal.

In September, Hershey Foods announced that it couldn't ship candies from its warehouses fast enough because of problems with a new order-taking and distribution computer software program it had installed. Hershey expected to lose as much as $200 million this year as a result.

Procter & Gamble officials said SourceOne has nothing to do with their order shipping, billing or publishing of financial statements.

The company is replacing its old business structure with five units to oversee product categories worldwide. The new structure is intended to make it easier for the company to monitor a product's performance in different markets.

-- Homer Beanfang (Bats@inbellfry.com), November 22, 1999

Answers

I had written Proctor & Gamble after Hurricane Mitch asking about coffee prices, and then also about Y2K. It was so nice, open, and honest I was knocked backwards. The response said some of its divisions were complaint and even that, as we know, is dependent on suppliers also being compliant, but they just kept plugging away at it all. As for the coffee, it had a vast global network to pool from so prices may not go up, and in the meantime it was sending in relief supplies to the Hurricane Mitch survivors. (Prices did not go up at my store.)

I think the worst that can happen to Proctor & Gamble is that it'd dump less profiting products or divisions to "save" itself. That is a mighty and powerful octopus out there globally with more divisions and products than it can count.

I've wondered if Folgers is one of its compliant divisions, the reason being that it came out with the new whole bean flavors to compete amongst the gourmet brands. It looks like it is there to stay and my store can barely keep enough of it stocked because it's so excellent and under cutting the pricing of competitors. I haven't noticed any shipping problems thus far and instead noticed a new bag size, one larger, is selling at the Big Super K-Mart.

-- Paula (chowbabe@pacbell.net), November 22, 1999.