How a $50M CPG Brand Replaced a $180K TPM System and Unlocked $300K in Annual Value Using Open-Source TPM and Agentic AI
A $50 million consumer packaged goods (CPG) brand was struggling with the growing complexity of trade promotion management. Despite investing heavily in a traditional TPM platform, many critical processes remained manual, including trade planning, accrual management, deduction reconciliation, customer profitability reporting, and trade spend analysis. The company was spending approximately $180,000 annually on TPM software while dedicating significant internal resources to managing promotions, deductions, and reporting activities.
The Challenge: Managing Millions in Trade Spend Across Disconnected Spreadsheets
As the business expanded, management faced several challenges:
Key pain points included:
- High TPM software licensing costs
- Manual trade planning and accrual management processes
- Limited visibility into retailer deductions and recovery opportunities
- Significant effort spent reconciling deductions and trade spend
- Inconsistent customer profitability reporting
- Limited insight into promotional effectiveness and trade spend performance
The Solution: Open-Source TPM Platform, Dedicated Team, and Deduction Recovery
The company sought a more cost-effective and scalable solution that would improve financial controls, strengthen reporting, and reduce administrative burden. Free Open-Source TPM Platform The client's existing TPM software was replaced with the EA TPM Platform, an open-source Excel and Agentic AI-based Trade Promotion Management solution provided at no software licensing cost. Dedicated Trade Management Team To support day-to-day TPM operations, Expertise Accelerated deployed two dedicated offshore trade management professionals operating during US business hours. Deduction Recovery Program A structured deduction recovery process was implemented to identify, validate, dispute, and recover unauthorized retailer deductions. Historical analysis revealed substantial opportunities to recover previously lost margin while strengthening controls around future retailer deductions.
The approach included:
- Trade promotion planning and maintenance
- Trade accrual management and reconciliation
- Deduction tracking, validation, and dispute management
- Customer profitability reporting
- Executive dashboards and trade spend analytics
- Workflow automation through embedded Agentic AI capabilities
- Trade planner maintenance
- Promotion setup and tracking
- Accrual management
- Deduction reconciliation and dispute management
- Reporting and analytics
- Cross-functional support for finance and sales teams
Results: Annual Financial Impact
Annual Financial Impact
Key outcomes included:
- Eliminated approximately $180,000 in annual TPM software licensing costs
- Deployed two dedicated offshore TPM professionals and a fully managed TPM operating model for approximately $84,000 annually
- Generated net annual TPM savings of approximately $96,000
- Identified $150,000-$200,000 in annual retailer deduction recovery opportunities
- Delivered total annual value of $250,000-$300,000+
- Improved trade spend visibility and control
- Enhanced accrual accuracy and financial reporting
- Accelerated deduction identification and recovery
- Strengthened collaboration between finance and sales teams
- Reduced manual administrative effort across TPM processes
- Improved customer profitability reporting and decision-making
Why the Solution Worked
Unlike traditional TPM implementations that rely solely on software, this solution combined technology, process expertise, and operational execution.
The open-source Excel and Agentic AI-based TPM platform provided flexibility and automation, while the Expertise Accelerated team supplied the trade management expertise needed to execute, maintain, and continuously improve the process. Together, they created a scalable operating model that delivered both immediate savings and long-term operational benefits.
Summary
By replacing a costly TPM platform with a free open-source Excel and Agentic AI-based solution, deploying two dedicated trade management professionals, and implementing a structured deduction recovery program, the company transformed its trade promotion management function. The engagement generated approximately $250,000-$300,000 in annual value, including $96,000 in net TPM savings and $150,000-$200,000 in annual deduction recoveries, while significantly improving visibility, control, reporting accuracy, and operational efficiency.
Trade Promotion Management Savings Schedule
Case Study: $50M CPG Brand
| Savings Category | Annual Value |
|---|---|
| TPM Software Cost Eliminated | $180,000 |
| Managed TPM Service (2 Dedicated Resources + Open-Source TPM Platform) | ($84,000) |
| Net TPM Savings | $96,000 |
| Deduction Recovery Opportunities | $200,000 |
| Gross Annual Savings | $380,000 |
| Annual Investment | ($84,000) |
| Net Annual Savings | $296,000 |
| Return on Investment | 3.5x |
| Payback Period | 3.4 Months |
Ready to bring your trade spend under control?
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