Sage Helps Entertainment Company Control Costs and Improve Performance

• Functional Applications - Enterprise Resource Planning Systems (ERP)

• Business Operation

• Software Design & Engineering Services

Namco Cybertainment Inc., a subsidiary of Namco Limited of Japan and the largest video arcade operator in the United States, was facing a significant challenge. With over 500 stores, it was becoming increasingly difficult for the company to provide managers with the data they needed to measure and analyze store performance. The resources to budget at the store level were limited, making it difficult for district and general managers to track and analyze store performance. At a corporate level, management lacked insight into which stores were underperforming, or why certain stores were doing well. The company needed a solution that would allow them to develop detailed budgets for each of its 500+ stores, without adding more staff.

Namco Cybertainment Inc. is the largest video arcade operator in the United States and a subsidiary of Namco Limited of Japan, the maker of popular games such as Pac-Man, Tekken, and Soul Blade. The company operates more than 500 stores across the country, making it a significant player in the entertainment industry. Despite its size and success, Namco Cybertainment was struggling with providing its managers with the data they needed to measure and analyze store performance. This was due to limited resources to budget at the store level, making it difficult for district and general managers, who had upwards of 60 stores to manage in their region, to track and analyze store performance. At a corporate level, management lacked insight into which stores were underperforming, or why certain stores were doing well.

Namco Cybertainment chose to implement Sage Budgeting and Planning and Sage Allocations. These solutions were selected because they integrated with the General Ledger, provided access to data that wasn’t previously available in the planning process, and could be customized to meet their needs. A set of linked Plan Sheets was created for each store, integrating directly with the General Ledger to ensure data accuracy. Preconfigured and easily customizable formulas simplified budget development. Each Plan Sheet was unique and flexible, accommodating variations from store to store, depending on what managers needed to see, such as openings, closings, remodels, or special promotions. Sage Budgeting and Planning simplified the process for distributing the right Plan Sheets to the right budget owners and provided a secure method for obtaining their input without compromising the integrity of the underlying budgeting model. Store budgets were then easily consolidated to create a companywide operating plan. More recently, Namco Cybertainment began using Sage Allocations to measure resource consumption accurately.

• Sage Budgeting and Planning has improved management control and simplified the budgeting process.
• Sage Allocations has reduced the cost allocations process to a ten-minute cycle—while improving results.
• The entire annual budget cycle has been reduced to two weeks.

• Reduced the annual budget cycle to two weeks.
• Reduced the cost allocations process to a ten-minute cycle.