Sorry if this was posted before, but there have been a number of reports about Hershey chocolates screwing the pooch by not being able to deliver candies on time during the Halloween season. Although I can't find an online article giving credit to SAP, I think it was Barron's where I read that it was a disappointing implementation of an SAP ERP system that, I presume, is related to Y2K remediation. Anyone have any details (or a link where I missed this thread)? The article pasted below describes the problem (without reference to SAP).

Hershey Projects Earnings Shortfall

HERSHEY, Pa. (AP) -- Hershey Foods said it will fall short of earnings expectations for the quarter and its fiscal year because of delivery problems caused by startup of new business systems in customer service, warehousing and order fulfillment

The chocolate maker said earnings for the fiscal year that ends Jan. 4, 2000, could be 8 to 10 percent below previous projections of $2.40 per share. The firm declined to project earnings for the third quarter.

Hershey's stock closed at $51.43 3/4, down 37 1/2 cents on the New York Stock Exchange.

Chairman and chief executive officer Kenneth L. Wolfe said deliveries would be not be back on schedule until mid-October, the height of the Halloween season, one of the company's biggest periods.

John M. McMillin, who follows the food industry for Prudential Securities Inc. said he was not surprised by the losses, but was surprised by their size. He said having the problems fall during a busy season is especially damaging.

``For a candy company to miss part of Halloween is not as bad as a toy company missing part of Christmas, but it's close,'' McMillin said.

-- Dave (aaa@aaa.com), September 16, 1999

Answers

I live in Hershey. My understanding is that the SAP implementation was not working out and was being cancelled. SAP is billed as Y2000 compliant and many companies are implementing it as their Year 2000 solution because they thought it would be preferable to changing all their code. Another local company, AMP, also was implementing SAP for the purpose of Y2000 compliance. They have abandoned that as well and now have to remediate all their home-grown code. I expect more problems of this nature cropping up, although it is interesting that it has happened pre-Y2k. Anyway, stock up while you still can.

-- Amy Leone (leoneamy@aol.com), September 16, 1999.

Can someone please tell us how long chocolate lasts? if stored securely away from ants, heat etc. Thanks alot.

-- Judy (dodgeball@aol.com), September 16, 1999.

Judy, we've wondered that but our stock has never gotten old enough to find out ;^)

-- Ashton & Leska in Cascadia (allaha@earthlink.net), September 16, 1999.

I've got MRE's that have had chocolate M&Ms and these little Mars bars in them from 1988. The chocolate is pretty putrid if the MRE was exposed to heat for an extended period of time, but I've also had the ole' M&M in old MREs that still taste pretty good. Figure 7-8 years w/o light/heat/O2 disruption

-- Billy-Boy (Rakkasn@Yahoo.com), September 16, 1999.

...FYI I know the M&Ms are from '88 as the wrapper sez "M&Ms! Proud Sponsor of the 1988 Olympics!"

-- Billy-Boy (Rakkasn@Yahoo.com), September 16, 1999.

Cascadia,

You still have stocks? What are you doing, waiting for DOW 5000 before you sell?

-- @ (@@@.@), September 16, 1999.

Amy! AMP ditched SAP?

Are they going to GUI BPCS (AMPICS)? (man, I am shocked speechless)

(I did all the programming to convert the Austin production from Growthpower to BPCS.. what a nightmare, I'd run over my ex-boss if I ever saw her again..........)

-- lisa (lisa@ex-amper.now_thank_god), September 16, 1999.

* * * 19990916 Thursday

Dave:

It looks like the SAP bandwagon is a caravan of Y2K saps!

The City of Detroit implemented their $50,000,000 "integrated" SAP system (DRMS) in April 1999 (TOO LATE!) without the ability to fall back on the old Y2K NON-COMPLIANT systems previously used. On August 4, 1999 City Council approved $28,000,000 to hire a contract firm to DETERMINE WHAT IS WRONG WITH THEIR SYSTEM! It may cost another $50,000,000--WHO KNOWS?!?--to FIX the NEW SYSTEM.

Worse, the City of Detroit doesn't have VIABLE contingency and/or consequence management plans to deal with this situation. You see, paper doesn't care what you write on it. It's all in the execution of the plan. The City of Detroit can't do it!

The City of Detroit is now on the brink of imminent "financial catastrophe" by the end of September 1999. Unable to pay vendors and submit purchase orders is jeopardizing the VIABILITY of City of Detroit to FUNCTION and GOVERN.

The City of Chicago implemented a new $50,000,000 system in mid- 1998! Apparently they allowed sufficient time for ( parallel ) testing and get the "bugs" out.

Q. #1: How long does it take a city the size (~1,000,000 people) of Detroit to go bankrupt?

Q. #2: Who pays the bills for vital/essential city services and support ( i.e., police, fire, EMS, transportation, utilities, insurance, et al )?

Q. #3: Who pays on the billions of dollars outstanding in bonds a bankrupt city owes?

The vultures are circling above the City of Detroit as I write. It's only a matter of days before the vultures begin feeding on the "carcass."

The City of Detroit is Y2K toast ... ashen "Burnt Toast"!!

The Y2K societal collapse time-line is encroaching with each passing day.

There will be nothing "sweet" about Y2K consequences.

Regards, Bob Mangus

* * *

-- Robert Mangus (rmangus1@yahoo.com), September 16, 1999.

Thanks for the responses. I thought an interesting thread would turn into a Chocolate's Anonymous help session. I scheduled a professional lecture trip to Detroit this fall. Just in time, huh?

-- Dave (aaa@aaa.com), September 16, 1999.

Chocolate candy is very high in fat content and does not have a very long shelf life. Chocolate will keep longer if stored in the freezer. Powdered, unsweetened choclate will keep for a couple years if stored in a cool dry place.

-- choco bunny (choco bunny@chocobunnyy.com), September 16, 1999.

Hershey's 'Tasetations' are small hard candies, low in fat, each one is hermetically sealed. They last for a long time, and are terrific in car kits, etc. They come in a bag in the candy aisle. Flavors include chocolate, caramel, and peppermint. No, I do not own stock in the company, and the stocks at the stores are getting picked over.

-- flora (***@__._), September 16, 1999.

Lisa! I was just thinking about you the other day. I got laid off from AMP back in October but still keep in touch. It was actually Tyco that ditched SAP, after they bought out AMP. Sorry, didn't know you had worked on it.

-- Amy Leone (leoneamy@aol.com), September 16, 1999.

Does Chocolate and cocaine come from the same plant? I once had a physicist tell me they did. He said, "They use the cocoa pod for chocolate; do you think they just throw the leaves away? Don,t laugh yet, it could be true. How bout it people.

Hey I just tried to post with a phoney name and e-mail. It wouldn't let me submit. How the hell are the rest of you managing?

Stuck in Mobile with the (help me people) Memphis blues again.

-- Rob Carroll (flyingred@montana.com), September 16, 1999.