CPFR began as a 1995 initiative co-led by Wal-Mart's Vice President of Supply Chain, Chief Information Officer, Vice President of Application Development, and the Cambridge, Massachusetts software and strategy firm, Benchmarking Partners. The Open Source initiative was originally called CFAR (pronounced See-Far, for Collaborative Forecasting and Replenishment). According to an October 21, 1996 Business Week article entitled "Clearing the Cobwebs from the Stockroom, New Internet software may make forecasting a snap", "Benchmarking developed CFAR with funding from Wal-Mart, IBM, SAP, and Manugistics. The latter two are makers of accounting and supply chain management software, respectively. To promote CFAR as a standard, Benchmarking has posted specifications on the Web and briefed more than 250 companies, including Sears, J.C. Penney, and Gillette. About 20 companies are implementing CFAR."