Retail News|November 2015|www.retailnews.ie|65
Supply Chain Alistair Wright, Channel Manager, Retail Solutions, shared extremely valuable insights on how their collaboration with ASDA in the UK on stock accuracy and OSA has delivered Stg£25m in sales by eliminating stock errors and ensuring goods were always on shelf. The presentations were concluded by Chris Sellicks, Customer Supply Chain Manager, Nestlé Ireland. As a global organisation shifting one billion units of product every day, Nestlé know how to sell and take the notion of on-shelf availability (OSA) very seriously. In keeping with the themes of the day, Nestlé are looking to use technology and collaboration with retailers to ensure continuous OSA, to deliver a superior brand experience and a sale, every time the opportunity exists. While the retail recovery in Ireland remains slow, Nestlé Ireland believe that by tackling issues such as on-shelf availability (OSA), they can drive incremental sales growth across the markets in which they operate. Sellicks’ message was this: by keeping a clear focus, accurate and appropriate measurements and by engaging in improved collaboration, Nestlé Ireland see real potential to optimise existing demand in the market. ECR Ireland Supply Chain Awards Highlighting how attitudes to the supply chain have progressed here, the summit saw presentations from the finalists in the ECR Ireland Supply Chain Awards 2015, including a collaboration between Coca-Cola and Tesco, and a benchmarking and innovation programme from Musgrave Retail Partners Ireland. Glanbia were, unfortunately, unable to attend the event on the day. Alastair McIlroy, Customer Collaboration Manager with Coca-Cola HBC, explained how the organisation had reached the final of the awards. In Q4 of 2013, full control of all Coca-Cola inventory in Tesco warehouses was handed to the supplier in a Vendor Managed Inventory (VMI) model. VMI is the process whereby the supplier takes full responsibility for maintaining inventory levels at the buyer’s consumption location, i.e., store. As well as being a lesson in how organisations can trust each other, this process proved especially effective when it came to tackling OSA and promotional activity. By freely sharing information, the two companies were able to develop very accurate ‘Collaborative Forecasting’, even during promotional activity, allowing Tesco to ensure OSA of the product and that when promotions ended, the retailer was not left with excess stock. According to McIlroy, the real innovations in the supply chain come when organisations are brave enough to consider radical new approaches to the ways things have always been done. Multiples in the UK are increasingly entering into VMI arrangements and with a service level of 99% for this particular project, we may see more of it here. Chris Sellicks, Customer Supply Chain Benchmarking Manager, Nestlé Ireland, addresses delegates. may not be a
Pictured are Richard Baird, Wasp Technologies, and Alastair McIlroy, Customer Collaboration Manager with Coca-Cola HBC.
Pictured are Bryan Delaney, General Manager, Irish Distillers Pernod Ricard; Sean Connolly, Business Development Manager, Wincanton Ireland; and Eoin Butler, Distribution Centre Manager, Musgrave Retail Partners Ireland.
particularly sexy or exciting word, but it can be an incredibly powerful tool, as ably demonstrated by Tony Harris, Supply Chain Innovation Manager at Musgrave Retail Partners Ireland (MRPI), who discussed the company’s benchmarking and innovation programme. By looking at international best practice and the experience of other organisations in other markets, MRPI has been able to create roadmap for the organisation that will see fundamental changes introduced. According to Harris, “This process involved a detailed study of best practice in many markets. With that detailed analysis, we are looking to develop an innovative supply chain model in MRPI, which brings the right product right through the system, especially that last 10 yards, to get it to the right customer at the right time, with the ability to optimise cost and service levels throughout the process.” MRPI are clearly adopting a forward thinking attitude to the supply chain. The exhaustive research undertaken by this benchmarking exercise has led the organisation to state explicitly that by moving from a logistics to a supply chain model, it will introduce both cost savings and service improvements over the course of the next three years. Indeed, while the Tesco & Coca Cola VMI was an extremely worthy finalist, MRPI’s Benchmarking and Innovation programme was announced as the ECR Ireland Supply Chain Award winner for 2015. Conclusion Innovation, technology and collaboration were strong themes for the summit. There is no doubt that our ‘front of house’ activity in grocery retail in this country is some of the most innovative and successful in the world. We may have remained a little more traditional in our attitudes to transport and logistics, but through the efforts of ECR Ireland and organisations of the calibre of those mentioned above, those attitudes are changing fast and delivering real benefits in the process.