Convention Report

The fifth Annual Efficient Consumer Response Australasia Supplier and Retailer Convention was held at the WatervieW in Sydney over 17 and 18 October 2013.  Delegates took the opportunity to view presentations from local and international fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) industry experts and to network with colleagues, peers and business partners.

The title of the convention Innovation through Collaboration described the key theme over the two days, recognising the critical role of collaboration in driving and inspiring innovation. This sets the platform for suppliers, retailers and key stakeholders to identify strategic and tactical collaborative opportunities, recognising that innovation is becoming more central to their ongoing relevance and continued success.

Click here to download a copy of the Convention Report.

Presentations

Edward Garner Communications Director Kantar Worldpanel	Kosta Conomos Executive Director, Retail Industry Group Nielsen
Joe Dybell Former Tesco Supply Chain Lead & Consultant	Allan Ryan Executive Director Hargraves Institute
Daniel Kochanowicz Head of OSA & Business Development Woolworths	Grant Enders, Coles Barry Cosier, Madura Tea Estate
John Mullins General Manager Supply Chain Foodstuffs South Island NZ	John McLoughlin Region Director Asia Pacific Advantage Australia
Terry Innerst Partner A.T. Kearney Australia Pty Ltd	Andrew Russell, Procter and Gamble Dean Simpson, Coles Andrew Kouimanis, Coles
Lynda Heeley, Woolworths Darren Fitzgerald, Nestle Australia	Steve Longley, Woolworths Tony Villanueva, Unilever Australasia
Dr David McKinna Director McKINNA et al	Craig Woolford Managing Director & Head of Consumer Sector Research Citi Research
Jason Goode, Simplot Australia Pty Ltd Marcel Sieira, GS1 Australia	Graham Fairbairn Category Manager, Treating Campbell Arnott's
Prof David Hughes Emeritus Professor of Food Marketing Imperial College London

ECRA Report Launched at Convention

Multi-coded pallets (MCP) are where multiple use-by dates/batch codes of a given SKU are consolidated onto a single pallet for distribution from a supplier to a retailer. Potential benefits include reduced handling of pallets, less space taken up in DCs storing pallets and more efficient utilisation of transport.  

In 2013, Coles and Woolworths had each piloted the receipt of MCP’s into their respective distribution centers with varying rules and requirements. Metcash has also shown an interest in potential implementation of MCP.  It is clear that there is benefit to industry in implementing a single standardised approach compared to the complexity and potential for errors in managing different rules and requirements. As such, ECRA has facilitated an industry standard framework for implementation of MCP to assist industry participants in gaining benefits and avoiding issues associated with MCP introduction.

The ECRA Multi-Coded Pallet Guidelines were launched at the annual ECRA Supplier and Retailer Convention on 17 October 2013, and can be accessed here.

Sponsors

The Board of ECRA thanks all sponsors and delegates who supported the 2013 ECRA Convention.