Order to Receipt Excellence - Update

ECRA has established a new industry working group focussed on driving improvement in the order to receipt components of the supply chain. The current group membership includes Nestle, Kimberly-Clark, Sanitarium, Simplot, Cerebos, Coca-Cola Amatil, Coles, Woolworths, Metcash and GS1.

At the group’s kick-off workshop a list of three key initiatives for 2013 were identified for further development and approval by the ECRA Board:

1. The establishment of a standard for acceptance of Multi-Coded Pallets (date/batch) into DCs under prescribed conditions. Board members considered the project brief, prior to committing Coles wished to review against internal priorities.
2. Determine opportunities to optimise the use of Advance Shipment Notices between suppliers and retailers for mutual benefit and develop supporting guidance and tools.
3. Understand key issues undermining data alignment and integrity between suppliers and retailers which are critical to both the current and future business/technical environment and identify solutions for implementation.

Stay tuned for more information of the group’s progress and output in future issues of ECRA Extra.

ECRA Loss Prevention Forum - potential research project

ECRA’s Loss Prevention Forum consists of a group of companies who have been working together for three years in developing many tools and resources for the FMCG industry to assist in efforts to fight ‘shrinkage’ - primarily focussing on reducing theft of product in store

The forum members are currently undertaking preliminary work to determine the potential for a research project designed to provide clear understanding of the loss risks associated with new and emerging shopper technologies, with a focus on Self Scanning Checkouts and Mobile Payment technologies.

Next steps include liaising with academic experts from Australian universities to scope a program of research for the project. If the proposed program is approved by the Forum and financially viable to ECRA it will then be put to the ECRA Board for consideration.

Joe Berry Australian Retail Industry Executive Award

If you would like to join Jessica Richmond on the growing list of winners of the prestigious Joe Berry Australian Retail Industry Executive Award the 2013 title is up for the taking. This year the Award is offering the winning entrant the opportunity of a lifetime.  

Entrants are asked to submit a 1500-1800 word essay, accompanied by a 12-slide PowerPoint slideshow, proving how industry savvy they are. Judges will be looking for punchy and informative essays that are a head above the rest. 

From the selected finalist's group, an overall winner will be chosen for the Joe Berry Australian Retail Industry Executive Award 2013. The winner receives an escorted tour of the major world retail markets including Paris, London, New York, Milan and Hong Kong. 

The winner will also receive a guest speaker role at the annual ECRA Conference, the 2014 Joe Berry Award ceremony and Retail World Magazine will publish their winning essay. 

ECRA will again be supporting the awards with an ECRA Scholarship which sees the winning candidate attend the Food and Grocery Executive Program at Mt Eliza.  

Entries are open November 1, 2012 – February 28, 2013. Age limit is 'under 36' at the closing date. 

All information on the Joe Berry Award is available at www.joeberryaward.com.au or through the ASMCA enquiries@asmca.com

Food and Grocery Executive Program

16th Annual Food and Grocery Executive Program
22-27 September 2013

To ensure your place on the program and to qualify for our 10% early bird discount register online and pay by the 7th of June. The 2013 program brochure will be released in late May.

What is the Food and Grocery Executive Program?

The Food and Grocery Executive Program is a fully residential business school style executive program with a unique blend of skill development, industry learning and networking led by world class teachers alongside industry experts. The program has limited places available (no more than 36) and participants come from throughout the industry supply chain. 

The faculty work with participants intensively in small groups and are available for individual discussions throughout the week to create the kind of learning experience that makes a real difference. During the week delegates are rotated through different syndicate groups to facilitate networking opportunities and increase exposure to the experiences, ideas and opinions of others in the industry. Participants will examine a range of management and industry issues from the varying perspectives across the supply chain and develop winning business strategies for today's global food and grocery industry from the best in the industry.

Click here for further information or visit: www.ifgm.com.au 

ECR Europe New Managing Director

ECR Europe has appointed Vincent Carton as its managing director. He succeeds Xavier Hua, who has relinquished the role to concentrate on his other responsibilities as Director-General of ECR France.  

 Vincent joins from Unilever, where he spent 14 years in a number of sales and marketing roles, most recently as Sales Operations Director. He also lectures on retailing and the FMCG industry at the Louvain School of Management (UCL-Mons) and Catholic University of Namur (FUNDP).

He takes up the ECR post with immediate effect.