Customer Supply Group

Objective

Reducing E2E network cost to serve

The collaboration initiative works with suppliers and retailers to move from frequent deliveries of small quantities (a system that the driver crisis has exposed as driving cost into the network unnecessarily) to a system of ordering larger minimum order quantities at lower frequency and cost. Therefore, reducing the case-pick burden in the warehouse (and put-away cost for smaller customers).

In light of the driver crisis, this has the added advantage of potentially creating full(er) loads, a more reliable service and mitigating some cost to serve on-costs, for smaller customers.

Reducing End-to-End Costs - Methodology

The initiative will reduce E2E costs and waste through optimising orders using project processes, E2E costing and Ai tools that are proven to reduce E2E costs by >= 10%.

Building Trust

Our collaborative approach will build trust by:

• Using real data
• Using generic costs to calculate data vs current operating cost
• Developing a common understanding  of the cost to serve of each end-to-end supplier/customer relationship
• Developing a common, fact-based supplier approach and language that increases trust and engagement
• Educating retailers on opportunities to reduce waste and cost in their own networks, as well as the suppliers

Environmental Sustainability

• Our Ai tools can measure the environmental sustainability of changes, calculating CO2 emissions, packaging waste mass and EPR taxes from item level.

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Suppliers trading with Amazon are incurring substantial costs and facing delays in payment for goods delivered due to high volumes of inaccurate claims, fines and chargebacks.

Building on the success of the Drop and Drive chilled initiative, this group is working in partnership with Amazon’s operations, finance and catalogue teams to improve the current goods receipting process. Consequently, there is opportunity here for participating suppliers to save £millions.

Objectives

• Gathering claims data to determine best practice processes and actions to minimise claims and errors
• Reviewing progress on the introduction of Amazon GDSN & SPH processes
• Designing a mitigation process (goods receipting process) to reduce delays in payment
• Building the case with the Groceries Code Adjudicator to dismiss any fines that fall outside the supplier agreement and which do not conform to GSCOP

Gathering evidence of supplier losses and waste as a result of ineffective sales and forecasting processes and determining best practice to work with retailers.

Objectives

• Developing an end-to-end best practice forecasting & promotional management process for suppliers and retailers
• Assessing the cost and waste of poor retailer processes
• Targeting specific retailer process weaknesses to ‘raise the bar’
• Developing a best practice framework with the GCA in line with the Forensic Auditing guidance

We offer a space where suppliers can come together to share experiences, recommend approaches and create best practice. Our expert facilitators share their unique insight and support suppliers to work through their operational challenges.

Key industry issues

• Responding to the challenges of the driver crisis and warehouse labour shortages
• Post Brexit issue resolution