Packaging in the Sustainability agenda: a guide for corporate decision makers

by ECR Europe & EUROPEN (2009)

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The objective of this guide is to help senior corporate decision makers understand the role of packaging in the sustainability programmes of companies. It explains how a holistic approach across the supply chain is necessary to ensure that sustainability decisions regarding packaging do not lead to supply chain disruptions and contribute to the 3 pillars of sustainability: economic, environmental and social.

The ECR Europe sustainable transport roadmap & self assessment tool

by ECR Europe & Boxwood (2008)

Road Map – “Inspiring 100’s of Companies to Deliver Fewer Friendlier Miles”
This Road Map Self Assessment Tool contains a list of focus areas that relate to sustainable transport. Intelligent and varied usage of the tool will allow you to take steps in your own organisation to plan for and seek to deliver savings in the distance travelled on the road, and savings in the cost of operating transport. Sustainable Transport Road Map

Challenges
In constructing the Road Map the project team have highlighted a number of challenges that may be encountered on the journey to sustainable transport.  The purpose of the challenge papers is not to provide a solution to the issues that will arise.  The challenge papers highlight the potential issues, and offer practical suggestions that will help companies to reduce the environmental impact of transport in Europe , in a way that is socially and economically sustainable. Combined Challenges (more…)

Jointly Agreed Growth

by ECR Europe (2008)

Household Consumption in the 27 European Union member states (EU 27) reached in 2006 over 6.6 trillion Euro, an annual 4% value growth (2.1% volume) and a 2.7 trillion Euro growth over the last 10 years.

In the Eurozone only, household’s savings reached 768 billion euro a year in 2006,over 3 & 4 times the level of savings in Japan and USA, demonstrating hereby a huge potential for growth for the grocery industry.

Growing the grocery market, in a sustainable and profitable way for all, by better satisfying shopper and consumer needs is the imperative.

ECR Europe has drafted a user guide for commercial teams, the Jointly Agreed Growth Process (JAG), recommending a 3-year business plan with annual review.

JAG Manual Toolkit JAG Templates Introduction to JAG

Shelf Ready Packaging (Retail Ready Packaging) Addressing the challenge: a comprehensive guide for a collaborative approach

by ECR Europe & Accenture (2006)

Click to download:

Full Report (pdf; 1.4 MB)
Executive Summary (pdf; 107KB)
Presentation (pdf; 646 KB)
Case studies
SRP solution assessment tool
SRP business case assessment tool
SRP store audit checklist

Shelf Ready Packaging appears to be one potential solution to address store operations efficiency, shelf replenishment and product availability, visibilty and access. There is currently a multiplication of local and proprietary SRP initiatives in Europe. There is a risk of proliferation of contradictory guidelines, which would endanger the initial vision of bringing more value to the consumer.

This ECR Europe blue book provides guidance on how to look at the introduction of Shelf Ready Packaging (SRP) collaboratively. It is the culmination of 11 months of work by the ECR Europe Shelf Ready Packaging project team, where manufacturers, ECR national representatives and packaging suppliers worked jointly with retailers, ably supported by Accenture. (more…)

The Case for ECR. A Review and Outlook of Continuous ECR Adoption in Western Europe

by ECR Europe, ECR Academic Partnership & IBM Global Business Services (2005)

Click to download:
Executive Summary
Full Report
Presentation

In 2004, ECR Europe was preparing to celebrate its 10^th anniversary. The ECR Europe Board commissioned a study – The Case for ECR . The purpose of the study was to review ECR achievement in Europe, to report the progress which had already been made and to estimate the further benefits which could be achieved. In the report presented here you will see that since 1995 3.6% of consumer sales value has been saved through successful ECR adoption in Europe or a €18 billion benefit in cost and inventory reduction; a further 3.3% of retail sales value could be saved by full adoption of ECR, a €28 billion benefit in cost and inventory reduction by adopting fully ECR business practices; potential sales growth of 5% – €42 billion - is available by better meeting shoppers and consumers needs through new product, improved information and service offerings in store ; top tier ECR adopters enjoy 6% better service levels, 5% higher on shelf availability and 10 days lower finished goods inventories than low or non adopters of ECR practices.

Using Traceability in the Supply Chain to meet Consumer Safety Expectations

by ECR DACH, ECR France & ECR Spain (2004)

With recent food crises in Europe during these past years consumer confidence in product and food safety has become an important issue for manufacturers and retailers. The EU Product Safety Directive and the new regulation on food law require businesses to account for the origin of their products and to track them throughout the supply chain.

This ECR blue book describes best practices at pan-European level to trace products through the supply chain and to allow for efficient crisis management, based on commonly accepted EAN•UCC standards, such as unique identification of products and locations, pallet labelling, standardised messaging and information exchange. It describes product traceability as a supply chain end-to-end process from goods arriving at a manufacturer’s factory (e.g. raw material, packaging material) to the finished product purchased by a consumer in an outlet and vice versa. It also includes a section on crisis management between manufacturers and retailers. (more…)

Optimal Shelf Availability (OSA) – Increasing shopper satisfaction at the moment of truth

by Roland Berger Strategy Consultants (2003)

The ECR guidebook on Optimal Shelf Availability shows retailers and manufacturers the importance of improving product availability and the right approach to making significant improvements.

Despite efforts to improve product availability for shoppers and consumers, a satisfactory level has not yet been achieved. A study of seven European countries showed that product availability is between just 90 and 93 percent. At the same time, consumer surveys have shown that consumers consider product availability to be a very important factor. This affects both retailers and manufacturers, as it could potentially lead to considerable financial losses. After all, when consumers find themselves faced with an out-of-stock, they don’t necessarily simply switch to another size or form of the product in question; instead, they may switch brand, or even leave the store without buying anything. If that is the case, then retailers lose out on the entire basket. (more…)

Collaborative POS Data Management

by Deloitte Consulting (2003)

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The area of collaborative POS data management between retailers and manufacturers to leverage the full potential of ECR is still relatively unexplored, although everything seems to be available from the technological point of view to exchange POS data successfully.

The ECR Blue Book on Collaborative POS Data Management outlines best practice recommendations that provide a pragmatic approach to POS data management, i.e.:

- Showing where POS data management is necessary (ECR concepts)
- Giving examples of POS data management (case studies)
- Serving as an implementation guide by highlighting how to get started, how to develop, and what to bear in mind

As a result, it will provide guidance for companies interested in setting up starting or enhancing POS data exchange, irrespective of their starting point or size. It will also bridge the gaps that still exist in demonstrating that POS data management is one of the key enablers for almost any ECR activity.

Reusable Transport Items – Organisational recommendations (2003)

by Centrale für CO-organisation – CCG (2003)

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Reusable Transport Items (RTI), crates, pallets and roll cages, represent the “Nuts and Bolts” of the European Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) Supply Chain. At the end of the previous millennium an increasing variety of equipment, managed in a variety of different ways, was used to handle an expanding catalogue of products, all with the aim of reducing supply chain costs for individual elements within the total supply chain. But different incompatible management systems for RTI have led to market fragmentation and supply chain inefficiencies – standardised methods are needed to organise their distribution and return.

RTI are considered as assets, which need to be tracked & traced through the supply chain to enable their efficient use for all involved parties. RTI may have commercial implications if they are subjected to deposits or fees related to their use. For invoicing purposes RTI have to be accounted separately. To do this, a unique identification of RTI and standardised communication of the related information is required. This report explains how the EAN.UCC-system should be used for this purpose.

ECR Europe’s Guide to Collaborative Consumer Relationship Management

by ECR Europe project team on collaborative CRM (2003)

Download the Bluebook, the toolkit & the presentations: Partner Alignment, Segmentation, Strategy and Tactics Development, Implementation

CRM, which ECR Europe has defined as Consumer Relationship Management, is not currently a collaborative activity engaging retailers and manufacturers within the consumer goods industry. Instead, each party focuses on isolated, mainly internal, CRM activities, which deliver only a fraction of the potential value available. The current economic climate, in which the consumer goods industry is losing share of wallet to other sectors, has led ECR Europe to look deeper into the benefits of a collaborative approach to managing consumer expectations and fulfilling their wishes. The objective of collaborative CRM as a key concept within ECR is to stimulate market differentiation by encouraging the consumer goods industry to adopt and apply a collaboration framework which seeks to create and offer customised personalise consumer value.

The purpose of this ECR Europe guidebook is: to create clarity and transparency in our industry about the concept of collaborative CRM; to define the components of collaborative CRM; to provide direction on how to deploy CRM jointly; to demonstrate the business case for doing this; to provide retailers and manufacturers with evidence that collaborative CRM will become a key differentiating component of consumer value in the industry; and to encourage retailers and manufacturers to start working together on this demand side strategy.