The BRC notes retailers are more extensively using testing, especially earlier stage testing; increasing third party auditing; widening the amount of direct suppliers they use; improving intelligence and increasing transparency to provide consumers with more information. These trends are only set to continue and be reinforced by a greater understanding of the major impact managing energy, water and carbon emissions has on bottom line results. Aside from the obvious, these measures are seen vital for retailers in minimising the risk of fines and penalties, operational disruptions and negative impacts to their corporate image. Among the measures carried out by BRC members up to 2012 were an 8.8% reduction in supply chain waste
- well ahead of the three year target of 5%; sustainably sourcing 74% of palm oil used in own label products – almost 60% of which is physically certified sustainable palm oil; and installing systems to reduce water use such as through rainwater harvesting systems, typically used for washing vehicles and flushing toilets. BRC members are aiming to use 100% certified sustainable palm oil (CSPO) by the end of 2015.
Setting the bar
Arguably a bench mark for supply chain management, Marks & Spencer has implemented a business process tracking system throughout their international supply chain to give visibility and control over all of their directly sourced merchandise. With suppliers in 70 countries and over a quarter of a million workers worldwide, the retail giant has put supply chain management at the heart of its Plan A strategy setting “new trading standards that improve the lives and communities of those who work for and with us”. M&S uses a web-based supply chain management software called ediTRACK which in 2005 was used to manage
over £800 million worth of stock. The software offers real-time data access and maximum visibility of all M&S processes including a complete audit history of all orders. ediTRACK works by tracking the progress of purchase orders all the way through the supply chain; holding
detailed information on the activities performed to the orders. Tolerance levels are held within the system for each supplier and automated authorisation means that any event that falls outside the defined service levels is flagged. For example, when a supplier makes a request to ship goods and the requested quantity or despatch date do not meet the predefined tolerance, the supply chain manager is alerted for authorisation. “This ability to deliver quality solutions within short time-scales has given the M&S supply chain team the flexibility to be innovative and to respond to business needs no matter what the scenario,” says ediTRACK. Another ediTRACK customer is high street clothing giant New Look which uses an accessible platform called
SaaS for all its trading partners to share information on product development and delivery. The scalable model has allowed the company to grow without the need for constant investment in larger in-house IT capability. When the company first started working with ediTRACK five years ago its stores were almost entirely based
in the UK and it was handling around 700 purchase orders a week through the system. New Look signed its first franchisee in Dubai in 2006 and today it has a growing number of trading partners across the Middle East, Russia, Malta, Poland and Singapore as well as company-run stores in France, Belgium and Ireland.
JUNE 2013 | RETAIL ENVIRONMENT 29
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