Retailer collaboration

The focus of ECR is to integrate supply chain management with demand management. This requires supplier-retailer collaboration - but in spite of the apparent emphasis on the end-consumer, a lot of the early ECR studies focused on the supply side. Subsequent increased focus on demand and category management, however, has led to the adoption of a more holistic view of the supply chain when discussing ECR initiatives. In addition, ECR has stimulated collaborative efforts that have increased the emphasis on key areas such as EDI, cross-docking and continuous replenishment. 

Sheu, C., Yen, H. R., Chae, D. (2006). Determinants of supplier-retailer collaboration Evidence from an international study. International Journal of Operations and Production... 

The coordinated approach contracting relationships built on collaboration, trust and close interpersonal ties define the coordinated approach. This approach means that the producer inherits the responsibility and costs of social auditing as they are passed down the supply chain. This is achieved, however, within the framework of close retailer-supplier relationships. Although subcontracting exists, known networks of traceable suppliers are involved. As such, it is possible to exert considerably greater control over the ethical trading process. 

The text summarises the activities and outcome of the Organic HACCP project (www.organichaccp.org) that was completed in 2005, how a database of critical control points (CCPs) was developed for some representative supply chains and how this was used to define a set of recommendations that were then developed into leaflets with advice to producers, processors, retailers or consumers, respectively. The chapter will thus explain how companies at every step of the production chain can utilise the concepts to improve customer satisfaction in a cost-effective manner. Finally, it will describe an example of implementation in a group of collaborating companies and suggest where additional activities are needed in order to develop the concept further. 

For example, the subject-observer pattern uses a set of actions that enables the following the subject to notify its observers of changes the observer to query the subject about its state and the observer to register and deregister interest in a particular subject. These actions, taken as a set, form a collaboration. When several actions have the same participants, it is convenient to draw them on top of one another. The collaboration in Figure 4.12 describes a set of three actions between retailers and wholesalers. This collab-... 

Associated with a collaboration is a set of types those that take part in the actions. Typically, they are partial views, dealing only with the roles of those objects involved in this collaboration. For example, the retailer in this collaboration may well have another role in which it sells the items to end customers. 

A commercial retailer plays many roles, participating in many collaborations. One such collaboration is its interactions with customers (see Figure 9.21). The collaboration shows... 

Efficient Consumer Response (ECR) and Collaborative Planning, Forecasting and Replenishment (CPFR) both are operations models in the consumer goods industry to ensure delivery capability and avoid stockouts based on an automated replenishment of outlets using product inventory, historic and/or planned sales information at the point-of-sales (POS). CPFR focuses on a close cooperation between retailer and manufacturer. ECR focus on the customer-facing reaction on customer responses in logistics, sales and promotions. 

GM has a multi-year collaborative research agreement with ChevronTexaco to advance fuel cell technology and gasoline processing for fuel cell vehicles. This will accelerate GM s gasoline-fed fuel cell vehicle to retail customers. GM also has an agreement with Suzuki Motor Corporation to collaborate on fuel cell vehicle development, focusing on small cars. 

Leverage-companies (i.e., purchasers or retailers) demanding upstream and downstream supply chain collaboration on greening initiatives. 

Several large retail chains have also set up their own independent collection schemes in collaboration with french recycling companies to meet their obligations under french law. 

Greater diffusion of efficient consumer response, defining a process of close collaboration of retailer and manufacturer/supplier to coordinate activities to achieve maximal efficiency and better service levels for the ultimate customer. 

Negotiation Agent. Negotiation Agent will be activated by the user, when it is considered appropriate by the latter, from the interface of the developed tool. When it is active, it will allow the management of forecasting demand in the supply chain in a coordinated way through collaboration between Shop Retailer and Retailer, on the one hand, and Wholesaler and Factory, on the other. 

The results obtained, and shown in Table 4, also show that close negotiation and collaboration in the supply chain between Factory and Wholesaler, on the one hand, and Shop Retailer and Retailer, on the other, is a very appropriate strategy for the reduction of the Bullwhip Effect. Collaboration significantly improves the performance... 

Under Collaborative Forecasting, Planning, and Replenishment (CPFR), the retailer shares with the manufacturer the logjc associated with the order, so as to permit store-level monitoring of stock avadabihty and improved performance. Under CPFR, along with a retailer order, retailers submit both retail orders as well as logic for each order. This logic will... 

To illustrate these points, let s take a closer look at a specific industry—consumer products—and the dynamics of its nnderly-ing value network. The consnmer value chain is composed of many companies. It stretches from the consumer through a network of retailers, mannfactnrers, and suppliers. Other industries—transportation, third-party logistics firms, freight forwarders, and marketing agencies—play snpporting roles. It is not linear. Instead, it is a network of hnndreds of companies. Each company within the chain operates multiple supply chains. The industry has worked hard to be collaborative however, today few interactions are truly collaborative. They lack alignment and a win-win value proposition that can sustain the test of time. 

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