FMCG, retail giants to assemble in Mumbai

Leading FMCG and retail industry players are gathering at Mumbai on April 21 for the Efficient Consumer Response (ECR) India Meet to discuss on how to speed movement of goods, physically and electronically in the FMCG supply chain to benefit the end-consumers.

The meet will see the presence of leading industry players - Johnson & Johnson, FoodWorld, Big Bazaar, Hindustan Lever; Reliance, Nestle, Pepsi Foods, ITC, GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Healthcare Limited along with the Retailers Association of India, representing all major retailers in the country.

Hindustan Lever will share the findings of its ‘Dataflows Project', while AC Nielsen will present the findings of its ‘Out Of Stocks Study’.

The highlight of the meet is the presence of Malcolm Bowden, sales director, Global Exchange Services, UK, who will be addressing ECR India members on ‘Product data alignment/synchronization: The Benefits to Retailers and Suppliers’.

Global Exchange Services is responsible for many of the major datapool/data synchronisation services offered across the world.

Detailing on the focus of the meet, K Radhakrishnan, chairman, ECR India and vice president, Foodworld Supermarkets Limited, said, “Global Data Synchronization (GDS) is a global, Internet-based initiative which enables companies to exchange accurate, up-to-date, standards-compliant supply chain information. It has been identified as one of the single biggest reasons for inaccuracies in Out-Of-Stocks (OOS) management and is being aggressively pursued by global companies.”

Elaborating on the growing momentum of Global Data Synchronization (GDS), internationally, N. Ambwani, Co-Chairman, ECR India and Managing Director, Johnson & Johnson added, “By improving information accuracy, companies will be able to reduce costs and improve the efficiency and performance of their business processes, such as inventory management and replenishment, order reconciliation, and new product introductions In the US alone, which otherwise has highly automated supply chains, it costs $60-70 as administrative costs for correcting each wrong dispatch or order.” © 2005 agencyfaqs!