Making changes that are good for business

Speakers at the Scottish Wholesale Association Annual Conference looked at measures to improve efficency. Katie Davies reports

Onwards and upwards was this year's theme for the Scottish Wholesale Associations Annual Conference and Iain Hill, outgoing president of the SWA was keen to stress that collaboration was the key word, adding how important it is for wholesalers and suppliers to work closer together.

 

He said: "My concern is that we leave things at the level of rhetoric and fall short when it comes to translating the concept into practical and effective initiatives. One of the simplest ways for wholesalers and suppliers to achieve the goal of collaboration is to make sure that the communication links between the wholesale depot and supplier head office are right.

 

"A good, experienced local business development manager who has the ability to make decisions can be all that's needed in some cases.

 

"Ask any wholesaler and they will tell you it makes much more sense and is ultimately more effective for decisions about pack sizes, price points and shared margins to be made jointly between wholesalers and suppliers. We need to see more of this."

 

Hill also looked back at the issue affecting the first members of the SWA 70 years ago at its first meeting in 1940 where they tackled membership issues such as "what is a wholesaler" and "should a wholesaler operating retail shops be allowed to join".

 

He looked at the problems of 1940, shortage of good workers, dishonesty, slackness and general apathy, before wondering how the issues of today, which include minimum pricing for alcohol and banning tobacco displays, will be viewed in another 70 years.

 

 

£250,000 saving

 

 

Simon Hannah, sales director of JW Filshill, announced his company has made a saving of £250,000 per year on running costs by working on fuel efficiency, improved routing and picking. He said the Filshill fleet covers 1.5 million kilometres a year delivering an average of 480 mixed pallets a day, which equates to nearly one million cases per month. The drivers were put through a "safe and fuel efficient driving course" designed to make drivers more aware of areas within their driving techniques so that they can influence the levels of fuel consumption. A timed heater also warmed the vehicles in the cold morning so that the drivers didn't use the air conditioning for this job, saving fuel. Hannah said he was also looking into an aerodynamic system for the lorries, designed by an ex Formula One designer. A fuel additive to increase MPG had been added and vehicle speeds had been restricted to a maximum of 52MPH.

 

Hannah said: "We have invested in a state of the art route planning system called Optrak which plans our daily delivery schedule in the most efficient route. The system has the capability to adjust to customer needs and allows for delivery exceptions. We can input these variables into the system to accommodate specific customer delivery requirements and the route potentially alters."

 

They have also re-evaluated the picking system with the new system identifying the complexity of the order and then giving the picker a targeted time which can be rewarded if met.

 

"We are implementing a 'just in time system' where the pickers start their shift at 11am and the made up orders are placed directly onto the returned vehicle. This has given us an additional floorspace of 500sq ft to create a promotional picked area. This will also reduce customer order lead times from 48 hours to 24 hours."

 

 

 

 

q&A session

 

 

Philip Jenkins, managing director of Sugro, told the delegates about the questionnaire put forward to both the supplier internet site and the Sugro intranet, looking at how suppliers and wholesalers interacted with each other.

 

One of the questions asked was: "the relationship I have with Sugro Suppliers/Wholesalers deserves my maximum effort to maintain."

 

Jenkins said: "Seventy seven percent of suppliers agreed, 15% were undecided and 8% said no. Eighty four percent of wholesalers agreed, 11% undecided and 5% said no. How can anyone say no if they are in business whether a wholesaler of supplier. Another way to look at it is that 23% of suppliers and 16% of wholesalers didn't say it was worth making an effort to maintain a relationship between them. This is not a reflection of Sugro central it is a refection of the state between suppliers and wholesalers on a local basis. What is going on?"

 

Other questions covered levels of understanding, commitment to the relationship and trust.

 

He finished by saying: "It is easy for us to become complacent blame everyone else when in fact we all contribute to the problems we have in many different ways. I know that suppliers care about our future and wholesalers are passionate about business. Let's find a way together of moving onwards and upwards."