Chairmen spell out 'drivers for growth'

Two major issues which have been identified by the new ECR Executive Board were highlighted by Co-chairman Dr. Hans-Joachim Körber (METRO Group) at the opening of the conference.

He said: “The first is greater focus on consumer and on innovation.  As we said last year, our trading environment is under heavy price pressures and that has not changed.  There is a clear need to re-allocate resources to activities which create value and growth.  “The second priority is – not surprisingly – better implementation.  To grow demand and reduce costs it is essential that our industry adopts global standards such as Global Data Synchronisation faster and that it improves data accuracy.

“Furthermore implementation needs to be measured. The Case for ECR (last year’s implementation study) has shown us how far the implementation in our industry has come and which areas still hold potential.  “It is up to us now to gain the benefits that can still be achieved by implementing the ECR concepts and by tracking development.  The tool for this is in place.  It is the Global Scorecard, which can be and should be used by every company.  “I can assure you, once you have used it, it does open your eyes to the strengths and weaknesses in your ECR adoption.”

Dr. Körber went on: “Innovation also means new thinking, new processes and new services.  What is most important though and sometimes tends to be forgotten is the question: Who decides what really can be called innovation?  The answer is rather simple, but not very easy to achieve: The market defines what really is considered an innovation – to be more precise, the shopper and consumer.

“When you listen to companies that have embraced ECR principles and adopted them to become their way of doing business, it will become clear that it is not just doing a process from step one to step five.  It is the style that characterises their activities and cooperation with their business partners.  Style is one of the important vehicles for differentiation in markets with ever more price pressure and competition as well as increasingly diverse customer expectations.”

Co-chairman Thony Ruys stressed the need for implementation “not because it is fashionable but because we are convinced that this is the only way forward.

The Case for ECR shows that companies which have implemented ECR principles are also the ones who have realised the most benefits.  “There simply is no reason not to apply these best practices and standards.  “ECR Europe is the one organisation that can and should be the driver in achieving implementation of ECR practices across our industry.”