Tesco for less dough
September 1st 2009 To help grocery suppliers meet Tesco's labeling requirements,Norprint,Opticon and Toshiba have devised a relatively low-cost solution. Simple to implement and manage, the firms say the system is weighted more in suppliers' favour than standard retailer-centric systems. Brendan Coyne reports
Moving to unique pallet labelling, Tesco wants
all of its suppliers to become SSCC
compliant by next year. According to
the retailer, SSCC (Serial Shipping Container
Code) labels, in conjunction with
Advanced Shipping Notification (ASN –
the electronic message that gets sent to
Tesco prior to delivery being received at
the DC and enables it to plan and update
stock) will deliver myriad benefits. These
include: eliminating order discrepancies;
full pallet traceability; earlier notification of
delivery on time; reduction in claims costs;
reduced admin; faster turnaround times;
and a more efficient finance process.
All well and good. But what about the
supplier? Apart from avoiding fines and retaining
their status, what are the benefits to those making the IT
investment and process changes? According to Tim Shaw,
technical manager at Premier Vegetables, it's a bit more than
just a pat on the head.
The firm supplies around 70 per cent of Tesco's cabbages in
the UK.While Shaw admits it's a simple product range, there
are 28 different formats all in green trays in its warehouse.
Therefore, he says, the potential for getting it wrong at point of
dispatch is high. "But 99 per cent of our business is with Tesco,
so we need to get it right". In order to do so, Premier
approached Norprint.
"We're not technically minded," says Shaw. " I spent yesterday
planning next year's crops. Yet we could see the benefits of
what Tesco is doing - both for them and for us. So we
approached Norprint and they demonstrated the
system to us.
"Whereas the previous system we were
using to engage with the Tesco
Information Management System (TIMS
– a supplier tool for ASN messages and
electronic proof of delivery) was generic,
slow, and non-user friendly, we found we
could make the Norprint system work
around us, not vice versa. The simplicity
was why we chose it."
Previously, Shaw says Premier's
operation was "very manual" with order
data. The problem was, with order data
arriving at 5.30pm, and goods needing to be
dispatched by 7.30pm, one person was under a lot of pressure,
creating potential for error. Norprint therefore built-in a
loadplanning system, which checks data against orders,
removing that risk.
Now the operation is much simpler, says Shaw. "Operators
print off labels using Toshiba's SX printer, attach them to the
pallet, the operator scans the products and SSCC labels (using
Opticon's scanners) and the system links them together,
checking that the order has the right products and date code."
Shaw says Premier's biggest problem previously was wrong
product and wrong date code. "Now the operator has all that
risk taken away from them – which is a huge benefit for us,
freeing up time and removing a lot of check work." Another
benefit is that Premier Vegetables can prove it has delivered its
end of the bargain to Tesco.
"The system still hasn't been rolled out fully in the Tesco
network, so we still get the odd claim. But now we dispute it,
and in almost all cases, we find it is because the Tesco depot
hasn't implemented the system and is doing it manually," says
Shaw. "We receive electronic proof of delivery back next day too
– which is much quicker."
In all, Shaw says the SSCC/ASN system is "a real step forward
– and not as complex as you might think."
"The benefts we have seen far outweigh the cost: we only
spent £6K and we are already identifying where we can
implement upgrades and add to other areas of the business,
such as stock and traceability, which should be simple add-ons.
Norprint helped us through the first couple of months, and
making changes was very fast and easy."
Tesco also helped Premier Vegetables through the system
change: "Tesco is not as draconian as some people might think,"
says Shaw. And as the retailer itself might say, had it acquiesed to
HSS' request for a comment:
every little help, helps... More articles from Norprint Ltd: | 
