FMI, Market6 Unveil Grocer-Manufacturer Collaboration Project
The Food Marketing Institute, in partnership with Market6, is launching the FMI Collaboration 2.0 project, a multiyear initiative aimed at helping grocers and manufacturers improve how they work together around key shared business processes to grow sales, profits and customer satisfaction and loyalty.
Pat Walsh, FMI's chief business development officer and supply chain VP, will formally announce the initiative by leading a panel discussion next week at FMI Connect 2015 in Chicago on "Collaboration 2.0: A Next-Generation Model of Better, Consumer-Focused Partnerships." The panel discussion is scheduled for 8 a.m. Tuesday, June 9.
The goal of the FMI Collaboration 2.0 project is to help grocers and suppliers bring more customer-focused decision-making into categories and stores around shared business processes including supply chain execution, inventory optimization, execution of promotions and introduction of new items.
“At FMI, we’re constantly looking for ways to help food retailing merchants and their manufacturing partners make their work together as trading partners more efficient, profitable and customer focused,” Walsh said. “The FMI Collaboration 2.0 Project is designed to highlight best practice collaboration examples from the industry today and provide a road map to help others leverage and build on those models within their own organizations.”
Additionally, FMI’s Walsh will share information on the organizational, business process and technical changes needed to improve collaboration.
This initiative is being launched at the 2015 FMI Connect Conference with a panel discussion that will include speakers from Kroger, a leader in the field, and three of their key suppliers, Kraft, Coca-Cola and Campbell’s:
• Mel Bomprezzi, VP of merchandising, The Kroger Co.
• Mike Cinque, president, Kroger Team, The Coca-Cola Co.
• Colleen Flaherty, VP of sales, Kraft Foods Inc.
• Geoff Kuzio, customer VP–Kroger, Campbell Soup Co.
During this session, FMI will release the white paper “Unlocking the Benefit of Collaboration,” which was developed jointly with FMI member and knowledge partner, Market6.
Arlington, Va.-based FMI represents members who operate nearly 40,000 retail food stores and 25,000 pharmacies, representing a combined annual sales volume of almost $770 billion. Deerfield, Ill.-based Market6 provides strategic collaborative planning and execution applications with built-in, advanced analytics to guide retailers and consumer packaged goods companies toward smarter, faster and more proactive operational decisions and actions.