Good News for Suppliers and Consumers

Sainsbury's first rolled out EQOS Collaborator to its major suppliers and is working to offer it to all 4,000 suppliers. Nestlé embraced the collaboration system immediately. Tom McGuffog, planning and logistics director at Nestlé U.K., says, "Nestlé invests millions of pounds ensuring that our information systems are optimized to provide our customers, the retailers, with the best possible service. Internet-based systems like EQOS Collaborator gives us the opportunity to synchronize dynamic supply chain information with that of our customer. This helps to ensure that we both deliver the best possible service to our common customer: the consumer."
He continues, "We believe this project with Sainsbury's will deliver some very tangible benefits—improved communications leading to better on-shelf stock availability, and therefore to more cost-effective promotions. That is good news for our customers and consumers."
Other leading suppliers using Sainsbury's Collaborator include Proctor and Gamble, Heinz, Unilever, Kimberly-Clark, Kelloggs, and Coca-Cola.
Britvic, the U.K. distributor for Pepsi and other leading soft drink brands, found within 48 hours that a Pepsi promotion was substantially outstripping forecast. Using Collaborator, the Sainsbury's buyer and Britvic representative were able to track sales daily and increase production to meet demand. As a result, Sainsbury's rescued the promotion from a potential stock-out catastrophe and had plenty of Pepsis on hand for thirsty customers.