Australia’s supermarket shelves will be better stocked in the future and have less unavailable food and grocery items following the introduction of an innovative new supply chain system.
The Australian Food and Grocery Council (AFGC) in partnership with GS1 Australia and industry partners have launched the Global Up Stream Integration (GUSI) model for the supermarket supply chain in Australia.
The new e-commerce technology helps to significantly streamline ordering systems using data interchanges to support electronic trading between raw material and packaging suppliers as well as manufacturers.
The supply chain model has been designed to meet major electronic needs in the areas of procurement, material forecasting, inventory management, despatch, receipt and consumption of materials and financial settlement.
Australian Food and Grocery Council Director of Commercial and Retail Policy Samantha Blake says the new system has been hailed as a major step forward for Australia’s food and grocery manufacturing and supermarket sector.
“The new system will create an efficient electronic platform for supply chain management at all levels — providing a benefit to product availability, meaning that supermarket shelves will effectively be better stocked in the future,” she says.
The benefits of the GUSI model have already been enjoyed overseas which have included faster integration with a 75 per cent reduction in time needed to connect new partners.
Other major benefits experienced overseas of the integrated system include improvements in ordering, forecasting, data management and reduced information technology costs.