UK-based service provider Culina Logistics has suggested that major retailers are encouraging their supply chain partners and suppliers to shorten delivery times for ambient products so that they can match, as closely as possible, the generally tighter schedules used for fresh and chilled items, including fruit and vegetables.
By bringing the two areas into line, the company explained, retailers have an opportunity to adopt leaner and more sustainable supply chains.
According to research published recently by the Institute of Grocery Distribution, around 60 per cent of retailers expect lead times will fall by up to one day over the next five years, with more than half of manufacturers said to be in agreement with that prediction.
The study also found that 54 per cent of retailers and 67 per cent of manufacturers also expected order frequencies to increase by 2017.
'Most retailers have in the past employed different ordering and delivery processes for their fresh/chilled and ambient products,' commented Steve Winwood, group commercial director at Culina Logistics.
'A typical chilled product ordering process works on what is known as day-one-for-day-two. Orders placed by a specified time on the first day will be picked and despatched for shipping and delivery overnight or on the following day.
'This is good for retailers because it presents the maximum opportunity to sell before a product reaches its sell by date. Similarly, although they may not always appreciate it, this is also good for consumers because they have longer to eat or drink the product after they have bought it.'
But Winwood insisted retailers were beginning to realise that employing a slower delivery process for ambient products could potentially lead to inefficiency.
'Aligning both fresh and ambient products into a single day-one-for-day-two process should lead to efficiencies in a number of areas,' he added.
'The benefits are clear. The retailer has a simpler ordering process geared towards replenishing stock on the following day and aligned with sales patterns.
'The retailer will also see significant reductions in working capital by operating the ambient supply chain in the same way as the current fresh/chilled supply chain.'
