NEW ORLEANS -- The exhibit hall and workshop sessions were packed last week as industry leaders focusing on information technology solutions gathered here for the Food Marketing Institute's annual MarkeTechnics convention. Below is a quick list of some of the highlights and discoveries from the show.
Survey: Technology Use Changing Fast
Industry use of electronic mail is soaring this year. While only 36% of retailers and wholesalers had E-mail capability in 1994, and just 40% took advantage of the communications network in 1995, 65% are expected to do so this year.
That was just one of the findings revealed in FMI's latest In-Store Systems Survey cited as evidence of the rapid technological changes sweeping the food industry during the MarkeTechnics opening general session.
Another sign of technological transformation, according to the study, is the projected rapid increase in participation in electronic benefit transfer programs. While only 19% of companies reported switching from paper-based to EBT programs for accepting food stamps in 1995, 36% said they will do so in 1996. Even more striking, greater than half of respondents, 54%, expect to take the EBT leap by the end of 1997.
The survey also ventured into the realm of the Internet and asked participants to describe the primary reason they tap into the international communications network. The largest percentage, 30%, said they use the Internet primarily for research purposes; another 22% cited E-mail, with the same percentage pointing to entertainment and home use; 14% said vendor communications and technical support; 10% said they don't use the Internet, and 2% fell into an undefined "other" category.
Meijer to Expand In Cross-Docking
Meijer Inc., Grand Rapids, Mich., is poised to rapidly expand its roster of cross-docking partners this year, according to the chain's director of distribution at its Dayton division, Tipp City, Ohio.
"We're looking to add new partners every day, every week," said Tom Nakfoor during a workshop session at the show titled "Sitting on the Dock of the Bay+ Not Wasting Time."
"We don't expect to decelerate the process" of expanding our cross-docking program, which today includes more than 50 food and 500 general merchandise companies, he said. The Midwestern retailer operates four distribution centers and 100 stores ranging in size from 180,000 square feet to 230,000 square feet.
Nakfoor discussed strategic variations on cross-docking under way at Meijer, performance
measurements applied to vendor partners, as well as the challenges and pitfalls associated with such an undertaking.
"Ask yourself a few questions," he said. "Are you prepared for change? Are you ready to invest? Is your management team capable" of handling a complex task that requires commitment from various departments, including information systems, merchandising, retail operations and traffic.
Price Chopper Adds Training Modules
Price Chopper Supermarkets, Schenectady, N.Y., is rolling out a multimedia, computer-based training system to all 81 stores.
In pilot tests of the system, which features touch-screen technology, audio and full-screen video moving at 30 to 32 frames per second, cashier training was trimmed 40%, from 30 hours to 18 hours, and the chain recorded average trainee scores of 84.47%, SN learned at the show.
Topics covered in the cashier training module include customer service, bagging, safety, shrink control, scanning, tendering, key entry and produce identification, according to the chain. Future training modules will cover Occupation Safety and Health Administration compliance, deli operations, back-door receiving and sanitation. The system is from Payback Training Systems, Morristown, N.J.
Kroger to Upgrade Web Page Format
Kroger Co., Cincinnati, which introduced its World Wide Web page only three months ago, is ready to launch a second-generation design with more sophisticated graphics that depict a "shopping by aisle" experience.
Currently the page (http://www.foodcoop.com/kroger) features an animated three-dimensional representation of a store interior. However, the new format will display photographic-quality graphics, SN learned at the show.
Kroger's World Wide Web page is modeled in part after the innovative on-line home shopping and delivery project, Smart-Food Co-op, launched by students from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and operated out of the back of a Vietnamese restaurant in Cambridge, Mass.
