DALLAS -- The Efficient Consumer Response initiative has succeeded in providing the industry with usable tools for sustained growth, C. Manly Molpus, president and chief executive officer of the Grocery Manufacturers of America, told an audience here.
Speaking before nearly 1,600 attendees at the ECR A to Z conference, Molpus warned that despite the grocery industry's evident progress in reducing costs, "In the end, we cannot save our way to prosperity. ECR gives individual companies the tools to increase volume, sell more goods, improve cash flow and sustain growth."
While progress so far has been heartening, creating these tools and transforming manufacturer organizations to make effective use of them has not been all glory. He said, "There has already been considerable pain as our member companies have started breaking down functional barriers and improving and re-engineering how we do our work."
Molpus told the audience that the ECR accomplishments so far are evidence that the industry works best when it focuses on working together to create better value for consumers.
"The industry's work to identify and reduce non-value-added costs will be the hallmark for all major business activity for the remainder of this decade," he said.
