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NODDLE CALLS FOR RENEWED SPIRIT OF COLLABORATION

CHICAGO - Jeff Noddle called on the industry last week to renew the spirit of collaboration it had in the late 1980s when it launched Efficient Consumer Response - an industrywide effort to eliminate $30 billion in unnecessary costs from the distribution system.Speaking during last week's Speaks presentation at the Food Marketing Institute Show here, Noddle - chairman and chief executive officer,

CHICAGO - Jeff Noddle called on the industry last week to renew the spirit of collaboration it had in the late 1980s when it launched Efficient Consumer Response - an industrywide effort to eliminate $30 billion in unnecessary costs from the distribution system.

Speaking during last week's Speaks presentation at the Food Marketing Institute Show here, Noddle - chairman and chief executive officer, Supervalu, Minneapolis, and chairman of FMI - said much of the promise of ECR has probably been realized, "though there's no method to determine what we actually saved," he said.

"There was a lot of initial enthusiasm [for ECR], but individual priorities among different trade segments took over and there were a lot of missed opportunities to take things one stage at a time," he said.

"We're still not finished with the work of data synchronization, and there are also concerns with unsaleables and backhauls.

"When I became FMI chairman last year I talked about the need to be more collaborative because if we keep doing the same things over and over again, how can we expect to get a different outcome?"

Noddle also spoke about the proposed change in FMI's annual convention, which would call for an exhibit show one year and an educational forum the next, rather than combining the two aspects into one show annually, and for the show to move to different venues. "We've made that proposal to the board, and we expect the board to OK it," he said.

"The key point is, we want people to leave the show with more than hot dogs, pizza and beer. We want more for them to take home.

"We think we can offer a lot more excitement around an exhibit one year alternating with a world-class education forum the next, and we think that plan offers the best opportunity for FMI to deliver something new and different."

TAGS: Supervalu