Eqos launches first comprehensive CPFR solution
7 March 2001
As a further step along the road to helping buyers and suppliers achieve true supply chain collaboration, Eqos has launched the first comprehensive Collaborative Planning, Forecasting and Replenishment (CPFR) Solution.
Hailed as the next great advance in inventory management, CPFR aims to increase revenues, reduce costs and increase customer service levels through customer-centric, demand-driven supply chain management that is built on the integration of trading partners. Part of Eqos' Collaborative Planning and Event Management Solutions portfolio, the new offering addresses, and complies with all nine process steps of the best-in-class practices that have been developed and approved by the Voluntary Inter-industry Commerce Standards Association (VICS) to provide industry standard collaborative working.
"Our initiative is designed to turn the promise of true supply chain collaboration into a reality," explains Chris Foulkes, Eqos chief technical officer. "CPFR facilitates a whole new culture based on trust and the exchange of information, plus the ability to consider the supply chain as a whole, not just in disparate pieces. The Eqos Solution delivers a dynamic, Web-enabled approach that covers the whole supply chain process from the initial front-end agreements, through to the actual sharing and joint agreement on forecasts, planning and management of events, promotions and new product introductions, and exception resolution management."
CPFR was first developed to solve supply chain problems within the US grocery industry and has since been adopted by major suppliers such as Sara Lee and Kimberley Clark and retailers Wal-Mart and Kmart. The concept, however, is universal. According to analysts, Meta Group "within two to three years, most of the retailers and consumer goods companies will embrace the CPFR standards as their collaboration standard".
"Businesses in the US have mainly concentrated on the forecasting element and are using the CPFR framework to highlight forecast exceptions only which delivers just a small percentage of the benefits," elaborates Chris Foulkes. "Only by addressing the areas of collaborative planning, category management and the resolution management of exceptions and events can organizations realize the big wins of CPFR. Essentially, Eqos is empowering organizations to get the C, P and the R out of CPFR."
Recent research by Cranfield School of Management at Cranfield University confirms that CPFR is a strategy which promises to overcome two of the greatest barriers to supply chain integration: the lack of visibility of true consumer demand and collaborative relationships based on joint decision making.
"Traditional supply chain models centre on maintaining relatively high levels of inventory in the supply chain to ensure availability and provide customer service. Contemporary supply chains are replacing inventory with information which is in line with the Eqos ethos," says Mark Barratt, Director of e-Supply Chain Research, Cranfield School of Management.
Notes to Editors:
Eqos Ltd
Eqos delivers the world's most advanced and flexible solutions for collaborative planning and event management over the Internet. By providing the technology platform and the business leadership, Eqos helps its customers achieve rapid, continuous and best-of-breed innovation for sustainable competitive advantage.
Eqos won the VICS 2000 Best in Retailer/Supplier Relationship Award for its groundbreaking work with leading UK supermarket chain J Sainsbury's. The award honors outstanding examples of strategic thinking, action and leadership in effective supply chain partnerships.
Headquartered in the UK, with offices in the US, Eqos has alliances with many of the world's leading edge companies, including Microsoft, Accenture, PricewaterhouseCoopers and Deloitte Consulting.
CPFR
CPFR follows on from supply chain initiatives such as Quick Response (QR), Efficient Consumer Response (ECR) and Vendor Managed Inventory (VMI)
VICS
The Voluntary Inter-industry Commerce Standards Association is leading the global initiative for collaborative supply and demand partnerships.
For further information, please contact:
Linda Laderman or Anne Lomax
Laderman PR
5 Portland Place
London W1B 1PW
Phone +44 (0)20 7436 6676
Fax +44 (0)20 7580 0555
Email annel@ladermanpr.co.uk
