European companies set to test 'shared' supply chains

The Consumer Goods Forum has predicted that shared supply chains are coming in the not-too-distant future and has a shared transportation, warehousing and distribution pilot in the works.

The organisation predicts that a decade from now, "distribution logistics will no longer be a competitive playing field" for companies. Instead, analysts wrote, companies will set up collaborative foundations for distribution.

This was one of the key trends identified in the Forum’s 2011 report "2020 Future Value Chain: Building Strategies for the New Decade."

To test this more holistic approach to optimising supply chains, the Consumer Goods Forum plans to launch a pilot program for collaborative shipments by rail, truck and barge between Eastern and Western Europe

The participants hope that the pilot will demonstrate ways in which manufacturers and logistics service providers can reduce costs, energy consumption and carbon dioxide emissions while improving customer service and security.

The consulting firm Capgemini will coordinate the participating manufacturers and logistics service providers; a Capgemini consultant involved in the project said the pilot is still in the planning stages.

The forum envisions that the impetus for shared supply chains will come from consumers who originate a demand signal for a product from home, a mobile location, or while shopping at a store. The manufacturers will synchronize the actual demand signals with predictive forecasts to determine production.

Next, they will ship the manufactured goods to "collaborative warehouses" where multiple manufacturers store their products. From those warehouses, companies will make shared, multimodal shipments to warehouses located on the outskirts of cities, where cross-docking will create loads for final delivery. In non-urban areas, shipments will go to regional consolidation centres for cross-docking as well as for final delivery.

Finally, manufacturers will collaborate on managing transportation to consolidate deliveries to retail stores, pickup points, or even consumers' homes.

To get a copy of "2020 Future Value Chain: Building Strategies for the New Decade," go to www.consumergoodsforum.com.

The Consumer Goods Forum is an international organisation of retailers and manufacturers from 70 countries.

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