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EFFICIENT UNIT LOADS - ECR Community

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• Reducing current dimensional proliferation in<br />

one-way secondary items and strictly limiting<br />

the burgeoning profusion of reusable<br />

secondary items or RTI (see Figure 36)<br />

• Initiating research and development for a new<br />

generation of integrated tertiary items which<br />

will allow more products to be cross-docked.<br />

Figure 36: Unit Loads development<br />

Source: A.T. Kearney<br />

9.3. Recommendations<br />

The following recommendations have been developed<br />

jointly by A.T. Kearney and the EUL project team:<br />

1 Manufacturers, retailers, service providers and<br />

suppliers of secondary and tertiary unit loads<br />

should work together to improve the total supply<br />

chain. This can be carried out through bilateral<br />

manufacturer – retailer initiatives or ones which<br />

also involve third parties. AIM, CIES, Euro<br />

Commerce and other organisations should actively<br />

support these initiatives.<br />

2 A successful co-operation should start by assessing<br />

the current situation. Since many supply chains are<br />

not ‘transparent’, a useful diagnostic tool is the<br />

‘Unit Loads Efficiency Matrix’ described in Chapter<br />

4. This will provide an objective starting point on<br />

which to base discussions. It will identify major<br />

inefficiencies, benchmark operations and can be<br />

used to help in setting joint targets.<br />

3 Both local, national and European associations<br />

should work together to limit the proliferation of<br />

unit load dimensions. European standards should<br />

be established; no new national standards should<br />

be accepted.<br />

64<br />

Proliferation<br />

One-way<br />

secondary<br />

unit load<br />

Returnable secondary<br />

unit loads with restricted<br />

variety of dimensions<br />

and features<br />

Returnable<br />

items at current<br />

growth rate<br />

time<br />

4 Existing standards should be updated accordingly<br />

to reflect technological or other developments.<br />

5 A standardisation authority should be established<br />

at European level to promote best practice in the<br />

development and management of RTI. Preferably<br />

under the leadership and guidance of EAN<br />

International. This authority should be supported<br />

by CCG, CBL and other national initiatives dealing<br />

with RTI.<br />

6 The <strong>ECR</strong> Board of Europe has set up several supply<br />

chain side related projects:<br />

• EDI – Electronic Data Interchange<br />

• ER – Efficient Replenishment<br />

• EUL – Efficient Unit Loads<br />

All three projects have focused on a functional<br />

The Efficient Unit Loads Report

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