Asda seeks supplier buy-in for case size project

The project, which is outlined in a new ECR UK waste prevention guide ​launched at last week’s IGD supply chain summit in London, is designed to improve availability, increase range and minimise waste, said the firm.

“Asda has traditionally had one standard case size per product irrespective of store size, rate of sale or ability to sell the full case within the code life. However, with the expansion of store formats and range proliferation it has become increasingly clear that a one size fits all approach is no longer appropriate.”​

Scoping for project, which has so far been focused on beef and pork, began in November 2009 with initial trials completed in spring 2010 and the rollout due for completion across all relevant categories by the end of next year.

Trade offs​

The first step was building a model to calculate the trade off between the various dynamics involved in changing case sizes such as sales, waste, store handling costs, distribution handling costs and COGS (cost of goods sold) changes with vendors, said Asda.

“Using the model, we reviewed case sizes across all fresh categories and assessed its ability to sell a full case of product within its code life. ​

“Based on a product’s ability to sell, we determined and implemented the correct case size by product and by store size with the outcome being one of five options: No change, delist, implement dual case sizes, decrease existing case size or increase existing case size."​

However, there had been some challenges, including getting buy-in from some suppliers and the confusion caused by having the same product in different formats, he admitted.

Click here​ to read more about the case study in the new ECR UK guide.

Click here​ to read about Asda’s work to increase the retained shelf-life on chilled products.