The food industry will see a rise in suppliers signing up to electronic data interchange (EDI) projects and collaborative supply chain approaches this year, according to EDI software and IT service provider Inovis.
Speaking to Food Manufacture, Inovis md John Redfern said: “Looking forward to 2010, I foresee that there will be a continued focus on collaborative approaches; this includes planning, forecasting and shared distribution.
“This kind of approach continues to appeal to business and IT managers from a cost-saving perspective, but also because of green advantages.”
Redfern said more EDI integrations and validations were likely to take place, driven by a desire to cater for consumers’ wellbeing, allergy and health concerns and particular supply chain initiatives.
He added: “Retailers will continue to focus on compliance initiatives. As a direct result of this, it is likely that we will see more supply chain automation as more transactions within the order to payment cycle are adopted.”