Interview with Silvia Estrada-Flores
In the lead up to our exclusive industry event, we recently met with Dr Silvia Estrada-Flores, Principal Consultant with Food Chain Intelligence, to discuss how Information and Communication Technology (ICT) is changing the way food and beverage companies do business.
IBS: Silvia, what’s the major issue companies need to be aware of if they wish to remain competitive and maintain profit margins?
Silvia: First and foremost I firmly believe they need to be aware that there have indeed been major advancements in ICT that are delivering fresh and intelligent business solutions that address many of the stale old problems and challenges associated with wholesale distribution.
IBS: What kind of advancements are we talking about?
Silvia: Quantum leaps have been made in regards to efficient consumer response (ECR), electronic data interchange (EDI), collaborative planning, forecasting and replenishment (CPFR) and traceability, among many others.
IBS: Do these advancements impact only on distributors or their retail customers as well?
Silvia: Although many of these innovations have been retail-led, these processes rely on a collaborative framework between retailers and their suppliers and the joint development of strategic category plans. Therefore, the impact of the innovations, both negative and positive, extends to all partners in the supply chain.
IBS: What areas have been influenced most by recent ICT advancements?
Silvia: I suggest there are four ICT areas where innovation has greatly influenced the way horticultural companies conduct business:
-
Enterprise Resource Planning
- Electronic commerce and electronic data interchange
- Radio frequency identification (RFID) tracking, traceability and monitoring
- The intersection between ICT and precision agriculture, such as GPS, weather data and modelling, and crop modelling
IBS: How expensive is it to adopt some of this technology and is it really worth it?
Silvia: While some of these technologies can bring benefits from primary production growers to retail with a relatively modest investment, there are other areas of ICT innovation that require medium to large investment, and where specific cost-benefits are still being developed. The challenge for ‘first movers’ is finding a balance between:
(a) the early adoption of innovations to beat competitors
(b) the level of risk that early stage technologies pose
(c) the investment required to make innovations work within the specific context of the company.
IBS: Technology moves so quickly. No one wants to invest today only to find it’s out-of-date tomorrow. Your thoughts?
Silvia: Companies would be well advised in developing a technology roadmap to plan for the introduction of new technologies, the levels of investment per stage of adoption and also plan for the future.
Dr Silvia Estrada-Flores will be our guest speaker at our exclusive industry events being held in Melbourne on May 12th and Sydney on May 13th.
IBS Australia Pty Ltd
Phone: 1300 882 467
Email: info@ibsaustralia.com
Web: www.ibs.net
