In 2017 the Trading Partner Forum, consisting senior executives from major Australian food and grocery retailers and suppliers, identified the opportunity to work together to deliver a standard approach to deliveries into retail distribution centres (DC). The focus was on physical flows of goods from the supplier into retail DCs.
The development of a Common Despatch Checklist Toolkit comprises a suite of simple to understand and use tools to support suppliers and their 3PL organisations to ensure that deliveries to retailers have the best chance of being quickly and easily receipted without issue.
The tools are primarily targeted for use by suppliers to the major retailers, and are consistent across Coles, Metcash or Woolworths.
Pallet Despatch Checklist Poster
The poster is intended to be displayed in despatching at a DC as a visual reference, and highlights issues that can be visually checked prior to despatch.
One Page Reference Guide
This is intended as a simple reference guide to support despatch staff in understating the most basic requirements associated with pallet quality, utilisation and wrapping, carton integrity and labelling.
Pre-Despatch Checklist Tool
This is an operational document which despatch staff at suppliers or 3PL DCs can utilise prior to despatching goods. It is simple to use and reminds staff of the basic issues to check prior to despatch.
A forum of the Australian Food and Grocery Council (AFGC), the TPF is a joint supplier and retailer body representing the Australasian FMCG/retail industry whose mission is to bring together FMCG suppliers and supermarket retailers in pursuit of business practices that contribute to driving growth, delivering efficiency and improving availability across the end-to-end value chain, benefiting suppliers, retailers and shoppers, without impeding competition law.
The Toolkit is free and can be accessed on the TPF website.