Over the past few years, the NBWA has witnessed a dramatic increase in the use of e-commerce tools embraced by its distributor members. Beer distributors are using various forms of technology to increase productivity levels and lower costs in the areas of forecasting, delivery, warehousing and payment. Increasingly, distributors are recognizing the key role that technology plays in future of the beer industry and the competitive advantage that technology brings into their operation.
Technology allows distributors of any size to enhance their overall ability to compete and provide value-added services to their retailer customers. Distributors that adopt innovative technology tools improve their business practices through the elimination or reduction of inefficiencies within their organizations and increase operational effectiveness. At present, a majority of beer distributors engage in electronic funds transfer (EFT), utilize their suppliers Web sites, take advantage of portable data collection terminals and employ truck/car based portable computers. Others use hand-held scanners with their retail trading partners and have implemented global positioning systems (GPS).
Staying ahead of technology advancements and trends is a challenge and vital for survival in today's competitive marketplace. To remain successful in the 21st century, beer industry professionals must understand the benefits of existing technology tools and options available to them.
The mission of the NBWA Technology Committee is to:
-
Educate and advocate for distributors on Electronic Commerce trading issues;
-
Promote standards for Electronic Commerce based trading while strengthening the three tier system;
-
Provide Web site recommendations and oversight;
-
Deliver educational seminars and technology related initiatives and projects as per board direction.
Beer Industry Electronic Commerce Coalition (BIECC)
In August of 2006, the National Beer Wholesalers Association (NBWA) with the assistance of the Beer Industry Electronic Commerce Coalition (BIECC) contracted 1SYNC, the leading implementer of supply chain data synchronization, to conduct a Beer Industry Readiness Assessment in regards to Global Data Synchronization (GDS). The objective of this engagement was to support the proactive planning of GDS solutions by evaluating beer suppliers, importers, distributors, and retailers regarding logistics, item and price/promotion data collection, invoicing, and other relevant business processes, and to provide a prescriptive implementation roadmap that may be used for a Beer Industry GDS pilot. Below are the executive summaries from interviews conducted with Suppliers, Distributors and Retailers as well as the final Presentation which was presented to both the BIECC and the NBWA Technology Committee.
Technology Publications
Other Resources