Minister of State for National Development and Manpower Tan Chuan-Jin has stressed the importance of Efficient Consumer Response (ECR) towards raising productivity, by reducing wastage throughout the supply chain.
He was speaking at the opening of the 13th Efficient Consumer Response Asia-Pacific Conference and Exhibition.
Mr Tan cited the example of implementing Cold Chain Management Standards to help lengthen the shelf life of perishable products.
Adoption of the standards have enabled suppliers to save more than S$260,000 per year.
The lower operating costs has, in turn, benefitted consumers in the form of lower prices.
Speaking after the opening ceremony, NTUC FairPrice CEO Seah Kian Peng stressed the need for increased efficiency, especially in the face of manpower constraints.
“In the current context, it’s becoming even more important because manpower is indeed, a constraint and if we don’t try to adopt some of these best practices, it will impact operations,” he said.
“But if we do, and we’re able to up the productivity, become more efficient, we can actually keep costs down, and these costs can eventually be passed down to consumers.”
