2 Do you consider that the reasons given for not scaling up the pilot are valid? CPFR pilots have been a popular diversion in the UK grocery sector. Often, they show

– as in this case – that considerable opportunities for improvement exist, but that the problems of scaling up the pilot are too great. The scenario for this pilot, researched by one of our Masters students, Alexender Oliveira, was a manufacturer that supplied a major grocery retailer in the UK. Figure 7.9 (page 228) shows the typical demand series for one of the ten products in the study, all of which were in the high-volume ambient category. Total sales through the till (EPOS) for a given week were really quite stable.

While there is apparent high demand variation, most of this is due to predictable behaviour such as that due to different store opening hours. The day-by-day demand for this product was actually relatively stable over the course of a year. Figure 8.6 places the pilot in context. The manufacturer’s national distribution centre (NDC) supplied one of the retailer’s regional distribution centres (RDCs), which in turn served 10 stores in the pilot.