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• Founder, VCC Associates, Inc.
• Co-Founder, Factory2Shelf, Inc.
• Senior Partner, DRS Senior Retail Advisors, LLC.
Robert Bruce is an industry leading authority on retail demand and supply integration, optimization and collaboration. Robert has more than 25 years in the retail industry covering merchandising, store operations, buying, merchandising systems (hardlines/apparel), inventory management, planning, replenishment, forecasting and supply chain management. He has lead the design, implementation and adoption of major industry processes with some of the leading retailers and manufactures in the industry. Initiatives as Customer Response, Vendor Managed Inventory (VMI), Co-Managed Replenishment and Collaborative Planning, Forecasting and Replenishment (CPFR), Collaborative Transportation Management (CTM), as well as Value Chain Optimization have undergone wide spread adoption.
Robert Bruce founded Value Chain Collaboration Associates Inc. to further the understanding, implementation and adoptions of key transformational strategies and initiatives with industry leading executive teams in retailing and manufacturing. Robert and his team of industry practitioners provide individualized advisory services on integrated demand planning and supply chain processes to optimize a customer driven value chain. Robert and his team are strategic advisors, industry thought leaders and subject matter experts in consumer demand and product supply chain processes and technology.
Robert is also Co-Founder of Factory2Shelf, Inc. along with Andre Martin known as “the father of DRP (Distribution Resource Planning)”. Factory2Shelf offers process consulting and a patented software solution-linking consumer at store shelf to drive factory demand planning, scheduling and supply chain execution. Additionally, Robert is Senior Partner of DRS, LLC, part of a team of Senior Retail Advisors and former retail executives offering a full spectrum of retail process consulting.
Previous to founding VCC Associates, Inc. Robert served as Partner focused on retail/CPG industry segment at Benchmarking Partners, Inc., formerly known as Benchmarking Partners. Robert supported industry clients through defining business strategies, demand-supply chain opportunities, process integration, optimization and collaborative applications including Collaborative Planning, Forecasting, and Replenishment (CPFR). Working with leaders in the retailer/CPG industry segment, he has helped lay the foundation and migration path to total chain collaboration. Robert also contributed to Benchmarking Partner's cross industry knowledge capital and methodology defining key applications for business multi-tier collaboration internally and externally within organizations, manufactures and their suppliers to enhance the total customer/consumer-based value proposition
Before joining Benchmarking Partners, Robert served as Wal-Mart's Vice-President for Inventory Management and Replenishment and Corporate Supply Chain Strategies for Wal-Mart Stores and Super Centers. In these capacities, he lead in the definition and implementation of inventory management practices, methods and policies at corporate, distribution center and store levels. Additionally, he led a cross-functional team in defining and implementing a series of coordinated corporate supply chain strategies focused on integrating and optimizing the total supply chain-from forecasting customer demand at shelf to production planning and manufacturing focused on net profit and value generation.
While at Wal-Mart, he played a major role in conceiving, defining and implementing CPFR, as well as introducing it as an industry standard for Closed Loop Integrated Planning and Replenishment. In addition, he led the development of the first Vendor-Managed Replenishment Program through a retailer/supplier partnership cross-functional team with Procter & Gamble. He also defined the first Co-Managed program with key suppliers in a migration path and foundation for CPFR along with other collaborative applications. In these applications he drove the definition and application of a net profit based Collaborative Merchandise Assortment Planning and Optimization and Collaborative Transportation Management programs. Robert was also instrumental in the design and implementation of many of Wal-Mart's merchandising, assortment planning, seasonal, new item, short cycle and apparel planning processes and systems for both Wal-Mart Stores and Super Centers. He lead the effort to define vertical profit and loss statements for trading partners measuring the net profitability of optimized merchandising and supply programs while measuring the overall effectiveness of trading relationships.
Robert also known as the “Father of CPFR” served as the original Chairman of the VICS/CPFR Subcommittee as part of the Dynamic Information Sharing/Merchants Issues Committee, sharing and guiding the industry vision and direction on process, metrics and data standards for CPFR. In this role, he drove industry definition and guidelines and standards serving as the basis for the VICS/CPFR published guidelines and roadmap.
Prior to Wal-Mart, Bruce led a variety of initiatives in marketing, store operations, buying, replenishment and distribution for a subsidiary of Target Stores primarily focused on designing, implementing, and managing centralized basic replenishment and fashion apparel programs.
Robert often speaks and writes on emerging best practices in demand planning, forecasting and integrated collaborative value chains. He also was chosen as an outside expert advisor to Alan Greenspan and the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System on Inventory Management. He is a member of the Northwest Arkansas Council of Logistics Management and was asked to join the Board of Directors of the Supply Chain Council of the University of Arkansas prior to retiring from Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. He has been selected and referenced in Marquis's Who's Who in America since 1994.
Supporting Team of Industry Experts
Andre Martin
• Co-Founder, Factory2Shelf, Inc.
• Co-Founder, Retail Integrated Pipeline, Inc.
Andre Martin known as the “Father of DRP” (Distribution Resource Planning is Co=Founder of Factory2Shelf with Robert Bruce and Stu Silverman. Factory2Shelf offers process consulting and a patented software solution-linking consumer at store shelf to drive factory demand planning, scheduling and supply chain execution.
Andre was also Co-founder of the Retail Pipeline Integration Group. The Retail Pipeline Integration Group is a consulting organization focused on integrating the distribution pipeline from point of manufacture to final point of sale. With more than 25 years of experience in distribution and manufacturing, Andre pioneered the development of Distribution Resource Planning (DRP) in 1975. In 1982, he introduced DRP to wholesaler/distributors as CEO of LogiCNet. Andre has implemented DRP concepts and standards for consumer packaged goods companies, as well as large retail chains and mass merchandise outlets.
He served as president of Oliver Wight Logistics Group for over 12 years. Also, he was the director of manufacturing and materials management at Abbott Canada. At Abbott, he was the driving force behind the successful implementation of the first integrated DRP/MRP II (Manufacturing Resource Planning) system in industry. In addition, he tied Abbott's financial and operating systems together.
Applying his expertise to wholesaler/distributors, Andre successfully implemented DRP in 1983 at two companies - American Hardware Supply (now called Servistar) and Mass Merchandisers Inc. In 1987 Andre worked with Sears on their successful DRP implementation.
As an educator and consultant for over 13 years, Andre is a world-wide authority on the subject of developing, refining, and successfully implementing customer connectivity programs. He is the author of two books: Infopartnering, the Ultimate ECR Strategy , and DRP: the Gateway to True Quick Response and Continuous Replenishment , as well as the Oliver Wight DRP Video Library. At the request of the American Production and Inventory Control Society (APICS), Andre wrote the DRP chapter for the revised edition of the APICS Handbook. He is a member of the Council of Logistics Management and APICS. He has conducted seminars throughout North America and Latin America, as well as France, Great Britain, Australia and New Zealand.
He has worked internationally with companies such as Coca-Cola, Colgate-Palmolive, Philips, RJR/Nabisco, Michelin, Digital Equipment Company and Procter and Gamble.
Cooperative Business Partners
www.fastory2shelf.com
