“We congratulate all four companies on their achievement, and hope their experience and learnings will continue to benefit them and the entire CPG industry,” FMI Senior Director of Industry Relations Patrick Walsh said. “The award winners recognized that the most successful unsaleables management practices analyze performance across divisions and take accountability for inefficiencies. Minimizing unsaleables in the supply chain remains a shared process, which is why we value the outcomes celebrated through this award.”

H-E-B and CSCS implemented programs that changed the processes, procedures, private label packaging and policy that were detrimental to the supply chain, ultimately reducing unsaleables by 50 percent as a percentage of sales. H-E-B tracked the reductions in unsaleables across multiple divisions and found some performed better than others.

Similarly, Heinz worked with GENCO to identify root causes of unsaleables, instituting an aggressive goal to reduce them by 40 percent. In the first year, Heinz trimmed unsaleables by 23 percent and projected an additional 25 percent reduction to meet their goal in just two years. “Project MUDA,” or “waste” in Japanese, is a multi-dimensional operation that impacts all Heinz projects.

“GMA and FMI have consistently supported and promoted industry work that recognizes effective supply chain processes,” Karin Croft, senior director of industry affairs at GMA, said. “H-E-B and Heinz saw initial cost benefits, but the most significant impact was adopting missions to eliminate unsaleables in their corporate strategies.”

GMA and FMI announced the Innovation Award winners at the Joint Industry Unsaleables Management Conference, an event dedicated to finding solutions to unsaleables in the supply chain.

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