As we wallow in the self‐pitying gloom of a British winter bandying words like depression, recession, unions and greed, we short‐sightedly forget what the Club of Rome or “Blueprint for Survival” preached a few years back; what Edward Heath reminded his audience of a few weeks ago—that...

Better stock replenishment, speeding up checking out of customers, up‐dating of stock records, improved staff scheduling—these are some of the objectives sought by retail companies in setting‐up computer‐linked data capture systems at point of sale. Two systems—one at a Boots store and...

PDM, the brainchild of the booming sixties has grown into a vital cost‐saving factor in the sober seventies. A recent national conference held by the Centre for Physical Distribution Management examined many aspects of the role RDM plays in the economy today. We publish here two of the papers...

One does not have to look very far to find the reason for development of the high stacking warehouse. The cost/unit volume of building envelope reduces significantly with height and any reduction in plan area is a further cost benefit. There are many factors to consider in a simple pallet...

Overall performance of retail shares was bad during 1976. The list of sector leaders and laggards compiled at the beginning of January shows food and non food retailing well into the final half of the performance tables with falls of just over 10 per cent apiece. Although share prices have...

Perhaps the most controversial feature of the UK retailing scene over the past few years has been the emergence of the hypermarket; the principal company concerned has been Carrefour, who will shortly open their fourth unit at Minworth, near Sutton Coldfield. Carrefour's senior management...

UBM is a well‐known builders merchants group with turnover of £112m and 130 branches, and the company's product range consists of 28,000 lines. An MSI/SLIM stock recording system has brought about a number of benefits, including an improvement in service levels, doubling of branch stockturns,...

Some three years ago the Moffat whole‐saling organisation started up a voluntary group for independent CTNs. Over 2,800 CTNs have now become members—on a national basis—and growth is continuing. In addition to favourable buying terms Moffat offer a range of services that include...

Wholesalers Wright & Green, well‐known in the voluntary group movement and part of the Linfood group, have become the first company to adopt Computer Automation's SyFA system. Applications will include sales order processing, financial accounting, stock and management accounting, and cash and...

British retailers may be slightly envious to read that their American counter‐parts expect “a good but not spectacular year” in 1977, and that over the next ten years retail sales and profits will double. This at any rate is the view of Edward W. Carter, chairman of Carter Hawley Hale and...