Today, manufacturers face both a challenge and an opportunity when it comes to the growing levels of deployment of automated assortment and space planning / optimisation solutions by retailers. The traditional ‘push' through the supply chain, by manufacturers, of products that are displayed, promoted, and marked down at the point of sale will certainly become a thing of the past. In the emerging demand or pull-driven supply chain, the challenge becomes one of identifying the ideal product mix at store level, and the encapsulation of this assortment in a planogram that optimizes availability, range density and ease of shopping.

The growing adoption, by our multiple retailers, of automated micro space planning technology means that suppliers need to direct their influence at the creators of the template planograms. With these template planograms Galleria's automated space planning software is capable of producing a store specific planogram every 4 seconds. Through supplier/retailer collaboration in the production of template planograms and assortment strategy, suppliers may be able to have a greater influence in the distribution and display of their brands.

Galleria has already worked closely with suppliers/manufacturers to enable them to establish their own, branded web-solution for independents - an example being the on-trade beer space-planning tool used by Scottish Courage. This is a hugely cost effective system for a manufacturer; independents can receive accurate and implementable planograms that really benefit their business and manufacturers can have direct influence upon the movement of their product placement and distribution.