Coca-Cola and Walmart Executives to Keynote at U Connect Conference

LAWRENCEVILLE, N.J.—J. Alexander (Sandy) Douglas Jr., president of Coca-Cola North America, and Rollin Ford, executive vice president and chief information officer for Walmart, will deliver keynote addresses at the 10th annual U Connect Conference on June 8, 2010. 

U Connect, June 7-10 in San Antonio, is hosted annually by GS1 US and the Voluntary Interindustry Commerce Solutions Association (VICS), working with a planning committee that includes representatives from major retailers and suppliers.

At the conference, Douglas, who is also chairman of the GS1 US Board of Governors, will discuss how Coca-Cola North America is leveraging standards to support collaborative integrated supply chain strategies that create a more efficient and effective supply chain and reduce disruptions. “Standards are a key enabler to industry-wide supply chain solutions,” Douglas said.  “GS1 standards allow us to build capabilities which can be used by all of our retail partners across multiple industries.”  

Ford, who has been CIO of Walmart since 2006 and has previously headed logistics and supply-chain operations for the company, will speak about the value of GS1 standards in the retailer’s efforts to optimize its value-chain processes and sustainability. “Walmart is leveraging industry standards to level the playing field for our suppliers globally, and to increase our process efficiency, which helps us take out costs and deliver everyday low prices to our customers, so they can save money and live better,” Ford said. “This includes our work with data synchronization-based item-file alignment, which gives us one version of truth about product data, enabling item data accuracy, store-level inventory management, and global replenishment.  And standards help us address emerging issues around food and product safety, sustainability, and visibility into our global supply chain.” 

“It’s a rare opportunity to get insights on how the world’s largest beverages producer and largest retailer are using standards to become more efficient and effective as they navigate the ‘new normal’ economy,” said Bob Carpenter, president and chief executive officer, GS1 US. “Both companies are heavy users of supply-chain standards as well as thought leaders in this area, so small businesses and large businesses alike will get a lot out of this program.”

The conference theme, “Build a Visible, Secure and Sustainable Value Chain,” refers to the ability of GS1 standards to help companies better understand where their products and assets are, how to protect them, and how to ensure ongoing high performance of business processes. 

For more information, visit U Connect.