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Page 12
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• Large Japanese and American food companies attracted to the Single European Market could have a major effect on pan-European distribution, warns Alan Smith, IBM UK's manager of distribution sector market development.
Smith says that powerful Japanese food companies are turning their attention to the European market, and are likely to introduce Japanese distribution methods — one of Japan's largest food manufacturers recently bought Del Monte Foods from Nabisco.
Smith told a seminar organised by Exel Logistics that the American clothing industry had responded effectively to strong Japanese competition in the States with an industrywide computerised distribution system. This enabled American manufacturers to respond more quickly to changes in demand.
He predicts that European distribution companies will have to offer improved levels of computer sophistication to help their customers compete effectively throughout the SEM.