AssociationS In Action by Lisa LaBruno
Building Momentum A
lthough RILA’s 2012 Loss Prevention, Audit, and Safety Conference (LPAS 2012) took place three months ago, the session content lives on in the form of initiatives driven by RILA and our members. One of the biggest challenges to planning the conference year after year is identifying session topics that help “move the industry forward” and apply across retail segments, sizes, and footprints, at the same time securing the most qualified speakers to deliver the message. Our LP steering committee invested considerable time and effort into making this year’s program great, and we took pride in the exceptional quality of the education attendees received. So, rather than file it away once the conference ended, the educational content is laying a foundation for some of RILA’s key initiatives over the next several months.
Summer Webinar Series
RILA’s Summer Webinar Series, which runs June through August, features some of the top-rated sessions from LPAS 2012. Walter Palmer, CEO and president of PCG Solutions, kicked things off with an encore performance of “Survival Skills in the Era of Doing More with Less.” Palmer provided a blueprint for understanding where you are spending your time, identifying the most important things you should be doing, and then negotiating for resources and outcomes. On July 24 Steve Szilagyi, senior vice president of distribution at Lowe’s, will share how ownership and personal accountability can reduce workplace injuries in “Cornerstones of Lowe’s Safety Program.” Conference attendees were impressed by Lowe’s energy and passion around safety. To hear it for yourself, join us July 24. In August, Bryce Bennett, senior manager of asset protection supply chain for The Home Depot, will discuss how his team effectively implemented a quality ergonomic program in a warehouse environment. Webinars are free and open to everyone. To register for upcoming webinars or to view past ones, go to the Events and Education page at RILA.org.
Innovative Technology
LPAS 2012 featured several sessions addressing the need for innovation in the retail industry—how the industry is driving innovation and retailers’ expectations for loss prevention technology of the future. This desire for innovative technology solutions to emerging risks is the driving force behind the Retail Loss Prevention Technology Priorities Document (TPD), a compilation of preferred technology functionalities for theft-deterrent solutions that retailers believe can advance with innovation. The spirit of the TPD is to encourage collaboration across industries and to stimulate innovation
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Lisa LaBruno leads the asset protection offerings in the areas of loss prevention, retail crime, workplace safety, disaster recovery, operational audit, research, and benchmarking for the Retail Industry Leaders Association. RILA members include more than 200 retailers, product manufacturers, and service suppliers, which together account for more than $1.5 trillion in annual sales, millions of American jobs, and more than 100,000 stores, manufacturing facilities, and distribution centers domestically and abroad. LaBruno can be reached at 703-600-2024 or lisa.labruno@rila.org.
for the benefit of the industry and the solution providers who offer cutting-edge solutions to problems retailers face. RILA’s horizons committee, comprised of LP technology experts from among RILA’s retail members, is helping drive the TPD initiative.
Emerging Criminal Risks
The open forums and roundtable sessions in the investigations, workplace safety, and audit and analytics tracks at LPAS 2012 opened our eyes to ideas for initiatives that can deliver value to RILA member retailers. Just listening to retailers discuss the multitude of challenges they face helps us stay focused on the big picture, rather than getting wrapped-up in one issue to the exclusion of other pressing issues. For example, it was clear from the discussion during the investigations roundtable session that organized retail crime (ORC) is not the only pressing criminal risk retailers are struggling to manage. Following LPAS 2012, RILA’s crimes against business committee conducted a SWOT (strength, weakness, opportunity, threats) analysis to pinpoint other challenges facing retailers. Among them were crimes against persons, financial crimes, cyber/e-commerce fraud, and healthcare. We’ll be tackling these and other emerging criminal trends in 2013.
Mobile POS and Beyond
Finally, there was a lot of buzz among LPAS 2012 attendees about a session led by The Home Depot and Walgreens entitled “Mobile POS and Beyond.” No doubt emerging POS technology has captured the industry’s attention. Earlier this month, RILA announced an initiative in partnership with the University of Arkansas (UA) and with support from Checkpoint Systems and Ernst & Young to study emerging POS technology, evaluate the associated loss prevention risks, and identify possible preventive strategies. In September RILA member retailers will convene at UA’s Center for Retailing Excellence to continue driving the research project forward and to take advantage of the grand opening of UA’s RFID Research Center laboratory. Following that, RILA’s Asset Protection Leaders Council (APLC) will meet at Walgreens’ headquarters outside Chicago in early October to review the preliminary research findings. A good litmus test for evaluating our conference program is the extent to which the session content lives on once the conference has ended. I am proud to report that LPAS 2012 passed the test. If you are interested in registering for the Summer Webinar Series, attending any of the meetings referenced in this article, or joining a RILA committee, please feel free to contact me at lisa.labruno@rila.org.
July - August 2012 | LPportal.com
