You may recall I took a light-hearted look at the complexity of overpaid Premier League footballers and how they might be treated if they were skus in a business. There is a cost to having an sku on your books whether this is soup, a shampoo or a sulky soccer player. Using this simple quadrant...Read More

If you are honest you have probably sat bored in an airport lounge waiting for your inevitably delayed flight and listened in on a conversation. If the discussion topic is not one you are familiar with it can be as if you are listening to speech in a foreign language. Different businesses and...Read More

This seems like déjà-vue all over again! Only a handful of working days into the New Year and I am hearing the same old complaints about the economy and business in general being poor. Of course this is true and does not look like changing any time soon. However, there is one new...Read More

Ok, now back on line after the holidays and some demanding project work. One of the first catch-up meetings I have had this year was with an FMCG MD. No name of course, but this is a medium sized player with a broad European base and I have disguised the identity to protect both of us. I recall...Read More

I have been talking to a number of supply chain executives during the last few weeks and something of a theme has emerged. The theme is the need for highly skilled supply chain resource, available at short notice, with the flexibility to switch off the resource at will ….and at fee rates...Read More

I published this some time ago and have just realised I did not follow up with the answers! Here they are, inserted in red text. People working in modern FMCG, Pharma Supply Chain use a whole host of initials and acronyms to get through the day. Warehousing, planning, customer service,...Read More

We are now into the final quarter of the year. Very few companies will be cruising along nicely and looking forward to the year-end results . If you did not review your Route To Market Distribution network and tasted sustainable success then some would describe this as “madness”! ...Read More

How on earth did it get around to the end of September so quickly? One minute I was sniffling at our daughter’s school leaving speech and the next I see Christmas goods in shops. Who is in the mood to buy Christmas goods in September? Who plans for Christmas sales in September – ...Read More

You can, there's no need to feel down I said you can, pick your sales off the ground I said you can, stop running around There's no time to be unhappy You can, there's a process you know I said you can, when your sales don’t grow You know, you are lagging behind Get back to the good...Read More

  Summer is just around the corner and drinks producers across the globe will be battling for an increased share of throat. Whatever refreshment you offer the challenge to ensure your product is taken off the shelf or out of the cooler remains very competitive. Perhaps the even greater...Read More

  In my blog post Reasons for establishing S&OP in Mobile Telecoms , I recounted a success story of S&OP in a mobile telecoms company.  I then went on to discuss the principles of S&OP design in the post Learn the 8 Basic Principles of S&OP in Mobile Telecoms . My...Read More

Impossible, over my dead body, not in a million years - the usual knee-jerk objections to any suggestion of getting too close to a competitive operation. Such comments are usually spouted by Marketing colleagues who are frankly living on agency lunches and in the past. These colleagues are the same...Read More