Route to Market & Supply Chain Blog

Are market conditions getting any better, really? Many big name companies are heading for indifferent full year 2017 results and all caution about the continuing “difficult market conditions”. Ok, so 2017 has been put to bed but many will be paying…

Just when we thought winter had been and gone it bit back nastily with a short, sharp shock of bad weather including snow and bitter cold. Typically, UK was unable to cope and as an example I spent 5 hours looking out of a cabin window at Birmingham…

Where has that first post-holiday month gone? Suddenly it’s the 24th of January and there are only 7 calendar days and 5 working days until you close the month. Adopt panic stations despite what Corporal Jones of Dad’s Army would say. Are you ahead…

Chris Rea has finally found the correct turn off, a lot of people in Africa still don’t know its Christmas and the novelty Santa toilet seat cover is back in the box. Oh, and chocolate Easter eggs are in the shops 4 months in advance. Christmas and…

Dear Father Christmas,, I have been a very good FMCG CEO this year, I promise. If you want, you can check with my colleagues and shareholders. They know how good I have been this year. Apart from the out of stocks of course, oh and the little…

“Dashing through the snow In a one horse open sleigh…” How many of you started to sing then? Yes, the festive period is fast approaching and the biggest and best supply chain in the world is almost ready to activate. This is always the most…

Hooray! Many supermarket chains now sell imperfect or misshapen fruit and vegetables at a discount. As you may know I am a big fan of buying this type of food as taste has nothing to do with shape based on my massive culinary knowledge. Whether my…

How is 2017 going so far? Are you in cruise control or is your business chaos central? Be honest now! The last quarter of the year is always difficult to manage in order to achieve 2017 results without negatively impacting 2018. When your business…

On a daily basis the amount of care we give to the human body is remarkably little. When you are feeling in good shape the best the body can hope for is a good wash, a brush of the teeth and a slap of moisturiser if you are a bit of a girly. What…

The Challenge A leading global FMCG company undertook an aggressive supply chain improvement programme across 150 markets. The objective was 100% alignment of worldwide operational activities with company strategy and objectives. Not an…

In common with many business functions Supply Chains adopt multiple initials and/or acronyms to describe various tasks and processes they manage on a daily basis. Those not familiar with SC-speak will often sit bemused as various initials are quoted…

Dear Santa, I have been a very good FMCG CEO this year, I promise. If you want, you can check with my shareholders. They know how good I have been this year. Apart from the out of stocks of course, oh and the little mistake when we had to write…

Who coined the term “Big Data”? How did we get there without tiny data, ordinary data, slightly larger data, chubby data and bordering on big data? People working in or associated with Supply Chains seem obsessed by data yet data itself tells you…

I touched on the problem of expanding UK waistlines a few blogs ago and the topic popped up again recently when I was out and about shopping for clothes – no, not me. This is not as regular an event as it may be for senior management but due to the…

Have you ever “hunkered down”? I remember being asked to hunker down during a supply chain training course many years ago and I had no idea what I was supposed to do. Eventually I had to ask as failing to follow the hunker downwards request appeared…