No, of course it’s not true but I bet it grabbed your attention! If there is a more put down, criticised and unrecognised function in any FMCG/Pharma company then I would like to hear about it. Supply Chain is routinely the brunt of complaints from uninformed colleagues about how good life would be if only Supply Chain got its act together. If something hasn’t worked out then the default is to kick the Supply Chain.

Here are the top ten moans and groans I hear about Supply Chain:

1. They are always late with Innovations.
2. They lose sales as they do not have the right stock in the right place.
3. The first answer is always “no”.
4. They can never cope at month-end; not enough trucks and time.
5. Why do they hold so much stock?
6. Repacks and co-packs are always delayed.
7. They stopped me getting a bonus this month.
8. They are a huge cost and what do we get for it?
9. The SC people are just not good enough, they don’t understand.
10. Why do they insist on this Supply Chain S&OP nonsense?

I think there is a lot to be said for really trying to understand how all functions work in a company before rolling out the usual anti-SC excuses for failing to meet targets whether sales, innovation or financial. Far too many FMCG leaders fall into the trap of believing all the bad publicity about Supply Chain when just a little knowledge would enable them to see where the real problems and therefore, opportunities lie.

No, I am not suggesting every Supply Chain or SC person is perfect but other functions need to look closely at how they operate themselves before heaping the blame onto others. If Sales and Marketing colleagues stopped trying to trip up SC as their first priority they could expend more energy on beating competition rather than wasting time beating their colleagues.

***

Dysfunctional supply chain? Check out how Enchange helped FMCG companies to improve their supply chain operations.