Cue the famously ominous theme music, "Approaching Menace" by the British composer Neil Richardson. A hushed, shadowy, darkened studio. Contestant number one leaves his competitors in the dark and walks in a moving beam of light to the famous black leather chair. One harsh spotlight focussed on the face of a nervous FMCG CEO.

Magnus: Please state your name, occupation and specialist subject.

CEO:  Arnold Businessman, FMCG Company CEO and my specialist subject is the extended Supply Chain.

Magnus:  You have 2 minutes starting from now.

Magnus: What is the prime Supply Chain business planning tool in your company?

CEO: The expensive ERP IT package.

Magnus: No, it is Excel spreadsheets.

Magnus: How many SKU’s does your business have?

CEO:  157

Magnus: No, 454 including promotions.

Magnus: Is your forecast accuracy based on volume, value, brand or sku?

CEO: Volume.

Magnus: Correct answer but actually wrong in practice.

Magnus: When monthly sales figures are poor, does the sales team takes responsibility?

CEO: Pass.

Magnus: Yes, pass the buck. I will accept your answer.

Magnus: Do multiple warehouse storage locations affect overall inventory levels?

CEO: No.

Magnus: Incorrect, they do and upwards.

Magnus: Who has overall responsibility for S&OP process quality?

CEO: It is a Supply Chain problem.

Magnus: No, you do.

Magnus:  What is your Customer Service Level?

CEO: 98%.

Magnus: Correct, but….

Magnus: Is this figure based on orders or stock availability?

CEO: Pure orders.

Magnus: Incorrect, orders are manipulated to sell what is available.

Magnus: Which team is responsible for On Shelf Availability?

CEO: Sales

Magnus: Incorrect, the S&OP team.

Magnus: Will you still have a BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP – I’ve started so I’ll finish - job at the end of this show?

CEO: Yes.

Magnus: Pass.

Magnus: At the end of that round Mr. Businessman you have scored 3 correct results and I had 1 pass. Thank you.

Polite applause as the CEO heads back to his seat with head bowed and rightly so. His big chance of Supply Chain TV fame blown apart in the space of 2 awkward minutes.

Arnold can try again next year but in the meantime for the sake of the company and his career he should get far closer to the Supply Chain related realities within his FMCG Company.

Cue Approaching Menace once more……...

Image courtesy of artur84 at freedigitalphotos.net