Going Underground

I am not a frequent traveller to London or the UK in general for that matter so getting around is always a challenge and particularly when travel by the Tube is required. In the rush hours at each end of the day there must be more people underground in London than those with sky visible above their heads. Huge columns of people continuously stream in and out of tube stations. Endless lines of unsmiling people striding along clutching a telephone, bags in hand and Star Trek equipment in each ear. (Funny how these hands-free ear pieces allow you to talk to yourself without being considered a loony.)

As the crow flies, my personal journey was the relatively short trip from Hammersmith to Shepherds Bush and being a temporary London commuter I rightly assumed the Tube was the answer. I checked my Tube App, tapped in my destination and waited for my sub-terranean journey to be revealed. In a flash, the travel information appeared:

  From Ravenscourt Park take the District Line
  Change at Gloucester Road to the Circle Line
  Change at Notting Hill Gate to Central Line
  Leave the train at Shepherds Bush

Wow, that was more complex than I expected. I tried the reverse trip just to test the routing and sure enough the journey back to the hotel required the same complexity and a time of 39 minutes each way. I looked at the map and realised the distance on foot was just over a mile and at a leisurely pace I could easily arrive there in 24 minutes. With good weather forecast for the duration of the trip – yes, I was in UK – I untethered Shanks’s pony and reached my destination in far less time than I would have spent avoiding eye contact with anyone on a packed metal sausage. No “mind the gap”…………

Minding That Gap

“Mind the gap” reminds me of many FMCG companies repeatedly failing to reach monthly targets and not actually understanding why or knowing what to do about it. Undoubtedly, you will have an annual plan or contact agreed with HQ and you will be monitoring progress on a monthly basis and despite HQ bluster, nobody expects you to be on the dot each month. Some months will be low, some above and some could well be spot on but when the bias gets into a recurring negative trend, you need to do something different to regain control.

What has changed in the Supply Chain?

Check out the Supply Chain 4Ps to see where you might be lacking and perhaps revisit this checklist whenever your business takes a turn for the worse.

People

• Is the organisational structure still appropriate for the business? 
• Is the HR department recruiting newcomers against relevant, up to date skills and competency criteria?
• What is the % turnover of staff? Too small and you do not organically refresh the team and too much suggests that all is not well around the coffee machine.

Process

• Do you need each and every meeting, forcing staff to sit through the latest, yawn-inducing, ego-rattling PowerPoint session?
• Are the right people at the meetings? Do people sit for hours doing emails until their one word contribution opportunity pops up? 
• Are the required decisions made at an appropriate level in the company or does everything have to go to the top table?
• Does your S&OP/S&OE need a review and reset?
  

Portfolio

• How long is it since you carried out an SKU assessment to identify those that really make money and those that destroy value?
• Do you offer the same portfolio to all clients, channels and markets? Is this appropriate?
• Does the company operate a 1-in-1 out policy on new SKU introductions? Otherwise, you will just keep adding SKUs further straining finite company resources.
• When did you last delist a failing SKU?

Performance

• When did you last review the KPIs you measure? Are they all still relevant?
• Are the KPI parameters sufficiently stretching or are some teams operating in cruise-control mode?
• Do you measure different KPIs for your different channels or is it a 'one size fits all' approach?
• Are your KPIs really designed to deliver continuously improving performance or are they actually a bonus payment vehicle?

Of course, the cause of your gap may be due to competitor activity, underperforming promotions or a myriad of other RtM challenges. Visit the Enchange.com website to learn more about RtM excellence.

Just like my complicated underground routing, there may actually be a better way.

Help, I need somebody

If you have any Supply Chain or Route to Market problems or opportunities you would like to discuss, then please reach out to Enchange.com via telephone, email, or live chat.