Time for action?

Water, water everywhere

Naturally, this brings me to my kitchen sink. There is nothing special about the sink or more specifically, the drainage system. Grey plastic pipes with drain outlets for the sink and a dishwasher and the usual u-bend to keep all that is noxious on the other side of the wall. The pipework was installed as part of the original kitchen installation works and I had paid little attention to it until one morning the kitchen floor resembled a dirty puddle. A leak had ensued.

After a short paddle, I was able to see from where the water was leaking and being a chemist by training….....I decided to remove all of the plastic tubing, give it a damn good clean and then reinstall. Of course, when I came to replace the pipes I could not get everything to line up again and every test resulted in a new leak. After a pause for thought, the solution hit me. There was far too much pipework for the drainage of 2 infrequently used waste streams; it was hellishly and unnecessarily complicated.

Unfit for purpose

The original installation was quite expensive and now I know why – unnecessary job creation to rip off the gullible chemist/customer. Looking at the task with renewed vigour, I removed all 9 (nine) pieces and successfully re-installed only 3 pieces of existing plastic pipe. Easy to assemble, disassemble and most importantly, leak-free.

From a COVID disrupted 2020 to date, companies and people have worked differently to survive and must continue to do so in the future. Your Supply Chain structure, processes, KPIs and simple ways of working may have been absolutely appropriate for previous times but now and again you need to review. Ideally, this should be carried out by an external resource who can bring new perspectives and experiences, avoiding the 'same-old, same-old' approach.

What might you adjust to make your Supply Chain more streamlined and time & cost effective?

People

• Is the organisational structure still appropriate for today's business? Are there any roles that can be combined or now carried out at a different work level?
• 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.

Processes

• 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?

You know it makes sense!

Put simply, there are people, processes, SKUs and KPIs used in your company which may contribute less than 100% of their capability and should be removed or at least forensically critiqued. In addition, the supporting IT packages will also benefit from review and modification to keep pace with adjustments you make to the 4Ps.  

External discontinuity provides the CEO with the opportunity to take a critical look at end to end company processes and the associated organisation charts. You want people, processes, a portfolio and ultimately performance, which pushes the business along at a fast pace without convoluted and unnecessary diversions which delay tasks in a haze of business fog.

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.