Route to Market & Supply Chain Blog

Well, I find it strange anyway. Some very large companies spend countless hours and cash in finding and securing a third party logistic provider (3PLP) to take great care of their finished goods assets. The performance of the chosen 3PLP is then…

I have two recent stories to tell. Story 1 Recently I was chatting to a Senior Executive in a mobile telecommunications company. We first met about a decade ago when he was the Supply Chain Director for an FMCG multinational in Kenya. The…

Whether your business is summer seasonal, e.g. beer, ice cream or you enjoy a relatively flat demand profile one of your key challenges will be to reach your Traditional Trade (TT) consumers. Where TT remains sizable and therefore important, your…

I have had several further discussions with our Supply Chain Executive from a recent blog on the subject of supply chain and S&OP compliance and its relationship to supply chain assessment. Let me reiterate the key issue. Many organisations…

Previously I have looked at sku complexity in FMCG, Brewing and Pharmaceutical businesses and how it can affect customer service and profitability. This simple chart shows how you should be reviewing your sku portfolio to ensure your resources are…

Barcelona won the Champions League finally quite easily and to actually hear Sir Alex say something like “they gave us a good hiding” was refreshing. Messi was far from untidy and several Barcelona players looked head and shoulders above their…

Did anyone hear the loud clanging noise on Tuesday around 14.30? The sound was similar to a very large church bell being struck by a huge iron bar and that bar was in the hands of Arnold Schwarzenegger. Arnie was also in a very bad mood! The noise…

The average job description will run to a few pages of A4. Even after you have read your own it may not be completely clear what you should be doing. Here I have tried to encapsulate a selection of supply chain roles and processes in just a few…

Picture the scene in many a boardroom; a note has come from HQ telling the boss to reduce costs as globally the annual set of results is not going to look pretty. Why do all the board directors then look at their Supply Chain colleague? Of course…

My earlier blogs about supply chain and S&OP compliance have prompted a number of further discussions. One particular issue that has emerged is an area of potential confusion. It came to light during a recent discussion with a Supply Chain Executive…

Whether you call it co-packing or re-packing this involves the further manipulation of a finished and complete sku. Look around the shelves and the evidence of extra expense and work is displayed by special stickers, multi-packs and banded…

Once upon a time there was an FMCG company that I will refer to as “Foresight”. “Foresight” had spent many years and many dollars creating an acknowledged slick inbound Supply Chain. Top class global buying Flexible factory network State of the art…

As the snow ploughs, sledges and gloves are packed away for another year in the northern hemisphere we enter a key period in the FMCG industry. Beverage consumers are about to get thirsty or at least large numbers of drinks companies hope this is…

I have had several discussions in response to my last blog on the subject of supply chain and S&OP compliance. A common theme was the practicalities of measuring compliance. So here are 5 steps to make it happen. Supply Chain & S&OP Operating Model.…

Do FMCG, Drinks & Pharma Companies delude themselves on Customer Service? I think some may well be doing this and may or may not know it! Whatever service related KPI you measure the aim is designed to see how you are performing both internally and…