Route to Market & Supply Chain Blog
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We are passionate about Route to Market and supply chain management and we are delighted to share our thoughts with you. We would like to hear from you too, so please comment on our posts or contact us.
Update your Supply Chain or risk ending up in Pennsylvania!
Dave Jordan Mon, Sep 20, 2010
Before you ask, no there is nothing wrong with Pennsylvania. I found it to be a great place with the most helpful tourist office I have ever visited. Bear with me and I will get back to this later and also introduce Polly. “We have always done it…
Manage Distributor/Route To Market (RTM) Networks:The Full Package!
Dave Jordan Thu, Sep 09, 2010
As the recession struggles on and governments continue to drip feed “corrections “ into national economies, e.g. VAT rises 19-24%, FMCG markets are spluttering. Discretionary spending is under tremendous pressure and items previously seen as simple…
Romania Route To Market (RTM): Your Demand Or My Target?
Dave Jordan Thu, Sep 09, 2010
"Yes, I know what you said you could sell but this is my target!" An all too familiar "demand discussion" between Producer Sales Rep and Distributor Manager. The Producer may operate a tight S&OP process but this commonly falls flat on its face with…
Fourth Party Logistics (4PLP); what this means for your Supply Chain
Dave Jordan Tue, Sep 07, 2010
While third-party logistics outsourcing is accepted business practice (though not without risk), corporations are now looking to outsource to a single partner who will assess, design, build, run and measure integrated comprehensive supply chain…
FMCG Inventory/Stock Levels can cause chaos in your company
Dave Jordan Wed, Sep 01, 2010
If you seek to run a slick Supply Chain you should aim to have your key sku’s in one place where they are easy to find. These 3 insights into holding too much inventory are now in one place. Why it happens How to avoid Solutions Do you agree? If I…
FMCG/Pharma S&OP; a healthy obsession?
Christian Cusworth Tue, Aug 24, 2010
Reading through commentary and professional opinion on the subject of S&OP, best practice processes, its alignment to ERP etc, it’s pretty clear that raving about the importance of embedding S&OP will always grab popular support and light applause.…
More on FMCG Sales Director Publicly Thanks Supply Chain Colleague!
Dave Jordan Tue, Aug 24, 2010
Ouch! Did I touch a nerve there? I think I did judging by the reaction but a good debate is always worth having. I have been challenged to expand on my top ten moans and explain precisely what I mean and why the criticism is not always fair. Here…
A “Lite” Approach to S&OP
Christian Cusworth Tue, Aug 17, 2010
Sales & Operational Planning (S&OP) has been used by companies now for many years as the planning process that provides “one set of numbers” for the organisation on which to base its business planning. In many countries and cultures S&OP in its…
S&OP (Sails & Operational Planning) – Consensus
Michael Thompson Mon, Aug 16, 2010
The CEO listened while the Commercial Director & Supply Chain Director tried to reach an agreement during the monthly S&OP meeting. Not only was he disappointed to hear a version of the same arguments from previous months (“we are short of stock…
Evaluate your FMCG Route to Market Distributor Network
Dave Jordan Tue, Aug 10, 2010
FMCG producers seem far too ready to blame their Distributors when sales do not go to plan and targets are not met. However, it is not all their fault particularly if you are not clear on what is expected of them. To assist FMCG Producers to…
S&OP (Sails & Operational Planning) – Disaster saved by the Team
Michael Thompson Thu, Aug 05, 2010
I had planned to write something about the importance of teamwork & S&OP & then try & link it to sailing – this would be an easy association. And then a real live incident made the story for me. We finally set sail again – break in the weather - &…
Supply Chain Project Management in Africa:is Africa really different?
Dianna Vorpagel Thu, Aug 05, 2010
Once you have arrived at the office to start your new project, with a new management team and a new project team, many things about successful project management are the same all over the world. Top management support is essential Communication,…
S&OP (Sails & Operational Planning) – Balanced Scorecard
Michael Thompson Wed, Aug 04, 2010
After the grand total of 1 days sailing during the first week – the Mistral is back again & we are port bound - moral is flagging. ‘Customer service levels’ are dropping. This mind is wandering. Time for some nautical S&OP stuff again. Let’s…
FMCG Sales Director Publicly Thanks Supply Chain Colleague!
Dave Jordan Tue, Aug 03, 2010
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…
S&OP (Sails & Operational Planning) – Defining Customer Service
Michael Thompson Mon, Aug 02, 2010
We finally got going (sailing that is) yesterday when the wind dropped to a breezy Force 4 on the beam (that’s from the side) - wonderful sailing weather. And it was marvellous – whizzing along at 7-8 knots. Mind wandering territory again ...…
