Route to Market & Supply Chain Blog

You will have to bear with me for a while on this one. Do you know that on average 85% of expectant women suffer food cravings during pregnancy? Apparently, the top 5 are: Pickles 5% - yuk, that surprised me too. Cheese 11% - get those calories in.…

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

Let me get straight to the point on this one. Why do so many FMCG mergers or acquisitions frequently result in the apparent death-knell of once proud and promising brands? I am not going to name any names but if you think about it there have been…

Only a few months into the year and I am hearing the same old complaints about the economy and business being in general ill health. However, there is a new recurring theme which popped up at various parties and gatherings over Easter; “my company…

If you do not specifically agree on what is expected between two parties before you start a relationship then anything and everything but success is likely. You buy a new car and you get a contract that tells you what is covered by the guarantee and…

Another sign of getting old I guess. When was the last time you watched a football match when no tattoos were on show and the haircuts did not look like something out of the Time Warp musical? As I write England is still involved yet we are all…

Some time ago I wrote about the way spreadsheets were undermining expensively assembled ERP’s in FMCG, Brewing and Pharmaceutical companies. They still are, by the way. Not too long ago a paper on Public Debt and Austerity published by 2 eminent…

Laurel and Hardy, Morecambe and Wise, Abbott and Costello, Little and Large, Hale and Pace, May and Johnson. These are examples of double acts where one party plays the straight/stooge and apparently serious man while the other plays the…

I have just had one of those mornings. I missed the alarm and the 10-minute snooze and from then on everything went downhill. Jumped in the shower for a brief cleanse but then I realised there was no soap, not even a sliver. So, soaking wet I get…

Like many business functions Supply Chains use multiple initials and/or acronyms to describe various tasks they manage on a daily basis. Those not familiar with SC-speak will often sit bemused in meetings as various initials are quoted and debated…

There is enough disruption and discontinuity in supply chains without the necessary evil or pleasure of new product development (NPD) and product change getting in the way. Just when everyone has become used to ordering, storing, picking, delivering…

Over the years I have seen many strange sights on various forms of transport. In the Middle East I sat next to a vicious looking falcon on a flight to Bahrain. The falcon was extremely well behaved but then again so was I! In Africa a guy jumped on…

What about your company? Do you have great brands and brand awareness, a fantastic extended supply chain, an analytics package, tight financial control, top class HR, the best sales force, innovative marketing? If you tick all these boxes then life…

Do you find yellow dog biscuits stuffed in your window frames? Well, I’d expect such occurrences to be as rare as a squirrel with a nut allergy but I find it all the time. Our house has mosquito nets on the windows as our summers are rather hot and…

How I guffaw when I hear producers complain about traditional trade distributor overstock.Make no mistake Mr. Producer, YOU put the stock there, oh yes you did! Distributors don't buy stock for something to do or a laugh and a giggle. Excess stock…