Route to Market & Supply Chain Blog

There is no excuse in visiting IKEA on a Sunday before watching 22 millionaires with daft hair styles kick a football around on live telly. The weather was cold and the air was full of autumn drizzle and as I turned into the car park the scale of…

Extra SKUs sneak onto price lists when nobody is looking. Sales & Marketing colleagues prefer new launches with lengthy SKU lists different flavours, different sizes, different colours, new packaging etc. How many shelf facings do they want? How do…

I have spent some considerable time visiting medical facilities both at home and in UK and in the latter case I was not impressed. The National Health Service is still the envy of the rest of the world and rightly so. When you consider the policies…

Picture the scene in many a brewing boardroom; a terse note has arrived from the suits at HQ telling the boss to urgently reduce costs as the year-end result is not going to look pretty. Why do all the board directors then look silently at their…

I have never been a fan of budget airlines and certainly not since one left me sleeping overnight in the back of beyond that is Luton Airport. That may be an exciting addition to a student’s back-pack holiday itinerary but when you have a glass back…

I know you are busy. Not enough hours in the day. Deadlines rapidly approaching. Your children call you Uncle Dad or Auntie Mum. Before the stress takes its inevitable toll think about relieving the pressure without adding to head count. Why s…

Interim Management is an approach used by companies to “make things happen” within a clear budget and without the headaches of recruiting a full time employee (FTE). The benefits are numerous but initially…… Immediate access to expert supply chain…

American sit-coms. With very few exceptions I personally do not find them at all funny. At times the funniest part is hearing the hilarious canned laughter when nothing in the least bit humorous occurs. MASH, Taxi and Cheers are the only sit-coms…

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

Christmas and new year holidays seem a long way behind. The decorations have been squeezed back into their boxes for another year and Slade, Cliff, Bing, Bowie and others are safely back in their CD cases. Turkeys around the world are rejoicing as…

Overeaten chocolate during the holidays but still want some more? Get yourself and a large blue IKEA bag down to your local supermarket as chocolate is heavily discounted. Easter is not far away this year so why not save a little cash and stock up…

Ok, so you are unlikley to see this on a car bumper sticker but FMCG Distributors will have a significant impact on your sales performance, probably your variable pay bonus and therefore your CEO aspirations! How have you treated your Distributors…

Dear Santa, I have been a very good FMCG CEO this year, I promise. If you want, you can check with my shareholders. They know how good I have been this year. Apart from the out of stocks of course, oh and the little mistake when we had to write…

On the first day of Christmas, Enchange gave to me A robust S&OP. On the second day of Christmas, Enchange gave to me Two fine consultants, And a robust S&OP. On the third day of Christmas, Enchange gave to me An ERP go-live, Two fine consultants,…

Christmas is coming around faster than ever and who better than Noddy Holder and Slade to give a Sales & Operational Planning (S&OP) process to your business as a present. This song has been heard at Christmas every year since 1973! If you have been…