Route to Market & Supply Chain Blog

Where has that first post-holiday month gone? Suddenly it’s the 24th of January and there are only 7 calendar days and 5 working days until you close the month. Adopt panic stations despite what Corporal Jones of Dad’s Army would say. Are you ahead…

We already find ourselves at 17th January so not many days left to ensure your monthly top and bottom lines are on target. Good luck with that if your business (& body!) is only just shaking off the holiday excesses. What is top of mind? The sagging…

Chris Rea has finally found the correct turn off, a lot of people in Africa still don’t know its Christmas and the novelty Santa toilet seat cover is back in the box. Oh, and chocolate Easter eggs are in the shops 4 months in advance. Christmas and…

Christmas is coming around faster than ever and who better than Noddy Holder and Slade to celebrate Sales & Operational Planning (S&OP). This festive song has been heard at Christmas every year since 1973! If you have been living in a cave on a…

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…

Hooray! Many supermarket chains now sell imperfect or misshapen fruit and vegetables at a discount. As you may know I am a big fan of buying this type of food as taste has nothing to do with shape based on my massive culinary knowledge. Whether my…

The definition of celebrity is a famous person, VIP, very important person, personality, name, big name, famous name, household name, star, superstar, celebutante, leading light, giant, great, master, guru. In that case why do I only know 3 people…

Some things never change and FMCG 4th Quarter challenges certainly do not. The same challenges are clearly present and what is astonishing is that some companies are still making short term, expensive efforts to “make the sales numbers”. I don't…

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…

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…

On a daily basis the amount of care we give to the human body is remarkably little. When you are feeling in good shape the best the body can hope for is a good wash, a brush of the teeth and a slap of moisturiser if you are a bit of a girly. What…

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…

At Enchange, we have provided many supply chain interim managers for clients over the years. I was discussing our supply chain interim management services with a client recently and she asked whether she should be hiring interim managers or…

I have been talking to a number of supply chain executives during the last few weeks and something of a theme has emerged. The theme is the immediate need for highly skilled supply chain resource, available at short notice, with the flexibility to…

The Challenge A leading global FMCG company undertook an aggressive supply chain improvement programme across 150 markets. The objective was 100% alignment of worldwide operational activities with company strategy and objectives. Not an…