Route to Market & Supply Chain Blog

As we celebrate St George's Day and the birthday of William Shakespeare (also the date he died!) what would the great bard think about S&OP in FMCG and Pharmaceuticals? Is this a plan which I see before me, The numbers are as we planned? Come, let…

“What do you call a smiling, friendly and courteous person at a sales conference?” The caterer. “How do you save a drowning supply chain guy?” Take your foot off his head. “What is black and brown and looks really good on a sales guy?” A Rottweiler.…

Enchange has been working with many FMCG and Pharmaceuticals multinationals for years on projects to improve their primary supply chains. We have also been working with many of the same companies on Route to Market (RTM) projects. For the sake of…

If like me, you watched some of Sport Relief last Friday night, you may have been left with a number of emotions. For those people outside of the UK not familiar with Sport Relief, it is a biannual event involving everyday folk, sports personalities…

I think by now I have been exposed to around 100 different Sales & Operational Planning processes (S&OP) in sectors from FMCG to Pharmaceuticals to Agrochemicals. These processes have been global, regional and very much local-for-local processes in…

How many times do you find this happening? Someone asks you if you saw that blockbuster film last week or if you saw the new comedy series starring Rowan Atkinson or even if you saw the football match last night where Manchester United finally…

I’m not sure if it is the way people were taught to drive or the driving conditions in certain countries but some drivers do have a funny technique, in my humble opinion. I do not claim to be an expert driver and frankly after driving in Saudi…

Post Christmas I have been taking a look at International Key Account retailers and seeing how they are coping in the current economic squeeze. One question came to me after seeing well over 20 outlets of various retailers. What do they all do with…

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,…

The year-end Christmas rush is about to gear up once more. Despite the ropey economic conditions people will still find ways to spend as much money as possible – that they don’t have - over the holiday build up and the inevitable “everything must…

Once more I delve into the TV of my youth and bring you the Goodies singing “Make a Daft Noise for Christmas” containing the classic line “Christmas comes but once a year, and when it does, it’s absolutely shocking.” Will this be the case for your…

That is an astonishing amount of food waste. Tesco in the UK has held its hands up and admitted it has generated 30,000 tonnes of food waste in the first 6 months of 2013. If that waste rate continues unabated it will reach an enormous 60.000 tonnes…

When I was a Saturday morning TV addict in UK the must-watch show was ITV’s TISWAS which featured the thigh booted Sally James and I think there were some other presenters. The alternative offering was the much posher and less anarchic Swap Shop on…

You will have to bear with me 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. Crisps/chips…

One of the commonest responses I receive when discussing Sales & Operational Planning (S&OP) with prospective clients having growth problems is “….but we have S&OP in place so we do not need any assistance”. “Ok, then why do you have negative…