Route to Market & Supply Chain Blog

A word that strikes fear into even the most hardened FMCG/Brewing/Pharmaceutical business professionals. A similar reaction occurs when heard in the context of family discussions about investments, celebrations and holidays. Can you guess the word…

I regularly rattle on about how poor sales forecasting or dire planning or the absence of S&OP causes untold grief to FMCG, Brewing and Pharmaceutical companies. Of course, these failings and many others certainly result in lost sales, write offs,…

Is anybody good at forecasting? Meteorologists have had centuries of trying and still the weather catches us by surprise. I think this is particularly so in UK where weather related discussions are an important part of daily life. If people paid no…

Probably sitting at number 2 in the excuses offered when sales did not happen as planned is parallel or grey trade. Without doubt greys, “passing off” and counterfeits can have an impact on FMCG sales but I was surprised how they only became…

You could hear the groans around the room when the CEO announced to the company that they had decided to finally implement Sales & Operational Planning (S&OP). Enchange was asked to facilitate the implementation - no, they were not groaning at…

Secret Agent Jon D Beams glided through the polished corridors of HQ. Reaching his destination door he knocked and entered at the same time and introduced himself as Beams, Jon D Beams. The swooning Miss Cashnickel smiled a Colgate smile and without…

Senior Management has again flown off to UK to visit the heiress and attempt to single-handedly bring the UK retail economy out of recession. Look out for a blip in Birmingham when the Q4 figures are released as the plastic is in for vigorous…

The ancient Rolls Royce slowly chugged up the lane toward the big house. The thin wheels crunched at the white gravel as the car came to a halt opposite the imposing doors of the Abbey House. A full squad of staff in white and black livery was…

People ask me what is it like working in Supply Chain and my usual reply is “wetting yourself in a dark suit. You get a warm feeling but nobody notices”. If everything is progressing well then at best you are ignored but when something goes wrong in…

When the biology teacher tells you humans have a tail your ears prick up and you wait for the punch line and inevitable student guffaw. But it’s true! Our coccyx or tailbone is what remains of our lost tail. All mammals have a tail at one point in…

There are many ways to link all the different planning activities in your FMCG company. This could be done with one single tool like the SAP Advanced Planning Optimiser or a host of other tools and packages. As with all IT you need to know how to…

Hold on a minute, how did we get to this time in the year? I know time appears to hasten as you grow older but this year has flown by. One minute we were eagerly awaiting the Olympics and now we heading directly into a northern hemisphere winter and…

I have just arrived back from a great holiday full of sun, sand, sea and sacks of candy-floss which inevitably inspired me to write. I was already in my late twenties when I first flew primarily due to an irrational fear of flying. As a conscious…

Here at Missing Pieces/Fractured Families/Long Lost Family – delete as per local programming presented by irritating celebrity – we help people find family and friends they have not seen for many years. Often, we are a last resort after all other…

Today I am getting ready to do business in my nameless dysfunctional FMCG business. For “FMCG” you can substitute ANY business sector you wish. I pull on my tough walking boots that will do very well at hiking and climbing and dealing with any water…