Route to Market & Supply Chain Blog

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. Would you buy a used car from a politician? You buy a new car and you get a contract that…

Supply chain complexities are increasing. Shifting customer demands & habits, expanding business, and rising cost pressures are the key drivers for restructuring needs of your distribution networks. Customer demands are shifting rapidly. The share…

Supply chains have had a torrid time over the last 2 years and just when you think COVID is dissipating, Putin kicks off! One of the problems faced by senior leaders seeking performance improvement is that it takes an age to get going and it all…

As a general rule, buildings are usually numbered in a structured, sequential way. Numbering usually commences with building 1 at the end of the road which is closest to the city or town centre. Odd numbers on the left and even numbers on the right…

Is it just me or does FMCG life seems to be increasingly full of initials? New examples seem to pop up on a weekly basis with COVID-19 being top of mind currently. In line with many business functions Supply Chain and other functions use multiple…

A colleague who works for a global multinational in a large African market has asked an interesting question, which also points to a wider issue across the Route to Market function. I feel it is worth sharing as a topic of discussion. The question…

Now that one of the new Covid19 vaccines (Pfizer BioNTech's mRNA vaccine) has been approved by a regulatory authority (UK's MHRA on 2 December 2020), attention turns to how to vaccinate the UK and the world. It is important not to underestimate the…

In my last blog we discussed how the Total Cost to Serve (TCTS) can impact the FMCG Route to Market. Since then, I have had several questions and comments asking for some examples of TCTS models. So, in the link below, I have provided some examples.…

Assessing your distribution options is one of the most important elements of any Route to Market strategy. Choosing the wrong distribution strategy, although often not evident in the short term, can cripple a company’s long-term growth, and ability…

Before we even begin to look at how to develop Route to Market (RtM) strategies and execution plans for Fast Moving Consumer Goods Companies (FMCG) in emerging markets like Africa, we need to understand and remind ourselves of a few basic principles…

A Distributor Partnership Programme, if designed and implemented correctly, can be one of the most powerful tools in the Route to Market (RtM) armory for delivering sales growth. A Distributor Partnership Programme sets out which individual…

Do FMCG, Drinks & Pharma Companies delude themselves on Customer Service? I think some may well be doing this and may or may not know it! Whatever service related KPI you measure, the KPI is designed to asses how you are performing both internally…

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…

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…

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…