Route to Market & Supply Chain Blog

There remains so much discussion and debate around planning, S&OP and APO etc that the “make” element of Supply Chain has not had much air time. Regional and global strategies are reasonably well represented but it is what is actually going on…

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…

There is never a good time to go on a residential training course or put the car in for an overdue lengthy service or the annual visit to the in-laws or even English homework - why was the American cowboy series High Chaparral so much more…

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…

I spent most of last weekend slightly below ground in a hot, dirty, smelly hole without light and where you could not stand up properly. No, it was not the driver’s room at your 3PLP but it was the hole in the ground that provides water to the…

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…

How the CEO of an FMCG, Brewing or Pharmaceutical company might come to realise they need Sales & Operational Planning (S&OP). If you hear your boss singing in a locked office you now know why! With due credit to the song and original lyrics from…

Ok, I think it is fairly clear I am a big fan of S&OP. In companies without structure and process this is a way to establish a solid operational framework in a business and this does not actually cost a lot of money or need expensive or complicated…

If you don’t agree on what is expected between two parties before you start a relationship then anything but success is likely. You buy a new car and you get a contract that tells you what is covered by the guarantee and for how long in time or in…

There is enough disruption and discontinuity in supply chains without the necessary evil of new product development (NPD) and product change getting in the way. Just when everyone has become used to ordering, storing, picking, delivering or…

In a recent post I took a look at how technology has changed over a relatively short time and how it is used in supply chains. For example, the cutting edge fax machine of the 1970’s is now joining the VHS and cassette tape players in the sad and…

Last week we watched a show featuring an Elvis Presley impersonator/tribute artist. We saw the usual early Elvis leather jacket look followed by the gaudy Las Vegas fancy dress outfit. Vocally, he was a very good match to recordings but not sure how…

The English dictionary lists the definition of complexity as “the state or quality of being intricate or complicated: an issue of great complexity”. Wikipedia defines complexity in great detail and starts with “In general usage, complexity tends to…

I have always thought it a little strange. The “green “ movement is all about saving the Earth yet the same colour is used for “green” house gases (GHG) that are far from green and moving us towards unavoidable planetary oblivion, apparently. Now,…