Route to Market & Supply Chain Blog

I previously blogged about the reality of FMCG Traditional Trade (TT) Route To Market (RTM) distribution and described the drivers and behaviours in each party as the monthly plans inevitably imploded. Let us now get out the crystal ball and stare…

I have travelled quite a lot over the years and tried to add one new country each year until I stumbled at 45. Many were holidays but a majority were on business with very few opportunities available to actually see the place. “Oh, you must be so…

Summer has finally reached Romania and this will be good news for all the beer, water and soft drinks producers. Nothing raises sales like a scorching yellow disc in a clear blue sky. One of the classic summer tracks is Here Comes Summer by a…

I am approaching end of tether time with some potential clients. If they were our clients then they would not have to endure the routine monthly disruption. Why do major FMCG producers always think they are in the right and their TT partners are…

I witnessed an intense match of blame tennis recently in the board room of a popular FMCG multinational. The intensity and aggression on display presented a mental image of a tennis match with John McEnroe, Ilie Nastase, Goran Ivanisevic and Marat…

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.…

In my previous two blogs on the subject, I outlined how producers (manufacturers) can achieve very significant improvements in the financial performance of their supply chains by a process of integration between the primary and secondary supply…

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…

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…

Ok, here we go again on another merry-go-round of Supply Chain stretch, strife, strain but hopefully success. All the decorations should be back in their boxes by now. The lights where the red set doesn’t flash and the white set that only work when…

Why not make sure your festivities don’t fizzle out as soon as January sales numbers arrive. Get into the spirit of Route To Market (RTM) Distribution right now with our take on Jingle Bells! Why are sales so low? I don’t know what to say We expect…

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…

What made me think of that? Do you remember that playground game called Statues? One person is the “museum” Curator and stands at the end of a field or yard. Everyone else stands an agreed distance away from the Curator. The aim of the game is for a…