Route to Market & Supply Chain Blog

We finally got going (sailing that is) yesterday when the wind dropped to a breezy Force 4 on the beam (that’s from the side) - wonderful sailing weather. And it was marvellous – whizzing along at 7-8 knots. Mind wandering territory again ...…

This is a debate that I am starting to loose, I’ll stick with it though at least until such time as IT systems develop intelligence and personality. The theoretical debate on the role of IT in S&OP will of course run for a long time, hence this…

It’s amazing how the mind wanders when one is stuck. In my case I have just started a sailing holiday with family in tow. Here we are in the South of France west of Marseille, boat at the ready & raring to go. Problem – there is a Mistral blowing.…

This week’s success factors cover the areas of organisation and people when developing S&OP. Some time ago the president of a major CEE trading group summarised the outcomes of a business wide S&OP implementation in three words “we are…

The following blogs will address key points of consideration when embarking on a regional or global S&OP implementation. Part one covers the areas of End Market commitment & ownership and Process Design. End Market commitment & ownership: End Market…

There are no individuals in this team. This is a team where the whole is far greater than the sum of the parts. The Supply Chain operates quietly and often in the background but is an essential team for any business. Team Sheet Goal Keeper S&OP –…

A short rest from the World Cup today. I speaking to a colleague today who had attended a conference last week about doing business in Nigeria. There were echoes from several chats I have had recently with some of our West African clients including…

Suddenly, many companies in South Africa are grossly overstocked with red, white and blue Vuvuzelas! They will not be allowed at Wimbledon and even the cricket authorities would think twice. Skiing, possibly? There may be quite some capital tied up…

Sku's sneak onto price lists when nobody is looking. Sales & Marketing colleagues like launches with lengthy lists of skus; different flavours, different sizes, different colours. How many shelf facings do they want? How do these decisions get…

This is relatively easy but it requires rigour and discipline plus top-down leadership ideally through a harmonious S&OP process. Month, quarter and year-end push. -- Run your business on one set of numbers agreed at Board level and ensure NOBODY…

Before Capello leads England to world cup glory in South Africa (you read it here second!) There is much to observe about his approach to leadership in the context of Supply Chain and S&OP in particular: Makes Decisions. At the end of the…

An open and transparent engagement with your LSP can deliver tangible business benefits in addition to a less stressed working environment; consider some of the following pointers in your relationships with LSPs. Information sharing: Be willing to…

The sales forecast is the main driver of the S&OP process. This is the critical input to the process and the successes of all subsequent planning actions are dependent on the accuracy of the forecast. Working as a supply chain consultant for…

We often hear FMCG businesses complain about being let down by their Logistics providers. "They couldn't deliver "Not enough space in the warehouse" "Trucks in the wrong location", "Resource constraints" etc. The standard response is to despatch the…

"We don't have a proper forecasting tool", "everyone has their own spreadsheet" "issues with the EDI interface", "the systems don't talk to each other", "the upload to our ERP system failed". How many more IT based excuses for poor demand planning…