Route to Market & Supply Chain Blog

Christmas and new year holidays seem a long way behind. The decorations have been squeezed back into their boxes for another year and Slade, Cliff, Bing, Bowie and others are safely back in their CD cases. Turkeys around the world are rejoicing as…

Overeaten chocolate during the holidays but still want some more? Get yourself and a large blue IKEA bag down to your local supermarket as chocolate is heavily discounted. Easter is not far away this year so why not save a little cash and stock up…

Who coined the term “Big Data”? How did we get there without tiny data, ordinary data, slightly larger data, chubby data and bordering on big data? People working in or associated with Supply Chains seem obsessed by data yet data itself tells you…

Anyone expecting their first child has probably been told by a gloating-doting grandparent-to be that their lives are about to change dramatically. This is of course untrue as in reality dramatically is too simple a word and in any event, that…

I touched on the problem of expanding UK waistlines a few blogs ago and the topic popped up again recently when I was out and about shopping for clothes – no, not me. This is not as regular an event as it may be for senior management but due to the…

Have you ever “hunkered down”? I remember being asked to hunker down during a supply chain training course many years ago and I had no idea what I was supposed to do. Eventually I had to ask as failing to follow the hunker downwards request appeared…

I am an App-free zone. I have to admit I am not a big App fan but at least I now know what an App is after a lengthy period of ignorant denial. Originally used only by cutting edge, bearded techies (sorry Steve), Apps have become a major part of…

Senior Management has been on quite a shopping spree over the last few months taking advantage of various big name high street stores that have lost their lustre and even their premises in some cases. The demise of these familiar UK brands has…

I had an informal discussion with a small group of FMCG Supply Chain VP/Directors last week. I well remember the occasion as it was the day UK had its annual summer but the discussion was memorable for more than that fact. After rushing back to base…

Amongst the many variables in running a Supply Chain, the one certainty in FMCG, Pharmaceutical and Agri businesses is that inventory is solely in the eye of the beholder. Nobody else but Supply Chain actually sees the full unedited and excuse-free…

In my last two blogs I offered three reasons why multinationals are still struggling with inventory optimisation. I also suggested two issues that needed to be addressed before this process can commence. This is the story of how one organisation…

In my last post I dealt with the long-standing issue of inventory optimisation and some of the reasons that many organisations are still struggling with it. If it was just left to a technical challenge, optimising an organisation’s inventory, whilst…

Last week I had another chat with a client about inventory.The essence of the client's problem was - "Why can't we get our stock right? We either have too much …. or run out … and we have just spent a fortune on a new IT system …." Sound familiar? I…