Route to Market & Supply Chain Blog
Welcome to our blog!
We are passionate about Route to Market and supply chain management and we are delighted to share our thoughts with you. We would like to hear from you too, so please comment on our posts or contact us.
FMCG/Pharma Supply Chains: Is face to face communication dead?
Dave Jordan Mon, Apr 29, 2013
I took a look at how technology has changed the way Supply Chains work in a previous blog. During my recent trip to foreign parts – yes, Birkenhead and most of UK is foreign to me now – I saw modern technology in action like I have never seen before…
Get your teeth into FMCG Demand Forecasting & Customer Service
Dave Jordan Mon, Mar 18, 2013
Is anybody good at forecasting? Meteorologists have had centuries of trying and still the weather catches us by surprise. I think this is particularly so in UK where weather related discussions are an important part of daily life. If people paid no…
Supporting S&OP & pre-historic factory managers
Dave Jordan Thu, Mar 07, 2013
Back in the murky depths of time before the birth of humanity and Supply Chains, only dinosaurs roamed the Earth. Fighting and killing their way around the bubbling, steaming globe before an asteroid cut short their existence, allegedly. Sharks,…
Let us dance to Supply Chain
Stefan Cucu Fri, Mar 01, 2013
Our guest blogger Stefan Cucu returns with a blog about dancing...... Every year on my father’s birthday we eat the same cakes and say the same things. The things that are common but very important, e.g. the family and health. Then father blows out…
FMCG dummy QA recalls are not for dummies:Supply Chain Challenges
Dave Jordan Mon, Feb 25, 2013
The recent high profile cases of horsemeat DNA appearing in products marked as beef and other meats have generated a fair amount of humour but they also place great strain on FMCG Supply Chains. Thousands of Supply Chain professionals around the…
FMCG S&OP Leadership: has it gone to the dogs?
Dave Jordan Thu, Feb 21, 2013
If you live in or have visited Bucharest you may well have seen one or two stray dogs hanging around the city. Well, ok more than one or two but numbers have certainly decreased over the last couple of years. A proposal was made in 2010 to organise…
FMCG "Horse" Meat Producers: Quality Control or Quality Assurance?
Dave Jordan Mon, Feb 18, 2013
“After eating what he thought was a beef burger at a Shergar King outlet my friend was taken to a private hospital where he is now in a stable condition. While he has recovered well he has been saddled with an expensive invoice for medical services.…
FMCG Drinks & ugly vegetables Quality Assurance (QA) opportunities
Dave Jordan Thu, Feb 14, 2013
I note that the faceless suits in Brussels relaxed the laws on misshapen fruit and vegetables in 2009. The soaking the UK has received last “summer” has now seen supermarket chains further relax their standards on how fresh produce should appear. I…
“Lean” FMCG/Drinks factory operations mean excess manpower
Dave Jordan Mon, Feb 04, 2013
Back in the days when the only reality TV was live sport, a tablet got rid of your headache and a mobile was a normal phone with a longer cable, I used to run a large FMCG factory. Long before TPM was implemented the factory cost base was huge and…
FMCG S&OP: Enabling change as good as the best CEO
Dave Jordan Mon, Dec 17, 2012
Nearly the year end. Have you started planning for that party? Are the presents all sorted out? Cards ready before the final posting date? No, I thought not. All the fuss will be over before you know it and then January will see the usual raft of…
Roberto Di Matteo and Managing Supply Chain Change
Dave Jordan Thu, Nov 22, 2012
Sorry to repeat myself but Roman Abramovich is like a man who constantly returns cheese to the supermarket complaining it is mouldy and nobody is brave enough to tell him it is Roquefort. I can hardly believe I write that same text only 262 days…
FMCG Drinks : The Downton Abbey Supply Chain Drama
Dave Jordan Wed, Nov 21, 2012
The ancient Rolls Royce slowly chugged up the lane toward the big house. The thin wheels crunched at the white gravel as the car came to a halt opposite the imposing doors of the Abbey House. A full squad of staff in white and black livery was…
FMCG 3PLP partnerships: A happy marriage? Avoid divorce.
Dave Jordan Thu, Nov 01, 2012
Marriage is quite a project, isn’t it? You take a look at what is on the market and get to know a few possibilities. You may search for a long time to find the right partner who will sweep you off your feet and eventually carry you over the…
SC IT. The reality of ERP implementation and go-live preparedness
Dave Jordan Mon, Oct 22, 2012
I am not a fan of reality TV at all. These programmes seem to promote the worst in people and you end up with “celebrities” who actually have no talent and in most cases, fewer brains. Seeking more than their usually allotted 15 minutes of fame they…
FMCG, Brewing & Pharmaceuticals: Try sharing 3PLPs
Dave Jordan Mon, Oct 15, 2012
The proposal by the UK and other Commonwealth governments to share diplomatic missions and facilities around the world is perhaps initially surprising but for once in the world of diplomacy, it makes great sense. When most of the activities taking…