To get at the roots of profit-destroying complexity, companies need to identify their innovation fulcrum, the point at which the level of product innovation maximizes both revenues and profits. Complexity doesn’t appear on balance sheets or on quarterly reports, but its impact can be conspicuous. Below, we offer a simple set Read more…
The focus of the traditional supply chain organization is cost management. Saving money does not drive value. Improving cost also does not necessarily improve margin. Holistic organizational thinking is a marked departure from traditional functional thinking, shifting the need for new forms of analytics and reporting. For example, today, while most organizations Read more…
“No one in the supply chain has sold till the time the end customer has bought.” This seemingly simple diktat is hard to put in practise, after all, why do I care if my customer’s customer is buying my stuff or not. Err.. Turns out that you should! In one Read more…
Ans: Demand Planning The biggest cost to companies is NOT the cost of employees, or raw material, or sales or even advertising.The biggest cost to companies is the imbalance between the demand for their products and the companies ability to meet the demand. Unfortunately, many companies tend to ignore this Read more…
Every company has different inventory model needs. Challenges vary widely, depending on a company’s business model, size, geographic location and industry sector, among other factors. Even within a company, there are several different situations that require some form of demand sensing and response for management control. Before tackling the demand Read more…
Most popular case study for Rationalisation is from Gillette in its 2004 supply chain turnaround. Aimed at reversing a major inability to fulfil orders reliably, it embarked on four improvement initiatives: minimising complexity, improving demand-supply planning processes, improving supply planning processes and establishing optimal support systems. SKU rationalisation was central Read more…
1. If your product market life is long (think Consumer goods business / grocery business / Core / Never out of stock Items in fashion business) then you can save 10% of your costs by implementing a system that replenishes goods based on actual consumption rather than on projected consumption. 2. Read more…
Supply chain management is great, if the Supply chain strategy is clear! Supply Chain Management Vs. Supply Chain Strategy While supply chain management is used to describe internal improvements to existing processes within the context of current, actual situations and constraints, the supply chain strategy realises the intent to create Read more…
During season time, retailers rely on 2 solutions to lure shoppers, generate sales and lift their own holiday spirits. We believe retailers should look at BOTH of the below options and not just 1 of them for maximising their sales. 1. Assortment-planning solutions. By analyzing sales targets, shelf space and Read more…
Ramnath V and Marshall wrote an excellent article detailing the technique to help retailers improve assortment planning. While the article came out in 2012, there are good pointers which are valid even today. It’s easy to spot the slow movers in your assortment, of course—sales data will tell you that—but Read more…