Engaging a Supply Chain Consultant
In addition to providing interim management services, Executive Interims - Supply Chain Practice provides clients with consultants formerly from "Big Four" consultancy firms, including:
Advantages of Using a Supply Chain Consultant From Executive Interims
When the big supply chain consultancy firms de-layer their senior and middle management, it's not untypical for Directors, Executive Consultants and Managing Consultants specialising in supply chain management to take golden parachutes and make themselves available through Executive Interims - Supply Chain Practice. So not only do our supply chain consultants understand the best supply chain intellectual property, they have greater expertise than their younger former colleagues, and better interpersonal skills. And compared to their peers in the "Big Four" firms a supply chain consultant from Executive Interims will be significantly cost-advantaged.
And don't forget those expenses. Often consultants from "Big Four" firms expect to stay at four star hotels, and together with the various trips on planes, trains and automobiles, expenses can add up to a significant proportion of the total cost of engagement. An Executive Interims' supply chain consultant on the other hand is more likely to use his/her own car and stay at a more reasonably priced hotel. An Executive Interims - supply chain consultant can be in a client's business within days of an enquiry. They bring with them no political baggage, but a lot of objectivity. And won't be looking for a permanent role - so your staff will be less likely to feel threatened.
This type of solution can be particularly valuable when your existing team is fully utilised, yet there's a need to address a high risk / value / profile opportunity. Not only do our supply chain consultants bring an understanding of the most up to date supply chain management intellectual property, they also bring a structured process to manage change. This means they're highly focused on deliverables and deadlines. Because they are noticeably expert in their fields they enjoy taking ownership and implementing solutions. In fact our consultants thrive on delivering results not just recommendations.
Different Types of Supply Chain Consultant
At the beginning of this article we outlined some of the major specialisms that a supply chain consultant may have. However, there is a certain genre of supply chain consultant that have expertise across these specialist disciplines and this expertise profile is often of considerable interest to the retail sector in particular, where there is a need for close co-ordination between purchasing, logistics and marketing to ensure that product ranges generate maximum levels of gross margin from shelf space, without being penalised by significant inventory redundancy costs. It is vital to get range selection, pricing, forecasting, inventory management and replenishment working hand in hand.
The requirement for the skills that this type of supply chain consultant has to offer are emphasised particularly since product life-cycles are constantly being reduced, which means that there are ever greater opportunities for something to go wrong. By designing or re-engineering supply chain business processes to integrate the inter-related aspects of these disciplines, performance can be substantially enhanced. As such there are more often than not, substantial benefits from investing in an Executive Interims supply chain consultant.
Benefits From Using The Right Supply Chain Consultant
As an example, in retail environments the right supply chain management consultant can add a lot of value by developing processes in support of the following highly dependent tasks:
- Tracking initial sales of new product lines to forecast & re-forecast gross margin contribution accurately
- Optimising range planning for categories, ensuring the right brand mix from premium to value segments, and by doing so.
- Optimising suppliers/brands to as a minimum meet customer's needs about breadth of range yet at the same time ensuring maximum volume through supplier consolidation and...
- Establishing inventory profiles nationally.
- Which can then be bespoked to fit demographics at a local level as appropriate.
- Consistently achieving volume forecasts giving suppliers enough confidence to maximise rebates based on volumes to.
- Minimise total acquisition costs and by setting appropriate prices, maximising gross margin.
- Driving replenishment levels are >98% on time in full and
- Ensuring inventory accuracy > 98% and
- Establishing robust processes to regularly return redundant inventory to suppliers.
Looking for a Supply Chain Consultant ?
Executive Interims - Supply Chain Practice is a specialist provider of supply chain consultancy and interim management services. If you'd like to know more about what our supply chain consultants can do for your business, contact us to explore the subject further.
|
