Essentials: Cloud supply chain solutions 

An empty supermarket shelf is bad news for the product manufacturer. Not only are they losing valuable sales; they’re also in danger of damaging their relationship with the retailer. Most choose to play it safe by holding high inventory levels, but this comes at a cost as it ties up millions of pounds of working capital. Such waste is echoed along the supply chain.

The big obstacle has been the slow delivery of actual sales data, which sometimes arrives several weeks later, and means companies can’t react quickly enough to any fluctuations in demand or short-term promotions by the supermarkets.

Most FMCG businesses have a variety of ERP systems across their various divisions, yet many don’t talk to each other and are not integrated with their suppliers.

However, hope has arrived on a cloud in the form of a new proposition between KPMG and software provider One Network Enterprises, which harnesses the power of cloud computing to dramatically increase the speed with which companies receive sales data. Within minutes of a product being scanned at the checkout till, the information is in the hands of the manufacturer and onto the supplier base, providing a real-time overview of all sales across all outlets.

Initial results have been nothing short of stunning. All important on-shelf availability has risen from around 90 percent to 99 percent, yet at the same time stock levels have plummeted by as much as 40 percent, giving big savings and freeing up vital cash. And these successes can be replicated along the supply chain as the data can be shared with suppliers and logistics providers.

Having seen such spectacular results, the supermarkets themselves are also showing interest in the technology as they seek to improve their own warehousing and in-store logistics. Even companies in fields as diverse as energy are seeing a use for the software to help better predict demand and quickly turn on renewable sources.