Operations as a competitive advantage in a disruptive environment
Winter 2017

Operations as a competitive advantage in a disruptive environment

This collection weaves together the latest developments within the consumer-packaged-goods (CPG) operations sector, with a honed focus on operational excellence best practices.

Featured articles

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Mastering the enablers of a sustained digital journey

– Three intertwined enablers—people, governance, and partnerships—are essential for lasting digital change.
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Breakthrough technologies fundamentally change the game

– The right combination of breakthrough technologies (such as 3-D printing, machine-to-machine communications, and advanced robotics) can help CPG companies achieve breakout performance.
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Building omnichannel excellence

– As consumers move more of their shopping online, consumer-goods companies need to meet service and efficiency challenges across multiple channels. That calls for a new approach to the supply chain.
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Digitization and advanced planning in CPG

– Consumer-goods companies want supply chains that run smoothly from end to end, but their efforts are often thwarted. A new generation of digital tools is helping to tackle the challenges.
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Recipe for success for sourcing in the food industry

– Transforming the way food companies specify, source, and manage the supply of raw materials can help them cut costs, meet changing consumer preferences, and manage risks.
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My supply chain is better than yours—or is it?

– More-detailed benchmarks show that supply chains can still yield significant value—building on the investments so many CPG companies have already made.
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Driving superior value through digital procurement

– Emerging digital and advanced analytics tools promise new levels of procurement performance. To deliver that promise, CPOs must discover which of them are best suited to the needs of their company.
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Design for value and growth in a new world

– Customer choice has never been greater, so terrific design is essential for outstanding products and services—and to build lasting customer relationships.
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The truth about zero-based budgeting: ZBB for consumer-goods players

– Ten myths and realities illustrate the power and practicalities of zero-based budgeting for the consumer-packaged-goods industry.
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The evolution of quality: Higher quality output, lower cost of quality

– Good quality doesn’t have to mean higher costs—in fact, it often means lower recall and warranty costs as a culture of quality takes hold.
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Supply Chain 4.0 in consumer goods

– In Supply Chain 4.0, supply-chain management applies Industry 4.0 innovations—the Internet of Things, advanced robotics, analytics, and big data—to jump-start performance, and customer satisfaction.
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Playing catch-up in advanced analytics

– Among CPG companies’ most underused assets are the vast quantities of data they generate. But there’s still opportunity to invest in industry-beating analytic capabilities.
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CPG manufacturers need a comprehensive strategy for digitization

– Increasingly competitive CPG markets are making consumer-centered innovation—and the successful adoption of digital technologies—essential as the CPG landscape evolves through 2030.
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Simpler is (sometimes) better: Managing complexity in consumer goods

– Here’s how consumer-goods manufacturers can master complexity—and even turn it to their advantage.
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Starting at the source: Sustainability in supply chains

– By working closely with their suppliers, consumer companies can lessen their environmental and social impact and position themselves for strong growth.
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The ‘how’ of transformation

– In the consumer sector and in many other industries, transformation programs often fail. Creating a “performance infrastructure” can help ensure that yours won’t.
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Secrets to implementation success

– What do successful implementers do differently from other companies? Our survey of more than 2,200 executives yields actionable answers.