A selection of operational challenges I have worked on across 25+ years in FMCG and supply chain. All examples are anonymised.
Large FMCG Manufacturer
The business had no structured way to model forecast, capacity, and promotional activity together. I designed and built a forecasting, capacity and promotional analysis model in Excel from scratch. The result was a 50% reduction in finished goods disposals and significantly improved production planning accuracy.
Large FMCG Manufacturer
Production efficiency had plateaued and the business lacked visibility of where the gaps were. I implemented planning systems and best practices, introduced shift reporting and established daily and weekly review cadences across the production floor. The outcome was a 20% uplift in production efficiency.
Multi-Site Food Production Business
During the 2020 global supply crisis, I was appointed key contact for a major retail customer representing 40% of the business's total sales revenue. I ran weekly review calls covering stock holding, supply constraints and contingency planning. Service levels were maintained throughout the pandemic despite industry-wide disruption.
Multi-Site Food Production Business
Leadership had no single view of daily operational performance across two manufacturing sites. I created a Daily Performance Review report and chaired weekly meetings with seven unit managers, covering performance, challenges and actions. The process eliminated recurring issues and generated measurable efficiencies across all departments.
Multi-Site Food Production Business
Distribution costs were not being scrutinised at route level. I built a logistics report that highlighted inefficient routes and calculated cost per drop across the network. The findings directly informed revised commercial terms with both new and existing customers, reducing distribution cost.
Large FMCG Manufacturer
Over a five year period I was a key team member in the implementation of multiple planning and manufacturing systems including MRP, Preactor APS scheduling software and Protean ERP. I also built Bills of Materials, automated the pallet building process in MS Access and designed works order forms to generate material requirements automatically. These systems became the operational backbone of the site.
Large FMCG Manufacturer
The site had no structured barcoding system. I designed and implemented a barcoding solution, built and maintained the database, and served as the sole site contact for 15 years. I also reduced manual label writing labour by extracting batch codes and descriptions directly from the MRP system and printing automatically to TEC printers.
The way operational problems get solved is changing. Alongside traditional consulting, I actively explore modern AI tools to reduce manual effort, automate repetitive tasks and surface insights faster without enterprise software costs.