PLAN-OCHAIN

SEASON 5
CASE STUDY

Akshay was a partner in a large consulting firm based out of Mumbai. He was a specialist in the FMCG industry
with an experience of around 15 years.
Sipping his favorite cup of coffee, he glanced at the sheets lying on his desk.
Bharti, Chandrasekhar and Dhananjay were three of his brightest consultants working with FMCGs across the
country on a variety of projects.
Today, they came up with a benchmark of sorts comparing similar parameters for the three companies in
question (Refer Table 1).
Bharti: I am at present working with company ABC which shows a lot of promise with its volume growth.
However, I believe in the long run company XYZ will triumph due to its focus on working capital.
Chandrasekhar: During my client interaction with company XYZ, I found their focus on customer satisfaction
index encouraging. Still its difficult to compete with company MNO considering its high acceptance among the
masses.
Dhananjay: Well, my client company MNO is a leader in the market and it sets the standards for others to
follow. Company ABC is fast catching up with its high projected volume growth.
Akshay was pondering on the points mentioned by his colleagues and all of them had valid arguments. Now with
all three comparisons in front of him, he set out to determine the company with the best Health Quotient; a
company which even though is not the best in all but still manages to triumph in important parameters.
Akshay is now in the process of identifying answers to the following questions. If you were in his place, how
Sr.
No.
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19

Parameters

ABC

XYZ

MNO

Volume Growth (%)

Organic Growth (%)
Market Share (%)
General Trade/Modern Trade Ratio
Distribution Cost (as a % of sales)
Capacity Utilization (%)
Local Production/Import Ratio
Short Term Demand Planning Accuracy (3 months forecast) @ Pan-India
Level
Demand Planning Accuracy for next month @ a Distribution Center Level
Long-Term Demand Planning Accuracy (18-month forecast) @ Pan-India level
Case Fill Rate (The amount of cases shipped on the shipment versus the
amount of cases ordered)
Remaining shelf Life when on shelf (days)
Total shelf Life of Product (Days)
Remaining Shelf life % when sold to the customer
Bad Goods (% of Sales)
Vendor Performance / Reliability
Number of Raw Materials
Working Capital as a % of Sales
Finished Goods Inventory days

14%
9%
17%
9:1
5%
45%
2:1

9%
8%
21%
12:1
3%
75%
All Local

12%
11%
33%
14:1
4%
80%
1:1

80%

82%

70%

75%
78%

80%
85%

72%
75%

98%

96%

90%

280
360
90%
0.3%
85%
200
3%
20

150
180
95%
4%
75%
500
-2%
7

210
360
75%
0.50%
90%
350
4%
45

would you have approached them?

1. Develop a health card for each of the companies identifying their strengths and areas of improvement. Also,
describe in brief the logic used for each of the identified parameters.
2. Develop an end-to-end supply chain strategy for the all the three companies given their competencies and
areas of development
3. Out of the three companies, which company is more future-proof in its approach? Give sufficient reasons to
back your claim.
4. If you were Akshay, what inputs would you give to Bharti, Chandrasekhar and Dhananjay for their respective
clients performance improvement? Back your inputs with sufficient reasons.