Putting Your Customers' Needs First

An SKU Item table like this example can also be useful to your sales team if they sell items through a distribution network as they can compare their local distributor sales purchases versus this table to determine if the distributor is “cherry-picking” their business or representing your entire product line to their end customers. In this example, always having these 3,000 items in stock means that you can protect 75% of your annual business with superior service to your customers! Later, it may be desirable to perform a more detailed analysis by individual SKU or item number which will identify the catalog number, product description, product category, product line, brand, item status code, annual sales quantity, annual sales dollars, average sales price, number of order lines received, number of order lines shipped, number of unique customers served, stock/MTO codes, where made plant(s), minimum or multiple order requirements, lead time, minimum quantity ordered, maximum quantity ordered, average quantity ordered, % of times item 100% allocated at time of entry, sales order size distribution profile, sales by Region of the World, etc. This additional information will provide additional information for planning purposes. For example, you may have a single customer location that buys a million dollars of a single part number; that exception situation might not show up in a global analysis but might well deserve your special attention. Likewise, a complementary catalog number with a low dollar value might be a required accessory to one of your most popular items; in this instance, it would be important to make sure this complementary item was always available for purchase with the main component. Brand rationalization is not an easy task even for old established industrial companies. With the acquisition and divestiture of many companies and brands over the years, it can be difficult to determine those brands that have lasting goodwill. Even some brand names that should standout are tarnished by their lack of attention over the years. Retail companies tend to do a much better job of brand management because merchandising is their game! Therefore, we can often get some marketing tips from their sales channel and sales management strategies. Proctor & Gamble is noted as having one of the best collections of consumer brands anywhere – Bounty, Charmin, Crest, Dawn, Gillette, Pampers, Tide, Vicks, etc. A quick look at Wikipedia reveals some interesting facts about their brand management. They have over 20 different brands in their current offering that generate at least ONE BILLION dollars a year in sales; in addition, they have over 50 other brands that they also offer for sale. In dishwashing detergents alone, they offer multiple brands including Dawn, Cascade, Fairy, Joy, etc. The listing goes on to state that Proctor & Gamble has divested some 40+ brands … some quite notable ones that no longer serve their targeted markets. In addition, some 50+ brands have vanished or have been phased out over time. An interesting side note is that none of these brands carry the Proctor & Gamble company name…the average consumer would be “hard-pressed” to readily associate any of these famous brands with Proctor & Gamble as a company. • Brand Rationalization/Brand Consolidation