Yes, We Have No Bananas: Consumer Goods Manufacturers Serve Demanding Customers
Olin Thompson and PJ Jakovljevic - May 26, 2006

User Requirements

The food and beverage (F&B) and fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) manufacturers that supply the major supermarket retailers share many common business challenges, along with a tough competitive environment. This holds true whether the product is food, drink, personal care, cleaning products, or any other product stocked and sold by supermarkets. The customers—huge, powerful, and demanding supermarkets and retail chains—want products manufactured "to-order," with lead times often measured in hours rather than days or weeks. In fact, in the sector it is routine to deal with delivery lead times shorter than the time actually needed to make the product. To top it all off, this circumstance is often bundled with highly variable forecasts, which shatters any vestige of predictability...