Author: Iftach Halperin, Sr. Product Manager
In a competitive world, one crisis is an opportunity for another and like any opportunity, it must be planned optimally. I am of course referring to the recall event that the Strauss-Elite experienced in those days.
Beyond the health concern for consumers and the negative publicity that often accompanies this type of event, important questions need to be asked that will have a significant impact on the market. The first competitor who recognizes the opportunity makes assumptions and acts accordingly (of course with responsibility and risk management) is the one who will experience a great victory.
In the case of a recall like I would like to ask a million questions like what happens to market demand? Will the market consume less chocolate, or will it just consume from another source? Is there any opportunity to “stuck the foot in the door” and offer our service to new customers? Should the promotions plan be still necessary (after all, the customers will buy from me anyway, so why invest in a promotions budget)? How long will it take for the Strauss-Elite to recover from the event? Will Strauss-Elite be safer from a long-term impact of such an event (in recent times in Israel companies at such events do not seem to have had a long-term impact)?
Of course, each answer must be prepared accordingly in terms of inventory, distribution capacity, manpower, etc.
So, if I was a competitor- what would I do? And how?
Responds immediately, according to those 5 steps:
PORTFOLIO Review (a discussion at the senior management level including marketing, trade market, sales)
- Determining basic assumptions for the event
- Examining the launch plan, if relevant
- Examining the Promotion plan
DEMAND Review
- Update the forecast immediately
SUPPLY Review
Examining production/procurement capacity against the new forecast and flooding gaps
- Examining the flexibility of my suppliers
PRE S&OP Meeting
- Gap Analysis
- Creating several alternatives to close those gaps
EXECUTIVE S&OP Meeting
• Choose the most relevant alternative according to the company’s goals
• Build a detailed action plan that includes schedules
• Direct immediately relevant resources to this opportunity
Those 5 steps are called the S&OP process, if you want to know more about it feel free to follow us.
