Supply Chain Strategy & Design, sponsored by Flextronics
Winner: Tesco
From the five shortlisted entries for the Supply Chain Strategy & Design category, two scores clearly stood out above the rest and both were pretty much on level pegging. Those two were AstraZeneca with Yusen Logistics, and Tesco.
Yusen Logistics was appointed in 2007 to convert AstraZeneca’s supply chain from push to pull by introducing lean principles. The solution was focused on Yusen’s Antwerp hub and a control-tower-driven European multi-modal network.
The two companies collaborated on a strategy to minimise airfreight and maximise ocean movements, consolidating inbound freight directly into the European network. In the pharmaceuticals industry, less than five per cent by volume is transported by any means other than air freight. However, AstraZeneca has achieved 55 per cent of their volume transported by sea freight – a major cultural shift for the sector. The resulting cost savings and benefits have been considerable. The judges thought highly of the way the two companies worked hard to overcome the cultural barriers, and Highly Commend the partnership, but on balance, they concluded that Tesco’s entry had the edge.
Tesco has one of the largest and most diverse supply chains in the world, spanning 12 countries and serving millions of customers a week. In an initiative aimed at introducing best practice in a coherent and consistent way across the various markets the company operates in, it was decided to deploy a small group of experts, called the Supply Chain Blueprint team, to improve operational efficiency. The team supports countries by coaching, training and up-skilling, with a focus on improving availability of products for customers, reducing working capital and reducing food waste.
In Malaysia the team’s work has reduced gaps on shelves by 37 per cent over the last year, with a 17 per cent decrease in stock holding and a 26 per cent improvement in stock availability for stores from depots. The successes in Malaysia are now being replicated in the rest of the retailer’s nine markets in Asia and Central Europe.
The judges say of Tesco: “They have a clear vision which they were able to demonstrate was aligned to the corporate strategy. They used benchmarking internally and externally to good effect and were able to show improved KPIs in a global context.”
The trophy was awarded to Tesco.
Winner
– Tesco
Highly commended
– AstraZeneca with Yusen Logistics
Shortlisted
– AstraZeneca with Yusen Logistics
– GlaxoSmithKline
– IBM ISC
– McDonald’s UK with Martin Brower UK
– Tesco
