The link between traders negotiating deals and the operational teams that implement them is often complex. We carried out a diagnosis of the performance of the Supply Chain execution processes for the trading subsidiary of a sugar manufacturer.
The trading subsidiary of this industrial company was created in 2014 following the abolition of European quotas. The priority of the management team was initially to set up an agile and flexible “start up” type organization in order to quickly absorb the very strong growth in the volumes to be managed. Once the critical size had been reached, the management team wanted to evaluate the performance of its operations management organization, from the signing of contracts to the delivery of customers. The objective was also to identify new services to be developed to meet the expectations of their customers.
“Finding the right mix between a start-up culture and a process culture is both an exciting and difficult challenge.”
To carry out our diagnosis, we adopted an approach based on both qualitative analysis (interviews with key internal stakeholders, customers, “day in the life of” with operational teams, etc.) and quantitative analyses (customer portfolio, productivity, etc.).
We then built an action plan and a deployment roadmap in a workshop with the teams, which both were validated by the management committee. Eight key projects have been identified for implementation. For this phase, we mobilized a multi-business project team (Supply Chain, Finance, IT, Trading) and set up a project organization to monitor the deployment plan.
Supply Chain processes analyzed
shipments per year
growth of volume per year
Result
We have developed a tool to analyse operational productivity according to the complexity of customers and the type of flows processed (country of origin and destination, type of sugar, etc.). This tool has made it possible to set up indicators for monitoring and managing the activity.
The reorganization and simplification of certain tasks within the execution team has made it possible to focus the teams’ work on value-added tasks.
We have also identified three new services with the trading teams to offer their clients: End-to-End tracking, electronic document management, private block chain. We support them in defining the need and finding solutions and new technologies to meet these needs.
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