Supply Chain Digital Magazine September 2024 | Page 26

EXECUTIVE INSIGHT
As we move through the supply chain , we ’ ve been strengthening our S & OP processes and we ’ re in the process of moving to a 3PL / 4PL logistics model – working with a 4PL provider to provide a control centre to manage our sea freight , air freight and a large percentage of our land freight . It ’ s about bringing in expertise from the outside , and working together with our teams , so we can drive better efficiencies and quality of service to our customers .
We ’ re also working on a strategy to harmonise warehouse management systems to give us better visibility on inventory and better management of KPIs . Finally , we ’ re strengthening our work in demand planning , working with our partner Accenture to develop machine learning capabilities to improve our forecast accuracies .
One of the strengths of JTI has been our ability to manage change throughout the process . This has allowed us to work very closely with the markets , explain the reason for change and then provide the necessary training to all levels of the organisation to use the sales forecasting tool . As every supply chain professional knows , you can never achieve a 100 % accurate forecast , but every time you improve that forecast , it gives you a better opportunity to manage your inventories and production schedules . We ’ re starting to see those benefits flow all the way through the organisation and back to our suppliers .
Q . WHAT ARE YOUR PROFESSIONAL AND PERSONAL GOALS FOR THE NEXT COUPLE OF YEARS ?

» In the global supply chain organisation , we ’ ve set out our vision through our MGSM : mission , goals , strategies and measures . This is a simple document , backed up with a lot of detail behind it , which really sets out the roadmap in an easy-to-understand format . Our current MGSM runs from 2021 to 2025 and so , as we get

26 September 2024