Browsing: Process

There is no doubt that spending on services is climbing and climbing at a rapid pace. Most organizations have recognized this and have been trying to get a handle on this critical area. MSPs and the various software solutions out there are a clear example of that. While most of these efforts are very admirable and do a decent job of helping you manage this area, they still fall woefully short. And the reason is that they are only focused on one aspect of the entire conundrum.

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I was recently invited to speak to the Board of FSMA on an issue that has them totally perplexed. FSMA is an organization of large food manufacturers and their agents which has been experiencing the following: longer sales cycles, lower margins, demand for additional services, challenges to prove their value add, etc., etc. And lo and behold – they thought they had found what was causing them all this angst – it was this new thing called Category Management (CM). For those of you not familiar with the retail sector, this is an integrated process to manage the entire lifecycle of a category of consumer goods. What it is not, is the category management (cm) process that people in sourcing and supply chain use. And this is where the confusion and tension arises.

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