The big data problem is alive and well within UK industry. What is the point of collecting data if businesses cannot act upon it?
Consumer goods suppliers are under increasing pressure to improve service levels to their customers, but they’re not actually able to make sense of the data they are collecting, according to research from Honeywell.
Nearly 60% of suppliers in the fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) industry admit that the amount of data they can now collect exceeds their capability to process and act upon it, therefore reducing their ability to compete in the marketplace.
The top areas of pressure faced by FMCG organisations were:
1. Lower prices;
2. Introducing more new products;
3. Competition from private label/own brand products;
4. Analysing and leveraging customer data, and
5. More frequent visits.
With changing processes not among the top three pressure points for suppliers, it is perhaps no surprise that 51% of respondents indicated that they still use pen-and-paper processes in at least part of their Direct Store Delivery (DSD) operations.
This leads to only 41% of companies responding that their route sales representatives have the tools they need to do their jobs effectively. And an almost identical amount (42%) believe that their DSD systems are fit for the future.
