The ESADE Alumni Operations Club recently hosted its first round table featuring experts on the consumer goods supply chain. 

In order to explore the topics from multiple viewpoints, we invited top executives from several manufacturers (both multinational and family-owned) and logistics operators that have operations in Spain: Gabriel Puig, Vice President for Supply Chain Management, Sara Lee International; Jordi Pascual (Lic&MBA ‘84), Supply Chain Director, PepsiCo Iberia; Alejandro Gutiérrez, Director of Logistical and Commercial Services, Dia-Carrefour; Jesús Hernández, General Manager, ID-Logistics; and Xavier Farrés, Supply Chain Director, Casademont. 

To make for a dynamic session, the speakers began by citing the main goals that their companies aim to pursue in 2010 in terms of making their value chains more efficient by improving operations and developing a comprehensive supply chain. Mr. Puig began his talk by remarking on what the supply chain contributes to today’s competitive market environment: "Before, this area had a vision based on operations and on managing the flow of goods. Now, these departments are increasingly associated with incorporating planning and improving the efficiency of sales and marketing processes". He added: "The second area for value creation requires an integrated vision of the entire chain, which has allowed us to see how decisions made at one end impact the other end, and vice versa". 

Mr. Gutiérrez provided the vision of a distributor, drawing on his experience managing Dia’s supply chain: "We understand that our supply chain model is determined by our company’s business model. Starting from there, we try to create a differential with respect to the competition in order to better reach consumers and increase our market share".
Mr. Gutiérrez then discussed Dia’s business model in greater detail: "We are a low-cost chain that competes by offering the best retail prices and a broad range of goods, with between 2,700 and 2,800 references in a single store".

Mr. Farrés then took the floor to highlight the willingness of Casademont’s supply chain to interact in a context of multiple markets and the development of an export business that had led to highly complex processes. He discussed the efficiencies generated by means of "integrating processes", especially operational processes. Mr. Farrés added: "At a time like this, when demand is very volatile, we still see opportunities in terms of integration and working more closely with customers". 

In a competitive market environment like this one, what role should logistics operators play? Mr. Hernández took a shot at answering this question: "In today’s era, large distributors govern the supply chain". He then explained how a logistics operator should respond to this change: "In our setup, we are continually working to adapt to the changing needs of large distributors". To a large extent, he explained, this adaptation effort should focus on optimising stocks throughout the supply chain, which in turn requires "greater complexity in the warehouses". 

Mr. Hernández then turned his attention to the topic of transport: "Right now, in Spain, the supply is excessive, by about 30 or 35 percent. However, this ongoing change does not necessarily imply a negative situation. Logistics operators need to optimise their services and processes in order to increase the speed of the value chain".

The last speaker, Mr. Pascual, stressed the need for a company like PepsiCo to organise launches every month "in order to ensure the overall intensity and novelty of the products we offer". As a result, he said, "our processes must be highly synchronised, from the idea and design of the product that we want to launch to the moment of delivery to the customer, in order to ensure that the idea is successful at the point of sale". He added: "It is essential that we make the necessary investments to ensure that we can achieve both our short-term and long-term goals". Along the same lines, Mr. Hernández concluded: "We have to be committed to investing in systems, in process improvement and, above all, by offering training programmes, in our team".

Following this round of observations, the participants in the round table had the chance to introduce a few other key ideas: Mr. Puig commented on "the need to collaborate with other countries to discuss how processes can be improved"; Mr. Hernández discussed "applied innovation as a means of improving the graphic chain"; and Mr. Gutiérrez highlighted the important role that people play in "setting a company apart in such a competitive market". 
 

For further information:
operationsclub@alumni.esade.edu

The ESADE Alumni Operations Club recently hosted its first round table featuring experts on the consumer goods supply chain. 

In order to explore the topics from multiple viewpoints, we invited top executives from several manufacturers (both multinational and family-owned) and logistics operators that have operations in Spain: Gabriel Puig, Vice President for Supply Chain Management, Sara Lee International; Jordi Pascual (Lic&MBA ‘84), Supply Chain Director, PepsiCo Iberia; Alejandro Gutiérrez, Director of Logistical and Commercial Services, Dia-Carrefour; Jesús Hernández, General Manager, ID-Logistics; and Xavier Farrés, Supply Chain Director, Casademont. 

To make for a dynamic session, the speakers began by citing the main goals that their companies aim to pursue in 2010 in terms of making their value chains more efficient by improving operations and developing a comprehensive supply chain. Mr. Puig began his talk by remarking on what the supply chain contributes to today’s competitive market environment: "Before, this area had a vision based on operations and on managing the flow of goods. Now, these departments are increasingly associated with incorporating planning and improving the efficiency of sales and marketing processes". He added: "The second area for value creation requires an integrated vision of the entire chain, which has allowed us to see how decisions made at one end impact the other end, and vice versa". 

Mr. Gutiérrez provided the vision of a distributor, drawing on his experience managing Dia’s supply chain: "We understand that our supply chain model is determined by our company’s business model. Starting from there, we try to create a differential with respect to the competition in order to better reach consumers and increase our market share".
Mr. Gutiérrez then discussed Dia’s business model in greater detail: "We are a low-cost chain that competes by offering the best retail prices and a broad range of goods, with between 2,700 and 2,800 references in a single store".

Mr. Farrés then took the floor to highlight the willingness of Casademont’s supply chain to interact in a context of multiple markets and the development of an export business that had led to highly complex processes. He discussed the efficiencies generated by means of "integrating processes", especially operational processes. Mr. Farrés added: "At a time like this, when demand is very volatile, we still see opportunities in terms of integration and working more closely with customers". 

In a competitive market environment like this one, what role should logistics operators play? Mr. Hernández took a shot at answering this question: "In today’s era, large distributors govern the supply chain". He then explained how a logistics operator should respond to this change: "In our setup, we are continually working to adapt to the changing needs of large distributors". To a large extent, he explained, this adaptation effort should focus on optimising stocks throughout the supply chain, which in turn requires "greater complexity in the warehouses". 

Mr. Hernández then turned his attention to the topic of transport: "Right now, in Spain, the supply is excessive, by about 30 or 35 percent. However, this ongoing change does not necessarily imply a negative situation. Logistics operators need to optimise their services and processes in order to increase the speed of the value chain".

The last speaker, Mr. Pascual, stressed the need for a company like PepsiCo to organise launches every month "in order to ensure the overall intensity and novelty of the products we offer". As a result, he said, "our processes must be highly synchronised, from the idea and design of the product that we want to launch to the moment of delivery to the customer, in order to ensure that the idea is successful at the point of sale". He added: "It is essential that we make the necessary investments to ensure that we can achieve both our short-term and long-term goals". Along the same lines, Mr. Hernández concluded: "We have to be committed to investing in systems, in process improvement and, above all, by offering training programmes, in our team".

Following this round of observations, the participants in the round table had the chance to introduce a few other key ideas: Mr. Puig commented on "the need to collaborate with other countries to discuss how processes can be improved"; Mr. Hernández discussed "applied innovation as a means of improving the graphic chain"; and Mr. Gutiérrez highlighted the important role that people play in "setting a company apart in such a competitive market". 
 

For further information:
operationsclub@alumni.esade.edu

The ESADE Alumni Operations Club recently hosted its first round table featuring experts on the consumer goods supply chain. 

In order to explore the topics from multiple viewpoints, we invited top executives from several manufacturers (both multinational and family-owned) and logistics operators that have operations in Spain: Gabriel Puig, Vice President for Supply Chain Management, Sara Lee International; Jordi Pascual (Lic&MBA ‘84), Supply Chain Director, PepsiCo Iberia; Alejandro Gutiérrez, Director of Logistical and Commercial Services, Dia-Carrefour; Jesús Hernández, General Manager, ID-Logistics; and Xavier Farrés, Supply Chain Director, Casademont. 

To make for a dynamic session, the speakers began by citing the main goals that their companies aim to pursue in 2010 in terms of making their value chains more efficient by improving operations and developing a comprehensive supply chain. Mr. Puig began his talk by remarking on what the supply chain contributes to today’s competitive market environment: "Before, this area had a vision based on operations and on managing the flow of goods. Now, these departments are increasingly associated with incorporating planning and improving the efficiency of sales and marketing processes". He added: "The second area for value creation requires an integrated vision of the entire chain, which has allowed us to see how decisions made at one end impact the other end, and vice versa". 

Mr. Gutiérrez provided the vision of a distributor, drawing on his experience managing Dia’s supply chain: "We understand that our supply chain model is determined by our company’s business model. Starting from there, we try to create a differential with respect to the competition in order to better reach consumers and increase our market share".
Mr. Gutiérrez then discussed Dia’s business model in greater detail: "We are a low-cost chain that competes by offering the best retail prices and a broad range of goods, with between 2,700 and 2,800 references in a single store".

Mr. Farrés then took the floor to highlight the willingness of Casademont’s supply chain to interact in a context of multiple markets and the development of an export business that had led to highly complex processes. He discussed the efficiencies generated by means of "integrating processes", especially operational processes. Mr. Farrés added: "At a time like this, when demand is very volatile, we still see opportunities in terms of integration and working more closely with customers". 

In a competitive market environment like this one, what role should logistics operators play? Mr. Hernández took a shot at answering this question: "In today’s era, large distributors govern the supply chain". He then explained how a logistics operator should respond to this change: "In our setup, we are continually working to adapt to the changing needs of large distributors". To a large extent, he explained, this adaptation effort should focus on optimising stocks throughout the supply chain, which in turn requires "greater complexity in the warehouses". 

Mr. Hernández then turned his attention to the topic of transport: "Right now, in Spain, the supply is excessive, by about 30 or 35 percent. However, this ongoing change does not necessarily imply a negative situation. Logistics operators need to optimise their services and processes in order to increase the speed of the value chain".

The last speaker, Mr. Pascual, stressed the need for a company like PepsiCo to organise launches every month "in order to ensure the overall intensity and novelty of the products we offer". As a result, he said, "our processes must be highly synchronised, from the idea and design of the product that we want to launch to the moment of delivery to the customer, in order to ensure that the idea is successful at the point of sale". He added: "It is essential that we make the necessary investments to ensure that we can achieve both our short-term and long-term goals". Along the same lines, Mr. Hernández concluded: "We have to be committed to investing in systems, in process improvement and, above all, by offering training programmes, in our team".

Following this round of observations, the participants in the round table had the chance to introduce a few other key ideas: Mr. Puig commented on "the need to collaborate with other countries to discuss how processes can be improved"; Mr. Hernández discussed "applied innovation as a means of improving the graphic chain"; and Mr. Gutiérrez highlighted the important role that people play in "setting a company apart in such a competitive market". 
 

For further information:
operationsclub@alumni.esade.edu