Tracking/sales management

A price calculation is relatively easy for a product with a track record of a regular industrial-scale production. On the other hand, it is difficult, if only a laboratory procedure exists and a calculation has to be made based on the virtual scaleup to industrial-scale production. The ability to perform this desk exercise in a quick and reliable fashion is an important competence criterion of a fine-chemical manufacturer. When setting a price, a separation of tasks must be made between the controller, who calculates the manufacturing cost, and the sales manager, who determines the sales price. If mistakes have been made and prices have to be changed, you will need facts to support your request. If a pivotal product is supplied, a supply contract is concluded. 

The rigorous management of the number of SKUs reinforces this approach structured programs often result in a 20 to 30percent SKU reduction potential and improved focus, and reduce the complexity of the entire supply chain. A further key to success is to hold sales and marketing accountable and incentivized for forecast accuracy, and to keep regular track of it. 

Responsible for inventory and sales tracking management. Supervised 11 sales associates. 

As indicated earlier in this chapter, the information associated with the goods being moved is as important as the transportation process itself Today, transportation companies use a variety of tools to track, manage, and control the movement of goods from pickup to dehvery. In addition, sophisticated electronic devices are being used by drivers not only to record the status of dehveries and pickups, but also to keep track of vehicle usage, time cards, and sales information. 

There are a variety of objective functions that are used for economic optimization. Some are quite elegant and incorporate the concept of the time value of money. Examples are net-present-value and discounted cash flow. These methods are preferred by business majors, accountants, and economists because they are more accurate measures of profitability over an extended time period. However, a lot of assumptions must be made in applying these methods, and the accuracy of these assumptions is usually quite hmited. The prediction of future sales, prices of raw materials and products, and construction schedule is usually a guessing game made by marketing and business managers whose track record for predicting the future is almost as poor as the weather man. 

Return management is in place with a formal process to measure, track and correct all important reason codes. Both sales and distribution functions share responsibility for overall performance and returns are under control with less than 2% of volume dispatched. 

The old process resulted in a lack of control over the timing of releases. This, in turn, hobbled financial planning. Often, sales were tied to key events in the marketplace. Christmas music for Christmas is an obvious example. A product composed of winning Academy Award tracks timed for release at Oscar time is a less obvious one. More recently, this supply chain is under siege from downloads, where the consumer, in effect, takes over the role of Rhino product managers. 

After its establishment in 1984, DeU Computer demonstrated an exceptional track record (Kraemer et al. 2000). This was to a large extent due to its business model Dell chose a strategy of direct sales and build-to-order (BTO similar to ATO, see discussion in CM2) management, benefiting from the result that this strategy yields, which is high flexibihty at relatively low costs. For a successful implementation of this strategy, it was identified as crucial to have a... 

Planning/control level Inventory management Sales forecasting stock control tracking and event control... 

The second reconunendation was to use SCOR metrics to measure and manage global supply chain performance. In addition to those shown in Table 23.2, MJN tracked returns as a percentage of sales, product quality, and product cost. Another structure was established to report progress to the PAC. 

The final movement is to the area of management tools where control is really exercised. Here, point-of-sale support can be initiated to help with unusual customer requirements — shortfalls in capacity, current or expected bottlenecks, or any other problem that needs special attention. Marketing needs the data to analyze and compare with plans established many months before. Adjustments can be made, promotions planned, or changes made to products in development. Sales forecasting should also be adjusted based on what is actually occurring at the front end of the system versus what was expected. Planning and control must be made aware of current order status, particularly to track and anticipate any surges or shortfalls that will impact capacity requirements. 

A new product usually dies in its tracks when attacked by almost anyone for almost any reason. Products that are truly new are very fragile under the best of conditions and are very difficult to defend. Most new products never make it to the marketplace with or without safety constraints. There is no way to judge the value of a product to society or to a company before it has been accepted or rejected in a marketplace. Even this may not be a definitive test, particularly if the timing of introducing the product is poor. Management and sales people like to threaten research inventors with a window of opportunity. A window of opportunity truly exists, but it is usually much broader than those pushing a project will admit. The width of the window usually depends upon the value of the product to the public. 

The easiest way to keep track of these SLAs is in a customer relationship management (CRM) system or a marketing automation tool because you need a way to determine when a lead gets passed from marketing to sales and when that lead has received a follow-up call. 

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