Most
of Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) Companies are becoming customer driven companies;
configure its business based on customer necessity. Customer Service as part of Supply Chain Division in all FMCG
Companies has the chance to create direct contact with their customers.
Nowadays, it has evolved into more collaborative actions. Most of FMCG
Companies must focus on customer collaboration projects more intensively since
the competition in all over countries has increased dramatically.
Customer Service
Operations are starting with capturing customer order; processing order;
validation order; coordination with warehouse team; coordination with financial
risk team; coordination with commercial / sales team; coordination with Demand
& Supply Planner, and doing claim, return & refusal. It has become
amusing works and daily attractive challenges. With these tough competitions
with other companies, Customer Service must do these daily works with very fast
speed. They also have to think how to reduce their order processing failures,
increase their service level to their customers, reduce dispute management in
pricing by improving their master data alignment, improve their coordination
with other functions, and many other challenges which comes-up everyday.
By reviewing and
analyzing these operational activities, there are some main competitive
advantages which are really critical for all organizations:
1. The speed and reliability of
order processing system.
2. Good collaboration with other
functions, from Sales/Commercial Team, Warehouse Team, Demand & Supply
Planner, and Financial Risk Team.
3. Implement clear business rules
especially with Sales/Commercial Team, so Customer Service can manage the order
processing time and method more properly.
Back into customer
collaboration projects, nowadays it becomes a special competitive advantage for
some companies because they are starting their focus on continuous improvement
projects. Innovative ideas become big requirements for all collaborative
projects with customers. Continuous improvement projects start from how to
reduce delivery lead time, reduction of operational cost, collaboration in
order processing system, improving master data alignment, enhancing service
level with some projects, and ensuring on shelf availability in customer’s
stores.
Quite different
with above operational activities, these collaboration improvement projects really need these
important things to be considered:
1. Trustworthy with their
customers, which will be very critical for doing customer collaboration
projects.
2.
Win-win business visions and
goals
3.
Companies have become top
suppliers for the customers.
By focusing on those critical
points, company can drive the performance of their supply chain management
significantly within a short period.
Moreover, business system and customer relationship are the most
important keys for winning this tough business competition.
