FMCG companies face strong challenges in this global environment, from rising logistics costs in managing their supply chain, to environmental and carbon-footprint considerations.
We cover why utilising EPM tools can help overcome these challenges, while reducing costs, creating additional collaboration between teams, and increase revenues.
Introduction
Fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) businesses are the producers of many of the day-to-day products we use at home and at the office. It is a complex business model where the entire end-to-end supply chain needs tight management.
At its basic level, an FMCG company will produce and sell products that are consumed on a regular basis, such as food, beverages, personal care products, and cleaning supplies.
These businesses are generally categorised by…
High Volume
The throughput volume of these businesses tends to be very large with a wide customer base. For general availability to consumers, they want their products stocked as widely as possible.
Low Profit Margins
It is generally well known that this sector tends to operate on razor-thin margins, as they are competing on availability and price, with very high overheads and fixed costs.
Global Reach
FMCGs tend to operate in a global environment where they try to distribute their products as far and wide as possible.
Brand awareness
FP&A plays a crucial role by providing insights into the optimal timing and method of exit. Through scenario analysis and financial modelling, FP&A can help estimate the portfolio company’s future performance and worth, supporting PE firms in maximizing their return on investment.
High R&D costs
To produce the latest and greatest products requires substantial investment in R&D departments, where new products can be developed and tested before being launched into full production scale.
FMCG Companies also face a large number of increasing challenges
The challenges facing FMCG companies is a somewhat unique one. Their business model usually relies on having expensive-to-maintain factories, large machinery (and therefore capex expenditure) to automate manual tasks, and do so in an environment where demand can and does rapidly change.
How the business responds to these is critical, and can be the difference between growth and failure, especially given how tight margins are in the industry. Any competitive advantage must be sought and leveraged.
Social aspects like our environmental impact are increasingly important
“…Customers are increasingly aware of the provenance and sustainability of their products, which introduces logistical challenges all the way through the supply chain. Keeping up with that pace of change can be tricky without solid systems doing much of the heavy lifting.”
So how would EPM software like Anaplan or Pigment help solve these issues & help these companies grow?
Let’s take a look at some of the system challenges faced by FMCG companies…
Large volumes of data are challenging to manage!
FMCG businesses generate an immense volume of data from a variety of sources, such as their sales departments, inventory, production, and marketing. This volume of data can be difficult to manage, and can often be quite sparse in nature.
Reporting needs to be compliant & insightful to add value.
Given the volume of data, manipulating and visualizing the data to generate meaningful insights can be tricky. This involves a lot of work, such as connecting spreadsheets, extracting data from various systems, and combining it all into compliant financial reporting.
Consumers are now more savvy, less brand-loyal, and willing to vote with their feet.
When operating in a rapidly changing market, pivoting quickly to respond to consumer trends can make forecasting difficult and time-consuming. This can often lead to inaccurate financial decisions.
Should FMCG companies consider investing in an EPM solution like Anaplan or Pigment?
FMCG companies have a unique challenge, so let’s explore what these systems can provide to resolve the potential issues.
Centralising Data
By combining feeds of data from various systems into a centralized repository, we can consolidate it to provide the business with a single source of truth.
By utilising tools such as Data Hubs, integrations and other master data techniques you can bring all your systems into one creating a single source of truth.
Automating repetitive tasks
Systems like Anaplan or Pigment have a great ability to automate regular tasks, such as data flows, data cleansing, calculations, and updating of reporting suites.
With built in integrations that can run on schedule, means manual processes are a thing of the past.
Synchronising Changes
Some tasks, such as changing a business hierarchy, can cause a lot of manual work across all the systems and spreadsheets that are used.
A single change to the hierarchy in Anaplan or Pigment can adjust the entire model and reporting in an instant. This saves time and eliminates the possibility of errors.
Enhanced Collaboration
EPM software like Anaplan or Pigment can help teams of finance professionals, operational analysts, and geographically dispersed staff come together and work together effectively.
These tools are cloud-based and allow for selective security rules and access. They also allow staff in a remote production facility to communicate their finances to central finance staff in real time.
Save time with insightful analysis
The true value of these systems is that they free up time for team members to actually analyze and provide insights from the output.
By automating and streamlining tasks that can take many days and condensing them into automated workflows, we can free up time and resources for more value-added activities.
Tried & tested at thousands of companies
Even though the EPM space is moving quickly, and new technologies are coming out almost day by day, these two are proven in the marketplace and have track record of adding value for some of the largest businesses around the world. Take a look at just some of the companies that have managed to use these systems to their advantage over on our about page.
Implementing EPM isn’t cheap – but it pays for itself!
Implementing Anaplan or Pigment does come with costs, such as licenses from the vendor, and having a trusted partner to implement the technical aspects of the system correctly. Getting it wrong can be time-consuming and costly, which is why it’s worth talking to professionals with many years of experience implementing these systems, such as Bolt Consulting.
However, when it’s done right, having a system like Anaplan or Pigment will help lead to increased revenues, quicker go-to-market, more profitable promotional activity, lower costs, and higher business valuations. Many companies looking at investment or IPO will find that having a proper system in place is a prerequisite.
Let’s take a brief look at each system.
Leveraging Anaplan.
Anaplan’s platform stands out for its versatility, scalability, and collaborative features.
It allows for the integration of various data sources, enabling a single, unified view of financial performance across an entire portfolio. This integrated approach facilitates better financial planning, budgeting, and forecasting, which are pivotal in the PE industry.
Its sophisticated financial planning and analysis capabilities, coupled with its collaborative and technological features, make it an excellent tool for managing the complex financial requirements of the PE industry.
As PE firms grapple with increasing competition, rising valuations, and the need to add tangible value to their portfolio companies, tools like Anaplan can be game-changers, offering the depth of insight and agility required to succeed.
Anaplan has been proven at over 1,700+ clients around the world.
Some of the worlds leading companies have trusted Anaplan for their planning needs and are adding value with it’s fantastic toolset.
Key Overview
Pigment is shaping the future.
Pigment is a cloud-based planning and budgeting platform that is paving the way in AI technology to enhance analysis and user interaction.
It’s a user-friendly platform that can be used by anyone within the business, and covers all of the same use cases.
Pigment is revolutionising the planning space by utilising new AI technology to speed up the process and make interrogating data faster than ever before.
Pigment is rapidly growing with over 100+ clients around the world.
As a platform Pigment is rapidly evolving and they’re investing a lot of time and money into expanding functionality.
Key Overview
About Bolt Consulting
Bolt Consulting is a financial systems specialist that can help whether you need to implement general ledger systems, ERP such as SAP or Oracle, or EPM planning software like Anaplan or Pigment.
We’re run by ex-Big4 qualified accountants with the highest certifications available within each system, meaning we won’t let you down.
We can help.
Both platforms come as a shell out of the box, but Bolt Consulting has a library of accelerators that help speed up implementation, reduce implementation costs, and get these systems up and running quicker than most.
Solution Advisory
As an impartial implementation partner to a number of platforms, we’re able to advise which system suits your business best. We don’t guide you in any specific direction till we’ve understood your needs.
Technical Implementation
As certified and experienced implementation experts, we can help with full end-to-end delivery toward a successful implementation. We have a large team of consultants based around the world meaning time zone isn’t an issue.
Managed Services & Support
The real work starts once you’ve implemented a system, and we’re here for the long term. We never abandon any project once go-live has happened, so you always have our team of experts on hand to support. So whether you need help for tweaking the system or a full-on managed services approach, we’ve got you covered.
Who we’ve helped.
… Just a selection of clients and companies who’ve benefited from the power of what we can do. Want your company to be featured here too? Get in touch.
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