Maine Pointe In The News

Published in the 2019/2020 winter issue of Journal of Supply Chain Management, Logistics and Procurement

Rex Clothier, VP CPG delivers a detailed look at optimizing value through the supply chain, underscoring the importance of looking at the supply chain for improvements to EBITDA, cash release and growth.

Originally published in Chief Executive Magazine

Maine Pointe CEO Steven Bowen says CEOs should embrace digitization to stay competitive, build a new culture of collaboration and deliver true visibility and value across the end-to-end supply chain.

Originally published in Supply Chain Dive

Trends in personalization and fast shipping will require planning that goes beyond supply and demand. Maine Pointe's Brad Stitt, EVP Supply Chain Management, notes, “S&OP must not only go East to West but top to bottom,” indicating that businesses need to think outside of the traditional realm of supply chain planning.

Originally published in Consulting US

Steven Bowen, founder and CEO of supply chain and operations consultancy Maine Pointe, recently examined how sales and operations planning (S&OP) helps drive success and business integration in an article at Forbes.com.

Sales and operations planning (S&OP) allows executives to achieve focus and alignment across all business functions, utilizing strong communication and collaboration across functional teams, customers, and suppliers. An important part of S&OP is matching demand information to supply capability and financial objectives to drive top-level strategy – integrating marketing and sales, financial, and supply operations into a unified whole.

Originally published in Forbes

In his third Forbes article, Maine Pointe CEO Steve Bowen discusses some of the biggest C-suite challenges, the potential payoff of a successful S&OP plan, and some of the most common points of failure.

One of the biggest challenges faced by the C-suite is achieving an end-to-end demand/supply chain that is fully collaborative, with supply commitments properly balanced against demand. Sales and operations planning (S&OP) initiatives often plateau without any measurable payoff, and the result can be a stagnant culture resistant to change. Despite the challenges, S&OP continues to be a top priority among supply chain executives, and the potential for sustainable and measurable payoff is great.

If sales and operations planning is so important, why do so many initiatives fail?  Read Alfred Baumbusch’s first in a series article in Sales & Marketing Management magazine.

EVP Procurement Rex Clothier offers commentary on Hasbro's strategy in the post Toys-R-Us world, and how the risks of the retailer's bankruptcy also enabled an opportunity as other retailers stepped up to grab a bigger share of the toy market.