The Challenge
Breaking Down Data Silos Across the Value Chain
Value Chain Solutions was founded to bring together the often disconnected worlds of sourcing, making, and selling using data-driven insights and an extensive skillset. The business has a proven track record of various use cases delivered across consumer-driven value chains within retail, manufacturing and the supplier base, focused on areas of enterprise-wide efficiency improvement such as pricing strategy and gross margin improvement, continuous improvement across manufacturing, and leveraging strategic procurement and planning across product categories.
Most entities in the value chain decentralise data collection and management, with each business function often storing its own operational data in a separate database or source system. There is a persistent lack of visibility throughout extended value chains and often transactional engagement is limited to immediate buy-sell relationships. Limited visibility of product cost and price drivers exposes all partners in the value chain, as well as the consumer, to disruption and variability, without the ability to respond with the speed and agility required.
Manufacturers face a pressing need for improved value chain visibility and ongoing management. They typically lack insights backward into the raw material supply and commodity market dynamics, hindering their ability to anticipate challenges through effective hedging strategies. Retailers, meanwhile, find themselves trapped in traditional buy/sell procurement interfaces with product suppliers, limiting their visibility into cost elements such as raw material costs, manufacturing wastage, labour costs and overhead costs. VCS needed a technology partner to help productise their deep consulting expertise into a scalable platform.