Overall winner sponsored by PRTM: Telefonica O2 UK

To win the top Award requires an organisation to demonstrate all the characteristics and attributes of a world-leading supply chain; it must lead its sector through the creation of innovative strategies, display dedicated and inspirational leadership, encourage team engagement, and of course, prove exemplary execution of the strategy to the overall benefit and performance of the organisation.
All of the industry sector winners were reviewed for the Overall Winner Award and by definition, they all displayed excellence in at least parts of their supply chain operations. The industry sector winners were: Daimler Trucks, Carlsberg UK in partnership with Gist, Telefonica O2 UK, Henkel, and The Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust.
From this list, three companies stood out.
For Henkel, the change roadmap started in 2002 and impacted all key areas of the organisation. The strategy resulted in the streamlining of plants and labour resources to produce 73 million euros worth of savings.
The supply chain strategy was centred on a set of core principles: produce close to market; use economies of scale; build on smart technologies; and apply fewer interfaces for the organisation. In particular, the judges were impressed by the company’s collaborative strategy and the highly integrated approach taken with suppliers, such as bottle manufacturers, to bring production within Henkel’s sites. Now suppliers are integrated into the planning process and receive a 16-week rolling forecast. The judges could see this was producing sound results and gave third position to Henkel.
Carlsberg UK in partnership with Gist displayed exemplary practices in the area of collaboration between the company and its logistics service provider Gist. The team clearly demonstrated to the judges that they were fully aligned, with complete transparency and sharing of information which enables flexibility of execution. The collaboration has resulted in significant gains to productivity, cost reduction and customer service.
But for the judges there was only one clear winner. Second place then went to Carlsberg UK in partnership with Gist.
Telefonica O2 UK operates in a highly competitive global market place. The company had a vision and devised a strategy to make a transformation so radical it would lead the “Coms” space. With an emphasis on customer service and the customer experience, Telefonica O2 UK implemented its “Closing the loop” programme, which has resulted in a supply chain that continues to provide services throughout the entire product lifecycle.
By offering integrated support, and return & repair services, O2 is able to collate valuable data which creates additional product insight. This knowledge is used to influence key decisions such as portfolio management, R&D and sales and marketing strategy – the loop is closed, cutting across the end-to-end supply chain covering both suppliers’ suppliers and customers’ customers. By proactively managing the product portfolio and the end-to-end customer experience, “O2 has reduced the cost of returns to the business and so has made a significant reduction in overall inventory within the supply chain to best-in-class levels,” say the judges.
It’s collaboration that is at the centre of Telefonica O2 UK’s achievements, delivering benefits to its suppliers and enhancing the overall customer experience. Its supply chain has developed close working relationships with marketing, sales and customer service colleagues, and has taken a key role in product selection and product life-cycle management – ensuring that relationships, intelligence and processes are aligned to deliver successful campaigns with high availability and at minimum risk. “This company is leading the way with its groundbreaking approach to customer service and through the strategic realignment of its supply chain,” say the judges. And for this reason the Overall Award for the European Supply Chain Excellence Awards 2009 was presented to Telefonica O2 UK.