The Hi Tech, Communications & Electronics category is always one of the most fiercely contested Awards. This year was no exception. The battle for the trophy came down to two arch rivals in the entertainment and communications sector – Virgin Media and BSkyB.
Virgin Media’s Velocity programme has radically transformed the company’s supply chain, reducing inventory significantly while driving up operational efficiency and customer service – all achieved through the creation of a new 220,000 sq ft national distribution centre that now brings together several distinct supply chains for set top boxes, network equipment, mobile phones and cable into one integrated network. Working closely with Kuehne + Nagel, Virgin Media has completely reconfigured its supply chain within a six month period, replacing 12 warehouses with an NDC servicing a network of 52 field store locations and 3,800 front line engineers.
The judges were in no doubt that this was a very impressive transformation – the results were clearly there to see.
However, BSkyB has also moved ahead and delivered another step change in a highly competitive market, driving efficiency within the supply chain while nearly tripling in size over the past two to three years. BSkyB has been working with UTL to deliver a fully integrated supply chain, incorporating a closed loop reverse logistics process for the repair of set top boxes.
The scoring between the two rivals was extremely close. But there could be only one winner. The judges felt that Virgin Media was close on BSkyB’s heels, however, BSkyB had demonstrated that it was a step ahead. The judges say: “They take the customer side of their business extremely seriously. They recognise that the guy who comes and installs your box is the face of Sky and they have strict metrics to measure performance in this area.”
The Trophy went to BSkyB, with Virgin Media being Highly Commended by the judges.
Winner
BSkyB
Runner Up
Virgin Media
Shortlisted
Virgin Media
Landis & Gyr
BSkyB
