Overall winner
Winner: Jaguar Land Rover with Unipart Logistics
To take the Overall Winner trophy at the European Supply Chain Excellence Awards 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 enterprise. But the Overall winner must go even further than this. It must be able to prove that it is better than the winners of all the other industrial categories.
This year is no exception; the outright winner of the 2013 Awards demonstrates all the characteristics and attributes of a world-leading supply chain. But before revealing the winner, let’s look through the top contenders first.
The process for determining the Overall Winner involves the assessment and comparison of each of the six Industry Sector winners. So shortlisted for the trophy were – Jaguar Land Rover with Unipart Logistics, Spirit Pub Company with Kuehne + Nagel, BP, GlaxoSmithKline, Telefónica UK with DHL Supply Chain, and Argos with Kuehne + Nagel.
By winning their Industry Sectors all were candidates for the Overall Award and consequently the judges debated their attributes at length and compared their scores across the core disciplines. However, three companies stood out.
The judges were impressed by Telefónica UK’s determined focus on customer service and the way the company was working with DHL Supply Chain to constantly improve the customer experience. They believed the partnership between the two companies “goes beyond traditional supply chain management within the aftersales market”. Through the partnership, specialist ‘Insights’ teams have been able to gain an intimate understanding of end-user needs which have resulted in significant operational improvements in both forward and reverse logistics. The judges recognised that Telefónica UK operates in a challenging marketplace, where customer service is a key differentiator, and they scored them very highly across core disciplines, however, the competition was strong – very strong.
Argos is two years into a five-year supply chain transformation programme where the retailer expects to double its product offering, reduce logistics costs and secure the top market position in digital retailing. The judges were particularly impressed with the way the business was working with its logistics services partner, Kuehne + Nagel, to drive cost out of the supply chain through a complex programme of initiatives including, port strategy, container consolidation, vendor performance management and RDC direct logistics.
The judges could see the success of the initiative, looking at the results so far. “The programme demonstrates best in class governance, clear and disciplined performance and benefits measurement, along with strong sponsorship from company leadership,” say judges. “It’s a great example of where focusing on simple, core supply chain principles can bring big benefits to an organisation and how a true win-win partnership can produce results.” However, impressive though the results to date may be, the judges were conscious of the fact that this was a project in mid-flow. The initiative clearly has great merit and they would be delighted to see the company’s progress further down the line. But this year, they were up against an extremely strong contender for the Overall Winner trophy.
Scale and complexity
The judges always look for an Overall Winner where the supply chain is clearly seen to be at the very heart of the business. This they found in abundance with Jaguar Land Rover in their global aftermarket support operation, delivered through a 25 year collaborative partnership with Unipart Logistics. The operation looks after some 1.2 million Jaguar cars around the world, supporting the full range of parts for any service or repair during the lifetime of the vehicle.
It was the scale and complexity of this international operation, combined with the precise control and co-ordination of customer centric solutions – orchestrated through well managed collaborative relationships with suppliers – that impressed the judges.
The effectiveness of the aftermarket support operation was clearly evident. The judges say, “When you look at fewer than 100 cars off the road anywhere in the world a result of parts availability, in a parc of 1.2 million vehicles, it’s pretty impressive”.
“Jaguar Land Rover is a business that has been transformed over the last few years. It has grown massively, coming from a disadvantaged position to being a ‘world class’ business. It’s a terrific success story – one where the aftermarket has clearly contributed to the success of the business,” say the judges.
Announcing the Overall Winner at the Awards Night, Johnathon Marshall, partner at PwC, said: ‘There was one organisation that stood out across the five core disciplines. This organisation showed how their supply chain was used to create a competitive advantage, by designing it around the customer.
“This was a supply chain genuinely at the heart of the business – delivering against a global challenge covering 140 markets. The Overall Winner of the European Supply Chain Excellence Awards 2013 is… Jaguar Land Rover with Unipart Logistics.”
Winner
– Jaguar Land Rover with Unipart Logistics
Shortlisted
– Jaguar Land Rover with Unipart Logistics
– Spirit Pub Company with Kuehne + Nagel
– BP
– GlaxoSmithKline
– Telefónica UK with DHL Supply Chain
– Argos with Kuehne + Nagel
