Famous Technologies Business & Technology Advisory services bring together management and technology capabilities to align business strategy with operational reality. Our services provide a focus on driving business improvements by implementing change, whether that involves your processes, your technology, your people or your data – or commonly, a combination of all four of those factors. At its core, Famous Technologies specializes in turning strategy into reality and as part of this we work with our clients to co-create a number of different facets of actionable strategy from market to business strategy and from systems to data strategy.
Famous Technologies is committed to resolving challenges to support your optimal business model. In our customer focused engagements we look at every challenge as different and unique. By utilizing core methodologies we deliver high value through unique solutions. Each Famous Technologies solution is tailored to each customer and unique business challenge. Famous Technologies Business & Technology Advisory is a practice where knowledge and experience count. Our specialized solutions are focused not just on addressing your pressing business needs, but also on founding long-term partnerships to help resolve your business challenges. The Famous Technologies team brings value directly to your organization through long-term partnerships, but also brings value to the communities in which we operate. These communities – both professional and personal – enrich the value we bring to customers and our team members.
The larger customers dominate the market and, whilst they offer high volumes, they are also in a position to regulate prices. Opening new markets by attracting smaller customers is one way of increasing volumes whilst maintaining profits.
The industry is expecting a surge in the number of new products coming onto the market as a means to create differentiation, particularly as regards generic products. However, the new product development process is far from simple, requiring the involvement of all of a manufacturer’s operational areas and typically resulting in long lead times and higher costs that take away from the beneficial effects that releasing a new product is expected to have.
Marketing effectiveness remains a big source of potential gain for consumer goods companies. Most, for example, are still struggling to maximize the value of trade spending — the money passed on to retailers to promote sales. Given how much money is invested, and the declining returns of traditional advertising in many markets, managers are under increasing pressure to manage resources wisely and optimize the spend. To do so, however, requires robust systems and processes that can provide the control and intelligence required to manage this spend – something that many organizations simply don’t have.
Discipline in execution is nothing new, but it remains a top priority, despite the likelihood of decreasing returns. The important point is that big differences in the performance of companies persist. In other words, superior capabilities can be built and exploited. In the coming years, success will require ever sharper capabilities in the four main areas that sustain consumer goods companies: brand marketing, sales, innovation, and the supply chain.
Leading companies will find ways to squeeze more efficiency from their supply chains by outsourcing some of their operations (e.g. logistics), employing new technologies (such as radio frequency in warehouses), or redesigning processes to reduce input costs, waste and variability, as manufacturers in other sectors have done.
Federal and local governments are becoming increasingly active in some areas of the industry, and more changes are expected particularly in the liquor segment, with health warnings on alcohol and a draft standard on health and nutrition claims among the topics being discussed. Organizations are increasingly exposed to risk if they are not taking an active part in the legislation process. In addition, in the event that new legislation is introduced, mass changes to product packaging may be required – as has happened recently in the tobacco industry – which can be a long and costly process if not managed correctly.
Some organizations are differentiating their products by focusing on sustainability, and there is no doubt that the ‘green’ market exists. However there is a related cost that must be considered – can organizations in fact afford the competitive edge that being ‘green’ provides?
Credit & Risk Management – Managing cash flow – and in particular bad debt – is going to be of increasing importance during the recession, as organizations seek to improve their own cash position and are at greater risk of going out of business altogether.
When processes are made more efficient, typically the reduction in costs can only be fully realized when headcount has been reduced. However, reducing headcount can also destabilize your workforce and cause a drop in morale – which can in turn lead to the remaining employees – who represent the best store of IP about your business and who are the future managers of your organization, looking elsewhere for more stable employment.
Most organizations don’t have the level of visibility that they would like when it comes to managing their organization. Sales, production, purchasing – all have a wealth of data, but it’s not necessarily the right data or even accurate data. And getting the value out of that data by presenting it in a timely and effective way to busy managers is even more rarely achieved.