Optimizing Category Management for a Consumer Products Manufacturer
Clarkston Consulting recently supported a consumer products client in optimizing their category management processes and vision. Read a synopsis of the project below or download the full case study.
Download the Optimizing Category Management Case Study Here
A large consumer products company with a focus on confectionaries was seeking to implement a number of solutions developed in collaboration with Clarkston Consulting.
In conjunction with the Category Management team, Clarkston worked to implement the solutions that had been developed previously to optimize their current processes and the overall vision for the Category Management organization. The solutions that the teams worked to implement included the establishment of two Center of Excellences (COEs) – one to support planogramming/space optimization and the other to support reporting needs – as well as the creation of a system to hold role requirements and expectations for each role within the organization paired with a more streamlined and automated process for job description development.
To successfully establish the two separate COEs with the appropriate resources, the Category Management team worked to align on the vision for processes and support systems within each COE. After developing the plan for each, Clarkston and the Category Management teams were able to build out how the COEs should look to be able to provide the appropriate amount of support and the required resource allocation for each. Additionally, process workflows and organizational structure were developed in conjunction with the leads from each COE.
The standardization of role requirements included the interview of people leaders across the Category Management organization to gather detailed information for skill requirements for those entering a role and those looking to process into a new role. Following the documentation of those requirements, the team was able to leverage a web-based application to translate those skill requirements into a templated job description to be used both internally and externally.
Clarkston’s work over the 8-month window allowed the client to understand the root cause of pain points faced, design solutions to mitigate the inefficiencies while still leveraging strengths, implement new structures to change the way work is done, and maximize resources to be more efficient and effective in the long-term.
