Research Report: Top Field Challenges and How to Win on the Last Mile

Maximizing sales and margins requires that CPG companies be more judicious about retail and field execution, particularly in the critical area of supply chain management.

Some are applying artificial intelligence to streamline crucial functions like route scheduling, order management/fulfillment, inventory management and delivery.

New primary and qualitative research by EnsembleIQ and Spring Global discusses the supply chain challenges faced by CPGs and provides insights on improving performance, including:

- Complexities caused by the use of multiple field service channels and the growth e-commerce.
- Escalating SKU counts, particularly in food and beverages.
- Direct store delivery versus vendor managed inventory.
- Importance of in-store availability, order accuracy and order fill rates.
- CPG’s plans to invest in technologies utilizing AI, RFID and IoT.