Where are my POSMs and how can I effectively control them?
Let´s talk about the management of refrigeration and advertising equipment of the manufacturer in retail outlets. POSMs are powerful sales drivers and a big headache for the manufacturer. The equipment fleet of large suppliers of beverages or cigarettes totals up to 250 thousand units, the annual budgets for the maintenance of POSM reach millions of euros.
IR and IoT technologies already allow to conduct a total monitoring: control promo, measure door openings and shelf weight. But for many manufacturers, POSM management is still automated separately, accounting is carried out in different systems. Solving this technologically simple task can become a growth point for an FMCG company.
The main problems with the equipment
Schrodinger's POSM
The basis for managing the POSM fleet is an up-to-date register of equipment placed in retail outlets. If it is not updated, the accounting data will inevitably begin to diverge from reality.
The most common situations are the following:
The most common situations are the following:
- According to the papers, the equipment is displayed in the store, in fact, it is missing. The losses can be huge. For example, during the inventory of a large brewing company, a shortage of 20 thousand beer refrigerators with an average cost of 600 euros was revealed.
- The reverse situation is less common: the decommissioned equipment is in the store and is working properly. At the same large brewing company, 3 thousand connected refrigerators were found at the stores, which were considered lost.
- Unauthorized movement on the point. A major beverage manufacturer has implemented IoT and found that some of its refrigerators open every 2 minutes. Moreover, these openings are not accompanied by sales. When checking, it turned out that the refrigerators are in the utility rooms and are not used for their intended purpose.
Solution: conduct an audit of the equipment at each visit to the store. According to the results of the inventory, the mentioned brewing company made claims to distributors for hundreds of thousands of euros and returned 3 thousand lost refrigerators to the register.
To simplify the audit, we recommend:
To simplify the audit, we recommend:
- Conduct barcoding of expensive POSMs. It is best to place the codes on the side, outer and back walls. So the code can be scanned at any arrangement of equipment;
- Link the inventory number of each unit to the GPS coordinates of the point of sale;
- Make a POSM audit a mandatory step of a field employee's visit.
Out of the access zone
Equipment sometimes breaks down: beer heats up, ice cream melts, lamps don't burn, sales are on hold. There are also specific competitive situations. We know cases when merchandisers disconnected refrigerators of other brands from the network.
Solution: A field employee can turn on the refrigerator himself. If the problem is more serious, he needs a tool, but not for fixing, just for quickly sending an application for repair or dismantling of equipment. It is convenient when such an application can be filled in and sent via a mobile application.
A friend among ours
The outlet uses the manufacturer's branded equipment for other purposes and puts out different goods in it, sometimes products of competing brands.
Solution: A single case of such arbitrariness can be detected and eliminated by a merchandiser. For system audit, it is convenient to use photo reports in the contour of the SFA solution.
As some FMCG companies do: They separate branded equipment into a separate class of photographing objects and check it separately during the audit.
Solution: A single case of such arbitrariness can be detected and eliminated by a merchandiser. For system audit, it is convenient to use photo reports in the contour of the SFA solution.
As some FMCG companies do: They separate branded equipment into a separate class of photographing objects and check it separately during the audit.
High season
Manufacturers of high season goods twice a year are faced with the need to promptly expose / remove a large amount of equipment. It is impossible to do this quickly and efficiently without detailed accounting and recording of POSM movements.
Solution: As experience suggests, manufacturers of high season goods will be saved only by a systematic approach to equipment management. Automation in a single circuit will allow:
Solution: As experience suggests, manufacturers of high season goods will be saved only by a systematic approach to equipment management. Automation in a single circuit will allow:
- Monitor POSM balances in distributors' warehouses;
- Rotate POSM between points according to sales;
- Manage temporary and mobile sales locations.
Let's summarize the results. Problems with the management of POSMs arise due to the weak maturity of processes or because of scattered automation. The TECHNOPEAK/Agent solution covers the basic processes of POSM management and can be used in the contour of any SFA project.
The TECHNOPEAK/Agent solution allows:
- Save on POSM purchases;
- Build transparent relationships with distributors in terms of POSM;
- Reduce the time for planning the placement of equipment;
- reduce the time for installation, repair and disassembly;
- Reduce the duration of the audit.
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