Supply chain lead time reduction of 68% realised through new strategy for a global food & beverage company

Supply chain lead time reduction of 68% realised through new strategy for a global food & beverage company

10th June 2025 | 2 min read

The Challenge

A specialist food and beverage company faced a significant challenge due to a total lead time of approximately 38 weeks (9 months) from inbound materials to delivery in the UK.

This extended period severely hindered its ability to react to fluctuations in customer demand, especially increases resulting from new product sales. Consequently, winning new business by responding to new customers and large tenders became exceptionally difficult because of this lengthy supply chain timeline.

The Solution

To reduce the customer’s supply chain lead time, the Unipart team proposed consolidating manufacturing to a single location, with options including the UK, UAE, EU, Morocco, Sri Lanka, or China. While a UK site presented a potential 27.9% cost increase, it offered the possibility of reduced supply chain lead time and complexity, which could enable sales growth and potentially lower regional warehouse stock.

A key feature of Unipart’s solution was the implementation of a detailed Request for Quotation (RFQ) process designed to evaluate suppliers based on service, lead time, production specifications, and additional services such as packaging. The solution also included an innovative suggestion to incorporate stock holding charges into budgets as a way to incentivise the reduction of stock and the SKU range, especially for slow-moving items. Furthermore, the RFQ process would explore manufacturers’ capacity to produce a bespoke product range.

The Impact

The implemented solution simplified the customer’s supply chain and reduced lead times (from 38 weeks to proposed 12 weeks), which enabled growth in sales and competitive response to large tenders.

Despite the changes, the global food and beverage company’s overall stock levels remained relatively consistent which demonstrates significant progress in cost control and operational efficiency. With annual stock holding costs estimated at a minimum of 11% of stock value, this stability mitigates potential financial risks associated with inventory fluctuations. This achievement highlights a more resilient business model in an industry where effective inventory management is critical due to perishability and volatile consumer demand.

Manufacturing costs were expected to increase by 5%, justified by a significant increase in sales in growth regions and successful tender response. The potential increase in sales of 10-20% is driven by improved stock availability and reduced supply chain lead times.

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