PMD - a talent acquisition and management development program that builds not just a career, but a future. The options. The first step where candidates fit their talents and aspirations into our business. Talent Development. Initial Development. We know what it takes to groom entrepreneurial leaders of tomorrow. They explore the world, and connect with people.
Initial Development aims just at these. Job placement. We do not take job placement as mere match-making. The supply chain journey follows the creation and movement of goods around the world. That journey begins and ends with the consumer. From concept to design brief, the design process translates trends into products that meet the needs of today's demanding consumer.
Finding the right materials and factories that share our commitment to quality, compliance and sustainability is a fundamental activity. Merchandisers, designers, quality engineers and product development experts work with factories to ensure products meet the requirements.
Logistics solutions start from the moment the product leaves the factory to the time it reaches the hands of a happy shopper. Our goal is to fully digitalize each step of the global supply chain so that data can flow seamlessly, providing end-to-end visibility for our customers, suppliers and other stakeholders.
This allows them to stay ahead of the disruptions at retail, capture data-driven insights, and enhance productivity. Our supply chain solutions are all about helping our customers and suppliers deliver speed, efficiency and profitability. Acting as a convener across the supply chain, we have six core tools, delivered through our materials platform, 3D design platform, vendor platform and production platform.
Over years, despite major changes and disruptions, innovation and creativity continues to drive our business. We constantly experiment with new ways of working to deliver value to our customers. As the world moves toward a period of great uncertainty, companies which will prosper are those cognizant of their strengths and not afraid to explore new business models.
Kilian details how collaboration manifests itself among the PMD community, and between business units to make changes happen. When one of our platinum category customers expressed the need to shorten their fashion calendar, our Supply Chain Solutions 2 SCS2 teamed up with the Fung Academy to re-assess their supply chain process.
Prior to the customer meeting, I worked with two other Management Associates to make sure I understood the needs as well as the constraints of the customer. We worked closely together, and such teamwork made the actual meeting very smooth and successful. We innovated: starting with a zero base to get rid of the legacy and building upon what made the most sense for the process, we revisited some processes we have adopted for a long time.
Our teams asked questions to review the status quo, and from there, many productive and intelligent conversations were triggered. I was super impressed by the level of technical knowledge and understanding of our customer's business our SCS2 team has, which really enabled them to make very sensible and appropriate judgement and recommendations.
I could see our company regards customer needs as our prime consideration, and exercises expertise and flexibility when recommending solutions.
That made me really proud as I witnessed change happening through collaborative efforts. Coming to think about it, I realise what has made the collaboration so seamless - the PMD network that filled me in with nuances I needed to build the outcome, and the trust and rapport manifested through working together. Our connection enabled our collaboration to be open and straight to the point - without such high level of trust, one could have never achieved it in such a short time.
In the end, the fashion calendar was reduced from 40 to 24 weeks, and the SCS2 team is already working on the next steps to execute this plan with the customer. My project was in the areas of digital marketing, CRM evaluation and event marketing, which were all integrated and intertwined. I had to understand our customers well through CRM, communicate online through various digital means and offline with different events and activities. My key task, which was also the biggest challenge during the rotation, was to lead the launch of the Chinese website, which was essential to communicate with Mainland Chinese customers.
The website was launched successfully at the end of my rotation - with sweat and tears. I partnered with IT for vendor sourcing, consolidation and evaluation for the launch of the Chinese website in Q1 ; participated in designing the framework of the website with vendor to cater for Asia Pacific customers while maintaining our global brand image.
With no IT and design background, I did a lot of research and worked closely with the IT team to give the best recommendations. The most memorable part of my rotation were the people.
The project required me to work with teams in different countries and various departments. Having no marketing background, I got great support from everyone. I am thankful that this rotation has given me the chance to learn more about the retail industry and how marketing contributes to the business. Better yet, it has re-affirmed my career aspirations in the retail business. Henry shares his experience working in a confectionary wholesale business in Shanghai, China in This experience gave me a glimpse of the complexity of a fast-moving consumer goods business in an extremely dynamic market.
My key project in the rotation was to work with the Key Account teams to launch an analytical model to identify growth potential in key provinces in China.
The insight generated by the model served as critical factors to determine the teams' objective budgets and stock-keeping strategy for the brands under our management.
The simulation was more challenging than I expected. The product portfolio consisted of more than 20 imported food categories with entirely different shelf lives, sales channels and target consumer segments. Besides, trade marketing and sell-through were managed by ten, widely scattered teams across the country.
To develop the quantitative frameworks, I started off with clarifying key assumptions. I then extracted raw data from Oracle's Enterprise Resource Planning ERP and Walmart's Point of Sale POS systems as well as worked with regional sales teams to conduct nationwide surveys of distribution centre deployments of 20 key accounts to substantiate key findings. In addition to developing insight, I put together an operation manual for national Key Accounts, to operationalize sales practice and establish a structured, dispersible Key Account operation template.
The rotation was a fantastic learning experience. It helped me understand the complexity of the business and the Mainland China market. I truly appreciated my supervisor's guidance and PMD Team's support for me to accomplish what I did in this rotation. With a retail background, I was able to quickly adapt to the role which required overseeing the promotion, sales and overall brand image. That said, I still faced a lot of challenges - the biggest one was how to balance the relationship and improve the communication between GBG Asia and the Italian brand owner.
After identifying the key requirements and expectations from both sides, I was able to engage more effectively with the management team in Italy to keep them up-to-date about the rapidly changing China retail market and gain a more in-depth understanding of Chinese consumer behaviors and preferences.
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