Regional Updates

One of the positives that can come from situations such as the difficult times that the UAE has had to face over the last few weeks, is that even the exceptionally well-run businesses reevaluate how they can mitigate the sudden increases in costs by taking a deep look at every facet of their supply chain. In the past many organisations would simply look to cut costs to balance the raw material increase and maintain competitive advantage. However, in talking to many businesses throughout Dubai in recent weeks, the word that I hear more than any other is "Optimise, Optimise Optimise" ! 

The team at Transguard are looking to Optimise the capacity of seats in their partner transportation, therefore cutting the number of buses required to be on the road. 

The exceptional transport team at Spinneys led by Scott Alan Beeke and Mohammed Amjad Ahmed are looking at Optimisation throughout their entire supply chain. In a conversation with both this week, I asked if they saw any similarities between Covid and this period ? Covid "was a breeze" compared to this, was the response. The challenge that all Retailers face is the double edged sword that Footfall is down and Fuel has suddenly increased over 30%, resulting in a staggering hit to budgets and the bottom line. 

Supermarkets face one of the biggest challenges. Delivering fresh food to stores throughout the UAE multiple times a day when fuel has hit such a sudden and extreme high levels, results in teams like Scott & Mohammed having to revisit every best practice to find solutions to lessen the impact on cost. The team are optimising every cage that holds stock; every truck is optimised to ensure they are as full as possible; optimising the shelf life of products and of course, optimising every Truck route and the miles that they embark on everyday. 

The impact of schools returning this week will bring some sense of normality back to the routine for many people in Dubai but will also mean increased traffic on roads. Busy roads result in trucks idling for many more hours due to the slow traffic, increasing the miles per litre and ultimately, cost. 

However, through adversity the great businesses become exceptional businesses and when the fuel returns to a more stable level margin improvement can be found by companies being forced into reevaluating everything thing they do and finding optimisation opportunities

Author: Paul Goodall, TMS Director at Aptean Enterprise