Specialty Food Magazine is the leading publication for retailers, manufacturers and foodservice professionals in the specialty food trade. It provides news, trends and business-building insights that help readers keep their businesses competitive.
Issue link: https://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/838473
Have YOU visited the Product Marketplace on specialtyfood.com? SFA MEMBERS Easily upload photos and descriptions to showcase your products to buyers 24/7, 365 days a year. BUYERS AND PRODUCERS Connect between Fancy Food Shows—visit specialtyfood.com/products. BUYERS Explore thousands of products on demand and easily contact producers. specialtyfood.com/products the customers. You want to see metrics around spoilage in transit or storage, driver, and fleet performance, on-time delivery or lack thereof, and cost and cause of product returns. You may have the data about product returns, but Burns emphasized you must act on this data. "It can be a huge risk unless you manage it." The Magic Number Too many KPIs can crush a business. A strategic plan and connected goals lead you to your top KPIs, which may not always be in the five key categories outlined. "If your revenue growth is your biggest goal, you may not need one for logistics," Burns explained. Cascading goals are the most realistic way to manage KPIs across the organization. "If you're small, you want to focus on a product metric that is important to you, while your production manager has five or eight related goals to manage. Sometimes it's just asking yourself what's the biggest problem right now to help get your center," she added. A lack of strategy and planning often means measures tend to focus on just financial outcomes, which can wreak havoc across the organization. People in different divisions are asked to deliver reports in silos, and internal reporting systems may have limitations. To not get overwhelmed by data, remember that all of it doesn't have to be touched by everyone in the organization. Reassess your goals as you grow, and be on the lookout for cascading KPIs that aren't connecting to top goals. For lasting success, "You need good communication, and one strategic plan that drives all the KPIs," Burns emphasized. Denise Shoukas is a contributing editor to Specialty Food Magazine. Download a full version of Karen Burns' session from the recent Specialty Food Business Summit, "Key Performance Indicators: How to Define the Right Metrics for Your Food Company," at learning.specialtyfood.com @ specialtyfood.com specialty food maker 140 ❘ SPECIALTY FOOD MAGAZINE specialtyfood.com