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Advances in Social Sciences Research Journal – Vol. 10, No. 2
Publication Date: February 25, 2023
DOI:10.14738/assrj.102.14177.
Kanyamuna, V., Chawapiwa, O., & Bwanga, C. (2023). The Effectiveness of Service Delivery in Fast Moving Consumer Goods Supply
Value Chain: A Case Study of Brands Africa Zambia Limited Company. Advances in Social Sciences Research Journal, 10(2). 420-
446.
Services for Science and Education – United Kingdom
The Effectiveness of Service Delivery in Fast Moving Consumer
Goods Supply Value Chain: A Case Study of Brands Africa
Zambia Limited Company
Vincent Kanyamuna
School of Humanities and Social Sciences,
Department of Development Studies, University of Zambia, Lusaka, Zambia
Oswell Chawapiwa
Brands Africa, Member of the Brands Consumer Group, Lusaka, Zambia
Cynthia Bwanga
The University of Zambia, Graduate School of Business, Lusaka, Zambia
Abstract
The study focused on analysing the effectiveness of service delivery in fast moving
goods supply chains taking Brands Africa as a case study. Some observed supply
chain related challenges of Brands Africa that included lower sales volume, high
volume of product returns, sale of some expired products out of stock of some
product lines and high prices of some merchandise made the study to be mandatory.
A pragmatic research paradigm was used in collecting data from a cross-sectional
survey sample of 87 respondents and a case study sample of 5 research participants
using a survey questionnaire and an in-depth interview guide as research
instruments, respectively. The study concluded that supplier contact was strongest
on communication with suppliers, importing goods to Zambia and good
relationships with suppliers. The study showed Brands Africa had good advertising
and merchandising services, and effective marketing research activities in its
supply chains The study established that quality of merchandise high, and market
image and reputation of Brands Africa was high, and that inventory management,
price of merchandise and efficiency of supply chains needed improvement. The
study also concluded that there is a significant relationship between supplier
contact and marketing contact activities of Brands Africa with the overall
satisfaction of its stakeholders. The research recommends Brands Africa to upgrade
its product, financial, information and social with its suppliers, transporters,
wholesalers and retailers. The study will also guide managers on cost cutting ways,
quality management, ensuring efficient operations and maintaining positive image
of Brands Africa. The study recommended Brands Africa’s on policy issues like
quality of merchandise, quantity of merchandise, price range of merchandise,
delivery schedules and communication systems will be improved. The researcher
recommends another research to be carried out at national level covering supply
chain of other fast-moving consumer goods companies and also considering more
independent variables.
Keywords: Fast moving consumer goods; effectiveness; monitoring, evaluation, value
chain; service delivery; Brands Africa, Zambia
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Kanyamuna, V., Chawapiwa, O., & Bwanga, C. (2023). The Effectiveness of Service Delivery in Fast Moving Consumer Goods Supply Value Chain: A
Case Study of Brands Africa Zambia Limited Company. Advances in Social Sciences Research Journal, 10(2). 420-446.
URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.14738/assrj.102.14177
INTRODUCTION
The day to day usage of fast moving consumer goods and their continual demand by all
households provides some possible challenges to the firms and individuals responsible for
production, delivery, warehousing, wholesaling and retailing the products in the route to final
consumers. Brands Africa’s operations are threatened by supply chain challenges as they work
to meet the needs of final consumers in the fast-moving consumer goods market, hence the
need for integration of channel activities by channel partners [1] The study aims at assessing
the effectiveness of Brands Africa Zambia supply chain activities and service delivery systems.
STUDY BACKGROUND
Brands Africa is an established Sales and Distribution business registered in Zambia but
operates in several countries mainly in the SADC region and trades in the FMCG industry. The
operations of Brands Africa Zambia are found within the supply chain of FMCG and its work
was fitted well in the scope and objectives of this research. Among others, the company trades
in many national and international FMCG big brands such as Twinsaver, Camisa 100% Fruit
Juices, Grey Goose, Fat Bastard, Robertson, Willards Cornflakes, Sun Jam, Zambezi Gold Honey,
Lindt and Fererro Chocolates, Mentos and Manhattan sweets.
Brands Africa’s major Principals are in Europe and Africa. Key competitors of Brands Africa’s
supply chain in Zambia are Inscor Distribution, L & A Distribution, Horizon Distributors, Cold
Chain Distributors and Gatbro International. These competitors are all refining their supply
chains to manage the price levels, product quality, service delivery, logistics, relationships with
retailers and customer satisfaction. [2] asserted that in modern retailing and distribution
systems, competition is not at firm level but among supply chains represented by local firms in
each industry. This then pressurises Brands Africa to examine the perceptions of its
stakeholders on the supply chain services it offers to its upstream and downstream supply
chain partners.
Over the years, Brands Africa was importing the goods into Zambia for onward sales and
distribution to the wholesalers and retailers in Zambia. They have experienced many
opportunities and challenges in the supply of goods, and they have continued to improve to
meet demands of the ever-changing FMCG business environment. This study has been able to
identify areas of improvement in the supply value chain. There are issues and some imbalances
to do with operational effectiveness and operational innovation strategies to balance the deficit
that tends to occur between service levels and cost of operation and these need to be critically
considered [3, 21-23].
[4] refers to FMCGs as being those goods which are needed for society’s day-to-day needs and
their availability and supply is demanded on a continuous and timely manner. For others,
FMCGs would refer to products of everyday use and whenever they were in short supply or
whether they were of poor quality, some discontent was created in the market [5]. Based on the
description of FMCG products, it is imperative to ensure proper integration of supply value
chain activities [1, 9,12].
The FMCG industry is highly competitive due to branding and advertising among distributors
and manufacturers who belong to various supply chain systems. Supply chain partners of
Brands Africa Zambia are faced with challenges such as currency instability, ever-increasing
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Advances in Social Sciences Research Journal (ASSRJ) Vol. 10, Issue 2, February-2023
Services for Science and Education – United Kingdom
transport costs, supply of goods inconsistencies, stringent immigration regulations and
counterfeiting amongst many other challenges. These challenges bring about inefficiencies
within the value supply chain, thus ultimately affecting the consumer. Brands Africa have
experienced exchange losses due to currency movements; they have experienced delivery
delays due to bureaucratic processes by immigration at the entry borders and they have also
experienced low sales due to influx of counterfeit products on market. It is therefore imperative
to carry out an analysis of the development and trends of supply value chain management
practices in FMCG in Zambia, ultimately to come up with ways of improvement to remain a
competitive market.
To ensure that such goods are made available to the market to meet the demands of consumers,
several supply chain factors such as staff training, stakeholder collaboration, proper
forecasting, effective communication and effectiveness of purchasing processes, these need to
be improved and implemented. Therefore, due to the fast pace at which these FMCG products
are purchased, the requirement for effective and efficient service delivery is imperative if the
business is to be competitive and profitable in the short and long term. This make Brands
Africa’s having to focus on the process of achieving the expected service delivery effectiveness
from the basic supply level through to the final delivery of the fast- moving consumer goods to
the consumers. The other feature of the Brands Africa Zambia’s supply chain is its involvement
in foreign based suppliers, manufacturers, and principals.
There are also noticeable bureaucratic challenges and red tapes that affect Brands Africa’s
commodities as they are delivered across borders to the Zambian market. The FMCGs also have
short shelf lives which make them further expire before reaching the end users if there are
supply chain inefficiencies. Despite many efforts by Brands Africa Zambia to engage various
governments, retailers, principals, manufacturers, transporters, supply chain consultants,
other service firms, consumers and other stakeholders, the need to improve both the supply
side and demand side of the trade in its FMCG still exist.
Given the above presentation, it became imperative that Brands Africa and other firms involved
in the business of FMCGs fully appreciate the entire supply chain and particularly factors that
could impede efficiency and effectiveness of the business itself. As the chain progresses from
the producers of fast-moving consumer goods onto the transporters through to the final
consumers, the supply side variables and consumer side dimension of Brands Africa’s supply
chain system need to be analysed on how they influence market satisfaction of the fast moving
consumer goods retailers, consumers and other stakeholders.
RESEARCH PROBLEM
Brands Africa Zambia has been facing lower sales performance in relation to other companies
operating in FMCG supply chains. Lack of effectiveness in the whole supply chain process
resulted in Brands Africa failing to achieve the revenue budgets, they experienced high volumes
of product returns from customers due to expiry because of low shelf off-take as they were
uncompetitive. Sometimes product would expire in the warehouse as they would have received
it with short dates from the supplier.
Brands Africa experienced lots of out of stock situation due delayed deliveries from suppliers
and that raised lots of customer complaints and the company was making loses year after year.