As we navigate through an eventful season of trade shows and expos, you may be experiencing a significant influx of opportunities and orders. This surge requires swift adaptation in supply chain and operations to meet the high demand and tight deadlines. For many companies, this scenario is a formidable challenge, often leading to operational bottlenecks and inefficiencies. The solution? A flexible workforce.

The ability to quickly scale up operations and adapt to market demands is a crucial tool to develop. Let’s explore the concept of a flexible workforce within the CPG industry and the advantages it brings, inspired by real-world insights from industry experts.

Understanding a Flexible Workforce in the CPG Landscape

The COVID-19 pandemic revolutionized work practices, introducing a shift towards freelancing, contract work, and flexible working arrangements. A blend of full-time and contract workers offers CPG companies the resilience and agility needed to navigate the fast-paced market.

Increased Speed and Agility

A flexible workforce allows you to respond to these changes promptly, ensuring continuity and efficiency. For instance, a seasoned operations expert might step in to address manufacturing challenges for a beverage brand, streamlining processes and resolving issues without delay.

Marko Matla is a seasoned supply chain and operations professional with experience launching hundreds of unique products. He shares his story of how he helped a baby pouch manufacturer with manufacturing quality issues that arose as orders increased.

“They were in the middle of contract manufacturing negotiations. They were also having quality issues with some of their pouches that had been recalled,” he reveals, “So there was a lot to solve all at once and the issues were causing ‘out of stocks’ in the marketplace, which is never good.”

Marko came in to run operations while the company looked for a new lead: “We came in with a very specific set of deliverables right off the bat which allowed the client time to search for a permanent COO.”

It was a nine-month process hiring the next COO, so being able to lean on Marko’s experience in the meantime allowed the company to solve their quality issues and keep processing orders.

“Speed and responsiveness are a huge part of this, as well as specialization and trust,” he adds.

Cost Efficiency and Enhanced Productivity

Flexible working arrangements mean that you can engage expertise on an as-needed basis, avoiding the overheads associated with full-time hires for specialized short-term projects. This approach not only saves costs but also enhances productivity by bringing in specialized skills precisely when needed.

Beth Brown excels in process improvement supply chain planning and product introductions. As a 20-year veteran of supply chain, procurement and operations roles, she shares her experience working with mid-size companies: “They could take projects on internally, but it’s such a big learning curve that it would take much longer for them [internal team] to do that.”

“It’s not cost-efficient,” she adds, “They’re taking their resources and they’re utilizing them in ways that don’t make sense for the organization.”

Beth highlights the common misconception that contact hires are always more expensive than using internal resources.

She says: “Often, they will try to take on these projects and ask individuals on the internal team to start the project only to realize that it is a full-time job and what’s really needed is additional help with specialized expertise.”

Access to Specialized Expertise

The CPG industry benefits enormously from specialized knowledge, whether it’s navigating supply chain complexities or launching new products. Contract hires allow you to tap into a vast pool of expertise, bringing in professionals who can offer fresh perspectives and innovative solutions based on extensive experience.

Andrew Bott has 15 years of CPG experience, specializing in solving complex supply chain and operations problems for growing companies. He gives an example of a seven-employee company that he joined as a fractional expert.

“Before I joined the team, the founder and CEO of the company was handling a lot of the operations work,” he reveals, adding, “She realized that she needed bandwidth on the operation side because it wasn’t something that she knew how to do well and it wasn’t her specialty.”

Andrew continues: “As a founder, she needed to focus on activities that were absolutely essential, such as promoting the brand, sales and marketing, and fundraising.”

On smaller start-ups, he says, “They may not have invested in people with experience. They have a lot of people that are more like generalists.”

Andrew believes that specialists in contrast “understand how to scale. They’ve seen things happen multiple times in different environments,” Andrew adds, “They know what can and will go wrong and can you know help companies navigate and avoid some of the potential pitfalls.”

Finally, he adds that fractional hires can even help founders “build a skill set, level up, and develop their areas of expertise”.

Focus and Efficiency

By integrating interim professionals into your team, you can prevent overloading your full-time staff, allowing them to concentrate on their core responsibilities. This leads to better focus, reduced errors, and a more strategic approach to long-term planning.

Marko highlights an example where he brought in four additional hires to sort out issues a company was having around supply chain, distribution, and fulfillment. This allowed the existing team to focus on keeping the business running while the interim experts worked on sales and operations planning.

“If you don’t have your operations settled zero to six months out, then you can’t look at what your projections are,” he explains.

“They were in the business of firefighting,” he adds, “I don’t think anybody had time to slow down and think because they were always rushing.”

Bringing in these seasoned professionals to identify the most pressing issues allowed for more strategic long-term planning.

“We removed all the noise that was happening on a daily basis and when you remove that noise the operations run a lot smoother,” Marko concludes.

Embracing Flexibility for Sustainable Growth

Incorporating a mix of full-time and fractional employees enables you to remain nimble, adapting quickly to market shifts and capitalizing on new opportunities without overburdening their existing teams. This balanced approach to staffing not only facilitates immediate problem-solving and project management but also sets the stage for sustained growth and innovation.

By partnering with fractional talent, you can harness the power of flexibility, expertise, and innovation to navigate the complexities of the market and drive success. This model not only supports operational efficiency but also fosters a culture of agility and continuous improvement, essential for thriving in the competitive CPG landscape.

As we continue to advocate for flexibility and innovation in the CPG sector, it’s clear that a flexible workforce is not just an operational strategy but a critical element for growth and resilience in today’s ever-evolving market.

If you’re in need of fractional help, JPG Resources has a robust talent pool of 80+ CPG experts across product development, operations, sales, finance, marketing, and more. With JPG Resources, you can:

• Only hire for what you need
• Successfully meet project deadlines
• Onboard quickly with minimal hassle
• Receive expert help that taps into a huge supplier/knowledge network

E-mail me for an introduction and you’ll get a free strategy call and a list of at least 2 fractional hires specific to your need.