From managing and appraising purchase strategies, monitoring complex supply chains, and incorporating CSR policies to make our processes more sustainable, you could say that our supply chain team are the brains and brawn of En Route.
In an industry as fast paced and dynamic as airline catering, it’s crucial to have an efficient supply chain team who are communicative, cooperative and up for a challenge. We pride ourselves on our world-class ability to create consistently high-quality food and inventive packaging and service solutions supported by our intelligent, global supply chain operations, and with a 13-strong team here in the UK, plus additional colleagues in the UAE, USA and Australia, En Route’s integrated supply chain capabilities allow us to manage products and services from conception to delivery no matter where in the world you are.
Analytical and detail-oriented, our team are practical and very hands-on. For example, to enable our team to source the widest variety of high-quality premium cheese we needed to reduce our distribution time from production to final delivery points all over Europe. Our supply team analysed critical paths and looked at the detail and processes involved to identify opportunities, then collaborated with suppliers and third parties – as well as changing their own processes to find the additional time required – to make it possible for En Route to deliver the best quality cheese to our customers.
Stephen Hennesey, Head of Supply Chain Development at En Route says: “En Route’s supply chain’s ability to continually evolve by introducing new capabilities and expanding its worldwide footprint, as well as embracing the latest technology to drive efficiency, makes it not just an enabling function, but one that is key to solving our customer’s issues and critical to driving En Route’s continued success.”
After new product lines and suppliers have been identified by En Route’s product development and procurement teams, it’s then up to our supply chain to develop the most effective approach to deliver them – not just in terms of distributing the product – but also for forecasting and fulfilling the demand for it. It’s a multi-faceted role that requires strong administrative skills, the ability to look at the bigger picture, and to be a real people person.
Good people skills are especially important, as our team works alongside several other internal departments too; whether it’s forecasting with the sales team, assessing costings with finance, implementing policies with HR, trend forecasting with marketing or looking at cybersecurity within supply chains with IT.
And it’s building strong partnerships with manufacturers across the globe which allows us to provide consistent value and quality across a varied category portfolio, which includes bakery, cheese, handheld snacks, ambient meals, desserts and much more.
Our supply chain team have also been integral to En Route’s sustainability efforts, identifying opportunities to reduce wastage and streamline logistics when possible. For example, detailed route analysis looked to combine delivery volumes onto fewer trucks by aligning delivery schedules and work done on pallet and case configurations enabled more product to be carried per shipment, resulting in fewer delivery miles per year.
Founded in 2002, En Route is a global food service partner to many of the world’s most recognised airlines and airline catering organisations.
We’re always looking to grow our team, so if you are inquisitive and versatile, with an eye for detail and a passion for travel, please contact [email protected] to discover more about En Route’s career opportunities.
