There are six key market event categories considered in the report: rapid changes in customer affinity, sudden natural disasters, unforeseen contamination and disease, new product innovation, changing economic forces, and expanding international markets. The three critical assets that companies can leverage to react to market events are: Inventory, Supply chain network & Product.

Aberdeen used five key performance criteria to distinguish Best-in-Class companies from Industry Average and Laggard organizations. These metrics are an indicator of the process level competency for leveraging the three assets outlined above. The metrics considered are: frequency of out-of-stocks, cash to cash cycle time, order fill rate, forecast accuracy at the product family level, time from product design to production.

Survey results show that the firms enjoying best-in-class performance shared several common characteristics involving various aspects of process, reporting, performance and technology:
1.Best-in-Class companies are 3X times more likely to be able to track and trace throughout the value chain as compared to all others
2.Best-in-Class Companies are 2X times more likely to be able to rapid product introduction decisions as compared to all others
3.Best-in-Class Companies are 2X times more able to manage inventory targets based on demand and order lead times fluctuation.

"Managing market events and being responsive is very critical for consumer goods industries," says Nari Viswanathan, Research Director of the supply chain and logistics practice for Aberdeen. "Best-in-Class companies focus on holistic approaches by leveraging their key assets like inventory, product and supply chain networks. They do not focus on piece-meal approaches."
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