Demand Planning Setup – INDUSTRY & PRODUCTION
CUSTOMER
Belgian supplier of education materials that are being used from pre-school up to and including university. The company became part of a greater Scandinavian group, drawing upon an expansive logistics network and securing its position as market leader in Belgium.
CHALLENGES
- The industry of education materials has been rapidly digitizing during the last decade. This required a renewed approach in day-to-day operations as the competitors were aiming for our partner’s market share.
- Client used a very archaic and outdated ERP-environment that had very little ways of making different internal stakeholders properly communicate.
- No clear modus operandi when it came to forecasting and planning. One of the biggest challenges here was that the clients had a right of return that could continue throughout the school year. This had a very negative effect on inventory.
- Colleagues within sales were not used to keeping track of sales figures and forecasts, leading to yearly deficits / excesses.
- Within the company no real knowledge of operations and supply chain was available to draw upon.
RESULTS
- Purson first analysed the current needs and where the existing ERP-environment could support them. It quickly became clear that a new programme was needed, for which we provided recommendations. Next to that, we sorted through existing EXCEL-files and created an overview in Power BI.
- Next to that we established a baseline, using sales figures and targets of the last three years. Combining this with inventory and the cost of product, the company now had a clear view as to where to aim for the years to come.
- Setup of a clear planning cycle that was clear for al colleagues within the company, involving procurement, sales and finance.
- Coaching the client and co-workers in the new operational cycle.
- Lastly Purson provided a backfill and assistance within the development of the new planning team.
