Client Overview
Region
United Kingdom
Industry
Food Manufacturing
Challenges
- Disjointed Demand Planning Process
- Ineffective SAP APO Setup
- Lack of Alignment on Forecasting & Promotions
Results
- Standardized Demand Planning
- Optimized SAP APO Configuration
- Improved Forecast Accuracy
1. Challenge Overview
Fragmented Demand Planning Process
Lindt’s demand planning was highly individualized, with each planner following their own approach. This led to:
- Inconsistent forecasting methods that made alignment difficult.
- Unstructured collaboration with sales teams, making it hard to incorporate promotional insights.
- Lack of visibility on long-term demand trends, leading to supply chain inefficiencies.
Ineffective SAP APO System Configuration
Lindt’s SAP APO system did not match their planning needs, resulting in:
- Forecasts created at incorrect aggregation levels, making them unreliable.
- Difficulties in collecting inputs from sales teams for promotional planning.
- Heavy reliance on manual adjustments and ad-hoc reports to compensate for system shortcomings.
2. Solution
Defining a Unified Demand Planning Process
- Sales History Cleanup – Introduced a flagging system to quickly identify stockouts and unexpected demand spikes, allowing planners to clean historical sales data efficiently.
- Separation of Baseline & Promotional Volumes – Developed a structured approach to remove promotional distortions from the sales baseline.
- Agreed Forecasting Approach – Established two forecasting models tailored to different product classifications, improving baseline demand accuracy.
Improving Promotional Planning & Forecasting
- Streamlined Promotional Review Process – Created a structured workflow for evaluating and integrating promotional impacts into demand planning.
- 2-Year Demand Planning Horizon – Enabled long-term forecasting to support procurement and production planning.
SAP APO Optimization for Better Planning Execution
- Configured SAP APO to Align with the New Process – Adjusted system settings to support structured planning workflows.
- Reduced Manual Work – Limited reliance on ad-hoc reports by making SAP APO fully support the planning process.
- Improved Planner Adoption – The new system setup gained high acceptance across the planning community, ensuring smooth execution.
3. Results
Standardized Demand Planning Process
- All planners now follow a unified forecasting approach, improving data consistency and eliminating inefficiencies caused by individual planning methods.
- Promotional adjustments are now systematically incorporated into demand planning, ensuring more reliable forecasts.
Improved SAP APO Functionality
- System now supports structured planning workflows, reducing the need for workarounds and minimizing manual intervention.
- Data inputs from sales teams are now properly categorized and utilized in forecasting, improving forecast reliability.
Better Collaboration & Forecast Accuracy
- Planners, sales teams, and procurement work with the same forecasting framework, leading to better production and procurement planning decisions.
- Demand forecasts are now linked with production planning, leading to improved inventory control, reduced stockouts, and better production stability.
Quick navigation
- Fragmented Demand Planning Process
- Ineffective SAP APO System Configuration
- Defining a Unified Demand Planning Process
- Improving Planning & Forecasting
- SAP APO Optimization for Better Planning
- Standardized Demand Planning Process
- Improved SAP APO Functionality
- Better Collaboration & Forecast Accuracy
