The company, one of the largest players in the European PVC market with six production plants across Europe, ran an Excel based supply network planning process. The existing tool was inefficient in use with slow response time. The company furthermore faced a lack of transparency within the supply chain with regards to stocks, demand, and supply requirements. Lastly, they did not have an integrated advanced planning system (APS).
Project
The project aimed to create a detailed assessment of the current planning processes. We conducted on-the job interviews with planners and key stakeholders in the planning processes (from finance, sales, production, and product management). These interviews were used to determine the ‘to-be’ planning process design via several workshops. Together with the relevant stakeholders, we created a list of all functional requirements based on the to-be design.
Results
The to-be planning processes were described (including swim lanes, RACI and overall planning framework). We agreed on areas for improvements and quick wins by comparing the current processes against the to-be design. We furthermore created a document describing the functional requirements, that have been used for the tool selection of their future planning tool.