About Thales
Thales Group is a French multinational industrial group specializing in the design, development and manufacture of electrical systems and equipment for the aerospace, defense, transport and security sectors. With global operations, Thales supports mission-critical systems for a wide range of industries worldwide. EyeOn worked with Thales’ Dutch S&OP team, led by Harald Luijten, to overcome significant operational challenges.
The Challenge
Thales faced a steep increase of demand that exceeded the company’s engineering and production capacity. Also lead times of procured parts increased. To address pro-actively these issues for the end-to-end value chain, S&OP has been implemented. A major challenge was balancing the company’s mix of project-driven (mostly Engineering) resources and more product-focused industrial supply chain. Market tools covering both Engineering and Production and their interdependencies were limited.
In the previous operating structure, decisions were made in silo’s, with little or no data-driven insight to guide the planning process. Each function operated independently and made decentralized decisions, resulting in inefficiency and lack of transparency. A fundamental lack of trust in the data used for production planning further complicated the problem – different units working with different assumptions led to fragmented and uncoordinated efforts.
Without an agreed plan and a single data source, it became almost impossible for the Thales team to maintain control of engineering and production. The phrase “garbage in, garbage out” described the inability to make decisions based on faulty or inconsistent data.
With increasing market demand whilst performance was staying behind, Thales needed to reverse this trend and prepare for anticipated growth.
The Project
Thales chose EyeOn to solve this challenge because of EyeOn’s capability to create the only real solution to manage Thales’ complex operational structure, combining both project and product requirements.
The rollout of the solution involved close collaboration between the EyeOn team and Thales’ internal stakeholders and took a few months of detailed planning and implementation. After two months the first version was live and used by the S&OP team to report to the business leaders.
Over the next months, EyeOn worked closely with Thales to ensure that the platform was seamlessly integrated across all functions. Each phase of the project included data validation, stakeholder workshops and platform testing to build confidence in the new system and ensure it met Thales’ requirements for transparency and scalability.
Results
The project resulted in the creation of a single platform that enabled all Dutch Thales business units to work from a single, agreed plan. This standardized approach meant that decision making became measurable, transparent, and consistent across the organization. For the first time, all functions were working from the same planning assumptions, allowing them to prioritize, say no to over-commitment and manage resources more effectively.
The implementation of Anaplan, EyeOn’s chosen solution, enabled scenario planning that facilitated informed decision making. Stakeholders could now visualize the impact of different plans and weigh the pros and cons before committing to them, creating a more agile, responsive operation.
Key benefits included increased engagement from VP and executive level leadership, as the platform provided the visibility and insight needed to make informed decisions. In addition, early supplier commitments were secured through improved alignment between market development and internal resources.
Overall, Thales achieved greater operational flexibility by aligning product development across teams while promoting a collaborative and data-driven environment.
Impact on Thales’ Transformation Goals
The successful implementation of the EyeOn platform has significantly advanced Thales’ transformation to a more agile and demand-driven organization. Decision making was improved through better demand shaping practices, enabling Thales to respond more effectively to market fluctuations and long-term growth.
