Optimizing demand and supply planning to thrive in new markets
The Challenge
As a technology-driven bakery enterprise, this baked goods manufacturer, produces a wide range of bakery items, including muffins, cakes, and distinct bread varieties. With operational facilities across North America, the company innovates, bakes, packages, and distributes hundreds of thousands of products daily to customers in various retail and foodservice sectors worldwide.
Despite experiencing substantial growth, the company found that its existing manual workflows, processes, and tools for rough-cut capacity planning, production scheduling, and demand forecasting were no longer sufficient to meet its evolving needs. To enhance and scale its supply chain operations, the company sought a more efficient means to optimize its demand and supply cycles.
The Solution
The company needed a solution to better respond to shifting market expectations and provide efficient demand fulfillment while optimizing supply resources. To address this challenge, they partnered with Argano to integrate SAP Integrated Business Planning (IBP) into its existing SAP Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system, creating a unified platform for global demand and supply planning.
Through the integrated planning solution, the company gained access to the following enhanced capabilities:
- Improved financial planning processes, including driver-based planning
- Enhanced analytics and reporting capabilities without the need for data export
- Advanced algorithms for demand prediction and accurate forecasting
- Unconstrained and constrained rough-cut capacity planning
- Automated scheduling and sequencing with the PP/DS Optimizer
The Results
Integrating business planning with operational and financial data availability now gives the company deeper insights into customer demand and the ability to better deliver on customer expectations. With SAP IBP, the company streamlined its operations by eliminating manual tasks, optimizing processes, enhancing sales forecasting accuracy, and facilitating data-driven decision-making in real-time.
The integration of SAP IBP with the ERP system has empowered the company to accelerate its digital transformation and position itself for expansion by:
- Maximizing the adaptability and scalability of its supply chain
- Leveraging best-in-class supply chain practices and processes
- Transitioning from individual expertise to systematic knowledge and proficiency