Background and challenges
A group-wide supply chain transformation initiative
Defining processes, aligning practices and deploying supply chain planning tools across an international multi-brand group
Following the COVID-19 period in 2020, this leading fragrance and cosmetics group approved a comprehensive operations transformation programme covering S&OP, DRP/deployment, MPS, PLM and forecasting. The objective was to improve performance and optimise the entire supply chain.
The challenges were numerous:
Connecting the various processes, planning horizons and planners across the entire supply chain through modern, innovative solutions.
Aligning practices while preserving the specific requirements of the group’s different brands.
Managing change, a major workstream within this multi-year roadmap, given the approximately 100 users involved across different geographies and cultures.
Defining the right pace and sequence for the roadmap, while coordinating the various initiatives to ensure a consistent overall environment.
Delivered in several phases, the project brought together teams from the different brands within the Argon group (OneHive, Argon & Co and Iris), alongside dedicated client project teams. This combined approach mobilised all the necessary expertise, including planning solution design and implementation, IT architecture, cross-functional roadmap management, change management and support on data science topics.
The challenges of a group-wide core model approach
Solution flexibility and key methodological principles to ensure successful adoption of processes and tools across the group
The core model dimension of the programme was a major consideration for its success. The objective was to create a unified core model that would align best practices across the different brands and improve processes at group level, while preserving each brand’s specific requirements in terms of logistics organisation, product characteristics and team cultures.
This was made possible by addressing several challenges.
- Strong sponsorship and cross-functional project roles: Trade-offs are inevitable in this type of initiative, whether related to feature prioritisation, alignment of practices or other decisions. Establishing sponsorship across the different business functions and cross-functional project roles between brands, particularly Business Process Owners (BPOs), enabled effective and consistent decision-making throughout the project.
- Change management as a dedicated workstream: Change management was treated as a project in its own right from the very beginning of the programme. The agile project approach was itself an important driver of change, through iterative development, regular demonstrations, consideration of user feedback and frequent exchanges with end users. This was complemented by dedicated initiatives, including vision workshops, monthly newsletters, knowledge-sharing sessions, engaging training guides and on-site visits across different regions.
- Anaplan as a solution particularly well suited to a core model approach: The ability to connect models and functionalities while maintaining separate data environments supports this approach. Anaplan’s flexibility makes it possible to implement an MVP within a few weeks, followed by independent customisations tailored to each brand.
Result:This approach led to the creation of cross-brand business communities, enabling teams to continue sharing knowledge and best practices beyond the project.
An agile methodology and a pace adapted to each initiative
All projects within the programme followed an agile methodology, with delivery rhythms and approaches tailored to their specific requirements
The S&OP and DRP projects started from different levels of maturity and faced different operational constraints. The methodology was therefore adapted to deliver value from the earliest stages while maintaining a clear focus on the target operating model.
The context and challenges differed significantly between the two processes:
S&OP: A formal S&OP process did not previously exist within the brands. The process therefore had to be defined, teams trained and tools developed in parallel.
- DRP: The process was supported by different tools across the brands, including Excel, SAP and other solutions. However, it was already a highly operational process running weekly across the international supply chain.
We therefore adapted our project methodology to each context.
- For the S&OP project, we implemented a highly educational and iterative approach, supporting training and process definition alongside tool development. An initial MVP delivered in 2.5 months supported the first operational S&OP cycles. Monthly enhancement sprints then incorporated user feedback gathered during these cycles.
- For the DRP project, a more traditional agile approach was adopted, combining detailed design with implementation sprints to deliver the end-to-end solution, given the project’s complexity. A phased rollout across geographies, supported by a highly detailed deployment plan, helped ensure the success of this critical stage.
S&OP and DRP in Anaplan: one solution for different levels of granularity and planning horizons
A common platform supporting the full range of supply planning processes
S&OP and DRP address different needs but share the same requirements for reliability, collaboration and data consistency.
- Centralised S&OP: A solution enabling simulation across the entire process, from Demand Review to Supply Review, at an aggregated level by product, geographical area and manufacturing activity, over the medium and long term.
- Operational DRP: A short-term planning process operating at SKU × storage location level, with weekly and daily inventory projections. It incorporates detailed logistics constraints into calculations, including logistics rounding rules, routes, batch freshness, demand classification and prioritisation, as well as distribution orders to be interfaced with the ERP.
The selected platform made it possible to address this wide range of requirements within a single environment, connect processes, share master data and improve overall planning reliability across the brands.
Significant data volumes and a suitable technical architecture
More than 10,000 products projected weekly over 18 months across more than 30 stock locations
The data volumes and calculation frequency required for DRP called for an architecture and models capable of delivering the expected performance.
Managing data volumes was a major consideration throughout the project. The number of products and the projection horizon were substantial for the DRP process. Several initiatives were undertaken to ensure the performance of the implemented environment:
- Segmentation of models to adapt calculation capacity to the specific requirements of different product and geographical scopes.
- Different levels of planning granularity depending on the time horizon, concentrating detailed calculations where they provide the greatest decision-making value.
- Optimisation of the entire upstream data supply chain feeding the platform.
This work was carried out in collaboration with the software vendor.
