Balancing service level, inventory costs and field responsiveness

Store replenishment is one of the most structuring levers to ensure product availability and maintain a consistent in store offer. In retail, luxury and fashion networks, service level and inventory performance depend directly on the ability to supply stores at the right pace, with inventory aligned to actual demand.

This process relies on a series of daily decisions: setting target stock levels, prioritising stores, managing sales deviations, identifying stockout risks and updating parameters. Without robust steering, commercial volatility, large assortments and geographic dispersion quickly generate costly inefficiencies, particularly inventory related costs such as additional transfers, markdowns or lost sales.

Through numerous projects delivered on these topics, OneHive has supported organisations facing the same challenges. These experiences have allowed us to identify the levers that structure a truly high performing replenishment process and to design models that combine responsiveness, accuracy and operational consistency.

Key challenges observed in the field

Our client engagements consistently highlight four major challenges:

1. Volatile demand across stores: Sales patterns evolve rapidly and differ significantly by location, making uniform rules ineffective.
2. Balancing stockouts and overstock: Maintaining high availability while reducing tied up inventory remains a delicate trade off.
3. Data volumes exceeding manual steering capacity: Daily updates of stock targets, parameter adjustments and variance tracking quickly exceed human capacity.
4. Lack of consolidated visibility on network needs: Without a reliable end to end view, upstream distribution and supply planning operate out of sync.

OneHive deliverables

Across our projects, we deliver a set of structuring components that secure the process and improve daily steering:

• ABC product classification with differentiated stock targets: Targets aligned with product rotation and criticality, enabling more relevant allocation and human focus.
• Advanced calculation algorithms with real time stock target updates: Dynamic adjustments incorporating recent sales, trends and business rules.
• Daily automated order generation with system interfaces: Secure and structured replenishment proposals without reliance on manual handling.
• Alerts on key indicators: Availability rate, stockouts, missed opportunities and stock levels, allowing rapid identification of critical signals.
• Short and mid term stock projections with associated distribution plans: Consolidated visibility to anticipate tensions, trade offs and future needs.
• Upstream demand signals: Clear inputs for production and procurement, improving global anticipation.

Benefits: measurable improvements for teams and the business

Results observed among our clients confirm the impact of a well structured, automated replenishment model:

1. Improved availability rate: Differentiated, daily updated stock targets deliver more stable and higher availability, with average gains of +5 to +10 points.
2. Reduced tied up inventory: ABC segmentation and automated target adjustments reduce excess volumes, with direct cash flow impact, typically around –15%.
3. Smoother, more responsive processes: Automated order creation and reliable allocation rules significantly reduce manual intervention.
4. Planners focused on analysis, not data entry: Alerts prioritise critical actions, freeing time for higher value decisions, often doubling analysis time.
5. Stronger coordination across the Supply Chain: Reliable demand signals and structured projections enable upstream distribution and supply teams to anticipate more effectively.
6. More harmonised stock across the network: Stock projections and rapid variance detection support better arbitration and reduce imbalances between stores.

When planning becomes a lived experience

Raising awareness among non-specialists about supply chain planning issues is never easy. Trade-offs, capacity constraints and cross-functional impacts are difficult to grasp until they are experienced first-hand.
This is precisely why we designed a business simulation dedicated to Connected Planning.

In October and November, students from Centrale Lille and CentraleSupélec took part in this immersive experience.

The objective was clear: to understand, through practice, the importance of a shared vision across teams and the effects of truly unified decision-making.

A simulation covering 12 to 18 months of activity

Over two to three half-day sessions, participants form small teams that act as mini-companies managing an accelerated year of operations. Each group must plan, decide and arbitrate while dealing with the same types of disruptions real organisations face.

The simulated context is built around a company founded in 2010, characterised by:

• A core business focused on a premium product, subject to strong seasonality and significant exposure to international markets
• A diversification strategy launched in 2020 with two new product lines experiencing rapid growth in the US and European markets
• Positive momentum in 2023, to be consolidated in 2024
• A clear objective: maximise profit

The simulation mirrors the key steps of a monthly planning cycle:

1. Financial and strategic framing
2. Business analysis and forecast updates
3. Operational adjustments
4. Final alignment with an executive committee

In practice, participants quickly realise how these steps collide with familiar challenges: unexpected events, lack of coordination, conflicting objectives, incomplete or poorly shared data.

Disruptions that reflect real-world constraints

Throughout the game, the teams must manage several structuring events:

• A product shortage caused by capacity constraints
• Limited but critical recruitment decisions
• Growth opportunities in the US and European markets
• A marketing campaign launched without sufficient anticipation
• The introduction of a carbon footprint constraint, forcing teams to arbitrate between economic performance and environmental impact

These elements require teams to align strategy, operations and real-world constraints while controlling their impact on margin and revenue.

An Anaplan environment to make decisions tangible

Each team works within a dedicated Anaplan environment. The goal is not to showcase a solution, but to make tangible:

• The link between assumptions and decisions
• The direct impact of local adjustments on overall performance
• The importance of a single, shared data reference
• The need for consistent updates across departments (finance, HR, sales planning, supply chain planning)

This environment facilitates scenario comparison and enables teams to quickly measure the consequences of their trade-offs.

What participants quickly discover

As the simulation progresses, several key insights emerge:

• Team connectivity: no decision can be made in isolation
• Cross-functional impacts: any change in capacity, forecast or workforce immediately affects the entire planning system
• The role of digitalisation and data sharing: shared information streamlines collaboration and reduces misinterpretation
• The value of unified steering: capacity, forecasting, hiring and cash flow must be synchronised to avoid contradictions
• The differentiating power of planning decisions: with similar business potential, teams achieve markedly different margins based solely on the quality of their planning trade-offs

A central takeaway

The experience reinforces a strong conviction: engagement does not come from the tool, but from understanding other functions’ realities.
Connected Planning takes root when each participant understands how their decisions affect other teams and recognises the constraints shaping their work.

Our business simulations are designed precisely to embed this understanding—well before any operational or technological transformation begins.

At Supply Chain Event 2025, OneHive brought together Groupe Pochet and Yoplait – Sodiaal to discuss a topic that goes far beyond tools: how can an APS or EPM project genuinely transform an organisation? And more importantly: why do some projects create lasting value, while others lose momentum once the tool is live?

From the opening remarks, the tone was clear. « “We wanted to share what actually makes a project sustainable over time, beyond the technology itself”, explains Hugo Van Straaten, co-founder of OneHive. A way to refocus the debate: it is not the platform that transforms planning, but the method, business understanding and the ability to orchestrate change.

Two contexts, one common quest for control

At Pochet, the post-Covid rebound left the Supply Chain under pressure, with bullwhip effects and declining demand visibility. Legacy tools no longer enabled effective coordination across teams and sites. Visibility deteriorated, decision cycles slowed, and transformation became unavoidable to restore consistent control.

Sodiaal, on the other hand, faces a different kind of complexity: ultra-fresh products. Volumes fluctuate sharply, shelf life is extremely short and margins for error are minimal. “Planning is played out hour by hour”, summarises Julien Triquet, Planning IS Project Manager at Sodiaal. Existing systems could no longer keep pace, forcing the organisation to rethink its processes around Anaplan.

Two very different stories… yet the same conclusion: a planning project never starts with a tool. It starts with business reality.

Cross lessons: the importance of pace

These two journeys show that there is no single “right” way to run an APS or EPM project.

Yoplait experienced both extremes: a highly ambitious, technically rich project in France that required multiple adjustments, and a Canadian project delivered using an MVP approach, leveraging Anaplan standards to achieve go-live in less than four months.

Pochet adopted the opposite but equally effective strategy: progressing step by step, with each phase delivering visible value to sustain internal engagement.

In both cases, the conclusion is clear: project value depends less on scope than on coherence and the ability to maintain a realistic pace.

Scoping: the most underestimated factor

One theme consistently emerged from all feedback: the quality of the initial scoping phase.

This is where structural assumptions, actual scope, success criteria and key trade-offs are defined, preventing months of unnecessary testing.

“We needed a clear, shared planning framework to avoid drift and restore visibility. Without this foundation, no model can last over time”, explains Axel Rousseau, Supply Chain Transformation Projects Manager at Groupe Pochet.

Conversely, weak scoping often leads to scenario inflation, endless adjustments and extended testing cycles, making the project difficult to manage. Clear scoping protects teams, sets priorities and ensures technology never becomes a source of unnecessary complexity.

Data: an organisational issue, not a platform feature

All participants agreed on one point: Anaplan calculates, but it does not govern data. Without reliable master data, no modelling effort can deliver robust planning.

The message is unequivocal: data is not a configuration topic, it is an organisational one.

Behind the technology: people

A planning project succeeds when the project team works effectively.
Both organisations highlighted the same essentials: stable governance, a project lead able to bridge business and technology, committed IT teams and an integrator who genuinely understands Supply Chain.

And above all: early user involvement.

“Bringing users in at go-live is already too late” , Axel Rousseau reminds us. Field workshops, regular demos and progressive training build ownership that no tool can replace.

Anaplan delivers its full value when its scope is clearly defined. This clarity allows the platform to focus its power on what truly matters for the business.

Anaplan: a platform, but above all an ecosystem

If Pochet and Sodiaal chose Anaplan, it was first for its ability to model complex processes and adapt to business specificities. The platform is powerful and flexible, provided its use cases are precisely defined.

“With an open platform, you can do almost anything… as long as you know where you’re going. When ambition is clearly framed, Anaplan becomes an extremely powerful tool” notes Julien Triquet.

This balance between a flexible platform and a rigorous approach lies at the heart of success for both Pochet and Sodiaal. It ensures Anaplan’s power does not turn into unnecessary complexity.

Beyond the tool itself, the Anaplan ecosystem is a decisive asset: specialised integrators, proven models and expertise capable of supporting long-term transformation. OneHive plays a full role in this ecosystem by turning the platform’s potential into robust, user-friendly and sustainable models.

Learn more about our project methodology and our Supply Chain expertise.

Conclusion: transforming planning means transforming decision-making

The experiences of Pochet and Yoplait highlight a fundamental truth: an APS or EPM project succeeds not because it uses the right tool, but because it strengthens how the organisation decides, collaborates and arbitrates.

Scoping, data governance, project teams, change management and post-project organisation are not side topics. They are the true levers of transformation.

A platform can calculate a plan. A successful transformation permanently changes how the company is run.

An award recognising an ambitious project

At Anaplan Connect Paris, Yoplait was awarded the 2025 Customer Award. This distinction highlights a major project delivered in the highly demanding ultra fresh sector, where production, lead time and distribution constraints require an exceptional level of operational rigor. OneHive supported Yoplait in the implementation of a sequenced and automated Production Planning application designed to support complex industrial decisions and secure day to day execution.

An application built to steer an ultra fresh environment

Now fully operational, the solution is based on a constrained linear optimisation model and sits at the core of Yoplait’s planning landscape.

Key application capabilities

The application improves the quality of operational trade offs and structures a responsive planning process tailored to the specific requirements of the ultra fresh market through the following features:

• Twice daily updates of data and production and distribution proposals
• Weekly transmission of the production plan to the ERP
• Daily management of inter site transfers
• Automated generation of an optimised production schedule

Tangible benefits for teams

The first gains observed include:

• Improved visibility on mid and long term constraints such as shutdowns, maintenance and demand peaks
• Significant time savings, enabling teams to focus on high value decisions
• Preventive monitoring of alerts across the full product portfolio

These benefits illustrate the value of a model designed to accurately reflect industrial reality while remaining easy to use on a daily basis. The success of the project is above all driven by the strong engagement of the Yoplait and Sodiaal teams, whose involvement enabled a stable go live following several iterations and validation phases.

A reflection of our conviction

At OneHive, we stand by a clear belief: successful transformation relies on the combination of business expertise, technical mastery and operational excellence. The Customer Award granted to Yoplait is a concrete demonstration of this approach. It confirms the importance of a robust model, deep understanding of industrial constraints and disciplined implementation.

Today, Supply Chain leaders must integrate into their decision-making a growing number of factors that directly affect operations:

• evolving environmental regulations,
• energy constraints,
• raw material dependency,
• pressure on transport costs
• increasing expectations around transparency.

These transformations require a clear view of medium- and long-term impacts, as well as a structured approach to steering transition pathways. To address these challenges, OneHive developed HiveWay, a proprietary network design tool that enables logistics networks to be modelled, simulated over 3, 5 or 10 years, and assessed from both environmental and economic perspectives. The objective is to help teams make informed decisions based on a realistic, transparent and actionable view of the future.

Embedding ESG into planning: an operational necessity before a strategic one

ESG processes must now be supported by tools in the same way as S&OP or IBP processes. Three core convictions guide OneHive’s approach:

1. ESG planning must become a structured routine, either integrated into existing processes or managed through a dedicated cadence
2. Decision-making must reflect the full range of impacts (costs, emissions, risks and dependencies) not just a financial view
3. Tools must offer tangible improvement paths, relying on simple, actionable levers and reliable projections

HiveWay: a tool to project, compare and arbitrate logistics pathways

Modelling the current network

HiveWay reconstructs the logistics network as it operates in reality: warehouses, capacities, flows, costs and transport mix. The configuration incorporates each company’s business specificities to provide a robust foundation for simulations.

3, 5 and 10-year simulations

The tool allows teams to test multiple growth, reorganisation or transformation scenarios. For each scenario, HiveWay automatically calculates CO₂-equivalent emissions, transport costs and transformation costs, providing a reliable comparative view.

Decision support

Assumptions are transparent and adjustable, enabling operational teams to simulate different levers and measure their impact. HiveWay becomes a unifying decision-support tool, aligning stakeholders around a realistic and sustainable trajectory.

A three-step methodology to secure deployment

1. Modelling the existing network: data integration, constraint configuration and validation of assumptions
2. Simulation and trajectory selection: comparative scenario analysis and arbitration of transformation initiatives
3. Monitoring key indicators: steering emissions, costs and the effective implementation of selected actions

Concrete applications for a sustainable Supply Chain

• Carbon footprint assessment and ESG reporting: consolidation and projection of emissions based on existing data
• Dynamic order allocation: optimisation of assignments to reduce costs and kilometres travelled
• Minimising unsold inventory: integrating unsold probability into planning to limit waste
  
• Warehouse sizing: defining capacity and resource needs based on growth outlooks
• Logistics network optimisation: simulating different network architectures (number of sites, locations, capacities) to identify the most resilient organisation