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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
behind the article
Axel Rousseau is responsible for Supply Chain transformation projects at Groupe Pochet. He works on the evolution of industrial and planning processes in a demanding manufacturing environment, with a strong focus on structure, coordination and execution. He contributes to large scale transformation initiatives aimed at strengthening operational performance and Supply Chain robustness.
Julien Triquet is a Planning Information Systems Project Manager at Sodiaal. He is involved in the design, coordination and deployment of planning solutions supporting industrial and Supply Chain processes. His role focuses on aligning business requirements with information systems to ensure reliable planning, secure execution and strong user adoption.
With deep planning experience in luxury and fashion, Hugo has lived firsthand the transformation that a collaborative planning platform can drive, integrating Supply Chain, Finance, Merchandising, and Sales on a single model (Anaplan). Combining business insight, technical depth, and a clear consulting mindset, he has led successful deployments for 8+ years. He serves as engagement lead for clients across Retail, Luxury, Food & Beverage, Services, and Industry, while also steering OneHive’s strategic and commercial development. Hugo is a graduate of Centrale Paris.
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Anaplan is particularly well suited to organisations managing complex, collaborative or constantly evolving processes. It is often chosen when Excel models no longer scale, visibility deteriorates or existing tools cannot seamlessly integrate industrial or financial constraints.
The platform stands out for its ability to model business rules precisely, bring multiple functions together around a single plan and evolve rapidly as needs change. Its value is fully realised when scope is clearly defined and the project follows a structured approach.
The choice of integrator is critical, as it directly impacts model quality and user adoption. A strong integrator does more than master Anaplan: they understand business challenges, apply sound design principles, arbitrate between simplicity and performance, and support change management.
This dual business and technical expertise is what transforms the platform into a robust and sustainable model. Experience shows that projects succeed when integrators bring structure, coherence and clarity throughout the transformation.
Timelines depend on project ambition, but Anaplan enables rapid progress. An MVP approach can deliver a first go-live in three to four months by leveraging standard features and clearly defining essential needs. This is how Yoplait Canada achieved deployment in under four months.
Larger transformations require more phased sequencing, as seen at Groupe Pochet, where each delivery generates visible value before moving forward. In all cases, speed depends primarily on scoping: the earlier key decisions are made, the smoother the project progresses.
Most risks do not stem from the platform but from the organisation. Overly broad scope, poorly defined assumptions, late trade-offs or weak data governance can quickly complicate a project. Late user involvement also significantly hinders adoption.
These risks are mitigated by clarifying scope early, defining structural assumptions, setting success criteria and involving operational teams from the outset. The most successful projects are those where business, IT and integrator collaborate closely and continuously.
Anaplan can replace multiple legacy tools when they no longer meet needs: ageing APS solutions, unstable Excel models, siloed systems or tools unable to handle complex scenarios. Many industrial players, including Sodiaal, have migrated from OMP or FuturMaster to Anaplan to gain flexibility, consistency and faster simulation.
The platform can centralise processes such as forecasting, S&OP, master production scheduling, allocation and finance within a single environment, improving coordination and eliminating information gaps. Its ability to integrate complex business rules enables alignment without forcing a complete overhaul of internal processes.
Replacement relevance ultimately depends on two factors: clear scope definition and strong data governance. A focused assessment can quickly determine whether Anaplan should become your core planning platform.
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