Summary
A Fortune 500 company based in Tampa, Florida, specializing in phosphate, potash and urea for fertilizer production, faced challenges with legacy systems and manual methods for demand and fulfillment operations. They sought a comprehensive solution to enhance visibility, accuracy and planning efficiency. Partnering with HCLTech, they implemented an o9-based SaaS solution for supply and demand planning, incorporating real-time visibility and AI/machine learning capabilities. We provided crucial implementation support, ongoing maintenance and enhancements to improve system functionality. The transformation resulted in enhanced visibility of stocks, a significant reduction in excess inventory, improved planning accuracy and the implementation of automation for recurring support issues.
The Challenge
Navigating demand and fulfillment challenges with technology transformation
Our client was using a legacy application with manual methods for handling their planning-related activities, leaving them facing multiple issues with visibility into and accuracy of raw materials and finished goods.
The Objective
A new single-solution Demand and Fulfillment (D&F) platform fit for future purpose
Our client sought a solution that could deliver on the following objectives:
- Ability to see the constrained and unconstrained raw material and component demand plan tracked against consumption so they can accurately forecast raw materials and component demand and lower forecast error
- Higher accuracy in their planning domain from a SaaS-based supply planning and demand planning solution
- Real-time financial visibility with Rapid Scenario for quick decision making
- Inclusive of workloads for Demand, Supply, Inventory, Capacity and Logistics, with a view into the future enabled by AI/ML
The Solution
Support and implementation strategies: Empowering seamless integration
HCLTech provided crucial support during the implementation of the supply planning module, collaborating closely with the o9 team throughout the Build and UAT phases. We addressed challenges such as manual processing for viewing demand plans against actuals and limited visibility of unconstrained demand for raw materials and components.
Additionally, we offered support for both the Supply Planning and Demand Planning modules, serving as the single point of contact (SPOC) for any functional, technical and environmental change requests from our client. We also executed enhancements to improve system functionality and conducted thorough backlog analysis for effective prioritization. Promptly addressing day-to-day production issues, engaging in weekly Kanban activities for streamlined workflows, facilitating collaboration and maintaining consistent quality assurance and documentation were integral aspects of our support approach.
The Impact
Enhanced inventory visibility and a 30% decrease in excess stock
The executed solution delivered impressive results, underscoring our commitment to operational brilliance and tangible results:
- Enhanced visibility of current stocks for both raw materials and finished goods
- The o9 platform achieved a 30% reduction in excess inventory
- Improved accuracy in planning activities for more effective forecasting
- 80% of accurate data has been passed to the customers, and demand planning and a region-based rollout is underway
- Implemented automation to eliminate recurring support engagement issues
- Offered training to super users, ensuring smooth and efficient application usage
- S&OP and S&OE implementations are in progress
