In order to improve its quality of service (with a target of 95% for the traditional distribution networks and 98% in superstores), to reduce its stocks and to better manage sales forecasts, production and distribution planning, Guy Degrenne selected the Supply Chain Planning collaborative solutions n.SKEP from DynaSys in December 2003.

‘Our initial problematic was very clear: we wanted to have the right stocks at the right time, explains Mr. Christophe Elyn, Logistics Director and Supply Chain Project Director at Guy Degrenne. In fact, our company main function is to distribute the various tableware products to a very large faction (retailers, superstores, etc.). Moreover, the service as a distributor that we traditionally offer for all items of our range often consists of extremely short lead times for delivery to our customers (about 1 to 2 weeks on average) and more important procurement lead times (between 4 weeks and 4 months). Therefore, all of our business depends heavily upon forecast knowledge of our needs, and detailed planning of our stocks over time, to monitor them better.’

‘The significance that forecasting bears in our business caused us to re-examine our original tool, which we had been using for many years, and which we discovered had become obsolete, confides Mr. Denis Binet, IT Systems Director. We needed a powerful decision-support tool combining the forecasting, inventory monitoring as well as procurement and production planning functions for all of our plants, that is to say 4 industrial sites all together: 2 in France (in Vire, where steel settings and flatware are manufactured and in Limoges for porcelain), 1 in Hungary (porcelain) and 1 in Thailand (steel).’

‘In reality, the tool change was part of a larger Supply Chain project for the company, adds Mr. Christophe Elyn. It consisted of taking into account the evolution of the original tools, the product life cycle management, the recasting of services offered to the customers, and even the development of real management of the Sales and Operations Plan. We wished to adopt a global and customizable solution able to respond to our different problematics and significant volumes, corresponding to over 12,000 sales references delivered a year, along with 120,000 order lines registered each year…’

During the autumn of 2003, after a preliminary phase establishing the framework of the project, Guy Degrenne consulted the main players of Supply Chain Management . After comparing the offers, the DynaSys editor was finally retained for its collaborative Supply Chain Planning solutions: n.SKEP Demand Planning – which encompasses sales forecast elaboration; n.SKEP Production Planning – which would ensure synchronized planning of production and supply for all the plants; and n.SKEP Distribution Planning – for the optimized management of inter-site distribution, called DRP function). Guy Degrenne also opted for two other functionalities offered by DynaSys: detailed trade promotion management, which provides optimal multi-reference promotion management, and the n.SKEP Collaborative e-Business solution, enabling remote users – up to 25 collaborators in the present case – to access all of the functionalities offered by the n.SKEP solutions via the internet, no matter where users are located.

‘Over 50% of our offer is concerned by elaborate sales actions, highlights Christophe Elyn. Because of our global offer, from the products associated with a collection (settings, sets, glassware and table accessories, etc.), to the organization of window displays or brochure printing, etc., the resources deployed are substantial. Therefore, these promotional or global presence operations have a very high impact on our forecasts! Besides the management of multi-reference promotions was one of the criteria for our choice of the DynaSys solutions, adds Denis Binet . This choice is also explained with a strong persuasion of the planning tool, a conformity to our forecasting expectations, and a astute understanding by the pre-sales team of what our different problematics were.’

‘The project will be realized in two steps, beginning with the management of sales forecasts launched in January of 2004 in Vire, central site of the Group were the logistics headquarters are also located . This summer the implementation will go on with the distribution and production planning, explains Mr. Ariel Weil, General Manager Assistant of DynaSys. Today, we offer a comprehensive Supply Chain Planning solution, enabling an easy familiarization and competency transfer to the users involved in the project, since our objective is to permit our customers to then customize themselves their planning solution.’

‘Guy Degrenne was seduced by our n.SKEP offer, and more particularly by our new option of detailed trade promotion management, which is a key element in their planning and forecasting strategy. We are pleased to witness our capacity to respond to all industrial processes of the Guy Degrenne Group , in the tableware business segment where we are now very present.’