Amoena and Corsina Tackle Collaborative S&OP
Amoena is a producer and distributor of post-breast surgery undergarments including lingerie, swimwear, loungewear and breast forms. The company is headquartered in Germany and distributes products around the world via wholesalers and specialized stores. One of Amoena's key suppliers is Corsina (part of the Triumph undergarments group), who provides the textile materials required for each of the different products produced by Amoena. Corsina is a global sourcing and service partner for private label apparel companies including undergarments, homewear and leisurewear for women, men and children.
Supply Chain Context
The majority of textile raw materials are made at Corsina's two main production plants in Germany or Hong Kong. A small remaining portion of production occurs at Triumph group plants as well as third party subcontractors. Corsina then delivers materials to the central warehouse of Amoena in Germany, where more than 1,000 SKUs are tailored and distributed. With both companies' business performance so closely tied to one another it was paramount to have a supply chain partnership that worked for both parties. Amoena required more flexibility from Corsina to help meet their never out of stock (NOS) policy. Too often orders weren't being fulfilled and there were vastly fluctuating inventory levels. Specifically Amoena was unhappy with the service levels from Corsina due to the long lead times and lack of visibility of orders as information could only be shared via e-mail and telephone. High minimum order quantities created a lot of inflexibility in meeting demand. Corsina on the other hand struggled to accurately plan production mainly due to having to fulfill ad hoc orders from the customer, short notice orders and also due to the lack of reliable visibility of future orders; there was also no respect of agreements with regards to quantities and lead times.
Challenge of Corsina and Amoena
Amoena and Corsina were experiencing highly symmetrical challenges so after consultation with Gerhard Ritz management consultants it was agreed that a joint project with the objective to establish a collaborative solution on a common platform was the way forward.
This meant aligning the demand planning of Amoena with the supply planning of Corsina by establishing what best practice looks like for both companies; this included a new way of communicating to help move towards being completely demand driven.
The selection of TXT e-solutions was based on: the company's experience of delivering solutions with fast ROI for complex projects. TXT understood the challenges of aligning two businesses via a single collaborative solution. The tool had the right level of functional coverage and provided flexibility, allowing it to be adapted to very specific requirements.
The Solution
The work with Gerhard Ritz consultancy allowed Amoena and Corsina to identify their specific requirements for a collaborative supply chain while at the same time analyze existing processes and target areas for improvement. The solution went live for both companies' German operations and enables a cross-enterprise sales and operations planning (S&OP) process by connecting Amoena's demand planning and Corsina's supply planning.
After Amoena finalized its forecast, TXTDEMAND transfers it into Corsina's ERP system (via a connector provided by TXT). Production and supply planning for Corsina is done via their ERP system, the output of this information is then fed back into TXTDEMAND taking into account supply constraints. The planners from each company manage this process and have direct access to the output from TXTDEMAND.
The joint S&OP process involves TXTDEMAND by :
--A yearly, top down planning process: This is the complete planning for the whole year and the output is a sales forecast by month. The plan originally comes from Amoena and then both companies' planners meet to make a first check on production capacity at a product group level.
--A rolling monthly demand planning process for the next 12 months, taking into account the potential demand for each SKU and the constraints of supplying it.
--A rolling weekly forecast : Algorithms within TXTDEMAND calculate order proposals that take into account lead times and minimum quantities per SKU. These proposals are then modified according to any supply constraints and agreed between all parties. After confirmation, the order proposal is then sent automatically by TXTDEMAND into the ERP systems of the supplier and then transformed into a production order.
--Daily monitoring: TXTDEMAND identifies and displays possible supply issues in real time. Every night the situation is calculated again after the updated data has been fed back by the ERP systems (products can come in sooner or later than expected). At any time Amoena and Corsina have visibility and control on the current situation.
The Results
After only three months of being live both companies were seeing a greatly improved level of transparency and demand visibility across the two companies. This was supported by improved communication between both parties which allowed planners to make more informed and real time decisions. Both companies are now more demand driven as a result -- proactive rather than reactive to demand.
Specifically Amoena has seen after going live:
--A continuous reduction in inventory -- from being over stocked to a "just-in-time" inventory model.
--70 percent reduction in planning times -- 2,000 SKUs can be planned and scheduled in only one day.
--Amoena can now identify best and slow sellers - analysis can be easily carried out at different levels for future planning and forecasting.
--Greatly improved service levels -- almost all orders are now being fulfilled.
--Reduced overall supply chain costs.
Specifically Corsina has seen after going live :
--Improved agility to customer demand and better alignment to sales planning and forecasts.
--Improved ability to support "one shot" production orders with short lead times due to more predictable procurement.
--Reduced lead times to the customer.
"I am pleased with the results following our implementation of TXTDEMAND. The solution creates a new level of collaboration and visibility between us and Corsina that in my opinion provides significant business benefits for both companies." says Helmut Wild, vice president for Amoena.
Karl-Heinz Barth, CEO for Corsina, adds, "Collaborative planning with our customer Amoena enables us to build transparency across the supply chain, providing a faster and more flexible response to changes in customer demand. We believe the solution will contribute to success for both parties."
Supply Chain Context
The majority of textile raw materials are made at Corsina's two main production plants in Germany or Hong Kong. A small remaining portion of production occurs at Triumph group plants as well as third party subcontractors. Corsina then delivers materials to the central warehouse of Amoena in Germany, where more than 1,000 SKUs are tailored and distributed. With both companies' business performance so closely tied to one another it was paramount to have a supply chain partnership that worked for both parties. Amoena required more flexibility from Corsina to help meet their never out of stock (NOS) policy. Too often orders weren't being fulfilled and there were vastly fluctuating inventory levels. Specifically Amoena was unhappy with the service levels from Corsina due to the long lead times and lack of visibility of orders as information could only be shared via e-mail and telephone. High minimum order quantities created a lot of inflexibility in meeting demand. Corsina on the other hand struggled to accurately plan production mainly due to having to fulfill ad hoc orders from the customer, short notice orders and also due to the lack of reliable visibility of future orders; there was also no respect of agreements with regards to quantities and lead times.
Challenge of Corsina and Amoena
Amoena and Corsina were experiencing highly symmetrical challenges so after consultation with Gerhard Ritz management consultants it was agreed that a joint project with the objective to establish a collaborative solution on a common platform was the way forward.
This meant aligning the demand planning of Amoena with the supply planning of Corsina by establishing what best practice looks like for both companies; this included a new way of communicating to help move towards being completely demand driven.
The selection of TXT e-solutions was based on: the company's experience of delivering solutions with fast ROI for complex projects. TXT understood the challenges of aligning two businesses via a single collaborative solution. The tool had the right level of functional coverage and provided flexibility, allowing it to be adapted to very specific requirements.
The Solution
The work with Gerhard Ritz consultancy allowed Amoena and Corsina to identify their specific requirements for a collaborative supply chain while at the same time analyze existing processes and target areas for improvement. The solution went live for both companies' German operations and enables a cross-enterprise sales and operations planning (S&OP) process by connecting Amoena's demand planning and Corsina's supply planning.
After Amoena finalized its forecast, TXTDEMAND transfers it into Corsina's ERP system (via a connector provided by TXT). Production and supply planning for Corsina is done via their ERP system, the output of this information is then fed back into TXTDEMAND taking into account supply constraints. The planners from each company manage this process and have direct access to the output from TXTDEMAND.
The joint S&OP process involves TXTDEMAND by :
--A yearly, top down planning process: This is the complete planning for the whole year and the output is a sales forecast by month. The plan originally comes from Amoena and then both companies' planners meet to make a first check on production capacity at a product group level.
--A rolling monthly demand planning process for the next 12 months, taking into account the potential demand for each SKU and the constraints of supplying it.
--A rolling weekly forecast : Algorithms within TXTDEMAND calculate order proposals that take into account lead times and minimum quantities per SKU. These proposals are then modified according to any supply constraints and agreed between all parties. After confirmation, the order proposal is then sent automatically by TXTDEMAND into the ERP systems of the supplier and then transformed into a production order.
--Daily monitoring: TXTDEMAND identifies and displays possible supply issues in real time. Every night the situation is calculated again after the updated data has been fed back by the ERP systems (products can come in sooner or later than expected). At any time Amoena and Corsina have visibility and control on the current situation.
The Results
After only three months of being live both companies were seeing a greatly improved level of transparency and demand visibility across the two companies. This was supported by improved communication between both parties which allowed planners to make more informed and real time decisions. Both companies are now more demand driven as a result -- proactive rather than reactive to demand.
Specifically Amoena has seen after going live:
--A continuous reduction in inventory -- from being over stocked to a "just-in-time" inventory model.
--70 percent reduction in planning times -- 2,000 SKUs can be planned and scheduled in only one day.
--Amoena can now identify best and slow sellers - analysis can be easily carried out at different levels for future planning and forecasting.
--Greatly improved service levels -- almost all orders are now being fulfilled.
--Reduced overall supply chain costs.
Specifically Corsina has seen after going live :
--Improved agility to customer demand and better alignment to sales planning and forecasts.
--Improved ability to support "one shot" production orders with short lead times due to more predictable procurement.
--Reduced lead times to the customer.
"I am pleased with the results following our implementation of TXTDEMAND. The solution creates a new level of collaboration and visibility between us and Corsina that in my opinion provides significant business benefits for both companies." says Helmut Wild, vice president for Amoena.
Karl-Heinz Barth, CEO for Corsina, adds, "Collaborative planning with our customer Amoena enables us to build transparency across the supply chain, providing a faster and more flexible response to changes in customer demand. We believe the solution will contribute to success for both parties."