Continental Candy Industries previously only used Slim4 for forecasting, but will now also use it to control production and purchasing. This ensures better utilization of production capacity, less obsolescence and a more efficient planning process.
Continental Candy Industries (CCI) produces licorice, wine gums and other types of candy and does this under private label, on behalf of the major supermarket chains. The range consists of more than five hundred end products that are mainly supplied from stock. CCI’s head office is in Drachten, where one of the four factories is also located.
Forecast versus actual demand
The software from Slimstock has been offering support for the forecasting process for a few years. This is a crucial part of business operations, because production planning is determined on the basis of these forecasts. “The power of Slim4 is that it continuously checks whether the forecast still matches how current demand is developing,” says supply chain manager Sipke Boschma. ‘If a deviation is detected, the system sounds the alarm and we check whether the planned production orders are still sufficient to meet demand.’
One central data source
Until recently, CCI did its production and purchasing planning in Excel, but that became increasingly difficult. In order to make optimal use of production capacity and to have the right items in stock, it was decided to use Slim4 for this as well.
According to Boschma, this has created unity in the way of planning: ‘Slim4 is now our central data source on which every department bases its decisions. Purchasing can start ordering earlier and therefore conclude better purchasing deals. Slim4 calculates optimal production series and automatically transfers them to the ERP. This takes a lot of work off the hands of production planners.’
Service levels increased 5%
‘In the factory in Hoorn, where we make English licorice, among other things, service levels have already increased by 5%. This cannot be attributed solely to the software, but it has certainly contributed to this.’ Planners are also excited about the product lifecycle feature in Slim4. Previously, it sometimes happened that purchasing purchased too much packaging material because they did not know that a product was being phased out. ‘With this function in Slim4 we prevent obsolescence from arising.’
On-the-job training
According to Boschma, the fact that Slimstock’s software has been embraced so quickly by planners and buyers has to do with the training they have received. ‘Slimstock’s consultants have given us on-the-job training on how to align sales and supply chain. To get a project like this supported within your organization, such training is of paramount importance, so I am very happy that Slimstock has guided us so well in this.’
This article is sponsored by Slimstock.