SUCCESS STORY SWANIA Introduction of Colibri, a sales forecasting tool.

Transcription

1 SUCCESS STORY SWANIA Introduction of Colibri, a sales forecasting tool

2 > Built from the acquisition of three historical brands (i.e. Baranne, since renamed La Maison Baranne, Maison Verte and O Cedar), Swania, or Sweet Home Products, is a new player in the retailing sector, dedicated to home cleaning, care and wellness. OVERVIEW Sector Retail Challenges Managing all logistics flows with the various partners Managing all internal management processes Accomplishments Introduction of Colibri, a sales forecasting tool Status Founded on 1st January brands, 49 product references 30 employees For further information: Once the firm was launched, the key challenge was to set up appropriate supervisory processes and the right set of tools for building an efficient corporation. We have really appreciated Colibri, especially for its tremendous adaptability.» Adrien Mangé, Director of Operations and Finance The name Swania has several meanings, according to Adrien Mangé, the company s Director of Operations and Finance. It s a symbol of environmentally-friendly products in Scandinavian countries and literally means well-being at home. The La Maison Baranne brand, a specialist in leather since 1913, proposes a complete product line of 24 item references, with an emphasis on shoe care. Maison Verte, pioneer in ecological cleaning products, has been an environmental advocate for 26 years and proposes products to keep the entire house clean (dish-washing detergents and dishwasher tablets), washing machine detergent and home cleaning products. O Cedar, dedicated to household care since 1913, has the most comprehensive and easy-to-use product line for all surfaces, from woods to more delicate materials. These cleaning agents are produced by subcontractors in Europe, with 90% of this activity currently taking place in France. Even though we re expanding internationally, particularly in Algeria and Belgium, our primary source of development remains organic growth", notes Mr. Mangé. As a new medium-sized player in the sector, Swania needed to control all logistics flows with its various partners, in addition to all internal management processes; for this reason, the company commissioned VISEO, more specifically for its sales forecasting tool Colibri. Forecasting: A triple objective Once the firm was launched, the key challenge was to set up appropriate supervisory processes and the right set of tools for building an efficient corporation, in the words of Adrien Mangé. We have really appreciated Colibri, especially for its tremendous adaptability. Generating forecasts was among our organizational needs as the company entered its startup phase.» For Swania, the forecasting step presents a triple objective, i.e.: performance-driven management by commercial teams, use of forecasts by supply chain staff in defining manufacturing needs expressed to subcontractors, and financial oversight to ensure compliance with budget allocations.

3 The three reasons why forecasts are so important Swania places great importance on forecasts for three reasons. In the food retail industry, in-stock items remain fairly constant over the long term. Forecasts allow Swania to more easily manage the product referencing system alongside sales trends, in relation to growth dynamics or a decline in activity from one product to the next. Managing new products In the food retailing industry, product innovations are hotly anticipated, hence the demand felt to create new products. Many factors contribute to issuing forecasts within the first 18 months. For example: the number of brands referencing the product, the timing of such references, the percentage of stores actually selecting the product by brand, the rate of product success among in-store consumers. Managing sales promotions Box displays (set up in front of the store entrance) are quite commonplace in the GMS sector, and customers are inclined to place last-minute orders of volumes that do not systematically correspond to what had been agreed to three months prior. Swania pays great attention to its inventory Swania also produces forecasts at a monthly cadence. This effort is initiated by the commercial team, according to a bottom-up process. For each of their clients, commercial staff provide an assessment of the entire product line. They proceed with an updated volume forecast for each client. A focus group was convened 3 to 4 months to address supply chain challenges, e.g. promotions and innovations, to ensure the required volumes would be supplied. Forecast quantities are then defended and validated by the Commercial and Marketing Divisions before submittal for Financial Division approval. The Colibri data are then integrated into SAP s Business One planning system (ERP) to conduct a conversion into sales revenue, followed by a validation step to ensure consistency with the financial forecast (revenue and margin).

4 At Swania, we ve opted not to use all the functionalities offered by the solution because we d like employees to continue to expand their skill set in order to more effectively use the tool while remaining autonomous given that the tool is so user-friendly and flexible", explains Mr. Mangé. For Swania, the primary objective can be stated as follows: The right stock at the right time, since being out of stock means that the brands lose revenue and incur penalties. Swania thus focuses on stocks in its efforts to cope with 3 challenges, namely: limiting outages, avoiding oversupply and associated cash flow impacts, and monitoring for product obsolescence given the speed of product upgrades. What s next? Over the upcoming months, Swania plans on using the forecast accuracy function to measure actual sales versus forecasts and improve future estimations. Moreover, for 2017, Adrien Mangé would like for Colibri s applications to extend to producing monthly budget schedules.

5 Head offices: Siège Social 27/33 Quai 27/33 Alphonse Quai Alphonse Le Le Gallo Gallo Boulogne Billancourt Boulogne Tél :+33 Billancourt (0) Phone: +33 Fax (0)1 : (0) Munich About Colibri Designed, developed and distributed by VISEO since 2014, Colibri is a sales forecasting tool made available in SaaS operating mode. Built using best sectorwide practices, Colibri makes sales forecasts available to all via an intuitive, ergonomic and, most importantly, collaborative tool. The Colibri values: New York FRANCE Paris Lyon Grenoble Aix-en-Provence Toulouse Bordeaux Morlaix Nantes Casablanca Singapour Hong Kong Sydney Affordable for all budgets : Colibri is three to five times less expensive than other tools on the market. Best professional practices: Colibri is based on a set of recognized and verifiable best practices. Collaborative: Colibri allows users to concentrate on driving their organizational change. Intuitive and ergonomic: just two or three hours are needed to become familiar with Colibri s various functionalities. Mobile: Colibri proposes an ios version that enables updating forecasts off-line and then synchronizing them later. A Jump & Start model: Colibri is immediately accessible. Present on 5 continents, staff members are on hand to accompany you in your transformation projects in France and elsewhere.