Oy Transmeri Ab produces, imports and markets popular consumer and cosmetics goods in Finland and the Baltic countries, including brands such as Chanel, Clinique, Weetabix, Roundup, and OFF!. Transmeri is a Finnish family enterprise with a long record of successful product launches and market creation for a wide range of products. In 2011, Transmeri’s turnover was 46 million euros and it employed 190 people.
Challenges and Goals
Transmeri’s greatest challenge was practical sales forecasting. Forecasts were largely generated manually and their accuracy varied considerably. The process was laborious, and the inaccuracies created extra work and sluggishness in the supply chain. This in turn led to unnecessary production delays.
The objective of the project was to increase the accuracy of forecasts while automating as much of the process as possible, to free the responsible people to focus on tasks that demanded their expertise. Where purchasing was concerned, the objective was to optimise the safety stocks of products and packaging materials, and to increase the efficiency of the processes by introducing automated purchase suggestions.
“RELEX’s solution creates really good forecasts. This sort of forecast accuracy and speed is simply not possible for a human being without system support.”
Pasi Berggren, Production and Logistics Manager, Transmeri
The Solution
A new Sales & Operations Planning process was created for Transmeri in tandem with the introduction of RELEX’s solutions. By tackling both its systems and its processes as a single exercise Transmeri is now far better able to predict sales across its product ranges. In practice, the implementation project included the creation of both a new quantitative forecasting process, and a new model for calculating purchase suggestions.
In addition, the client-side integration was done with the standard Acando SAP package. This enabled a very rapid integration process, despite the extent of the project.
The most important result of the project was rationalisation of operation methods throughout the company. This required employees’ commitment to the new process.
Results
Transmeri introduced RELEX’s forecasting system in June 2012. Already after the first months the benefits became evident in practical work processes, improved division of tasks and a better forecast accuracy.
The client has been very happy with the implementation of RELEX’s solution.
“RELEX’s solution creates really good forecasts. This sort of forecast accuracy and speed is simply not possible for a human being without system support. The fact that the personnel are committed to the change has also significantly affected the improvement of the forecast accuracy,” says Pasi Berggren, production and logistics manager from Transmeri.