COMPANY: Poclain Hydraulics
WEBSITE: www.poclain-hydraulics.com
INDUSTRY: Manufacturing, Transportation Equipment
COMPANY TYPE: Privately Held
JOHN GALT SOLUTION: Atlas Planning Suite
Company
Poclain Hydraulics is a leading manufacturer of hydraulic motors ranging in size from 2 to 12.5 liters. The private, family-owned enterprise has approximately 1,100 employees worldwide and maintains its headquarters in Verberie, France.
Challenge
Confronted with fluctuating demand, Poclain’s operations group was increasingly challenged by issues related to on-time delivery, quality and customer service, caused mainly by the lack of visibility into its supply and demand channels. According to Robert O’Neill, North American demand manager for Poclain Hydraulics, the company lacked a cohesive strategy for forecasting and demand planning.
Solution
After reviewing and comparing three different options, the company’s senior management recommended John Galt Solutions’ Atlas Planning Suite to the Poclain IT Group. Since implementing the John Galt Atlas Planning Suite, Poclain’s demand management team has gained the ability to view forecast demand in several different ways, and they are now able to manipulate the data to generate meaningful reports that impact future manufacturing requirements and business decisions.
Benefit
The results Poclain has realized since deploying the Atlas Planning Suite have been overwhelmingly positive. For example, The company can now forecast beyond 90 days with less than a five percent error rate. Previously, forecasting errors were in excess of 15 percent. Inventory costs have been reduced significantly because of greater forecasting accuracy. On-time delivery rates have increased to 88.6 percent on-time to order confirmation date and 99.7 percent delivery within seven days of the confirmation date. Previous on-time delivery rates had typically been less than 78 percent. “The inventory savings alone resulting from improved forecasting accuracy have been tremendous. John Galt’s forecasting technology has become an integral part of our effort to build an effective S&OP process and set company goals and objectives for the current year and for coming years,” said O’Neill.
