Albéa - When stock optimization offers a remedy to the crisis

Albéa is among the world leaders in packaging with a turnover of 1.5 billion dollars, 15,000 employees and around forty industrial sites worldwide. The company works notably with beauty giants such as L’Oréal and P&G and other international brands. It has a total of more than 2000 clients spread over 60 countries. Strongly established in Asia, it has been, like so many others, particularly affected by the health crisis.

The supply chain (already) on the front line before the crisis

Two years before the COVID crisis, the Albéa group undertook the deployment of a Sales and Operation Planning (S&OP) based on the DDMRP methodology. The goal: to consolidate the supply chain across all production lines to ensure that logistics management becomes a competitive advantage in a rapidly changing market. Indeed, the rise of online sales and the development of small series impose a need for greater responsiveness and the ability to rapidly produce small batches while remaining competitive.

Optimization that became vital in the context of the health crisis

When the COVID crisis spread across the world at the beginning of 2020, several of the group’s factories, as well as many clients, came to a standstill. Successively, all production lines faced significant periods of inactivity and strong recoveries, leading to a rush in demand, resulting in real complexity for the supply chain.

In this context, the S&OP was adjusted on an almost daily basis and better integrated the group's global industrial capacities in order to anticipate production needs and be able to provide a response within 24 hours to clients. From a management tool, it was also simplified to serve as a revenue optimization tool for sales teams, who could benefit from better visibility on stock availability.

Despite the crisis, BEVOLTA helped increase competitiveness

Powered by different synchronized information flows, notably from Albéa's clients, the BEVOLTA software allowed the group to produce as close as possible to the needs of its clients despite a particularly erratic context. Among the observed benefits, the group notes a reduction in lead times between orders and deliveries, an increase in the availability of finished products without increasing inventory, and increased turnover.

Tested on 5 sites, the solution should quickly expand globally in 2021.