Lindt & Sprungli France Secures Improves its Planning and Scheduling With n.SKEP of DynaSys and Preactor
DynaSys, European experts in solutions for Demand & Supply Chain Planning, and Preactor, world leader in advanced planning and scheduling software, have signed a new contract with chocolate confectionery manufacturer Lindt & Sprungli France. The company has embarked, according to Vincent Bonnet, its IT Manager, “on a surer integrated system and more functional than we have developed around our ERP”. Vincent stresses the combination of the two solutions, n.SKEP Production Planning of DynaSys and Preactor, which provided them with a wider functional envelope. Interfaced with JD Edwards, the existing ERP, the planning and scheduling solutions will allow Lindt & Sprüngli France to improve in efficiency and agility to support the production of their French plant.
The Challenge
A world market leader in ‘premium’ quality chocolates, Lindt & Sprungli offers a broad selection of products in more than 100 countries throughout the world. The company has 8 production sites in the world including Oloron Sainte-Marie (64) inFrance. This plant produces chocolate bars and Christmas & Easter chocolates. Its customers are essentially mass-market retailing names.
“We have a strong seasonal demand variation. Christmas and Easter are two periods with peak production, which requires us to work 6 to 7 days per week,” comments Vincent Bonnet. “We have also to manage great complexity in our processes. Indeed, the transformation of cocoa broad beans into fine chocolate is a complex manufacturing process involving automated systems for the manufacture of the paste, the mouldings and conditioning. “It was thus necessary, to provide a tool with broad functional cover to provide the possibility of quickly generating a S&OP, and a MPS and then be able to synchronize them with a scheduling tool.”
He adds: “Today, with the information collected in our ERP we are using Excel ® for planning this but it takes too much time to generate a new S&OP, which constitutes a barrier to our reactivity.”
Decision Making
The French site wished to optimize its production planning in order to better adapt to the new constraints. The key points in choosing DynaSys and Preactor were:
* Security of the function of planner;
* Add profit through better reactivity and thus, effectiveness;
* Optimization of inventory control;
* Generate more relevant S&OP and MPS;
* Direct interface with the existing ERP.
Thierry Faguet, Director of the Preactor European operations, says: “We are delighted to number Lindt & Sprungli among our users for the management of its production and this contract win highlights the synergy with DynaSys and reinforces our strong partnership with them. This new contract confirms the positioning of Preactor in the food and beverage sector with more than 300 accounts already installed.”
