Pilot

rewrites its Supply Chain with AZAP

Pilot

rewrites its Supply Chain with AZAP

PILOT is a Japanese group present in more than 100 countries. It manufactures and distributes writing instruments since 1918

N ° 1 in writing in the world, in 2018 it achieved a turnover of € 830 million, of which 68% was exported. Its European headquarters, PILOT CORPORATION OF EUROPE (PCE) is located near Annecy. It has a manufacturing site and a packaging site. PCE is characterized by a very wide range (fountain pens, ballpoint pens, mechanical pencils, markers …) and multiple formats (boxes of 12, blister pack / flow pack, in displays, with goodies / promotional packaging …). Its very seasonal activity (back to school) is supported by frequent promotional offers. PCE sells its products directly in France as well as in the Benelux and through 35 distributors in 45 countries in Europe.

The Mikomi project, researching an advanced sales forecasting tool and setting up a collaborative process, was launched in September 2015 to gain visibility and provide better service to customers. Indeed, PCE, which manufactures 5 families of pens in France vs 85% of volumes in Japan, must deliver to its customers in D + 1 while the delivery times from Japan are 4 months. In addition, PCE does not have visibility into the stocks and sales of European distributors. One person made forecasts in Excel: moving averages updated 2 to 3 times a year, manual monitoring of promotions, collection of information only for direct markets and without checking the quality of forecasts.

After 4 months of market analysis (6 publishers) and visits from clients of the 2 shortlisted publishers, PCE chose AZAP in June 2016. “We were won over at AZAP by the management of promotions. The feeling went well with the AZAP team: we were well listened to and well advised. AZAP was a tool that met our expectations in terms of functionality without too much complexity or technicality. It has established itself as a natural solution, “explains Perrine Prost, Planning and Supply Manager PCE. She continues: “The results are very positive for purchases in Japan: the quantities calculated by AZAP are more reliable than the consolidation of requests from subsidiaries and we have reduced delays by more than 50%. Inventories are steadily decreasing, some safety stocks being able to be divided by 4 or 5. The reliability of forecasts on direct sales is 80% and on sales through distributors, 60% ”.

Groupe PILOT in brief
  • Japanese group
  • Manufacturer and distributor of writing instruments
  • No. 1 in writing in the world
  • 830 M € turnover in 2018
  • 2,642 employees in 2018
  • Present in more than 100 countries
Pilot corporation of Europe in brief
  • 160 M € turnover in 2018
  • 270 employees in 2018
  • 1 European production site near Annecy
  • 40 million pens produced per year
  • 1 logistics center near Annecy
  • 35 distributors in 45 countries
Project challenges and objectives
  • Stand out from the competition through service and responsiveness
  • Improve the service rate to the end customer by supplying the right products
  • Reduce stocks and destocking operations
  • Optimize the capacities of factories
Modules
  • AZAP Demand Planning
 

« AZAP allowed us to think about our Supply Chain, our flows and understand why we were good in some areas and less in others. This opens up interesting perspectives on improving our Supply Chain to better share with our Management and the Sales, Marketing and Finance functions of the company via an S&OP process and to better collaborate with European distributors. ».

Perrine Prost,
Planning and Supply Manager PILOT CORPORATION OF EUROPE

PILOT is a Japanese group present in more than 100 countries. It manufactures and distributes writing instruments since 1918

N ° 1 in writing in the world, in 2018 it achieved a turnover of € 830 million, of which 68% was exported. Its European headquarters, PILOT CORPORATION OF EUROPE (PCE) is located near Annecy. It has a manufacturing site and a packaging site. PCE is characterized by a very wide range (fountain pens, ballpoint pens, mechanical pencils, markers …) and multiple formats (boxes of 12, blister pack / flow pack, in displays, with goodies / promotional packaging …). Its very seasonal activity (back to school) is supported by frequent promotional offers. PCE sells its products directly in France as well as in the Benelux and through 35 distributors in 45 countries in Europe.

The Mikomi project, researching an advanced sales forecasting tool and setting up a collaborative process, was launched in September 2015 to gain visibility and provide better service to customers. Indeed, PCE, which manufactures 5 families of pens against 85% of volumes in Japan, must deliver to its customers in D + 1 while the delivery times from Japan are 4 months. In addition, PCE does not have visibility into the stocks and sales of European distributors. One person made forecasts in Excel: moving averages updated 2 to 3 times a year, manual monitoring of promotions, collection of information only for direct markets and without checking the quality of forecasts.

After 4 months of market analysis (6 publishers) and visits from clients of the 2 shortlisted publishers, PCE chose AZAP in June 2016. “We were won over at AZAP by the management of promotions. The feeling went well with the AZAP team: we were well listened to and well advised. AZAP was a tool that met our expectations in terms of functionality without too much complexity or technicality. It has established itself as a natural solution, “explains Perrine Prost, Planning and Supply Manager PCE. She continues: “The results are very positive for purchases in Japan: the quantities calculated by AZAP are more reliable than the consolidation of requests from subsidiaries and we have reduced delays by more than 50%. Inventories are steadily decreasing, some safety stocks being able to be divided by 4 or 5. The reliability of forecasts on direct sales is 80% and on sales through distributors, 60% ”.

Groupe PILOT in brief
  • Japanese group
  • Manufacturer and distributor of writing instruments
  • No. 1 in writing in the world
  • 830 M € turnover in 2018
  • 2,642 employees in 2018
  • Present in more than 100 countries
Pilot corporation of Europe in brief
  • 160 M € turnover in 2018
  • 270 employees in 2018
  • 1 European production site near Annecy
  • 40 million pens produced per year
  • 1 logistics center near Annecy
  • 35 distributors in 45 countries
Project challenges and objectives
  • Stand out from the competition through service and responsiveness
  • Improve the service rate to the end customer by supplying the right products
  • Reduce stocks and destocking operations
  • Optimize the capacities of factories
Modules
  • AZAP Demand Planning
 

« AZAP allowed us to think about our Supply Chain, our flows and understand why we were good in some areas and less in others. This opens up interesting perspectives on improving our Supply Chain to better share with our Management and the Sales, Marketing and Finance functions of the company via an S&OP process and to better collaborate with European distributors. ».

Perrine Prost,
Planning and Supply Manager PILOT CORPORATION OF EUROPE

Results obtained

Qualitative

  • Reliable results and very significant time savings for statistical forecasts of permanent products
  • Better monitoring of specific batches and the impact of promotions on the permanent, better communication with sales and marketing by centralizing data in AZAP
  • Very regular monitoring of the implantation and destocking effects of new products
  • Simplified end-of-life management

Quantitative

  • 80% reliability of forecasts on direct sales and 60% on sales via European distributors