Savencia is delighted to be with Anaplan for consistent budgeting and efficient S&OP

Savencia is an international, family-owned (Bongrain family), independent food group, specializing in innovative products sold in supermarkets and Food Service. Its 24,000 employees in 120 countries generated revenue of 5.7 billion euros in 2020. Savencia Saveurs & Spécialités (Group) comprises two entities: Savencia Fromage & Diary  (a leader in dairy processing and the world's fifth-largest cheese group) and Savencia Gourmet (an international player in sweet Food Service, also present in supermarkets and hypermarkets in France, and with strong brands in charcuterie and seafood products). 

 Food Service Premium (FSP), a division of Savencia Gourmet with a worldwide presence, specializes in the production and multi-channel, multi-site distribution of ingredients (Norohy Vanilla, Sosa, Chocolatree, fruit purees, etc.) and chocolates (Valrhona, Weiss, Republica del Cacao, etc.) for specialist chocolate makers, pastry cooks and bakers, gourmet restaurateurs, and the hotel trade (more than 20,000 customers in 80 countries). 

FSP provides support for all the products and services of their brands: finance, integration of new companies, supply chain, information systems (including Business Intelligence, Digital, or Methods and Data). 

An Urgent Need for Budget Preparation/Consolidation, and S&OP 

As Vice President Supply Chain at Food Service Premium (FSP), Thomas Maurisset is in charge of S&OP (Sales and Operation Planning, to develop tactical plans by regularly integrating customer-focused marketing plans for new and existing products into the Supply Chain), logistics (managing transport flows, delivery, etc.), and customer service (order-to-cash and new services). 

In the last quarter of 2019, the company made the realization that it had to act quickly. "Most of our operations and consolidations were based on manual operations or old software, which generated a lot of back and forth and multiple Excel integrations for both finance and supply chain activities. This was all the less efficient as our company operates in several countries and for several independent brands," explains Thomas Maurisset. "A problem of global inconsistency that was magnified as each one managed data in their own format and way. A situation where too much criss-crossing of information kills information. On the supply chain side, we did not have an S&OP process. We had sales forecasts, but they were not synchronized with the field. Logistics would define their forecasts and the factories would set up their own plan..." 

FSP thus defines both their short-term and medium-term requirements. In the short term, it seems essential to structure the fiscal years and the consolidation of data, and to make both finance and supply chain activities consistent in order to promote an S&OP approach. In the medium term, decision-makers will also have to look at P&L monitoring, cash management/optimization, and payroll. 

A specification that leads to the Anaplan cloud 

The project started in early 2020, with separate Finance and Supply Chain approaches. 

"Very quickly, we noticed that we absolutely had to combine the two, to link sales and volumes, and to avoid re-creating silos. Indeed, this became imperative in order to complete the S&OP process, and to define production capacities in relation to the sales forecast. This consistency will also have a direct impact on cash management and payroll," recalls the Vice President Supply Chain. "Our basic specifications bring together several criteria: the durability of the publisher and the service provider (to ensure support over time), the possibility of innovation to create new services, a publisher already referenced in the Food Service industry, an ergonomic interface, and a multi-module architecture that allows a base to be installed and extensions to be added." 

Anaplan was already referenced by Savencia, but FSP is an autonomous subsidiary that has the freedom to choose their tools. However, after studying the various solutions on the market, FSP decided on  Anaplan. 

"Anaplan's Connected Planning approach  helped us avoid silos, and complemented their response to the various criteria in the specifications," reports Thomas Maurisset. "We also retained the service provider VISEO, an Anaplan specialist and recommended by the publisher." 

The projects were launched in early 2020. On the user side, Anaplan involved a Supply Chain user and some twenty employees in different offices for the Finance part. FSP managed the information systems and the digital at the same time. This is why the project was supported by the S&OP manager, management control, the IT department, Anaplan, and a service provider. This team met weekly in a project committee, while a monthly steering committee was set up. 

"These weekly and monthly rhythms proved to be essential for this type of project, in order to report and adjust any discrepancies, emphasizes the Supply Chain Manager. Indeed, we absolutely had to synchronize the finance and the FSP part, which was facilitated by the choice of collaborators with the right profiles, as well as the relevant contacts at VISEO and Anaplan." 

Autonomous teams regain their view 

The company wanted to remain autonomous in using the solution, so it was decided to train the leaders at the beginning of the project in order to develop the essentials, and then set up training support throughout the project. 

"The Finance project was spread over nine months, as we also had to take into account the existing system, whereas the Supply Chain project took only six months," says Thomas Maurisset. "Our Anaplan application meets the other requirements of the project perfectly. Anaplan's efficiency allows us to do better while still having centralized management and giving autonomy to the structure. The metrics and figures are the result of a joint effort to ensure overall consistency. Gone are the five paternal explanations to justify the multiple discrepancies. We now have an agile platform on which we can work with peace of mind. Of course, the project is still recent and provides us with governance and serenity both in terms of budgeting and S&OP, for which we have finally been able to synchronize volumes and business managers to obtain a realistic forecast that allows us to monitor the field." 

Learnings and warnings to share 

The project was carried out during a confinement period, therefore the various parties involved worked at a distance. However, this does not seem to have disrupted the project, as it is based on a cloud platform and could therefore be accessed remotely in complete security. 

However, there were other ingredients that proved to be valuable for the success of the project, as the Supply Chain Manager confirms: "In my opinion, 50% of the success of the project depended on the profiles of the project managers and their motivations. This project aimed to solve an urgent problem on the company's operational level with very concrete subjects such as S&OP linking sales and product volumes (strategy and production), through very concrete actions decided in weekly and monthly meetings." 

Although the project is still in the appropriation phase, the results are very positive, as is the feedback from users. "Our Anaplan application is still very centralized, but this is also a great strength," explains Thomas Maurisset. "Employees from different entities can work collaboratively on online simulations. In addition, they can draw up accurate statements, such as the wage bill, which is now based on figures that were previously difficult (or impossible) to obtain. Now, it is possible to determine the wage bill and correlate it with the business costs in order to determine improvement and quality plans. However, it is still about changing business processes, and the impact of these changes on employees should never be underestimated. Therefore they must be supported continuously throughout the project."