Pilkington streamlines inventory and service on demand planning software

Glass giant Pilkington says it expects to improve product availability and reduce inventory in its global automotive glass replacement (AGR) business when it goes live with forecasting, inventory planning and sales and operations planning software. The company selected Infor’s SCM Demand Planning solution for the job because of its scalability and the balance between functionality and ease-of-use – and the fact that “it proved itself capable of providing a level of support beyond ERP and localised point solutions.” Pilkington’s complex distribution model involves multiple stock locations, but also big product ranges with high volumes of product change. It says its existing planning systems failed to meet the high levels of customer service availability required in this environment, without increasing cost and inventory. “The previous ERP was unable to cope with the complexity of our supply chain, and we were prevented from achieving the high levels of stock availability we require to compete and grow in our target markets,” says Mike Ball, director of projects, Pilkington AGR. “At present we are running a very diligent implementation but we are very confident that Infor SCM Demand Planning will enable us to reduce the inventory held at our European distribution centre and respond better to our customers’ requirements with improved availability.”