“Think Fresh. Act Fresh. Make Fresh.” This is the motto of Plukon Food Group – one of Europe’s leading food producers.  

Living up to these words requires a highly efficient and well-coordinated supply chain. A new demand planning process, supported by a forecasting system from RELEX, allows Plukon to respond swiftly to market fluctuations, seasonal variations, and changing customer preferences. 

The “Ultra-fresh” Challenge 

Headquartered in Wezep, the Netherlands, Plukon Food Group operates 38 plants in seven countries, employing over 11,000 people. The company supplies the European retail and food service sectors with a diverse range of products, including poultry, meals & salads, meal components, and alternative proteins.  

The successful operation of an ultra-fresh supply chain depends on timely and accurate forecasts. However, demand planning had become increasingly challenging in the Netherlands and Germany – home to 17 of the group’s production sites. The existing system was outdated and could only be operated by a select few individuals, making it difficult for the business to maintain service levels.  

Many of Plukon’s major retail customers are served through Vendor Managed Inventory (VMI) agreements. Real-time point-of-sale data simplifies demand planning for this customer group. However, franchise groups are more challenging because, despite trading under a common brand, each store operates as a separate business with its own ordering process. With some brands having over 200 stores, planning complexity is a significant issue.  

To effectively manage these complexities, Plukon needed a more advanced and scalable forecasting solution. In 2023, they introduced a new demand planning system from RELEX to meet these challenges and provide accurate forecasts across all customer segments. 

Valuable Learning from Industry Peers 

During the selection process, Plukon was introduced to Supply Chain Company, an industry specialist and long-standing RELEX partner. From the outset, the project team felt a strong commitment from both Supply Chain Company and RELEX. While RELEX emerged as the top choice based on Plukon’s RFP criteria, what truly set the partnership apart was when Supply Chain Company introduced Plukon to a food industry peer already using the RELEX system.  

The introduction went far beyond a standard site visit. The Plukon team had ongoing access to their peer throughout their project, gaining valuable insights from their experience. They learned about the successes, missteps, and the critical importance of thorough data preparation. The Plukon team even adopted some smart ideas from their peer’s forecasting model. This open exchange of knowledge and best practices reinforced their confidence in both the RELEX solution and the partnership with Supply Chain Company.  

Minimizing the “Bullwhip” Effect 

Today, Plukon relies on RELEX for both long-term and short-term forecasting, with a key focus on maintaining a robust 4-week rolling forecast that accounts for all customer promotions.  

For short shelf-life items such as salads, the day-to-day demand plan needs to be accurate. Plukon uses RELEX to break down the weekly numbers for the coming four weeks into daily buckets to support plant operational planning.  

However, there is much to consider. Weather, for example, can significantly impact demand, with warmer temperatures driving more salad sales. Without careful management, these demand variations can trigger a “bullwhip effect,” where small fluctuations in demand can escalate into more significant imbalances in orders and inventory levels across the supply chain.  

“RELEX provides the necessary tools, intelligence, and visibility to anticipate and respond to these fluctuations, helping us maintain more stable production and service levels,” said Mark Didden, Plukon Demand Planner and RELEX superuser.  

Structured, Fast and Accurate 

Since implementing RELEX, Plukon’s overall forecast accuracy has seen a marked improvement. With over 300 SKUs, many with highly seasonal demand patterns, the RELEX forecasting and automation capabilities have proven critical. Planning is now much faster, and the need for manual intervention has been greatly reduced. This allows the demand planners to focus almost entirely on analysis and dealing with forecast exceptions, using the system to target items with more persistent and significant forecasting errors. Additionally, a more structured approach has made onboarding new team members quicker and easier. 

Plukon also uses RELEX to generate a longer-term forecast, providing a reliable baseline for the company’s quarterly S&OP cycle. This saves time and ensures that S&OP discussions are focused on decision-making rather than debating the accuracy of the underlying demand projections.  

“We’re very proud to have reached this stage,” said Ruben Koldeweij, Plukon Supply Chain Planner and Project Leader. “Thanks to RELEX, our forecasts are more accurate than ever, and the preparation process is much quicker. There’s significantly less fine-tuning, and we’re better equipped to respond when something unexpected happens.” 

Koldeweij also emphasized the crucial role of their consultant and implementation partner. “Supply Chain Company deserves a huge amount of credit. They’ve been by our side from the beginning – listening, challenging, and delivering. Their expertise has been invaluable, and they continue to provide us with first-class system support.”