Lenzing fashions sustainable supply chain with JDA

“The fashion industry is the second largest polluter on a worldwide basis,” said Robert van de Kerkhof, chief commercial officer for Lenzing. “Not only do the production processes generate waste, but the end products are typically not biodegradable and are rarely recycled. Lenzing’s goal is to leverage innovation in both our products and processes to minimise our environmental impact, while still meeting the dynamic needs of our customers and the end consumer. So it was very important that our supply chain strategy with JDA supported sustainability as well.”

Lenzing's goal was to create an end-to-end planning process that precisely matches demand and supply, minimising inefficiencies and maximising profitability. JDA Sales & Operations Planning addresses these needs by taking a cross-functional approach to integrated business planning that unites all the moving parts across the supply chain with a shared focus to meet demand across markets, with an eye on both immediate and long-term strategic goals. Lenzing has since replaced its existing tools such as Excel spreadsheets and manually intensive processes, with JDA to manage their complex business model. Cross-functional teams were brought together for the first time in an agile, collaborative process, working with a single set of data that is shared across the business.

The new level of transparency and visibility helped Lenzing understand the needs of customers and end consumers, creating a more accurate forecast and a much more agile and responsive supply chain. With a new level of decision support as well as cross-functional alignment, Lenzing has been able to successfully transform its S&OP process, fuelling its growth and leadership position while also driving operational efficiencies.

“We got our cloud-based JDA deployment up and running quickly which helped us rapidly realise a return on investment. For example, we reduced planning and decision-making time by 50 per cent, leveraging JDA's what-if tactical planning capabilities and improved profitability as critical resources were allocated to the most financially promising markets and product applications. And, most importantly, as forecasting accuracy improved, we minimised waste and the entire supply chain became leaner," said van de Kerkhof.

"Lenzing is a best-in-class example of a company that truly understands its customers but also the importance of reducing its environmental footprint and making a difference," said Johan Reventberg, president, EMEA, JDA. "Keeping sustainability top of mind with its vision for its supply chain transformation was critical, and we are proud to have supported Lenzing on their journey."

Based on their successful implementation of JDA Sales & Operations Planning, Lenzing sees the potential to transform not only their own business, but the entire fashion industry, via digital technologies like JDA's. Its goal is to expand connectivity and collaboration capabilities outside of its business by forming closer relationships with the supply chain partners leveraging JDA solutions. Ultimately, Lenzing envisions connecting the entire value chain and truly minimise its environment impact.

JDA Software offers the leading supply chain management (SCM) platform powered by artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML). JDA's leading cloud solutions manage supply chains from end-to-end, spanning supply chain and retail planning, execution and delivery. (PC)

Fibre2Fashion News Desk – India