Creating an elegant supply chain package at Groupe Pochet

After a manufacturing challenge in 2022–2023, luxury packaging manufacturer Groupe Pochet wanted to upgrade its supply chain technology and become better connected with its customers. Creating an Anaplan solution for supply planning, demand planning, and sales and operations planning (S&OP) — with automated data integration — has reduced errors, aligned teams around shared goals, and fueled possibilities for greater customer collaboration.

Companies with long histories must still address today’s business issues. Take Groupe Pochet, manufacturer of innovative, beautiful packaging for perfume, skincare, and makeup. Its legacy stretches back 400 years, yet Groupe Pochet faced major supply chain challenges as recently as 2023.

“We had a high level of activity, and our factories were operating at full capacity,” recalls Guillaume de Roberty, Chief Information Officer at Groupe Pochet. “It became difficult to anticipate the future and provide clear visibility to our customers. This impacted our customer service levels, so we decided to invest in a system to better manage our supply chain.”

Groupe Pochet looked for a supply chain system that would support rapid and agile decision-making, eliminate manual data entry, provide flexibility to change as products and business conditions evolved. And for long-term success, the solution needed to provide greater visibility for Groupe Pochet’s customers — famed brands including Chanel, Dior, Estée Lauder, Guerlain, and Lancôme. Anaplan provided the ideal package.

Key processes for understanding

“We chose an Anaplan for simplicity and for ability to connect complex systems,” de Roberty explains. “Connectedness is really valuable for us inside the company, but also with our customer to better understand their demand and to improve our global supply chain to anticipate decisions, investments, stock levels, and production.” 

Group Pochet first implemented Anaplan for plastic and metal supply planning. Then they expanded to demand planning and sales and operations planning. “S&OP is a key process to better understand the impacts of the market, the different peaks of activities, and the financial impact of it all on the company,” de Roberty explains. “And we’re implementing a full global management process along with it.”

Automation empowers action

Groupe Pochet expects to improve inventory management and optimize distribution and customer service with Anaplan. As those longer-term benefits emerge, the company is seeing immediate success with the platform.

“Before Anaplan we took a long time to integrate the data in a spreadsheet,” de Roberty recalls. “With Anaplan, it's automatic.” Important key performance indicators (KPIs) are directly monitored in Anaplan by users who can take action based on what they see.

The supply chain challenges the team faced a few years ago are now just a memory. “We are able to reduce the risk of errors and to optimize usage of global data, align different teams, processes, and practices,” de Roberty explains.  And the pieces are in place to enable robust customer collaboration with the Anaplan platform.

“We want better integration with our customers,” de Roberty concludes. “Anaplan will be key to help us anticipate the movement of the market and the demand.”