Collaboration empowers Ingenico to build for the

Payment device and services provider Ingenico was rocked by the semiconductor crisis of 2021. To prepare for future volatility, the company implemented supply chain solutions on the Anaplan platform, integrating data from key systems throughout the company. Both gross and net inventory levels have improved, sales forecast accuracy and behavior are now measured and understood, and decision-making has accelerated and become more collaborative. Most importantly, silos have disappeared, and the company is more unified — and ready to meet the challenges ahead.

With 40 million payment devices deployed in 32 countries, Ingenico is a global leader in payment acceptance and services. Retailers and banks rely on Ingenico’s technology to facilitate their transactions rapidly and securely, and that technology relies on semiconductors.

That’s why Julien Mater, Operations Director at Ingenico, remembers the global semiconductor crisis that began in 2021. “There were very large demand fluctuations,” he recalls. “I was sure that we would experience aftershocks, with more demand volatility and less customer visibility.” Mater needed to empower Ingenico to respond, and turned to Anaplan for help. “We were in a rush to implement Anaplan and be ready for these aftershocks,” he recalls.

Breaking down data silos

In mid-2023, Ingenico stood up a suite of Anaplan models for demand forecasting and production planning, revising its Sales & Operations Planning (S&OP) to a more centralized process in which demand is qualified locally while supply is managed centrally.

Data integration was key to the project’s success. “All our different systems, such as SAP, Salesforce — they are all connected to Anaplan,” Mater says. “Collecting data from different systems lets us focus our time on data analysis instead of always questioning if the data is accurate or not.”

With the Anaplan platform, collaboration is better and decision-making is quicker. “Before, in our company, it was really difficult to have a top management around the table,” he explains. “With Anaplan, it's easier to bring [together] all the necessary stakeholders in the process. Instant availability of data helps us to make very fast decisions.”

Lowering inventories and building a path to improve forecast accuracy

Fast decisions have delivered dramatic improvements in supply chain key performance indicators (KPIs). “Globally, our inventories have lowered by about 10% since we started using Anaplan,” Mater says. “And in a difficult business context in 2024, there is a much bigger impact in terms of inventory avoidance thanks to using Anaplan."

The Ingenico team has also unlocked some new KPIs. “We have started measuring our sales forecast accuracy,” Mater says. “Before Anaplan there was no such KPI available in the company, and we’re now thinking how to improve it by adopting a data-driven demand consensus approach.”

More improvements are on the horizon. “We want to reduce the level of parts that become obsolete and that we have to scrap, which obviously is a loss for the company,” Mater says. “So that's another area where we are looking to Anaplan to improve our metrics.”

Most importantly, supply chain planning in Anaplan has helped to unify Ingenico. “What changed the most, if I compare the before and after of Anaplan, is really the communication,” Mater says. “In the past, information was very much siloed between the teams, but this has changed completely with Anaplan.”